Android has come a long way since its beta operating system was launched in November 2007—back in the days when most of us were still carrying around a cell phone. And just look at how far it’s come: today, Google’s mobile OS firmly rules the global wireless market.

But Android’s rise to the top wasn’t always smooth sailing. What started out as a promising OS concept nearly went DOA—but was shortly resuscitated by impressive turnaround that eventually led to its current global domination.

It’s been an exciting five years for Android to say the least. But what does the future hold for the Android OS and the Android Phone? Or for the ongoing Android vs. Apple mobile war?

From Beta to Jelly Bean
Android’s 5… No, Make that 11-Year History

Android may be officially celebrating its fifth birthday, but its history goes even further back… to October 2003, when Rich Miner, Andy Rubin, Nick Sears and Chris White created a little start-up called Android. Rumours soon started circulating that the four tech experts were working on a new smartphone operating system.

The truth finally came out in July 2005, when Google bought Android for an estimated $50 million.

Then… nothing.

For a few of years, everyone wondered if Android was dead.

Finally, on September 23, 2008, Android 1.0 was launched, followed in October by the very first Android smartphone: the HTC Dream (aka T-Mobile G1, “the world’s first Android phone”). It arrived more than a year after Apple’s first iPhone—and a few months after the App Store opened, which made the iPhone a bona fide smartphone.

The G1 wasn’t the most impressive piece of hardware on the market at the time and this first version offered just a taste of what today’s Android phones offer. Sure, there was access to GPS, WiFi and Google Maps, and users could connect to the Android Market. But the built-in camera was merely meh. More importantly, there was no Microsoft Exchange Server, no ActiveSync, which meant the entire business community basically dismissed Androids out of hand.

Although the G1 was credited as being more capable than the non-touch stylus-based smartphones of the time, it struggled for market acceptance for a while.

Then came the Motorola Droid in 2009. When this first high-profile Android handset hit Verizon with its successful “Droid Does” marketing campaign and signature “Droiiid” sound for incoming email, mainstream consumers started comparing Droids to Apples (iphones; that is). The fact that the Droid was a fast phone and the first handset to come with voice navigation helped tipped the scales in its favour, too.

Android’s popularity soon skyrocketed and the rest, as they say, is history (a history that includes the first Samsung Galaxy S handsets running Android in 2010).

Android’s first 4G LTE Android devices appeared in early 2011, beating Apple to the market by more than a year and a half. Google also tried—albeit unsuccessfully—to sell its own Nexus handset. However, it did manage to resurrect the name in various phones by multiple manufacturers, including the current Samsung Galaxy Nexus lineup.

So where is Android now? Comfortably all alone at the top of the mobile food chain, according to Gartner’s 2011 end-of-year global smartphone OS market share data report:

Company	2011 Market Share (%)
Android	50.9
iOS	23.8
Symbian	11.7
Research in Motion	8.8
Bada	2.1
Microsoft	1.9
Other OSs	0.8

 

If today’s smartphones are powerful devices with impressive capabilities, we can thank Android for much of that. Let’s just see where the reigning OS will be five years from now.

Some market trends suggest smartphones may soon be replaced by tablets or even smartwatches. Do you agree?