20th October 2008
HTC releases the first Android smartphone

Android is a mobile operating system designed for touchscreen devices such as smartphones and tablets. Based on Linux, Android development began in 2003 by Android, Inc., who were bought by Google in 2005.

The first publicly available smartphone to run Android was the HTC Dream, also known as the T-Mobile G1, released on 20th October 2008 in the USA. It used a 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A system on a chip with 192 MB of RAM, and came with 256 MB of internal storage, which could be expanded by up to 16 GB using a Micro SD card slot. It also had a touch operated screen.

Android went on to become the most popular mobile OS in the world. As of August 2023, the Android mobile operating system was installed on 70% of mobile devices while Apple's iOS accounted for 28%.

Related information:

• Android Authority: The history of Android

Image:

• Android logo
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