These days, spotting an Android phone while out and about isn't a rare occurrence. However, just five years ago, there wasn't a single Android handset available on the market. Google announced the Open Handset Alliance and its intention to build the first "truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices" on November 5, 2007 just a few months after the original iPhone was released. It would be another year before we saw the first Android phone released. The HTC Dream was released in October 2008 and sold as the T-Mobile G1 in the United States. It ran on Android 1.0 at launch (updated to Android 1.6 at a later date) and boasted 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A ARM11 processor, 192MB of RAM, 256MB of ROM, up to 16GBmicroSD, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and a 3.2-inch 320 x 480 (180ppi) HVGALCD.
Since then we've seen Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean follow that original version of Android. And, while the G1 may not have sold as well as the iPhone, Android now has a few all-star players of its own, including Samsung's Galaxy S III, Google's Nexus line, and even a handful of tablets.
Happy birthday, Android!
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