VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

BELGAUM-590014

A SEMINAR REPORT ON

Android OS
A Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the VIII semester

SEMINAR

Under the Guidance of:

prof. Nagraj Telker

Vishal R. Patil 2KA07CS059

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE & ENGINEERING,

SMT. KAMALA AND SRI VENKAPPA M. AGADI COLLEGE OF

ENGG.

AND TECH. LAXMESHWAR – 582116

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 CERTIFICATE

SMT. KAMALA & SHRI. VENKAPPA M. AGADI COLLEGE

OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
LAXMESHWAR - 582 116

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

Certificated that the Seminar report entitled as “ Android os” is a

bonified work carried out by VISHAL PATIL in the partial fulfillment
prescribed by the Visveswaraiah Technological University, Belgaum for VIII
semester Computer Science & Engineering during the year 2011. This Seminar
report has been approved as it satisfies the academic requirements in respect to
the Seminar.

--------------------------- ---------------------------- ---------------------------

Signature of Guide Signature of HOD Signature of Principal
Prof.Nagraj Telker Prof. S.V Gumaste Dr. Ashok Chapgaon

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Endeavors have borne fruit, and as I prepare to forge ahead, I stop for the
moment in My tracks to acknowledge the enormous assistance and excellent co-
operation extended to by my respected guide Prof. Nagraj Telker who inspired me as
my guide with their experience and knowledge providing me with educative support. I
whole-heartedly express my appreciation and gratitude.
I am also thankful to my beloved H.O.D. Prof.S.V Gumaste and to my respected
principal Dr.Ashok Chapgaon for their outstanding support by providing extra lab facility
throughout the preparation of seminar.

I sincerely thank all those who have helped me directly or indirectly in completing the
project. I also offer my deep gratitude to my parents and my seniors who have appreciated,
encouraged and assisted me in my endeavors.

Mr. VISHAL PATIL

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

1.1 Abstract ---------------------------------------------------------------- 5

Chapter 2
2.1 Introduction------------------------------------------------------------ 6

Chapter 3

3.1 Features of Android OS ------------------------------------------------ 7

Chapter 4

4.1 Android Architecture --------------------------------------------------- 8

4.1.1 Application Framework---------------------------------------- 9

4.1.2 Libraries-----------------------------------------------------10

4.1.3 Android Runtime--------------------------------------------11

4.1.4 Linux Kernal-------------------------------------------------12

Chapter 5

5.1 Architecture for Secure Data storage--------------------------------13

Chapter 6

6.1 Execution Environment ---------------------------------------------16

6.2 The Dalvik Virtual Machine------------------------------------------19

Chapter 7

7.1 Lifecycle of an Android Application ---------------------------------20

7.2 Security and permissions in Android --------------------------------22

7.3 Development Tools------------- ------------------------------------ 23

Conclusion --------------------------------------------------------------------25

References -------------------------------------------------------------------26

Glossary ----------------------------------------------------------------------27

White Paper --------- -------------------------------------------------------28

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Chapter 1
1. ABSTRACT

Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system,
middleware and key applications. Android is a software platform and operating system for
mobile devices based on the Linux operating system and developed by Google and the Open
Handset Alliance. It allows developers to write managed code in a Java-like language that
utilizes Google-developed Java libraries, but does not support programs developed in native
code.
The unveiling of the Android platform on 5 November 2007 was announced with the
founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 34 hardware, software and telecom
companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. When released in 2008,
most of the Android platform will be made available under the Apache free-software and
open-source license.

Open - Android allows to access core mobile device functionality through standard API
calls. All applications are equal - Android does not differentiate between the phone's basic
and third-party applications -- even the dialer or home screen can be replaced. Breaking
down boundaries - Combine information from the web with data on the phone -- such as
contacts or geographic location -- to create new user experiences. Fast and easy development
- The SDK contains what need to build and run Android applications, including a true device
emulator and advanced debugging tools.

