Here's what Android looked like a decade ago

Feeling old yet?
 By 
Victoria Ho
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Feeling old yet?

An entire decade ago, Google released the first public beta of the Android OS, two years after its 2005 acquisition of Android Inc.

In the demo above, you'll see the beginnings of Android as an OS for basic BlackBerry style devices with keyboards and trackballs, as well as what it can achieve on a full touch screen device.

What's interesting is that you'll see Google establish right from the get-go its vision for Android -- not to create a single "G Phone" as was rumoured, but to spread the open source OS to hardware makers.

You'll see Quake, Google Maps (including Street View), and web browsing running, with Google co-founder Sergey Brin also offering a $10 million prize for developers building Android apps.

The demo above is presented by Steve Horowitz, one of the original software engineers for Android.

After Horowitz left Google, he later built another product you went nuts over -- Snapchat's Spectacles.

Topics Android Google

Mashable Image
Victoria Ho

Victoria Ho is Mashable's Asia Editor, based in Singapore. She previously reported on news and tech at The Business Times, TechCrunch and ZDNet. When she isn't writing, she's making music with her band

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