Nowadays when we think of smartphones we think of Android and Apple. Launched in 2008, Android took the market by storm. There are over 2.5 billion Android users as of now, but do you know how Android was created and where does the name Android come from?
Where does the name Android come from?
Literally, the term “Android” dates back to as early as 1863 in reference to miniature human-like toy robots. The term Android was used in a more defined way by the French author Auguste Villiers. You might also recall that George Lucas came up with the word ‘droid’ for the original Star Wars film.
But that’s not where the name Android come from. It’s actually very simple, The name Android actually comes from the name of its founder Andy Rubin. Most people don’t know that Andy Rubin got his nickname “Android” from his coworkers at Apple. You read that correctly – Andy Rubin worked for Apple before founding Danger and Android Inc. Rubin is credited with being the “father of Android.” He was previously involved in the creation of the Sidekick phone, as well as Danger — a company that was later purchased by Microsoft and became the foundation for Windows Mobile
Andy got this nickname because he absolutely loved Robots, in fact, till 2008 his personal website’s domain was android.com, It’s surprising to see how well this name suits the Android operating system to this day.
How was Android Created?
Android Inc was founded in 2003 by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, and Nick Sears who were working for a company called Danger. In 2003, Andy Rubin and his colleagues at Danger Inc. set out to create a better mobile experience for consumers (Danger made the Hiptop, a smartphone from 2002 with an emphasis on email). He founded Android Inc. with Rich Miner and Nick Sears in August of that year. The name android come from the nickname given to Andy Rubin by his co-workers at Apple. In 2005, Android Inc. was bought by Google, which saw the world’s future would be in mobile technology and wanted to get in on the action.
At first, Android was originally built to be an alternate operating system for the cameras, until they decided it would be used as an open-source platform that many device manufacturers could use instead of developing their own proprietary software from scratch (Google will actually give you money if you can find a bug on your Android device).
Google bought Android in 2005 for $50 million, the same year it took its crown as the world’s most valuable brand. The first public release of an Android-powered phone came at the beginning of 2009 when the T-Mobile G1 arrived. Early Android devices weren’t a hit. The first public release of an Android-powered phone came at the beginning of 2009 when the T-Mobile G1 arrived. Manufactured by HTC, the G1 featured a physical keyboard and small touchscreen, along with a trackball for navigation. It was later nicknamed the G1.
This early Android device wasn’t a huge commercial hit, but it proved to be influential in other ways. Following Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility in 2011, almost all Android devices were made by Motorola except for Sony’s Xperia line and Samsung’s Galaxy Note series (though it used Google services). Android’s dominance over rivals quickly became overwhelming and by 2011 it was taking 90 percent of all smartphone sales around the world. Rubin no longer works at Google but his nickname remains as Android has become Google’s own operating system.
That was all about “Where does the name Android come from” While you are here you might also want to check out all the sweet names of android versions so far
