Android, The Introduction

     I. WHAT IS ANDROID?
     
     I know for sure you are already heard or read this word, "Android", not the robot-like stuff that I am talking about. It is the Operating System that runs mobile devices like your smartphones and also your tablet computers, not to mention Apple products. So this Android is an open source OS (Operating System) and also it is based on LINUX. It was proudly developed by the OPEN HANDSET ALLIANCE, which is led by the famous GOOGLE, and other companies.In 2007, Google released the first ANDROID SDK (Software Development Kit) beta version. And  September 2008, ANDROID 1.0 was released as the first commercial version.

     II. ANDROID PLATFORM COMPONENTS

These are the four areas of Android System:

1. APPLICATIONS
   - contains the several applications like games, browser, gallery, etc.

2. APPLICATION FRAMEWORK

   - an API (Application Programming Interface) that allows high-level interactions of Android applications into the Android System.

3. LIBRARIES AND RUNTIME

   - graphic rendering, web browsing, data storage, etc. are examples of common functions of libraries of the    Application Framework and the Dalvik runtime. Core Java Libraries are also for running applications of Android.

4.LINUX KERNEL

   - it is the communication layer for the underlying hardware.

   III. GOOGLE PLAY

(screenshot from my tablet)

   For sure, you already knew this awesome place. Google Play!, offered by Google, is a marketplace wherein Android developers and programmers can offer their Android Applications for those Android users, especially, games!
   Android users, like you, can download and install Android apps available in Play Store service. It also offers an update service for any Android apps you have if the developer of the Android app recently upload a new version which notifies the user that there is a new update for the software.