Google announces Android One - ~100 dollar smartphones

[LAwLz]

 

Google just announced that they will be working with companies to bring super cheap smartphones to countries such as India.

 

Google says that a lot of entry-level phones are still too expensive for people in countries such as India and the Philippines and are now trying to fix this issue with Android One.

They will be working closely with phone and component manufacturers to bring prices down while not compromising on the user experience. Some key aspects of these new phones will be:

• Affordable (~100 dollars or maybe less)
• Not cut corners on processing power (I suspect quad core A7s for now, but maybe quad core A53 in the future). This particular One (pun intended) will have a 1.3GHz quad core CPU from MediaTek.
• High quality front and rear facing cameras (interesting to see two of them on such cheap devices).
• Expandable storage (why the hell do budget phones get this but not high end ones? Come on Google...)
• Dual SIM cards
• Replaceable battery
• FM radio
• Stock Android (to ensure quick updates directly from Google, just like a Nexus) with Android L confirmed.

 

The minimum specs for Android One phones will be:

• 4.5" display
• 1GB of RAM
• 5MP rear and 2MP front camera
• Quad core processor

The three devices announced today appear to have the same specs, which are as follows:

4.5" IPS screen with a resolution of 854x480

1.3GHz MediaTek quad core CPU (probably Cortex A7, so slightly better than the Moto G)

1700mAh battery

and the rest of the stuff listed above (cameras, 1GB of RAM and so on).

 

The hardware manufacturers will be allowed to add additional software to the phones, but the "core software" will be stock Android. If I read that correctly, it will be like with the Motorola phones. Stock Android but with some extra apps added (and hopefully removable).

 

On top of that, Google has made some changes to their own apps to suit these markets a bit more. One of these changes is an "offline" version of YouTube which allows you to store videos locally. Just save the video and you'll be able to rewatch it multiple times without using any additional data (Google please add this to the stock YouTube app already).

 

Google is also teaming up with the mobile operator Airtel to provide users with 200MB of data a month for the first 6 months, for free. It is not 100% clear if this is just 200MB of general data, or only for data from Google (like software updates or downloading apps from the store).

It looks like it will be an additional 200MB of data on top of your regular data plan, but these 200MB will only be usable for software updates as well as downloading apps on the Play Store. General web browsing will use up your standard data cap.

 

The first Android One phones are made by Micromax, Karbonn, Spice and MediaTek and will retail at 6399 India Rupee (about 105 US dollars).

Other hardware partners that are on board are Acer, Asus, HTC, Lenovo and Qualcomm, among many others.

 

 

Video:

 

 

Source: Google's Blog

[qwertywarrior]

context (2014 june 25)

 

stock android

gets updates just like nexus and GPe phones

[Sidiox]

Claiming the title I see

 

Now I am curious to see the specs

[Bobbincat]

just looks like a moto G but im sure the specs are nice i dident read

[qwertywarrior]

Claiming the title I see

 

Now I am curious to see the specs

http://www.nextpowerup.com/news/12739/snapdeal-launches-karbonn-sparkle-v-android-one-smartphone-in-india.html

here is an example of one being launched in india

[Nineshadow]

Why do all companies only care about the US -.-

[skullbringer]

• Not cut corners on processing power (I suspect quad core A7s for now, but maybe quad core A53 in the future).
• High quality front and rear facing cameras (interesting to see two of them on such cheap devices).
• Expandable storage (why the hell do budget phones get this but not high end ones? Come on Google...)
• Dual SIM cards
• Replaceable battery
• FM radio
• Stock Android (to ensure quick updates directly from Google, just like a Nexus) with Android L confirmed.

 

The minimum specs for Android One phones will be:

• 4.5" display
• 1GB of RAM
• 5MP rear and 2MP front camera
• Quad core processor

 

Affordable (~100 dollars or maybe less)

 

this seems like basically IPhone 5-ish grade specs to me. This running Android for 100 bucks seems like a really really good deal. Not just for dev. countries, but also for people that dont want to spend 600 dollars on a mobile phone, like students...

[qwertywarrior]

this seems like basically IPhone 5-ish grade specs to me. This running Android for 100 bucks seems like a really really good deal. Not just for dev. countries, but also for people that dont want to spend 600 dollars on a mobile phone, like students...

