7 amazing facts about Android you probably didn't know

Since its inception, about ten years ago, Android has seen significant evolution. What began as a single straightforward phone has grown into a force across a wide range of platforms and form factors. The narrative of Android’s history is really intriguing. We have seven things about Android that you probably didn’t know, even if you may believe you already know everything there is to know about it. Look it up!

Android was not created by Google.

Although Google and Android are now often used interchangeably, you might be shocked to learn that this wasn’t always the case. Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears, and Chris White invented Android in 2003. The founders were closely connected to T-Mobile. The wildly successful T-Mobile Sidekick was invented by Andy Rubin, and Nick Sears served as vice president of the company. Therefore, it is clear why T-Mobile obtained the first Android device.

Not until 2005 did Google purchase Android Inc. Through the purchase, Rubin, Miner, and White were all still working on Android. Together, they created the Android OS as we know it today.

Many detractors believed Android would be a total failure.

Nowadays, Android is almost universally lauded, but back then, reviewers were far more pessimistic. The iPhone was brand new when Android first appeared, and Microsoft and Blackberry were setting the standard for cell phones. It didn’t seem likely that a firm that specialized in email and web searches would also produce phones.

The earliest iteration of Android resembled a Blackberry.

Many people think that the first Android smartphone would have looked very different if it hadn’t been for the iPhone. Before Apple unveiled the first iPhone in 2007, the first Android prototype was already in circulation. The “Sooner” gadget had a trackpad, a trackball, a portrait keyboard, and no touchscreen. Even more so than the Blackberry user interface was the Android UI.

The iPhone was then unveiled. It had a ground-breaking touchscreen interface, a large display for the time, and no conventional keyboard. The T-Mobile G1 was the second Android smartphone we saw, and it too had a large display and a touchscreen user interface. The Blackberry-like prototype was never commercially successful.

Only Android 3.0 has never been compatible with smartphones.

We are aware in 2015 that Android is designed to function across a wide range of device kinds. Phones, tablets, watches, automobiles, and TVs can all run Android 5.0. That wasn’t always the case, though. When Apple unveiled the first iPad in 2010, the globe caught the tablet bug. Manufacturers of Android devices sought to profit from the tablet craze, but Android was still primarily designed for phones at the time.

However, if Android was going to compete with the 10-inch iPad, it required a lot more development. Samsung had some success with Android 2.3 Gingerbread on the mid-sized Galaxy Tab 7.0. The Motorola XOOM running Android 3.0 Honeycomb was initially demonstrated to the public during CES 2011. Its UI had been fully revamped and optimized for tablets.

Honeycomb would be the Android version that may be considered a flop. Android tablets were produced by every company on Earth, but they were pricey and lacked apps. In the end, Google abandoned Honeycomb and developed subsequent iterations of Android to support all screen sizes.

Even the 3.5mm headphone jack and virtual keyboard were absent from the initial Android handset.

If you went back to 2008 and told them that most future phones wouldn’t have physical keyboards, they would laugh you out of the room. The most popular phone at the time was a Blackberry, which features a recognizable keyboard by default. Before the first iPhone, there were many people who were skeptical of the notion of a smartphone without a keyboard.

You might be more shocked to learn what the T-Mobile G1, the very first Android handset, didn’t have than what it did have, which was a slide-out physical keyboard. Without a virtual keyboard, Android 1.1 came preinstalled on the G1. You couldn’t type with one hand since you had to use a real keyboard.

Android may have been wiped out by WebOS, but

As we’ve already mentioned, at first, many had some reservations about Android. The announcement of WebOS, on the other hand, was met with overwhelming acclaim and applause. There were hardly any Android smartphones in existence at the time. Android 1.5 was still new when WebOS debuted, and no one had heard of the Motorola DROID.

According to the critics, the time was right for WebOS to dethrone Android and emerge as a legitimate challenger to iOS. If Palm hadn’t made certain bizarre decisions, it may have occurred. Instead of one of the major carriers, Sprint was chosen to introduce the first WebOS smartphone, and the marketing effort was rather peculiar.

The first Android wristwatch was created by Sony in 2010.

Google unveiled Android Wear, a specific variant of Android designed for wearables, in 2014. Since then, the market has been flooded with Android smartwatches. Although it may seem like these are the first Android smartwatches, one manufacturer really got there before.

Sony (Ericsson) introduced the LiveView watch back in 2010. It linked to Android phones so that it could show Twitter feeds, RSS feeds, and SMS, and manage the media player on the device. Sony introduced the SmartWatch 2, which has many of the same capabilities, in 2013. Samsung didn’t release its first Android wristwatch until this point. Sony was the winner.