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Back at Google I/O we heard about Android One, a new initiative to get Android devices in the hands of the 5 billion people without smartphones. Since then we haven’t heard much about this program, but today Google is finally announcing the first batch of devices. Today in India the first Android One devices from Micromax, Karbonn, Spice and chipmaker MediaTek are available starting around just $105.
This is just the beginning for Android One. Today Google has also announced partnerships with phone manufacturers Acer, Alcatel Onetouch, ASUS, HTC, Intex, Lava, Lenovo, Panasonic, Xolo, and chipmaker Qualcomm. Later this year we can expect Android One devices to be available in Indonesia, the Philippines and South Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). Even more countries will be announced in 2015.
The importance of Android One devices are huge. Markets like India can provide a huge boost for a platform. One recent example is the original Moto G. Here in the U.S. the Moto G was not a big deal, but because of emerging markets it became Motorola’s most successful phone ever. Android One will help our favorite little green robot continue to spread across the globe.
I think this is a fantastic strategy especially if it allows people at the low end of the Android market to keep on top of the latest Android OS versions. This is a huge benefit to everyone because the more people on the latest versions, the more developers target the newer API levels (and thus features and optimisations are taken advantage of). At the moment, due to many people running on older versions of Android, developers target those older versions as the minimum level even though they would prefer targeting a higher level one.
This is Great, News, I hope Motorola gets on board with a new Stylish Android One Phone. This Just goes to show the power of open source. I hope all 5 billion people get a new phone. Everybody needs to be online
History repeats itself. Just in a different fashion. Can someone say Nicolai (spell check) Tesla? I’m actually upset that no one wanted to go through with his plan for everyone to have electricity.
I like that Google is doing this. I just hope the part where it falls doesn’t happen. I believe this is a day an age where everyone needs to be connected to the internet. I wish I was in school. I’d love to write a paper on this.