For every HTC and Samsung, there are tens of Android smartphone makers who have to race around building handsets that'll hit a certain low price. This is especially true in the developing world, where keeping the price low means that every design has to be constantly redesigned -- but Google feels that's a whole lot of wasted effort. That's why it's launching Android One, a unified platform where Mountain View's engineers will design the hardware, and other companies will simply manufacture it. There's plenty of fringe benefits, but the biggest one is that Google will be able to dictate a minimum set of standards for forthcoming Android handsets.
Naturally, the target market for such a platform is in the developing world, which explains why Google is initially teaming up with Indian smartphone makers like Karbonn, Cromax and Spice. In an example right from the I/O keynote, Sundar Pichai talks about a Micromax Android One device with dual-SIM and SD-card slots, a 4.5-inch display and FM radio priced at just $100. As well as that, the handsets will get the same preferential treatment as the Nexus and Google Play ranges when it comes to automatic software updates.
Developing...
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google
0 comments:
Post a Comment