Android™ Application Development All-in-One For Dummies®

Introduction

Android phones are everywhere. In January 2011, Android became the most popular operating system for mobile phones in the United States.1 In that month, Android’s market share managed to surpass those of the BlackBerry and the iPhone. And a month later, Android’s presence grew to include one of every three smartphones in the United States.2

1See www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/3/comScore_Reports_January_2011_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber_Market_Share.

2See www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/4/comScore_Reports_February_2011_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber_Market_Share.

At the same time, Market Force Information, Inc., reported that “Android appears to be winning the smartphone popularity contest.”3 Among survey respondents in the United States, 34 percent said they would purchase an Android phone, compared with 21 percent for iPhone and 12 percent for BlackBerry. On the global scene, research firm Ovum predicts that by 2016, “We will see dramatic shifts in dominance for smartphone software platforms, with Android storming into the lead with 38 percent market share.”4

3See www.marketforce.com/2011/02/consumers-now-more-likely-to-buy-androids-than-iphones.

4See http://about.datamonitor.com/media/archives/5565.

So if you read this book in a public place (on a commuter train, at the beach, on the dance floor at the Coyote Ugly saloon), you can read proudly, with a chip on your shoulder and with your chest held high. Android is hot stuff, and you’re ...