Android is a mobile device operating system developed by a business alliance known as the Open Handset Alliance, led by Google.
Created on November 5, 2007, the Open Handset Alliance was formed to create an mobile operating system with the intention of competing in the smartphone market against companies like Apple and Research in Motion (BlackBerry).
The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) allows any hardware manufacturers to utilize most versions of Android for free under the Apache License.
The Android platform first became widely popular with the release of the Motorola Droid on the Verizon Wireless network on October 17, 2009.
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