Google’s Android One project kickstarts in India with three new ultra-budget smartphones

As speculated earlier, first Android One smartphones have been launched in an event which was held in India yesterday. Google has launched the first set of smartphones under its Android One project in India at a starting price of INR 6,299 ($103). The first Android One devices which will be up for grabs in India are- Micromax Canvas A1, Karbonn Sparkle V and the Spice Dream Uno.

These dual-SIM smartphones have identical specs, a 4.5-inch IPS LCD display, 5-megapixel rear camera, 1700mAh battery, 1GB RAM and run Android 4.4 operating system. They are all are powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek (MT6582) Cortex A7 processor. Flipkart and Snapdeal are exclusively selling Android One smartphones from Spice and Karbonn, respectively, while Amazon is selling the Micromax Canvas A1 exclusively.

Karbonn Sparkle V, Micromax Canvas A1 & Spice Dream UNO Specifications

• 4.5-inch IPS LCD display, 854 x 480 pixels, capacitive multitouch
• Android 4.4 KitKat, upgradeable to Android L soon
• 1.3 GHz quad-core processor, MediaTek MT6582, 1GB RAM
• 4GB storage (further expandable up to 32GB)
• 5-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front camera, 1080p video recording
• dual-SIM, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Bluetooth v4.0, GLONASS A-GPS, microUSB v2.0 port and 3.5mm headphone jack
• Accelerometer, G-Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Compass, Proximity Sensor
• 1700mAh battery

Through Android One, Google is attempting to mark its spots on the budget segment of the world’s fastest growing smartphone market. The Android One smartphones will come with a two-year software support from Google, which affirms that Android One phone users will definitely receive updates to the newer versions of the Android operating system.

Google has also made tied up with Airtel, a leading mobile carrier, to offer free of charge data usage for software upgrades. Also Airtel users can freely download from the Google Play Store without any charge being made for their data usage (up to 200MB per month).

In June, Google had announced the launch of the Android One project, which aims to increase the demand for low-end Android smartphones by improving their performance and reliability with consistent software upgrades. Presently, many affordable smartphones run different and kind of customized versions of the Android operating system, which along with the many differences in hardware make apps on those phones malfunction.

India is being projected as a lucrative market for low-cost smartphones because many people are buying these smart devices for the first time. Only 10 percent of the India’s population currently uses smartphone and according to researches, the figure is most likely to go up by twice in the next four years.

Google, however, is not the only company fighting for a share in the Indian smartphone market. There are at least 80 smartphone brands in India and analysts say the Android One phones should offer customers more than just feasibility if it wants to compete with likewise priced devices made by Samsung, Motorola and China’s Xiaomi.

It is not the first time that device makers have partnered with e-commerce firms for exclusively launching their devices. Motorola and Xiaomi have successfully launched their smartphones on Flipkart, while Spice, Micromax and Intex have launched their devices on Snapdeal. Apart from apparels, mobile phones are one of the highest selling items on e-commerce sites.

According to research firm IDC, smartphone sales in the country grew almost three-fold to over 44 million in 2013, buoyed by affordable devices made by local firms such as Micromax and Karbonn. In the second quarter of 2014, 18.42 million smartphones were shipped in India. Though Samsung is the leader with a 29 per cent market share, Micromax (18 per cent), Karbonn (8 per cent) and LAVA (6 per cent) are close competitors.

While Android is the most popular operating system globally, other operating systems such as Windows and iOS are also gaining momentum. Also, latest platforms like Firefox and Tizen may emerge as strong competitors to Google’s platform. Recently, Firefox (in partnership with Spice and Intex) launched two new smartphones, priced below INR 2,300 ($38), aimed at those looking to upgrade from feature phones to smartphones.

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