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 Chapter 2

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware
and key applications. Android is a software platform and operating system for mobile devices
based on the Linux operating system and developed by Google and the Open Handset
Alliance. It allows developers to write managed code in a Java-like language that utilizes
Google-developed Java libraries, but does not support programs developed in native code.
The unveiling of the Android platform on 5 November 2007 was announced with the
founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 34 hardware, software and telecom
companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. When released in 2008,
most of the Android platform will be made available under the Apache free-software and
open-source license.
2.1.1 THE BIRTH OF ANDROID
Google Acquires Android Inc.
In July 2005, Google acquired Android Inc., a small startup company based in Palo Alto, CA.
Android's co-founders who went to work at Google included Andy Rubin (co-founder of
Danger), Rich Miner (co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc), Nick Sears (once VP at
T-Mobile), and Chris White (one of the first engineers at WebTV). At the time, little was
known about the functions of Android Inc. other than they made software for mobile phones.

2.1.2 Open Handset Alliance Founded

On 5 November 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of several companies which
include Google, HTC, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel and NVIDIA,
was unveiled with the goal to develop open standards for mobile devices. Along with the
formation of the Open Handset Alliance, the OHA also unveiled their first product, Android,
an open source mobile device platform based on the Linux operating system.
2.1.3 Hardware
Google has unveiled at least three prototypes for Android, at the Mobile World Congress on
February 12, 2008. One prototype at the ARM booth displayed several basic Google
applications. A 'd-pad' control zooming of items in the dock with a relatively quick response.

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Chapter 3
3.1 Features of Android OS

· Application framework enabling reuse and replacement of components

· Dalvik virtual machine optimized for mobile devices

· Integrated browser based on the open source WebKit engine

· Optimized graphics powered by a custom 2D graphics library; 3D graphics

based on the OpenGL ES 1.0 specification (hardware acceleration optional)

· SQLite for structured data storage

· Media support for common audio, video, and still image formats (MPEG4,
H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG, GIF)

· GSM Telephony (hardware dependent)

· Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and WiFi (hardware dependent)

· Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer (hardware dependent)

· Rich development environment including a device emulator, tools for

debugging, memory and performance profiling, and a plugin for the Eclipse
IDE

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  Chapter 4

4.1 Android Architecture

The following diagram shows the major components of Android  

Figure 1: Architecture of Android OS

 

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4.1.1 Application Framework

Developers have full access to the same framework APIs used by the core applications. The
application architecture is designed to simplify the reuse of components; any application can
publish its capabilities and any other application may then make use of those capabilities
(subject to security constraints enforced by the framework). This same mechanism allows
components to be replaced by the user.

Underlying all applications is a set of services and systems, including:

  ·        A rich and extensible set of Views that can be used to build an application, including
lists, grids, text boxes, buttons, and even an embeddable web browser

·        Content Providers that enable applications to access data from other applications (such
as Contacts), or to share their own data

·        A Resource Manager, providing access to non-code resources such as localized strings,
graphics, and lat files

·        A Notification Manager that enables all applications to display custom alerts in the
status bar

·        An Activity Manager that manages the life cycle of applications and provides a
common navigation backstack

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4.1.2 Libraries

Android includes a set of C/C++ libraries used by various components of the Android system.
These capabilities are exposed to developers through the Android application framework.
Some of the core libraries are listed below:

·        System C library - a BSD-derived implementation of the standard C system library

(libc), tuned for embedded Linux-based devices

·        Media Libraries - based on PacketVideo's Open CORE; the libraries support playback
and recording of many popular audio and video formats, as well as static image files,
including MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, and PNG

·        Surface Manager - manages access to the display subsystem and seamlessly
composites 2D and 3D graphic layers from multiple applications

·        LibWebCore - a modern web browser engine which powers both the Android browser
and an embeddable web view

·        SGL - the underlying 2D graphics engine

·        3D libraries - an implementation based on OpenGL ES 1.0 APIs; the libraries use
either hardware 3D acceleration (where available) or the included, highly optimized 3D
software rasterizer

·        Free Type - bitmap and vector font rendering

SQLite - a powerful and lightweight relational database engine available to all applications.

