What is an Android tablet?

Android is a Linux-based operating system designed and maintained by Google. It's aimed principally at touchscreen smartphones and tablets.

That doesn't mean that Android phones are made by Google. Far from it, Google makes only the software - the only 'Google' phones and tablets are the Nexus devices such as the Nexus 4 phone and the Nexus 7 tablet. They are manufactured by third parties with Google funding, and marketed as Google devices in order to increase sales of Android phones, apps and media.

The reason so many tablets run Google software is simple: Android is open source, or free to use. This means that any  tablet maker can use Android as their operating system, without having to develop their own software or pay a licensing fee.

Most tablet makers choose Android for this reason, which means that Android is now the most popular platform for smartphones, and very popular with app makers. In turn this also means that smartphone purchasers can buy apps for their phones and know that they should work on most other smartphones, with the exception of iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows Phone devices. And Android is very well supported by app makers, and movie, magazine, music and TV publishers.

Further complications concern the iterations of Android. The most recent flavour on the market is Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. This shouldn't be confused with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, or indeed any of the (roughly) 11 versions of Android dating back to 2009 that you may come across. Even more confusing is the fact that as well as the two Jelly Beans there are two 'Honeycomb' OSes and a brace of 'Gingerbread'.

In part this bewildering array of Android OSes - all of them available on live smartphones - reflects the fact that Google simply makes the software and allows smartphone and tablet makers to do with them as they will. There is no requirement for phone makers to use the most recent version of Android, so many continue to use older flavours, and not all phones are updated in a timely fashion: if at all. 

It's also worth noting that some Android versions are aimed at tablets and some at smartphones.

What is not in doubt is that Android is extremely popular - the most used mobile platform on the planet. Because of this the Google Play app store is well populated with apps and media.

Finally the open nature of Android means that you are not tied to a single app- or media store. You can, for instance, purchase music from multiple sources.