As part of Android One project of Google to provide good quality smartphones to everybody at affordable price, the California based giant Google has launched three Android one smaratphones of Indian handsets makers- Micromax, Spice and Karbonn, at an event in New Delhi. These three smartphones are the Karbonn Sparkle V, Micromax Canvas A1, and Spice Dream UNO. All the smartphones are priced at Rs. 6,399.
The Karbonn Sparkle V comes in Magnum Blue, Mild Grey, Wild Red and Pearl White, and is available online exclusively at Snapdeal; the Micromax Canvas A1 comes in Black, White color varaints and is available online exclusively at Amazon; and the Spice Dream UNO in Black, White colors is available online exclusively at Flipkart. These smartphones will also be available in retail stores across the country from the first week of October.
All the above threee smartphones have Google referenced similar hardware. These smartphones feature a 4.5-inch IPS FWVGA (480×854 pixels) 218ppi display, and is powered by a Cortex A7 1.3GHz MediaTek quad-core processor, ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU graphics, paired with 1GB RAM and 4GB of internal storage, which can be increased upto 32GB with the help of a microSD card.
These phones are equipped with a 5MP rear camera with LED flash and is capable of full-HD video capturing. They also have a 2MP front-facing camera. These phones are fuelled by a 1700mAh battery. These are Dual-SIM phones and for connectivity options, they offer 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB 2.0, 3.5mm headset jack and GPS.
These smartphones come with inbuilt FM radio and Google apps such as Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Google Search, and Google Translate will come pre-loaded on these phones.
All the three phones have mediocre hardware specifications, but the main advantage is that these phones will offer a high-quality experience, running the latest version of Android (4.4 KitKat). Google has announced that these Android One smartphones will get the new Android L release — an update that will offer Google’s new material design, improved battery life, enhanced security features, and smarter notifications. The other advantage is that the users of these smartphones will get any update instantly.
At the launch event, Google also announced that in coming weeks much of YouTube will be available offline mode in India. It means that you can download videos and store videos in the YouTube app when they are on WiFi and watch them later. This is quite useful if you have a slow connection and can re-watch the videos without using the data plan.
Google also demonstrated Google Translate app, which is the new feature of Android One. If you speak to OK google anything in English, it translates in Hindi or vice-versa.
As part of bundled-up offer, Airtel will provide Android One phones buyers free over-the-air (OTA) updates, and 200MB per month worth of app downloads from Google Play for the first six months without counting toward their mobile data plan. Additionally, a data compression feature on Android One’s Chrome browser will help compress the amount of data flowing between the phone and the Internet.
Google also informed that in due course of time, Android One smartphones will be introduced by other companies also such as Acer, Alcatel Onetouch, ASUS, HTC, Intex, Lava, Lenovo, Panasonic, and Xolo, and chipmaker Qualcomm will also join this project. Google will also be unveiling the Android One phones in Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Bnagladesh and Sri Lanka by the end of the year.
To push Android One smartphones vigorously across the country, Google has devised novel way of taking them on Wi-Fi-equipped mobile demo vans called ‘Showroom on Wheels’ in 600 locations across 20 cities to enable potential customers to experience the Android One phones. One such demo van was stationed at the launch event. Another step taken by Google is that they have appointed 30,000 Android One ambassadors who will explain the salient features of Android One phones to potential buyers at stores.
Speaking at the launch event, Sundar Pichai, Google Senior Vice President of Android, Chrome & Apps, said, “If we look at how people are getting online and accessing information today, increasingly it’s through a smartphone. 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. By working closely with phone and silicon chip makers to share reference designs and select components, we’re making it easier for our partners to build phones that are not just great to use, but also affordable. 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.”
CORRECTION : The price of Micromax Canvas A1 Android One is Rs. 6,4999, which is Rs. 100 more compared to other vendors.