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4.1.3 Android Runtime

Android includes a set of core libraries that provides most of the functionality available in the
core libraries of the Java programming language. Every Android application runs in its own
process, with its own instance of the Dalvik virtual machine. Dalvik has been written so that a
device can run multiple VMs efficiently. The Dalvik VM executes files in the Dalvik
Executable (.dex) format which is optimized for minimal memory footprint. The VM is
register-based, and runs classes compiled by a Java language compiler that have been
transformed into the .dex format by the included "dx" tool. The Dalvik VM relies on the
Linux kernel for underlying functionality such as threading and low-level memory
management.

At the same level there is Android Runtime, where the main component Dalvik Virtual
Machine is located. It was designed specifically for Android running in limited environment,
where the limited battery, CPU, memory and data storage are the main issues. Android gives
an integrated tool “dx”, which converts generated byte code from .jar to .dex file, after this
byte code becomes much more efficient to run on the small processors.

Figure 2: Conversion from .java to .dex file 

As the result, it is possible to have multiple instances of Dalvik virtual machine
running on the single device at the same time. The Core libraries are written in Java language
and contains of the collection classes, the utilities, IO and other tools.

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13
4.1.4 Linux Kernal

Android Architecture is based on Linux 2.6 kernel. It helps to manage security, memory
management, process management, network stack and other important issues. Therefore, the
user should bring Linux in his mobile device as the main operating system and install all the
drivers required in order to run it. Android provides the support for the Qualcomm MSM7K
chipset family. For instance, the current kernel tree supports Qualcomm MSM 7200A
chipsets, but in the second half of 2008 we should see mobile devices with stable version
Qualcomm MSM 7200, which includes major features:

1. WCDMA/HSUPA and EGPRS network support

2. Bluetooth 1.2 and Wi-Fi support

3. Digital audio support for mp3 and other formats

4. Support for Linux and other third-party operating systems

5. Java hardware acceleration and support for Java applications

6. Qcamera up to 6.0 megapixels

7. gpsOne – solution for GPS

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Chapter 5
5.1 Architecture for Secure Data Storage

Figure 3 Android and Secure Local Data Storage

Secure data storage solution that could potentially be deployed on Android. It is as shown in
the figure. However, many shortcomings of the design have been addressed. Additional
security highlights will be presented at the end of the section.
Using figure 3, we have the following workflow:
1. The user enters his credentials on the handset.
2. The credentials are not sent to the SSO service over the network. Instead, the
credentials are used as the passphrase to decrypt the local public/private key pair of the
user. We define the public/private key pair to be of type RSA and of at least 4096 bits
in size. Already we gain the advantage that the user’s password is not sent over the
network.

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 3. The private key is used to decrypt the symmetric cipher key. The symmetric cipher key
is used to encrypt/decrypt any locally cached data. A strong symmetric cipher like
3DES is used.
4. All data found in the local cache is encrypted with the symmetric cipher key defined in
step #3.
5. If the requested data is not locally cached or expired. We must communicate with the
SSO service again to be able to receive fresh data from the Restful web services.
However, unlike the architecture presented in section 2 of this document, we login to
the SSO server using a hostile challenge based on the private key of the user. As such,
we login with the SSO system using public/private key infrastructure. The user name
and the password are never sent over the network. The SSO system can identify the
user based on this challenge and returns a 496 bit alpha numeric token.
6. The tokens generated by the SSO system are set to automatically expire after a given
period of time.
7. On reception of the SSO token. The Android background application can now
communicate with any Restful web services that adhere to the same SSO federation.
Public/private key infrastructure is once again used to setup a secure communication
channel between the phone and the server. The certificates of the servers that host the
web services are procured from the same certificate authority that shipped with the
phone.
8. On reception of a request, the SSO token is extracted from the request. The web
service calls upon the SSO system to authorize the operation.
9. On reception of the data, the symmetric cipher described in bullet #3 above is used to
encrypt the data before it reaches any local persistent storehouse.
10. Data is returned to the user facing application.

