14 years ago, Google presented Android: a look back at its prehistory – Frandroid

On November 11, 2007, Android was introduced by Google. In 2021, the OS is used on more than three billion connected devices around the world. Back to the prehistory of Android.

21 major releases in 14 years that have made Android not only the most popular operating system in the world, but also an OS that can run on virtually any hardware.

The genesis of General Magic

Go back in time, let’s set the scene. We are in 1989, at the dawn of the fluorescent and ecstasy years. At the time, no lolcats on the web, it has not yet been invented. No smartphone yet either, but large companies in the IT sector already have some R&D ideas on the subject. Among them, IBM – which gave birth to IBM Simon in 1992, the very first smartphone, but also Apple where Andy Rubin was hired.

Quickly, Andy Rubin shows an entrepreneurial profile and participates in the creation of a company within Apple: General Magic. You do not know ? It’s normal, it was a flop. Far too ahead of its time, General Magic’s vision was quite close to what has been done with J2ME or with Android: a programming language converted into bytecode, executed by a virtual machine.

As Apple’s support was insufficient, a round of funding was completed by General Magic. The young company then received the investment of large companies like Sony and Motorola in 1992. As the very first smartphones emerge and Apple prepares to release the Newton, the apple company is suing General Magic. A number of factors will lead to the bankruptcy of the company.

The beginning with Dangers inc.

Later, in 1999, Andy Rubin founded Dangers Inc., in a context where smartphones are struggling to sell in the United States while in Europe, Nokia begins to accumulate millions. Open your eyes wide, this is where the Android story really begins. The Danger company released its first phone in 2002, the Sidekick.

This terminal was running DangerOS, a system mainly based on Java. Developed in close collaboration with the operator T-Mobile, this phone was very successful in the United States, especially among teenagers fond of instant messaging and sexting.

The Sidekick was sold in many Anglo-Saxon countries. He quickly found himself up against BlackBerry, a very popular brand already at the time. Dangers attracted attention and was ultimately bought out by Microsoft. Most of Dangers’ employees, including founder Andy Rubin, are leaving Microsoft.

Android Inc. acquired by Google

It was therefore in 2003 that the startup Android Inc. is created. Initially, the company is not very clear as to what it is developing. However, we know that it affects mobile development. Already very close to the operator T-Mobile, the start-up is finally gradually approaching Google, which bought it in 2005.

At the end of 2005, Rubin and his team moved to offices in Mountain View, California, away from the world, and worked actively to develop Android. Meanwhile, Apple is developing the iPhone secretly from offices in Paris, under the leadership of Jean-Marie Hullot. The iPhone was finally presented in January 2007, before Android.

Contrary to popular belief, Google is very enthusiastic about the idea of ​​the iPhone. Its objective is indeed to multiply the page views, and therefore the displays of advertisements, on mobile. They want to shake up the various market players at the time, such as Microsoft with Windows Mobile, Nokia with Symbian and RIM with Blackberry. The latter indeed have great difficulty in offering a convincing web browsing experience and Google wants to push the iPhone and its own solution, Android, to force other players to react and improve their OS.

It was in this context that Android was announced on November 11, 2007. Google CEO Eric Schmidt at the time said in a press release:

Today’s announcement is more ambitious than any ‘Google Phone’ the press has speculated on in recent weeks. Our vision is that the powerful platform we are unveiling will power thousands of different phone models.

Google got it right. In 2021, Android equips 3 billion connected devices in the world, it is the most used OS in the world. For the record, the T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream in France) is not the first Android terminal. Android is featured on a device known as Sooner, and manufactured by HTC. It looked more like BlackBerry devices at the time than touch smartphones, with a big full QWERTY keyboard and a small 240p non-touch screen.

There is no denying the historic impact of the iPhone on Android. While not the first full touchscreen phone, the iPhone has redesigned the way a smartphone user experience should work, paving the way for the responsive touchscreen smartphones we all use today. . The T-Mobile G1, or HTC Dream, was finally presented the following year, in 2008.