Android

Android is an operating system for mobile devices such as cellular phones, tablet computers and netbooks. Android was developed by Google and based upon the Linux kernel and GNU software. It was initially developed by Android Inc. (a firm later purchased by Google) and lately by the Open Handset Alliance.

There are a few famous OS in mobile phone industry, and Android is one of them. Recently many phones are using Android, including Sony Erricson Xperia X10 and HTC smartphones. For those who does not own an Android phone, here is a quick look on the new released Android 2.2 OS. But please note that the following review is done with Android 2.2 SDK on Fujitsu Amilo Pro V3405, not on a mobile phone. However, regardless of hardware settings, the OS itself is still the same.

This is the SDK emulator, with all the buttons any phone may have.

In the main screen, we can see the top bar with indicators as usual, a google search bar and a tutorial app on first run. You can sweep left or right for 4 menu screens, putting your favourite apps in an organized way. At the bottom is the dialer, menu and browser buttons.

As stated, this is Android 2.2. You can check your phone’s version by pressing menu -> settings -> about phone.

The menu screen, with preloaded apps. Car Home is an interesting app that make navigation easier when you are driving.

 In order to customize the main screen, simply long press on the screen and options will pop up.

Simple and nice lock screen, and you can adjust system volume without unlocking your phone.

 Full screen browser makes browsing easy and simple.

An example of keyboard input, setting up email account.

Similar to linux operating systems, all the apps are started and running in background. Thus, apps loading time is shorter.

 Lastly, a picture of powering off.

Some mobile phone manufacturers develop their own user interface (UI) to enhance their strengths and cover the weaknesses of the original OS. These UI may look different from the original android and give you a totally new experience when use the mobile phone. Some of the example are Sony Erricson Xperia series and HTC Sense UI.

Sony Erricson Xperia X10	HTC Sense UI

Android is easy to use, and open source has been its strongest strength in the market. However it depends on what the user wants to achieve with his mobile phone. So, do you like Android?