Android, the popular mobile operating system, was founded by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears, and Chris White in 2003. The initial goal of the Android project was to create an operating system for digital cameras, but the founders later realized that the market potential for mobile phones was much greater. In 2005, Google acquired Android Inc. and continued the development of the operating system as a key component of its mobile strategy. The first version of Android, Android 1.0, was released in September 2008 on the T-Mobile G1 (also known as the HTC Dream) smartphone. Since then, Android has become one of the most popular mobile operating systems, powering billions of devices worldwide.