The Rise of Android

Introduction

In the following text, called ‘The rise of Android’, you are about to find out some interesting
details on Android and its founders. As we already know, Android startup has become the
world's biggest computing platform. This text illustrates its beginnings and the struggles of
its founders to launch Android as a computing platform. In addition to new vocabulary you
will also encounter examples of relative clauses in the text. Please note that relative clauses
are clauses starting with the relative pronouns such as who, that, which, whose, where,
when.

In 2004, Andy Rubin made an urgent call to his friend, Steve Perlman.

Rubin’s startup, Android, was in trouble, he explained. Rubin didn’t like asking for money
again, but the situation was dire.

Android, which was creating mobile software for phones, was out of cash, and other
investors weren’t biting.

Perlman agreed to wire some funds as soon as possible.

“Maybe a little sooner would be better,” Rubin said nervously. Rubin had already missed
payments on Android’s office space, and the landlord was threatening to evict him.

Slika 27.1 Android

Perlman went to the bank and withdrew $10,000 in $100 bills and handed them to Rubin.
The next day, he wired over an undisclosed amount of money to provide the seed funding
for Android.

“I did it because I believed in the thing, and I wanted to help Andy,” Perlman told Business
Insider.

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With the new cash, Rubin got Android back on track. He secured more funding and moved
the team into a larger office in Palo Alto, California, a technology hub on the West Coast.

Today, Android powers about 85% of all smartphones globally, while the iPhone accounts
for only 11%. It’s making a push into wristwatches, cars, and TVs. It’s not hard to envision
a time when Android will be in every single device from stove and thermostats to
toothbrushes.

To grab 85% of the smartphone market, Rubin had to beat the two most valuable, and
profitable, technology companies of their era: Microsoft and Apple. He had to fight
entrenched wireless carriers. He had to get phone makers to buy into its radical vision.

Rubin didn’t do it alone. He got help from investors such as Perlman and big support from
Google.

Based on interviews that Business Insider conducted with several sources who were there at
the beginning, the following is the story of how Android came to be.

Text adopted from: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-android-was-created-2015-3

Vocabulary

Nouns (imenice): Verbs (glagoli):

startup – novi biznis wire – povezati
payment – uplata threaten – pretiti
landlord – gazda evict – izbaciti
seed funding – početni kapital withdraw – povući
funding – finansiranje hand – predati
hub – centar wire over money/wire money – prebaciti
account – nalog, račun novac na drugi račun
wristwatch – sat secure – osigurati
device – sprava envision – zamisliti
stove – pećnica, rerna conduct – sprovoditi
wireless carriers – bežični provajder power – napajati, napuniti
account – smatrati se
Adjectives and adverbs Prepositions and conjunctions
(pridevi i prilozi): (predlozi i veznici):

urgent – hitno
dire (inf.) – loša, užasna -
undisclosed – neotkriveno
valuable – vredno
profitable – profitabilno
entrenched – fiksni, ustaljen, utvrđen

Tabela 27.1.

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Synonyms

Nouns (imenice): Verbs (glagoli):

startup – new business
payments – amount of money; instalment
landlord – a man (in legal use also a woman)
who rents out land, a building, or
accommodation.
seed funding – seed money/seed capital
funding – money provided, especially by an
organization or government
hub – centre
account – a record or statement of financial
expenditure and receipts relating to a
particular period or purpose
wristwatch – a watch worn on a strap round
the wrist
device – gadget, tool, appliance
stove – oven
wireless carriers –a wireless service provider
wire – install electric circuits or wires in
threaten – endanger, be a danger
to, be a threat to
evict – expel, oust
withdraw – take away, pull out
wire over money/wire money – money
transfer
hand – pick (something) up and give it
to (someone)
secure – obtain, acquire, gain
envision – imagine, visualise
conduct – organise, carry out
power – supply (a device) with
mechanical or electrical energy
accounts – consider, deem

Adjectives and adverbs Prepositions and conjunctions

(pridevi i prilozi): (predlozi i veznici):
urgent-top – priority, crucial -
dire (inf) – of a bad quality, shocking
undisclosed – not revealed or made known
publicly
valuable – precious items, costly articles,
worth a great deal of money
profitable – beneficial, useful
entrenched – fixed, established

Tabela 27.2.

Let’s Play Some Games

Na sledećim linkovima možete na zanimljiv način da provežbate gramatiku i vokabular iz
Modula 11. Učenje kroz igricu ima svojih prednosti jer je sam proces učenja interesantniji,
gramatička pravila i reči se mnogo lakše pamte. Naučeno se mnogo lakše proverava u
opuštenoj atmosferi.

• https://wordwall.net/sh/resource/8660545/relative-clauses
• https://wordwall.net/sh/resource/8663064/decide-whether-relative-pronouns-must-
used-or-not
• https://wordwall.net/sh/resource/8664325/match-word-translation

Napomena za testove napredovanja

Kako biste što bolje usvojili gradivo, uz ovu lekciju dostupni su testovi za vežbu, koji se
odnose na razumevanje teksta i vokabulara iz ove nastavne jedinice.

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Conclusion

• As we have already pointed out, Android startup is understood to be the world's

biggest computing platform. This text has illustrated its beginnings and the struggles
of its founders to launch Android as a computing platform. In addition to enriching
your vocabulary the text has also provided you with the examples of relative clauses.

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