Additional security notes:

1. The public/private key pair of the user is generated directly on the handset at install
time. As such, the private key has never left the phone nor has it been transferred over any
network.
2. The certificate of the user must at least be registered once in the SSO application.
This could be done at install time of the handset application.
3. “Man-in-the-middle”38 attacks are not possible since the application is deployed
with the CA certificate of the company that will be hosting the web services.
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 4. If the device is lost, all the locally cached data is completely unreadable. The
symmetric key that encrypted this data is also unreadable. The public/private keys that are
central to the security architecture are protected by a passphrase.
5. The passphrase is the weakest link in the chain. If the user enters an overly simple
password, access could be gained to the private key and hence the locally cached data.
6. That being said, it would be possible to further extend this architecture to store the
encrypted symmetric key on the server. This way, even if the passphrase of the private key is
compromised, the locally cached data still cannot be accessed. This is because the encrypted
strong symmetric cipher key is stored on the server. By the time the passphrase has been
cracked, there has been ample time to report the stolen phone and revoke this key from this
user account on the server. Furthermore, under this scheme, the key stored on the server is
still encrypted. Even if this key is intercepted in transit it is useless without the user’s private
key.
7. It is also possible to enforce a strong password policy directly from the handset
application.
8. Even if this design is significantly more secure than the previous iteration, to the
user, the experience is the same. The user must enter a username and password to prove his
identify.
9. We could augment the architecture in yet another direction. The local caching
system could also require an SSO token and subsequently request authorization from an SSO
system. Such a design would prevent terminated employees, i.e., an Individual who already
knows what the local credentials are, from accessing the locally cached data.

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Chapter 6
6.1 Execution Environment

Figure 4 Regular Java Execution Process

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Figure 5 Android Execution Environment

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Figures 4 and 5 represent the regular Java and Android execution paths respectively. It is
interesting to note here however is that the Android compilers do not operate on Java
language code. Instead, the Android translators work on the resulting Java bytecode emitted
from a traditional Java compiler.
As such, it is possible to reuse existing Java libraries, even if the original source code is not
available. Such libraries must meet stringent requirements however, they need to:
1. adhere to the Java SE 5 dialect
2. not use any Java classes or packages found in Java SE 5 not found in the Android
platform
3. not use any packages or classes specific to the Sun Microsystems platform
4. still behave in a predictable manner under the Apache Harmony Java environment

Following these guidelines, it’s possible to integrate existing Java source code, packages and
libraries piecemeal. Special care will be needed in the integration phase of such code but the
potential savings offered by such integration far outweighs the cost of rewriting well-coded,
well-documented and well-tested libraries ready for use. Furthermore, it is expected that has
Apache Harmony matures, more and more compatibility issues will be resolved further
increasing the pool of available Java code that will be able to execute unmodified under the
Android platform.

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6.2 The Dalvik Virtual Machine

The Dalvik Virtual Machine

The Dalvik virtual machine is an interpreter only machine optimized for use on low powered,
low memory devices like phones. Notably, Dalvik does not make use of just in time (JIT)
Compilation to improve the performance of an application at runtime. Furthermore, Dalvik is
not a Java virtual machine. This is because Dalvik is unable to read Java bytecode34, instead
it uses its own bytecode format called “dex”. Google claims this format allows battery power
to be better-conserved at all different stages of execution of an application. This means that
standard Java SE applications and libraries cannot be used directly on the Android Dalvik
virtual machine.
Dalvik however stands at the center of the Android value proposition. Its low electrical power
consumption, rich libraries, and unified, non-fragmented application programming interfaces
make it stand out, or so Google hopes, over the fragmented ecosystem that is Java ME35
today.
Furthermore, since Dalvik uses the Java programming language but not the Java execution
environment (JVM), Google is free to develop Android without the need to license or obtain
certification from Sun Microsystems Inc, the legal owner of the Java trademark and brands.

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Chapter 7
7.1 Lifecycle of an Android Application

In most cases, every Android application runs in its own Linux process. This process is
created for the application when some of its code needs to be run, and will remain running
until it is no longer needed and the system needs to reclaim its memory for use by other
applications.

