Android is a Linux-based operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, developed by Google in conjunction with the Open Handset Alliance. It had a worldwide smartphone market share of 59% at the beginning of 2012, and as of year 2012 there were 500 million devices activated and 1.3 million activations per day.

There are a host of advantages that Android OS has like Open Platform/License Free, Robust OS Kernel, Innovative Library Packages, Easy Application Development, Rapid Improvement, etc.
The advantages are listed below:-

Customization
The ability for anyone to customize the Google Android platform will open up the applications playing field to small and new players who lack the financial muscle to negotiate with wireless carriers like AT&T and Orange. Features like weather details, opening screen, live RSS feeds and even the icons on the opening screen will be able to be customized.

Wide range of applications
The consumer will benefit from having a wide range of mobile applications to choose from since the monopoly will be broken by Google Android. Also, the entertainment functionalities will be taken a notch higher by Google Android being able to offer online real time multiplayer games.

Google Map Applications
Google Maps for Mobile has been hugely popular, and Android offers a Google Map as an atomic, reusable control for use in your applications. The Map View widget lets you display, manipulate, and annotate a Google Map within your Activities to build map-based applications using the familiar Google Maps interface. In addition, as a result of many mobile phones carrying Google Android, companies will come up with such innovative products like the location – aware services that will provide users with any information they might be in need of. This information could include knowing the location of a nearby convenience store or filling station.

Background Services and Applications
Background services let you create applications that use an event-driven model, working silently while other applications are being used or while your mobile sits ignored until it rings, flashes, or vibrates to get your attention. Maybe it’s an application that tracks the stock market, alerting you to significant changes in your portfolio, or a service that changes your ring tone or volume depending on your current location, the time of day, and the identity of the caller.

Shared Data and Inter process Communication
Using Intents and Content Providers, Android lets your applications exchange messages, perform processing, and share data. You can also use these mechanisms to leverage the data and functionality provided by the native Android applications. To mitigate the risks of such an open strategy, each application’s process, data storage, and files are private unless explicitly shared with other applications using a full permission-based security mechanism.

All Applications Are Created Equal
Android doesn’t differentiate between native applications and those developed by third parties. This gives consumers unprecedented power to change the look and feel of their devices by letting them completely replace every native application with a third-party alternative that has access to the same underlying data and hardware. Every rule needs an exception and this one has two. The “unlock” and “in-call experience” screens cannot be replaced in the initial SDK release.

P2P Inter device Application Messaging
Android offers peer-to-peer messaging that supports presence, instant messaging, and inter device /inter application communication.