Android was built from the ground-up to enable developers to create compelling mobile applications that take full advantage of all a handset has to offer. It was built to be truly open. For example, an application can call upon any of the phone's core functionality such as making calls, sending text messages, or using the camera, allowing developers to create richer and more cohesive experiences for users. Android is built on the open Linux Kernel. Furthermore, it utilizes a custom virtual machine that was designed to optimize memory and hardware resources in a mobile environment. Android is open source; it can be liberally extended to incorporate new cutting edge technologies as they emerge. The platform will continue to evolve as the developer community works together to build innovative mobile applications.

Basically Android is just an operating system that runs on your phone allowing you to interact with the world in a far more pleasant manner. The Android OS also provides a gateway into the Google family allowing users to seamlessly sync information with their registered Google accounts gaining access multiple web features including but not limited to mail, contacts, calendar, tasks and finance portfolio.

Android is a flexible software platform designed to deliver a personalized and customizable user experience on mobile devices. It is strongly suited to bring advanced web services, e-mail, social networking, and entertainment to consumers.

All applications are created equal

Android does not differentiate between the phone's core applications and third-party applications. They can all be built to have

equal access to a phone's capabilities providing users with a broad spectrum of applications and services. With devices built on the Android Platform, users are able to fully tailor the phone to their interests. They can swap out the phone's homescreen, the style of the dialer, or any of the applications. They can even instruct their phones to use their favorite photo viewing application to handle the viewing of all photos.

Breaking down application boundaries

Android breaks down the barriers to building new and innovative applications. For example, a developer can combine information from the web with data on an individual's mobile phone -- such as the user's contacts, calendar, or geographic location -- to provide a more relevant user experience. With Android, a developer can build an application that enables users to view the location of their friends and be alerted when they are in the vicinity giving them a chance to connect.

Fast & easy application development

Android provides access to a wide range of useful libraries and tools that can be used to build rich applications. For example, Android enables developers to obtain the location of the device, and allows devices to communicate with one another enabling rich peer-to-peer social applications. In addition, Android includes a full set of tools that have been built from the ground up alongside the platform providing developers with high productivity and deep insight into their applications.

Features

Application framework enabling reuse and replacement of components Dalvik virtual machine optimized for mobile devices Integrated browser based on the open source WebKit engine Optimized graphics powered by a custom 2D graphics library; 3D graphics based on the OpenGL ES 1.0 specification (hardware acceleration optional) SQLite for structured data storage Media support for common audio, video, and still image formats (MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG, GIF) GSM Telephony (hardware dependent) Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and WiFi (hardware dependent) Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer (hardware dependent) Rich development environment including a device emulator, tools for debugging, memory and performance profiling, and a plugin for the Eclipse IDE Android™ delivers a complete set of software for mobile devices: an operating system, middleware and key mobile applications.

How is Android different?

Compared to many existing platforms, Android is truly open to continued innovation and new experiences. This is because independent developers have almost unlimited access to the platform, so they can develop applications never seen before. End users will enjoy a much greater choice of mobile applications to enhance email, texting, Web browsing, music, camera and calling capabilities.

Choosing a Android based phone means that you are living the Google life, benefits include:

Google Maps with Latitude Google Talk Upload Videos Directly to YouTube™ Google Maps and Turn by Turn Navigation Gmail (Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Mail) Android Market Exchange 2007 Sync And many more! Google Finance