An Android™ phone is a cellphone that uses the Google-developed Android™ operating system and platform. Google partnered with the High Tech Computer Corporation (HTCC) to build hardware for the G1 cellphone, the first mobile phone to run the Android™ platform. In 2008, T-Mobile premiered the G1 Android™ phone to the public.
On the technical side, an Android™ phone runs on the android™ operating system, key applications and middleware. It's Linux kernel-based, has applications that are written in the Java language and can even run applications written in the C language. It is also a product, partly, of the Open Handset Alliance, which encourages the use and advancement of open source software for cellphones.
One of the biggest differences between a phone running the android™ platform and others is that the software Android™ uses is a complex operating system. In contrast, the majority of operational cellphones run primitive real time applications.
