A Google-supported, open-source operating system for touchscreen mobile devices. It is currently the leading smartphone platform with a 75% market share as of November 2012 according to IDC.
A key factor in the growth of Android is the licensing, which allows manufactures to freely modify and distribute the software. This has also led to its use in a variety of other, non-mobile electronics including televisions, games and cameras. However the ability for manufacturers to modify the platform has also led to a fragmentation within the Android marketplace, creating compatibility problems for software developers.
The term Android is also used to refer to a device that runs the Android operating system (e.g. an Android tablet).