Android

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An android is a robot or synthetic organism designed to look and act like a human. The word derives from ανδρός, the genitive of the Greek ανήρ anēr, meaning "man", and the suffix -eides, used to mean "of the species; alike" (from eidos, "species"). Though the word derives from a gender-specific root, its usage in English is usually gender neutral. The term was first mentioned by St. Albertus Magnus in 1270 and was popularized by the French writer Villiers in his 1886 novel L'Ève future, although the term "android" appears in US patents as early as 1863 in reference to miniature humanlike toy automations.

Thus far, androids have largely remained within the domain of science fiction, frequently seen in film and television. However, some humanoid robots now exist.

The term "droid" - invented by George Lucas in Star Wars (1977) but now used widely within science fiction - although originally an abbreviation of "android", has been used (by Lucas and others) to mean any robot, including distinctly non-humaniform machines like R2-D2.

For more information about Android, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with android

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Apple's iPhone

Modified iPhones Are Compromised By New Worm

Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets

created Nov 25, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Several research security firms have reported a new worm attack against jail broken iPhones, dubbed "Ikee.B or "Duh", this worm searches for personal and banking information.


Palm Pre

Palm's webOS hasn't gotten the attention it deserves

Technology / Software

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

Lost in the recent deluge of smart-phone news -- Apple's iPhone store hitting 100,000 applications, and the launches of the new Droid phone and the BlackBerry Storm, among other things -- have been the efforts ...


Friends go online at Foursquare to meet offline (AP)

Friends go online at Foursquare to meet offline

Technology / Internet

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Laura Fitton's ascent has been staggering: In less than a year, she's become mayor of nine different places in several different states, all without giving any speeches or kissing any babies.


The Symbian platform is used on almost 50% of mobiles worldwide

Spotify launches application for Nokia phones

Technology / Software

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Swedish streaming software Spotify announced on Monday the launch of a music application for the Symbian platform, used by the world's biggest mobile phone maker Nokia and other smartphones.


Dell smart phone to debut in China, Brazil (AP)

Dell smart phone to debut in China, Brazil

Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets

created Nov 13, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Dell Inc. is officially jumping into the "smart" phone market this month in a deal with China's biggest wireless carrier, China Mobile Ltd.


Droid smart phone

New handbook for Google, Droid users

Technology / Other

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Before buying one of the new Google-powered "Droid" phones from Verizon Wireless, you may want to read the manual. Not the setup directions in the box.


Smartphone app illuminates power consumption

Smartphone app illuminates power consumption

Technology / Software

created Nov 20, 2009 | popularity 1.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new application for the Android smartphone shows users and software developers how much power their applications are consuming. PowerTutor was developed by doctoral students and professors ...