What is Android?

The current version Android 2.3 Gingerbread

Android is an open-source software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. Google Inc. purchased the initial developer of the software, Android Inc., in 2005. Android's mobile operating system is based upon a modified version of the Linux kernel. The Android operating system was the world's best-selling smartphone platform, dethroning Nokia's Symbian from the 10-year top position. Android has a large community of developers writing application programs ("apps") that extend the functionality of the devices. There are currently over 200,000 apps available for Android.  Android Market is the online app store run by Google, though apps can also be downloaded from third-party sites. Developers write primarily in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries.

Graph showing data during two weeks ending on February 2, 2011