Android has just turned five – here are five products that have helped define Google’s OS
Android was first revealed five years ago today, so we thought we’d
take a stroll through the past half-decade, looking at five products
that have defined Google’s mobile OS.
HTC Magic
The HTC Magic was a real game-changer: the first great Android phone
and the possessor of a fantastic touchscreen. A quick glance down the
specs list shows us how far Android phones have come since: the screen
is 320 x 480, the camera is a mere 3.2MP and there’s just 512MB of
built-in storage – but for its time it was a top class smartphone.
Motorola Xoom
Until the Xoom, Android tablets used a “blown up” version of the
smartphone software, leading to them being buggier than a spider’s web
after “flying ant day”. But Motorola’s 10.1-inch slate rocked Android
3.0 Honeycomb, a version of the OS designed specifically with tablets in
mind. While not quite as smooth a customer as the first-gen iPad, the
Xoom had a sharper 1280 x 800 screen, twin cameras and multitasking,
making it the first Android slate to offer up a decent alternative to
Apple.
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
OK, so it’s not a device per se, but in our opinion Ice Cream Sandwich
is the version of Android that made it a true “mobile ecosystem” (ugh,
sorry about that). Offering a unified user interface across both
smartphones and tablets, along with a great big pile of new features
(including the ability to take screenshots!), it remains a slick
platform for any mobile device.
Samsung Galaxy S3
Combining stunning form with immense power and a stack of features
longer than a basketball player’s arm, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is the
first Android phone to be, in our opinion, better than its closest Apple
rival (in this case, the iPhone 5). This handset has put down a marker
by which high end smartphones should be judged.
Google Nexus 10
The Nexus 10 is Google’s latest tablet, and its first to really
challenge the might of the full size iPad. And challenge it does: for a
piffling price point, it offers a sharper-than-Retina-Display screen,
speedy dual-core processor and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The build quality
is fantastic too. It’s enough to tempt away many a would-be iPad 4
purchaser...
