Google today launched Android One in India. The smartphones launched are called Micromax Canvas A1, Spice Dream UNO, and the Karbonn Sparkle V. They will be available on Amazon India, Flipkart and Snapdeal respectively, and in terms of pricing, the Dream UNO is priced at Rs 6,299, Sparkle V at Rs 6,399, and the Canvas A1 is priced at Rs 6,499.

Karbonn Sparkle V

Android One phones run on the latest version of Android 4.4 KitKat. They will be some of the first phones to 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.

Micromax Canvas A1

In terms of hardware, the phones feature front – and rear-facing cameras, 1G of memory, fast quad-core MediaTek processor, long battery life as well as features including dual SIM slots, a FM radio tuner, and a microSD card slot for additional storage.

Spice Dream Uno

The phones will come with headphones, USB charger and cable as well as quick start guide in the box. Through Google Play, Android One phones have access to over one million apps that allow people to message friends, make video calls, socialize, check news and weather, and play games. Google apps such as Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Google Search, and Google Translate will come pre-loaded on the phones.

Google has now began sending invites out telling us to “block your date for an exciting new announcement from Google.” The event will take place on September 15th in India, and while there’s no guarantee that Google plans to formally out the first crop of Android One handsets.

Sundar Pichai, Senior Vice President, Android, Chrome and Apps at Google said -

“Mountain View-based company will not subsidise Android One hardware. Instead, Pichai hoped that the by sharing resources between Google and the OEMs, the companies would be able to keep the total cost of manufacturing in check.”

The goal of Android One is to bring “high-quality, affordable” smartphones to the developing world, starting with India and moving on to other locations if the strategy proves successful.

Android One means these consumers will have an option that is still extremely affordable, but has fewer compromises when it comes to the software.

Google might surprise everyone as Google will be revealing more details in the following days.

Android One, the Google project launch low price products in India early next month. All the manufacturers Micromax, Karbonn and Spice are ready with the handsets and pricing are set between Rs 7,000 and Rs 10,000.

Google is expected to roll out similar handsets in other emerging markets depending on consumer response in India. The success of Android One is critical for Google as it would help the company bring in new users to its Android platform, especially at a time when the market share of the most popular mobile operating system is at on increasing on a good graph. Android One is a reference platform that device makers can follow to develop and produce low-cost smartphones. It ensures that even low-end devices can run Google’s latest software and updates to offer uniform user experience.

Google said -

“Android One is setting minimum hardware and software standards for the three vendors, who are adding or improving upon them in future devices under the Android One umbrella.”

PwC India’s Mohammad Chowdhury said -

“The operating system on the Android One devices will be upgraded to Android L in October,” one of the people said. This upgrade will allow users to have better browsing and gaming experience at affordable prices, making the smartphones attractive buys for first-time buyers and those wanting to replace their existing phones.

Advantages of screen size and Google updates could make a difference to these smartphones offering better performance to what Indian buyers are accustomed to.”

Sunstrike Telecom India on Monday launched its cheapest Android 4.4 KitKat smartphone, the Rage Swift, at Rs. 2,999. The pricing of the KitKat-based Rage Swift is the same as the Celkon Campus A35K, which is till now the cheapest KitKat phone in the country since its launch in June.

Chanpreet Singh, Managing Director, Sunstrike said -

“Rage Swift has all the trendy features, and it runs on KitKat, the latest Android version, & yet we have kept our product very affordable for everyone. We are quite optimistic that Swift will receive a tremendous response from customers.”

Specifications of Sunstrike Rage Swift are -

• Display – 3.50-inch
• Front Camera – 0.3-megapixel
• Resolution – 540×960 pixels
• OS – Android 4.4 KitKat
• Rear Camera – 1.3-megapixel
• Battery capacity – 1600mAh
• Colors Available – Black

he company which started to sell its products in India in 2007 has now 300 distributors, 12,000+ retailers and a network of 350+ after Sales Service Centres throughout the country.

There are plenty of apps out there that let you make free calls from your mobile device but none of these work well, or not at all, on 2G networks.

Nanu claims to be able to let you call any other Nanu user for free even on 2G networks. You can also call devices which don’t have the Nanu app installed, but those calls are restricted to 15 minutes.

Nanu app supports calls to landline numbers in 41different countries including India and to mobile phones in 9 other countries. The company plans to expand to other countries and platforms too. The website also says that apps for iOS and Windows will be available on play stores later this year and that Nanu app also plans to add a messaging feature.

Nanu claimed on its website -

“Nanu doesn’t need a fast network, so unlike Skype or Viber, it works on 2G and congested networks. In other words, it works anywhere your phone does. Plus Nanu sounds crisper and clearer. As more and more people use Nanu, we will be able to offer more and more free Nanu-to-non-Nanu calls.”

