Google
announced the rather ambitious Android One project on Wednesday that
aims to provide a quality Android experience at a sub-$100 (Rs. 6,000)
price point.
India's Micromax, Karbonn, and Spice were unveiled as
the first hardware partners. Google will provide the reference hardware
design to these companies, as well as a stock-Android software layer,
with the promise of regular updates, just like the Google Nexus devices.
NDTV
Gadgets spoke to Sundar Pichai, Senior Vice President, Android, Chrome
and Apps, Google, at the sidelines of Google I/O on Wednesday who
confirmed that the first Android One device by Micromax will ship this
fall.
Pichai also said that Google was not providing financial
subsidies to Micromax in an attempt to hit sub-$100 price; instead it
was hoping that the shared resources of the two companies would be able
to keep the total cost of manufacturing in check.
While Google did
not reveal the exact specifications of the device, and Micromax
remained unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts to get in
touch, we do know that the first Android One smartphone will be a
dual-SIM device with a 4.5-inch screen, expandable storage and FM radio,
seemingly ticking all the right boxes for the Indian market.
(Also see: Google Unveils Ambitious Android Expansion)
No
further details were forthcoming, but the buzz around I/O was it would
be "$200 hardware at half-the-price," so make what you will out of that.
Pichai
did say that this "better hardware" and the promise of regular Android
software updates will be the key differentiator of Android One
smartphones.
The likes of
Moto G (
Review |
Pictures) and
Moto E (
Review
|
Pictures) have already shown
what the combination of decent hardware, affordable price and regular
software updates can do in making devices popular. The stage is set for
Android One smartphones to disrupt things.
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