Android Fans Celebrate Five Years Of Google's Mobile Operating System

November 5 is a date that many people remember for different reasons. Most people on the Internet probably remember the date because of Guy Fawkes Day, the date that Anonymous has claimed as their own protest holiday. Others are remembering it for another reason – the Android operating system turned five today.

On November 5, 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a group of companies including Google, T-Mobile and HTC, announced the Android operating system as its first product. It wasn’t until a year later that the first Android phone – the HTC Dream – was made available on October 22, 2008.

The operating system has come a long way since the HTC Dream’s Android 1.0. The OS was still in its infancy, and HTC’s hardware resembled the BlackBerry more than the touch phones that Apple popularized. Now most Android devices are running Android 2.3 with more and more devices making the switch to Android 4.0 or 4.1 everyday.

Andy Rubin, co-founder of Android Inc, has not said anything about the momentous occasion, but other Google employees and fans are picking up the slack on Google+ and Twitter.

Dan Morrill1 hour ago

Happy Birthday Android! Five years is quite a milestone.

I had a poem all worked out about "remember remember the fifth of November", but it was kind of lame so I spared you. You can thank me later.

Edit: Limerick form, for +Jann Van Hamersveld:

Once a man in Mountain View
Gazed upon phones and said "Eew!"
"This crap is so closed!"
"The industry's hosed."
+Andy Rubin knew just what to do. 75 8 Powered by socialditto