Android
One so far may not have gone as Google had hoped for, but the search giant
doesn’t seem to be ready to give up just yet. In an interview with ET,
Mike Hayes, director of business development for Android and Chrome
partnerships, had some interesting revelations about Google’s
smartphone program. Besides the fact that the Android One program now falling
under the purview of the returning Rick Osterloh, Hayes also confirmed that new
Android One smartphones are incoming.
“Android One has become a part of the broader hardware strategy,
under which Motorola’s Rick Osterloh has joined Google recently. Google is taking a
broader view of its hardware business. So, you should expect to see a position
around what we are doing on low-end devices all the way through,” Hayes
said.
Hayes also
confirmed that a number of companies continue to show interest in the Android
One program. Google, he says, also continues to be in touch with its early
Android One partners like Micromax, Karbonn and Spice.
We still
have interest from a number of OEMs wanting to work with us on programmes like
the Android One. The program is about mass market low-end devices, more
affordability and to drive services into the market, and the premium things
that we are working on with a number of OEMs.
The executive also talked
about carrier billing, which was enabled for Idea Cellular subscribers earlier
this week. Google is currently in talks with other carriers to bring the
feature to more customers in the country. This lets
Idea subscribers to buy any apps, e-books, games or in-app features from Google
Play, and the money will be deducted from their prepaid account or will be
added to their postpaid bill.
In line
with earlier reports, Hayes also says that Android One partners will now have
more freedom to ‘decide everything in terms of specification, pricing and when to
launch’. Google will instead focus on the software and services bit.
Lava’s
second-generation Android One smartphone Pixel V1 was criticized for its price (Rs 11,350), and lack of 4G support
and specs that seemed like a compromise in comparison to its immediate rivals.
With more freedom though, Android One partners will be able to offer
competitive specs at an equally competitive price.
We are
actively engaging with other major carriers. I can't give a specific date but
we expect that in the short term, there will be several announcements that we
would announcing with them. We have learnt a lot and are able to talk
intelligibly what those opportunities are with the carriers.
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