The Evolution of Android, 5 years later

September 23rd came and went, andmany of you probably don't even remember whythat's an important date. That's normal, after all – it hasbeen a while since, 5 years ago,the world saw the unveiling of the first Android handset –the HTC Dream, widely known as the T-Mobile G1. TheG1 was a huge success – it sold more than a million units inthe States alone in the first 6 months. No, it wasn't as big asApple's juggernaut – 1.6 million iPhone 3G sold in just 3 months inthe US of A – but that has dramatically changed over the years -- Android now runs on over a billion devices.

Dependingon the perspective, 5 years may appear like a long time to somepeople. If you think about the rate at which progress hashistorically occurred, however, then you may just understand what wemean by saying that Android, including the immediate ecosystem ofhardware, tech, media and whatnot that surrounds it, has made giant leapsfrom what the platform represented just 5 years ago.

But,are we throwing around baseless superlatives as far as Google's OS isconcerned? We'll let fact speak for themselves, though for the sakeof being objective, the following advancements can't be solelycredited to Mountain View, despite its undeniable involvement inshaping the market -- rivals or friends, numerous companies have made their contribution.

So what did change? Infive years, we've gone from a lowly HVGA resolution of 320x480 towhat has shaped as the industry standard of 1920x1080 today. The G1had a screen real estate of just 3.2-inches – unacceptable formost today, with preferences now firmly entrenched in the 4.5- to 5-inchbracket. Processing capabilities? Through the roof! We went fromsingle-core processors with third the clock speed of modern chips toquad-core chipsets that house CPU's that are now running at 1.5GHz andabove. And the supporting ecosystem? It went from just 35 apps with the veryfirst Android 1.0 to over a billion today and the number of manufacturers involved in the production of Android-based devices is now beyond count.

So what did change in Android through those 5 years? Let's take a look.

source: Carlos Hernandez (G+)