Android One launches $100 smartphones in India
Google unveiled three new Android One smartphones in India today. What makes these phones remarkable is their price tag: about $100.
Android One is a Google initiative to develop lower-cost mobile phones and make them accessible to more people all over the world.
Google, like other smartphone makers, is looking for more customers in emerging markets. While Android already boasts one billion users, Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president of Android, Chrome and Apps, pointed out in a blog post today, "While 1.75 billion people around the world already have a smartphone, the vast majority of the world's population -- over five billion more -- do not."
Pichai says the Android One initiative aims to address three main barriers to global smartphone adoption: hardware price, monthly data charges, and software updates.
The three new phones unveiled today -- the Spice Android One Dream UNO Mi-498; the Micromax Canvas A1; and the Karbonn Sparkle V -- have similar specifications.
CNET reports they come with a 4.5-inch FWVGA display with 854x480-pixel resolution, quad-core 1.3GHz MediaTek processor, dual-SIM capability, 1GB RAM and 4GB of onboard storage alongside a microSD card slot for expandability. There's a respectable rear 5-megapixel camera, a removable 1,700mAh battery, and for Indian consumers, a built-in FM radio and support for Hindi voice and text.
Google has arranged a special 6-month plan with Indian carrier Bharti Airtel to provide 200 MB per month of free app downloading - about 50 apps - and free Android updates, including to Android L later this year.
Pichai noted in his blog post that Google will launch Android One in Indonesia, the Philippines and South Asia by the end of the year and more countries soon after. "With Android One, we not only want to help people get online, we want to make sure that when they get there, they can tap into the wealth of information and knowledge the web holds for everyone."
Google also announced hardware partners including Asus, HTC, Lenovo and chipmaker Qualcomm.