We all love our Android devices right? Well we are going to explore where it all started, back in late 2008 and how Android has evolved in three years. We started with the G1 on T-Mobile and now all the way up to the Galaxy Nexus, but what happened in between the releases of those devices?

Android was Born

The Android was born back on October 22nd of 2008 with the T-mobile G1 launch in the US, unbelievably a lot of features we could not live without today were not available on the G1 when it launched in late 2008. Which included an on-screen keyboard and multi-touch capability. Of course when those first Android phones were sold, there were not many apps either unlike today where there are over 400,000 apps that we can download and enjoy now.

When Android was launched, we were introduced to the pull-down notification window, we were also introduced to the first mobile Operating System (OS) to feature widgets, which we have grown to love now. Of course with Android being owned by Google, there was some pretty deep Gmail integration when the G1 launched three years ago.

It’s hard to imagine that the images above where from the original Android Market which launched on the G1 as well. Isn’t it amazing how much the Market has changed in three years.

Android 1.1

The next version of Android to be released was not named after a dessert, that all started with Android 1.5. The first upgrade to Android came in February 2009, Android 1.1 was not a huge update, in fact it mostly consisted of bug fixes as with any first update on a new platform or software. And of course Over-The-Air updates were working from the very beginning, unlike Android’s biggest competitor.

Android 1.5: Cupcake

The era of Android Desserts begins. Can you imagine a mobile OS such as Android shipping without an on-screen keyboard, but it only took Google two updates to get a touchscreen keyboard onto our beloved Android phones. But in April 2009 we saw the first touchscreen only Android device, the HTC Magic. Google added the soft keyboard to the Android OS in version 1.5, but they also added the support to allow third party developers to make their own keyboard apps like Swiftkey X, Swype and many others.

Google also added extensive widgets in Cupcake, meaning that now developers could bundle widgets for their apps when Android users download their apps. Which these are now found in almost all of the apps on the Android Market. New in Cupcake was also some Clipboard improvements, as we all know Android had a rather rough and bumpy trail to get to copy and paste. Android technically supported copy/paste from day one but it was very limited unfortunately. Copy and paste didn’t get to be as great as it was today, until further down the development road.

Cupcake also featured many other miscellaneous updates including batch operations in gmail, upload support for YouTube and Picasa, and access to contacts’ Google Talk Status throughout the platform  in places like the messaging app and contact’s app.

Android 1.6: Donut

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBRFkLKRwFw

Our next tasty treat was Donut. This update was a big deal similar to how Cupcake was. But perhaps it didn’t seem as big to most of us because Donut featured a lot of “under the hood” enhancements. Donut opened the door for Android to have phones that supported resolutions different then the 320 x 480 that the T-Mobile G1 had. If you look at all the current Android devices, you will see many different resolutions and screen types, in fact it’s hard to find two phones that have the same resolution and screen type. This is all thanks to the Android geniuses behind Donut.

Android 1.6 also introduced the notion of the Quick Search box that we all know and love. Prior to Donut you would have to go home and press your “search button” and you’d be directed to Google Search in your browser. Donut also featured a redesigned Android Market with white and green accents, which are very closely tied in with Android’s Mascot and Android Authority’s mascot as well. Also a redesigned Camera interface with much better gallery integration and reduced shutter lag. Although most people didn’t notice much difference in the changes. Google would continue to make small changes all the way through Android 2.3 with significant changes in Android 4.0. But most of us don’t see it since manufacturers cover up the camera and gallery apps with their own skins.