Google Launches Android One "for the Next Five Billion"

Featured / Mobile Tech / September 16, 2014

Google Launches Android One “for the Next Five Billion”

With over 1.9 billion active Android devices already in use, Google has no intentions of slowing down. The company’s latest attempt is to help billions of people in developing countries to give up their feature phones for an affordable, yet high quality Android smartphone. To make this dream a reality, Google has launched Android One – a new series of smartphones, with all the latest Android software, at an extremely affordable cost.

“By working closely with phone and silicon chip makers to share reference designs and select components, we’re making it easier for our partners to build phones that are not just great to use, but also affordable,” Sundar Pichai, senior vice president at Google, wrote on a blog post.

Google has teamed up with Indian smartphone makers Micromax, Karbonn, Spice and chipmaker MediaTek to bring the first Android One phones to the Indian market. The phones are now available in India at Rs 6,399 ( around $100 USD). Despite the cheap price tag, the Android One phones will sport quad-core processors, high resolution cameras, expandable storage, dual SIM capabilities, built-in FM radio and will offer access to latest Android updates, including the upcoming Android L.

Google will bring the Android One devices to Indonesia, the Philippines and South Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) by the end of the year, with plans to expand the series in partnership with ASUS, HTC, Intex, Lava, Lenovo to offer more affordable devices with different screen sizes and features.