5 amazing facts you should know about Google’s foray into the smartphone business

Google started out as a search engine. Some persons may still see the company in that light, but Google has evolved to become so much more.

The tech giant just celebrated its 19-year anniversary last week and, it has been a significantly interesting journey.

From its humble beginning in a garage, Google has over the years branched into other areas of the technology business and has even begun to lead in most, particularly in the smartphone business.

From the introduction of its smartphone operating system, Android, in 2009, to the launch, eight years later, of its first smartphone ‘Pixel’ built inside and outside by and for Google, they have shown no sign of slowing down.

However, Google’s foray into the business of making smartphone didn’t begin overnight. Here’s a timeline of Google’s key moment in its journey into the smartphone market.

1. In 2005, Google bought the Android OS from Android Inc for about $50 million, unveiled it in 2007, and released the first version on September 23, 2008.

2. An early Android phone prototype had a close resemblance to a BlackBerry phone, with no touchscreen and a physical QWERTY keyboard, but the arrival of 2007’s Apple iPhone meant that Android “had to go back to the drawing board”. Google later changed its Android specification documents to state that “Touchscreens will be supported”

 

3. The first commercially available smartphone running Android, HTC Dream, also known as T-Mobile G1, was announced on September 23, 2008.

 

4. In 2010, Google launched its Nexus series of devices, a lineup in which Google partnered with different device manufacturers to produce new devices and introduce new Android versions. The series was described as having “played a pivotal role in Android’s history by introducing new software iterations and hardware standards across the board”, and became known for its “bloat-free” software with “timely […] updates”.

5. In June 2014, Google announced Android One, a set of “hardware reference models” that would “allow [device makers] to easily create high-quality phones at low costs”, designed for consumers in developing countries.

Google introduced the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones in October 2016, marketed as being the first phones made by Google, and exclusively featured certain software features, such as the Google Assistant, before a wider roll out.

The Pixel phones replaced the Nexus series, and Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice president of hardware, confirmed in March 2017 that a successor to the Pixel is coming later in 2017

And in July 2017, during his visit to Nigeria, Google VP, Product Management, Caesar Sengupta, announced Google’s collaboration with MTN to bring the Freetel ICE 2 into the Nigerian market. The smartphone costs only N13,000.

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