 

sounds more like an iphone  4s  excluding the screen and gpu

 

 

too bad we wont see these in other countries

[TopWargamer]

Those are some nice minimum specs at a very affordable price. Hopefully we'll be able to see these phones state side.

I approve.

[unsubscribed]

Not bad. Though 1GB RAM is no no. I have Moto G 11 months now. It just can't handle decent browsing. Either crashes the browser or slows down to halt. But yeah, direction is good.

[StingBull]

So this is even better than Moto G & E.

[SuperfastJellyfish]

Why do all companies only care about the US -.-

 

wtf? It's targeted at low cost phones and starting in India.

[Nineshadow]

wtf? It's targeted at low cost phones and starting in India.

And India too.

 

Come on,I'm not expecting these phones to come out in Eastern Europe.

[Tonylu1595]

One this, one that, everything is naming to become One

[MoonSpot]

• Expandable storage (why the hell do budget phones get this but not high end ones? Come on Google...)
• Dual SIM cards
• Replaceable battery
• FM radio

 

What the hell?  I think you miss quoted.  surely these features that many people have wanted must only be available on a bajillion dollar fone that can't be brought to market because it would break the lawz of physics (or some such BS)

[SuperfastJellyfish]

And India too.

 

Come on,I'm not expecting these phones to come out in Eastern Europe.

 

Huh? Why are you even talking about the US? The program is designed and carried by a US company for developing nations. Just because it isn't where you yet are doesn't mean it won't be ever.

 

If English isn't your first language I understand, but what you're saying currently makes no sense.

[Me1z]

One this, one that, everything is naming to become One

 

This. Why is everything the one? Are they trying to convince us that its the device to end all devices or something? Because I call BS right there. I predict that in under a year all of the "one" devices will become outdated. Everyone needs to chill and come up with a logical naming system. So help me, if I start seeing things named the One 2 or One Two, well, lets just say entire marketing teams might suddenly go missing.

[kuddlesworth9419]

I will buy one simply because I don't need a £500 phone.

[Nineshadow]

Huh? Why are you even talking about the US? The program is designed and carried by a US company for developing nations. Just because it isn't where you yet are doesn't mean it won't be ever.

 

If English isn't your first language I understand, but what you're saying currently makes no sense.

Because everything is cheaper there.

Why the hell do I have to pay 50% more just because I live in Eastern Europe,even though the average income here is ~$500 a month?

[SuperfastJellyfish]

Because everything is cheaper there.

Why the hell do I have to pay 50% more just because I live in Eastern Europe,even though the average income here is ~$500 a month?

 

You don't, read the OP:

The first Android One phone is made by Micromax, Karbonn, Spice and MediaTek and will retail at 6399 India Rupee (about 105 US dollars).

 

Would you rather that, or $400+ for a Nexus phone or even more for something else like a Galaxy? The whole point of the scheme is to increase access to smartphones. They're being sold at or below cost, you can't ask for much better than that.

[seiny]

This is actually pretty good, I'm thinking close to a moto g

[EChondo]

Not bad, what's the resolution for the screen?

 

would love to see a 5" screen if it's 1080x1920.

[LAwLz]

This. Why is everything the one? Are they trying to convince us that its the device to end all devices or something? Because I call BS right there. I predict that in under a year all of the "one" devices will become outdated. Everyone needs to chill and come up with a logical naming system. So help me, if I start seeing things named the One 2 or One Two, well, lets just say entire marketing teams might suddenly go missing.

That's what worries me. "One" might sound cool now, but it will be a nightmare to name the successor.

 

 

 

Not bad, what's the resolution for the screen?

 

would love to see a 5" screen if it's 1080x1920.

You're in luck, because it actually already exists!

[Probenja]

This is actually pretty good, I'm thinking close to a moto g

Yes but worse, it has a mediatek chip instead of the Qualcomm, probably worse build quality, worse screen, no water repellant nano coating, no gorilla glass confirmation. And probably no support after android L from the manufacturers or custom rom devs, unless Google keeps them updated but the nexus line only had 18 months of updates so...

Also lacks features like moto assist, moto alert, moto migrate and the camera features like slow mode.

[DigitalHermit]

Praise the lawd for vanilla Android sub 100USD phones!

 

Still, I've seen sub 50USD android phones in the market so... Yeah... Hopefully this will be the gamebreaker at the low end of things...