Google Android is now 10 years old

Google Android is the world's most popular mobile operating system right now, but it needed a while to take off. Its history is pretty long since its roots can be traced back in the early 2000s, when Android Inc. began working on this project. However, Google acquired the company in 2005, and the first beta version for the public surfaced in November 2007.

Back in 2008, the HTC-made T-Mobile G1 became the first handset to ship with Android onboard. Hugo Barra was Android's product spokesman between 2008 and 2013 when he left Google to join Xiaomi. Andy Rubin, the father of the Essential phone, had left the Android division for other Google projects less than six months earlier.

In the video below (that was published a decade ago, by the way), Google co-founder Sergey Brin introduces the Android project to the world. The company's CTO Steve Horowitz shows the mobile operating system in action, revealing that Google hopes to see this project growing to fuel the making of "thousands of G Phones" in the future.

Looking back, there is no doubt that Horowitz's expectations have been exceeded many times ever since. Now, Google Android is available in over 100 languages and drives smartphones, tablets, TV sets, smart wearables, and even cars. 

According to a report published in April 2017, Android became the most popular operating system for total Internet usage this spring, leaving Microsoft Windows in the dust and keeping its crown ever since. One month later, Google announced that its mobile operating system has more than 2 billion monthly active users.

In this moment, the most popular Android version is Marshmallow, which has been around since October 2015 and has a market share of more than 30 percent. The next two in line are Android Lollipop (around 27 percent) and Nougat (about 18 percent). Next September, Google will celebrate a decade since the initial release of the first stable Android ROM. For now, the more adventurous users should celebrate a decade since the first public beta became public. Happy birthday, Android!