Android Turns 5 Years Old

23rd September 2008, Google executives stood on stage and announced the much-rumored T-Mobile G1 (also known as the HTC Dream). It was the first commercial product to run a new, Linux-based operating system called Android. It turned out pretty OK.

Des Smith, one of the members of the original Android team, shared some of his recollections on Google+. Things were different then:

I was worried that 50 “3G” phones might tear down the new T-Mobile 3G network! We switched half of them to WiFi tested them all out and packed up for the night.

I was so excited I couldn’t sleep – we were about to change the world."

And here’s how that world-changing announcement went down:

The G1 itself wasn’t a life-changer from the get-go, but it showed promise. Enough that it seemed possible—if not a foregone conclusion—that Android could take off and make a serious impact in the world of mobile phones. With a capacitive touchscreen, augmented with a physical keyboard and a trackball, the G1 was a showcase for all the fancy tricks the brand new Android 1.0 could pull off, like email, Google Maps, and mobile web-browsing. Exciting stuff.

One billion activated phones since then, and Android is a completely different—and damned mature—animal. From its humble beginnings on an OK phone, Android has branched out to cameras, watches, even refrigerators. And there’s no end in sight.

via Gizmodo