Congratulations to all Indians. Today in India Google debuted a new class of Android phones. Best of all, three local manufacturers viz. Karbonn, Micromax and Spice have started selling their Android One devices.
Named as Android One, this project is focused to provide best Android experience to everyone, despite of the class he belongs. The phone categorized under the project are cheaper upto $100 ($105 actually) that sums as Rs. 6,399 in India. Android One is an initiative by Google to provide the same fresh Android experience as it serves with Nexus and Google Play Edition devices.
Android One will help improve Android Experience in developing nationsTagged as Android One phones, these smartphones have basic features such as 1GB RAM, 1.3 GHz MediaTek processors, 4.5 inch display, 2 MP front camera and 5 MP rear camera with a flash. This whole package bundles under $100 to make it feasible for everyone to buy it. Ofcourse there are entry level devices being manufactured by local OEMs as well as outsiders, but they had their issues such as compromise with performance, faulty user experience, battery issues etc. Also in India there are entry level smartphones by leading companies like Sony, Samsung and LG, but they have shortage of specs such as low RAM, small screen size, low class cameras.
To tackle all of these challenges Google announced Android One. Because it is a project maintained by Google, so the company focuses on providing the best of the experience in less of the cost. The icing on the cake is that these Android One devices will definitely get Android OS update for 2 years, that means atleast 2-3 version updates, which is a serious miss in currently available entry level Android phones.
One more good news for Airtel users. Those who're having an Airtel SIM card can download apps upto 200 MB free of cost for a month. If under six months, a new Android version is announced, you can download it for free whether you have a data plan activated or not.
Google provides basic Google apps such as Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Google+ etc with these devices. As Google knows the condition of internet and it's connectivity in India there's an option to view YouTube videos offline. Play Newsstand also offers subscriptions in local languages. OEMs such Acer, Alcatel Onetouch, ASUS, HTC, Intex, Lava, Lenovo, Panasonic, Xolo, and chipmaker Qualcomm are in the queue to join the project.
With Android One, Google can have a firm grip over Android fragmentation and can also focus on gathering more and more users to keep it's green robot on the top.
From: Google Blog
Official Android One Website