Android is the name of both the company and the operating system they created.
Android (operating system) . Initially developed by Android Inc. , which Google bought in 2005 , Android was unveiled in 2007 , along with the founding of the Open Handset Alliancea consortium of hardware , software , and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices . Beginning with the first commercial Android device in September 2008 , the operating system has gone through multiple major releases , with the current version being 7.0 `` Nougat '' , released in August 2016 .