Google has finally unveiled Android One smartphones in Indian market. Micromax, Spice, and Karbonn — all have officially announced their version of Android One smartphones. And yes, these phones are cheap. But we Bangladeshis still ask ourselves, are we going to be left out?
Certainly not, according to a report from The Verge, Google plan on releasing Android One phones in other South Asian countries by the end of this year. Those countries include Pakista, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Nepal, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. Even more exciting is, Google says HTC, Asus, Panasonic, Lenovo, and Acer is joining the ship to manufacture Android One phones for these countries.
There is another manufacturer who’ll join the ship: it’s Qualcomm. So it’s likely that the next bunch of Android One smartphones that launch in South Asian countries will be powered by a Qualcomm chip. How cool would that be?
For now, Google launched Android One platform for Indian markets only. Micromax Canvas A1, Spice Android One Dream, and Karbonn Sparkle V have already been announced all with the same specification and some variation in pricing. They all pack 4.5-inch display, 5 MP rear and 2 MP front camera, 1.3 GHz quad-core Mediatek processor with 1 GB RAM, dual SIM card slot, microSD card slot and FM radio functionality. And they are priced around $105 (Rs. 6399).
Google says Airtel users with an Android One device will get updates straight from Google for six months since ownership, and that includes the major upgrade to Android L. Another feature that Android One devices will have is a special version of YouTube app that lets users download a video so that they can replay it without consuming any internet data. However, that app might make its way to other Android phones thanks to the thousands of Android developers on XDA.
Back to Bangladesh, there is no definite time when Android One will launch or who will manufacture devices for this market. But if The Verge is to be believed, we only have to wait for 3 months before we have an answer to it.
Are you excited about the launch of Android One device in Bangladesh? What price range do you want to see Android One device in?
This post also appears on Android Kothon Bangla.
