The Android operating system is a vital player in an extremely competitive market. It emerged as a competitor to the Blackberry and the iPhone at the end of 2008, both of which were well established at the time. The outstanding feature of this operating system is that it is open source. This means that anyone can develop applications for Android-based phones. The aim of the Android OS is to create a better mobile phone, an effort which is spearheaded by Google. Although currently the OS is an offspring of the Open Handset Alliance, Android will forever be known as Google’s phone OS due to the massive initial push they gave it.

Developing applications for Android phones is easy as it can be done on a Mac or PC which runs the Windows or Linux OS. To begin developing you must download the Android SDK which is free. The SDK or Software Development Kit contains tools and API’s (Application Programming Interface) which will help you in your development process. You can test your application using the provided Android Emulator but at some point you may wish to purchase an actual handset to complete final testing.

The Android OS is gaining ground slowly, but will take some time to be a big player in the handset market. The dominance of Apple’s App Store and the familiarity of the iPhone are the biggest hurdles to overcome by Android. It also lacks a few killer apps, which could see the Android OS rise to dominance. Nevertheless it is evident that with the current support behind it, the OS will only grow from strength to strength.