Second batch of Android One to arrive in December

Well, few days back, the search engine giant Google unveiled its Android One project in India with three device launched at a very affordable price. These three handsets are the Micromax Canvas A1, Spice Android One Dream UNO and the Karbonn Sparkle V all having quite similar specs and priced around 6.5K INR only. At the launch time, there were may other handset manufacturers that had shown interest in this Google project and had promised to join this initiative later this year. If reports are to be believed, this December we would get to see the second batch of Andrid One handsets getting unveiled. Karbonn is likely to come with its one more Android One handset along with other Indian manufacturer Intex to join the club.

Revising the list of Android One hardware partners it includes some very prominent companies like Asus, Lenovo, HTC, Lava, Alcatel, Panasonic, Xolo and Acer. We can expect these companies to make announcements with their first Android One devices in the coming months.

Looking to the specs of the existing Android One devices, they include a 4.5inch display having 854×480 pixel resolution with dual-SIM support, 1GB of RAM memory, powered with quad-core MediaTek processor and a internal expandable memory. All these handsets have been launched with amazing offers with Google promising the latest software on launch for 2 years. Chipset manufacturer MediaTek has predicted that nearly 2 million Android One handsets would be sold in a year.

Second batch of Android One to arrive in December

Karbonn launches Titanium S5 Ultra exclusively via EBAY

After unveiling the Karbonn Sparkle V android one smartphone, Karbonn Titanium S5 Ultra another 1.3GHz quad core powered handset running Android KitKat OS. . Launched with an exclusive tie-up with eBay retailer, the new android phone is priced at Rs 6999 and packs a bundle of good features.

Though some of the features are better as compared with the Sparkle V Android One smartphone, the Android One is still a better option as it will get regular updates. The Titanium S5 Ultra is a dual SIM smartphone that sports a 5 inch qHD display (960x 540 pixels) resolution.

The Titanium S5 Ultra is powered by the MediaTek 1.3GHz quad core processor coupled with Mali 400 GPU. It packs 1 GB RAM and 4 GB ROM with expandable memory capacity up to 32GB via microSD card slot. This dual SIM smartphone also comes with 2MP camera (fixed focus) on the front and an 8MP rear camera with LED flash.

On the software front, the it comes with features like iFloat touch, Tile home display and enhanced video player. The iFloat touch provides direct access to Quick Share, Browser, Dialler, Video player & Messaging, while the Tile Home Display offers easy access to frequently used apps.

Additional features are 3G, 2G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth. A 2000 mAh battery powers up the smartphone with estimated normal usage time of up to a day.

Looking at the number of android phones in India priced in the Rs. 7000 range, it seems like Karbonn Titanium S5 Ultra will find a stiff competition from the likes of Xiaomi Redmi 1S, Moto E and Micromax phones. Share your thoughts with us on the new Android device from Karbonn.

 

 

Karbonn launches Titanium S5 Ultra exclusively via EBAY

Google launches affordable Android One smartphones in India, here are the details

Google had unveiled Android One at the I/O 2014 saying that it wants to take the Android experience to affordable entry-level smartphones too. Well, Google has now launched its first three Android One smartphones in India with its hardware partners Karbonn, Micromax and Spice as its “initiative to make high-quality smartphones accessible to as many people as possible.”

The three smartphones released by the Mountain View based tech giant in the Android One family are – the Karbon Sparkle V, Micromax Canvas A1 and Spice Dream UNO. The three phones are available at their respective online retail stores. The Karbon Sparkle V is being sold on Snapdeal for INR 6,399 ($105), the Micromax Canvas A1 on Amazon for INR 6,499 ($106) and the Spice Dream UNO through Flipkart for INR 6,299 ($103).

These Android One smartphones will be available at the brick and mortar retail stores from early October. They will have “features that people in India will find particularly useful” such as dual SIM support, built-in FM radio and a replaceable battery. All the three smartphones will carry similar specifications and Google says that the hardware partners can make their own customized changes in design and minor software with the core software being the same.

The new phones will feature a 4.5-inch 480 x 854 pixels resolution IPS display,  MediaTek MT6582 chipset with 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU and Mali 400 MP2 GPU, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage expandable up to 32GB via microSD card, 5MP rear camera with LED flash, 2MP front camera and a 1700mAh battery. Other common specs are 3G, GPS, GPRS/ EDGE, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The smartphones will have pre-loaded Google apps such as Gmail, Google Search, Google Maps, YouTube and Google Translate. All these phones run the Android 4.4.4 KitKat stock version and will get latest updates directly from Google up to two years. They will also get Android L as soon as it is released later this year.

Google has partnered with India’s leading mobile carrier Airtel, and users with Airtel SIM card will get free software updates for the first 6 months. They will also be able to download about 200MB worth of apps (about 50 apps) from the Google Play store for 6 months which won’t be counted towards their mobile data usage.

Google has also announced that Android One users will be able to download YouTube videos and then watch them offline whenever they want. They will also get free 12 month subscription to magazines and newspapers and they can browse the articles inside the app even when they are offline. In addition, the online retailers are giving attractive offers like discount on accessories, financing options and free memory card.

Although first Android One phones are from Micromax, Karbonn and Spice, Google is adding other hardware partners such as Acer, Asus, Alcatel, HTC, Lava, Intex, OneTouch, Panasonic, Xolo and Lenovo. Google will also partner with Qualcomm. India is the first country to get Android one smartphones, they will be launched in Indonesia, Philippines, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal by the year end, with more countries covered next year.

As  Sundar Pichai, Google’s senior vice president had said during the Google I/O event early this year that the company wants to bring a pure Android experience and timely software updates to affordable $100 smartphones.  About 1.75 billion people in the world have a smartphone but with Android One, Google wants to target the nest 5 billion people on the earth who cannot afford the pricey smartphones.

Have a look at the video below introducing Andoid One:

Google launches affordable Android One smartphones in India, here are the details

Flipkart accidentally posts the first Android One a day before launch

Few days back, Google announced that the Mountain View giant is hosting a special event on September 15 i.e. today which is quite related to the Android One. Yesterday, Flipkart made an official posting by listing the first Spice Android One Dream UNO Mi-498. Looking to the image it is very clear that the phone will be priced at 6,999 nearly equivalent to USD 115. The smartphone is equipped with a 4.5inch screen, powered with a quad-core MediaTek processor clocked at 1.3GHz, 1GB of RAM memory, 4GB of internal storage along with a microSD card slot for expandable memory. The device would have a 5MP primary camera at the back and a 2MP secondary camera to its front. The handset is tipped to run the latest available Android 4.4.4 KitKat on-board with a Dual SIM card support.

Spice has already started publicizing the handset on social websites and said that it would be made exclusive by Flipkart. However, after keeping accidentally for some time, Flipkart has now removed it from its website.

Later today, Android One would be announced officially where we expect similar king of models from Micromax and Karbonn as well! If you are hearing about Android One for the first time, here are the complete details about the project from Google.

Flipkart accidentally posts the first Android One a day before launch