An important and unusual feature of Android is that an application process's lifetime is not
directly controlled by the application itself. Instead, it is determined by the system through a
combination of the parts of the application that the system knows are running, how important
these things are to the user, and how much overall memory is available in the system.

It is important that application developers understand how different application components

(in particular Activity, Service, and IntentReceiver) impact the lifetime of the application's
process. Not using these components correctly can result in the system killing the
application's process while it is doing important work.

A common example of a process life-cycle bug is an IntentReceiver that starts a thread when
it receives an Intent in its onReceiveIntent() method, and then returns from the function. Once
it returns, the system considers that IntentReceiver to be no longer active, and thus its hosting
process no longer needed (unless other application components are active in it). Thus, it may
kill the process at any time to reclaim memory, terminating the spawned thread that is
running in it. The solution to this problem is to start a Service from the IntentReceiver, so the
system knows that there is still active work being done in the process.

To determine which processes should be killed when low on memory, Android places them
into an "importance hierarchy" based on the components running in them and the state of
those components. These are, in order of importance:

1.    A foreground process is one holding an Activity at the top of the screen that the
user is interacting with (its onResume () method has been called) or an IntentReceiver that is
currently running (its onReceiveIntent () method is executing). There will only ever be a few
such processes in the system, and these will only be killed as a last resort if memory is so low
that not even these processes can continue to run. Generally at this point the device has

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reached a memory paging state, so this action is required in order to keep the user interface
responsive.

2.    A visible process is one holding an Activity that is visible to the user on-screen
but not in the foreground (its onPause() method has been called). This may occur, for
example, if the foreground activity has been displayed with a dialog appearance that allows
the previous activity to be seen behind it. Such a process is considered extremely important
and will not be killed unless doing so is required to keep all foreground processes running.

3.    A service process is one holding a Service that has been started with the
startService() method. Though these processes are not directly visible to the user, they are
generally doing things that the user cares about (such as background mp3 playback or
background network data upload or download), so the system will always keep such
processes running unless there is not enough memory to retain all foreground and visible
process.

4.    A background process is one holding an Activity that is not currently visible to
the user (its onStop() method has been called). These processes have no direct impact on the
user experience. Provided they implement their activity life cycle correctly (see Activity for
more details), the system can kill such processes at any time to reclaim memory for one of the
three previous processes types. Usually there are many of these processes running, so they are
kept in an LRU list to ensure the process that was most recently seen by the user is the last to
be killed when running low on memory.

5.    An empty process is one that doesn't hold any active application components.
The only reason to keep such a process around is as a cache to improve startup time the next
time a component of its application needs to run. As such, the system will often kill these
processes in order to balance overall system resources between these empty cached processes
and the underlying kernel caches.

When deciding how to classify a process, the system picks the most important level of all the
components currently active in the process.

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7.2 Security and Permissions in Android

Android is a multi-process system, where each application (and parts of the system) runs in
its own process. Most security between applications and the system is enforced at the process
level through standard Linux facilities, such as user and group IDs that are assigned to
applications. Additional finer-grained security features are provided through a "permission"
mechanism that enforces restrictions on the specific operations that a particular process can
perform.

Android mobile phone platform is going to be more secure than Apple’s iPhone or any other
device in the long run. There are several solutions nowadays to protect Google phone from
various attacks. One of them is security vendor McAfee, a member of Linux Mobile (LiMo)
Foundation. This foundation joins particular companies to develop an open mobile-device
software platform. Many of the companies listed in the LiMo Foundation have also become
members of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA).

As a result, Linux secure coding practice should successfully be built into the Android
development process. However, open platform has its own disadvantages, such as source
code vulnerability for black-hat hackers. In parallel with great opportunities for mobile
application developers, there is an expectation for exploitation and harm. Stealthy Trojans
hidden in animated images, particular viruses passed from friend to friend, used for spying
and identity theft, all these threats will be active for a long run.