To call, a user has to download and use the Nanu app on their smartphones. As he calls, he will hear a voice advertisement – instead of a ringtone – before the other party is connected.

The app is only available for Android devices, but it should arrive on other platforms soon. Nanu also promised to add text messaging functionality in the future as well.

The Android app is out now on the Google Play store, while an Apple version is expected later this year.

Disney India has launched a new gaming app on the Android and Windows mobile platform to promote the Salman Khan-starrer film, ‘Kick’.

‘Kick’ is a Bollywood action feature film to be released on July 25^th, directed and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. It features Salman Khan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Randeep Hooda and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles.

Salman said on launch -

“At our house, Arhaan (son of Arbaaz Khan), and Nirvaan and Yohan (both sons of Sohail Khan) are good in it. I am interested in sports and not games. We wanted to create an interactive experience of our movie for fans. The mobile game developed by Disney India is exciting and easy to play, it is engaging. I hope my fans will enjoy playing the game.”

In the game, the player takes on the role of ‘Devil’ (Salman’s name in the movie) and embarks upon a benevolent yet exciting journey where he robs the rich and corrupt and deposits that money in the bank for philanthropic causes.

This game (‘Kick’) is developed for both feature phones and smartphones (Android, Windows) to reach out to a wide audience of mobile users in the country.

Manish Khatri from Mahesh Telecom, retailer based in Mumbai has just tweeted from his official Twitter account that Samsung Galaxy Core 2 will be available in India from tomorrow at Rs. 11,599 (MOP), whereas the MRP would be Rs. 13,390.

Specifications of Samsung Galaxy Core 2 are -

• Display – 4.5-inch capacitive touch
• Resolution – 800 x 480 pixels
• Processor – 1.2 GHz quad-core
• OS – Android 4.4 KitKat
• Rear Camera – 5-megapixel auto focus
• Front Camera – 0.3-megapixel VGA
• RAM- 768 MB
• Internal Storage – 4GB expandable up to 64GB
• Battery – 2000mAh
• Dimensions – 130.2 x 67.9 x 9.8mm
• Weight – 138 grams

The phone is available in 2 color variants white and black and also have leather-like back cover.

Delhi lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung on Friday launched a mobile phone application to help Delhiites locate and hire GPS-enabled auto-rickshaws anywhere in the city. Pooch-O, which will now allow users to locate autos, fitted with GPS, nearest to them and can then call its driver, whose numbers are registered with DIMTS, on their mobile phone and book a trip.

Delhi lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung said -

“After booking auto through this app, commuters can share their travel details on Facebook and Twitter so that their friends and family members can get to know about their locations. Besides, there are several security elements in this app. Traffic police will be asked to connect this app to its website, their traffic apps so that if auto driver refuses commuters without any reason, strict action would be taken against them.”

S N Sahai, managing director (DIMTS) said -

“Pooch-O users can also calculate estimated fare for their trip and even track the auto to check if it is coming towards them or not after calling its drivers. This app will soon be available on iphone. Auto drivers will also be benifitted with this app as they will easily have passengers.” 

There are 24,000 autos in Delhi, which are fitted with GPS, and more autos are expected to get GPS-enabled soon. The Delhi administration officials expect a large number of people to benefit from this app.

Motorola confirms Moto X and G will get Android L – read the full text Android L is still in the developer preview phase but companies are already vowing to bring it to their devices. Motorola smartphones have mostly pure Android and get very timely updates now Moto customer support is claiming that the Moto X and Moto G will definitely be getting the L update.

Android L was announced by Google at the developer conference in San Francisco last month. Presently, it seems very difficult to believe, and pretty much unlikely that Motorola will give out any confirmation or information about the new Android L operating system on their handsets. Since the operating system is still in its final development stages, handset manufacturers would not leak out sensitive information, like this one, on a public chat line.

Few days back, Motorola India had announced it had started rolling out the latest Android 4.4.4 KitKat update for its for the Moto E, Moto G and Moto X smartphones users in India. The company made the announcement via its Twitter handle, and said users should expect the Android 4.4.4 KitKat update over-the-air soon.

Evleaks suggests that Microsoft is working on an Android-powered Lumia device. Months after releasing the Nokia X, the company has unveiled X2, which will bring a refreshed hardware and software platform for the range. However, the original phones in the X series will miss out on the software update.

Nokia already put Android smartphones under the X-series, so it is strange to hear that Microsoft is going to launch them under the Lumia name. Maybe Microsoft is planning to kill the X-series and put all the devices under the Lumia/Nokia by Microsoft branding.