Android is flooding the tablet and smartphone market like a tidal wave. Many major hardware developers are capitalising on Android’s open-source and readily available platform to power their products.

Android has only been a formidable market force for a few years, but its history goes back further than that. It began as a wireless startup in 2003, founded by Andy Rubin and Rich Miner, and was acquired by Google in 2005. The first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1, launched in October 2008. Since then, over 410 compatible Android devices have been released by 39 manufacturers and 231 carriers in 123 countries.