Another solution for such attacks is SMobile Systems mobile package. Security Shield –an
integrated application that includes anti-virus, anti-spam, firewall and other mobile protection
is up and ready to run on the Android operating system. Currently, the main problem is
availability for viruses to pose as an application and do things like dial phone numbers, send
text messages or multi-media messages or make connections to the Internet during normal
device use. It is possible for somebody to use the GPS feature to track a person’s location
without their knowledge. Hence SMobile Systems is ready to notify and block these secure
alerts. But the truth is that it is not possible to secure r mobile device or personal computer
completely, as it connects to the internet. And neither the Android phone nor other devices
will prove to be the exception.

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25
7.3 Development Tools

The Android SDK includes a variety of custom tools that help develop mobile applications
on the Android platform. The most important of these are the Android Emulator and the
Android Development Tools plugin for Eclipse, but the SDK also includes a variety of other
tools for debugging, packaging, and installing r applications on the emulator.

Android Emulator

A virtual mobile device that runs on computer use the emulator to design, debug, and test r
applications in an actual Android run-time environment.

Android Development Tools Plugin for the Eclipse IDE

The ADT plugin adds powerful extensions to the Eclipse integrated environment,
making creating and debugging r Android applications easier and faster. If use Eclipse, the
ADT plugin gives an incredible boost in developing Android applications:

       It gives access to other Android development tools from inside the Eclipse IDE.
For example, ADT lets access the many capabilities of the DDMS tool — taking
screenshots, managing port-forwarding, setting breakpoints, and viewing thread and process
information — directly from Eclipse.

       It provides a New Project Wizard, which helps quickly create and set up all of the
basic files’ll need for a new Android application.

       It automates and simplifies the process of building r Android application.

       It provides an Android code editor that helps write valid XML for r Android
manifest and resource files.

Dalvik Debug Monitor Service (ddms)

Integrated with Dalvik, the Android platform's custom VM, this tool lets manage processes
on an emulator or device and assists in debugging. can use it to kill processes, select a
specific process to debug, generate trace data, view heap and thread information, take
screenshots of the emulator or device, and more.

Android Debug Bridge (adb)

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The adb tool lets install application's .apk files on an emulator or device and access the
emulator or device from a command line. can also use it to link a standard debugger to
application code running on an Android emulator or device.

Android Asset Packaging Tool (aapt)

The aapt tool lets create .apk files containing the binaries and resources of Android
applications.

Android Interface Description Language (aidl)

Aidl Lets generate code for an interprocess interface, such as what a service might use.

sqlite3

Included as a convenience, this tool lets access the SQLite data files created and used by
Android applications.

Trace view

This tool produces graphical analysis views of trace log data that can generate from r
Android application.

mksdcard

Helps create a disk image that can use with the emulator, to simulate the presence of an
external storage card (such as an SD card).

dx

The dx tool rewrites .class bytecode into Android bytecode (stored in .dex files.)

activityCreator

A script that generates Ant build files that can use to compile r Android applications. If are
developing on Eclipse with the ADT plugin, won't need to use this script.

27
 Conclusion

Android is a truly open, free development platform based on Linux and open source. Handset
makers can use and customize the platform without paying a royalty.
A component-based architecture inspired by Internet mash-ups. Parts of one application can
be used in another in ways not originally envisioned by the developer. can even replace
built-in components with own improved versions. This will unleash a new round of
creativity in the mobile space.
 Android is open to all: industry, developers and users

 Participating in many of the successful open source projects

 Aims to be as easy to build for as the web.

 Google Android is stepping into the next level of Mobile Internet

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 References

1. White paper for “A Spectrum White Paper: Thoughts on Google Android” from
Spectrum data Technology. http://www.spectrumdt.com

2. http://code.google.com/android/ - Google Android official webpage

3. http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/ - Open Handset Alliance webpage

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(mobile_phone_platform)–Wikipedia
information

5. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/ - Official Google Blog

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 Glossary

SDK - Software Development Kit

APIs - Application Program Interfaces
GUI - Graphical User Interface
OHA - Open Handset Alliance
GPS – Global Positioning system
LRU – Last Recently Used
MHTML – Mobile HTML
QoS – Quality of Service
WAP – Web Application Protocol
CSD – Circuit Switched Data
OTA – Over-the-Air

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Whitepaper

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