Google launches Android One smartphones from Micromax, Karbonn & Spice in India, prices starting at Rs 6,399

After announcing the same earlier this year at the I/O developer conference, Google has finally launched its first family of smartphones under the 'Android One' initiative in India. For the same, the company has partnered with home grown smartphone and tablet manufacturers like Micromax, Karbonn and Spice, and chipmaker MediaTek.

Those who don't already know, the Android One initiative basically aims to make high-quality smartphones accessible to as many people as possible at affordable prices. The initiative also aims to tackle key barriers like hardware, software and connectivity, by working closely with phone and silicon chip makers to share reference designs and select components.

"If we look at how people are getting online and accessing information today, increasingly it's through a smartphone. While 1.75 billion people around the world already have a smartphone, the vast majority of the world's population- over five billion more- do not. That means most people are only able to make simple voice calls, rather than connect with family through a live video chat, use mapping apps to find the closest hospital, or simply search the web. We want to bring these experiences to more people. That's where Android One comes in," wrote Sundar Pichai, SVP, Android, Chrome & Apps at Google in an official company blog post.

Here is a video introducing Android One.

The new smartphone launches include Karbonn's Sparkle V, Micromax's Canvas A1, and Spice Android One Dream UNO Mi-498, which have been priced at Rs 6,399, Rs 6,499, and Rs 6,999 respectively.

Interestingly, the top three e-commerce players in India have each signed up for an exclusive launch of the smartphones. While Micromax's offering can be purchased exclusively only on Amazon.in, the smartphones by Spice and Karbonn will be available for purchase only on Flipkart.com and Snapdeal.com respectively. Each company is also offering a set of launch day offers with the devices. The devices will also be made available in brick and mortar stores early next month.

What this means is that in addition to a battle royale between the smartphone manufacturers, Android One will also spark a grudge match between the e-commerce players. But in any case, it's definitely a win-win for Google.

Here is a look at the specifications of the devices, as well as the launch day offers available with them from the respective e-commerce stores.

Karbonn Sparkle V for Rs 6,399 (Snapdeal.com)

The smartphone has a 4.5 inch IPS FWVGA touchscreen display (480x854 pixels resolution) and runs on the Android 4.4.4 operating system. It is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek processor and has 1GB of RAM. The internal memory of the device is 4GB that can be further expanded up to 32GB with a microSD card.

Sparkle V offers a 5 megapixel autofocus rear camera that can also record high definition videos, and a 2MP front facing camera for video calling. On the connectivity front, it has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G, as well as a microUSB port and a microSD card slot. The dimensions of the device are 113mm x 66mm x 10.4mm. Karbonn has provided a 1,700mAh battery in the device, which it claims will provide up to eight hours of talk time.

Additional offers: Snapdeal is offering an 8 GB memory card free of cost with the device. It is also offering free coupons worth Rs 2,000 valid for up to two months with the smartphone.

Canvas A1 smartphone for Rs 6,499 (Amazon.in)

The smartphone has a 4.5 inch IPS FWVGA touchscreen display (480x854 pixels resolution) and runs on the Android 4.4.4 KitKat operating system. It is powered by a 1.3 GHz MediaTek MT6582 quad-core processor and has 1GB of RAM. The internal memory of the device is 4GB (1.5GB available to the user) that can be further expanded up to 32GB with a microSD card.

Canvas A1 offers a 5 megapixel autofocus rear camera with Flash that can also record full HD videos (1080p), and a 2MP front facing camera for video calling. On the connectivity front, it has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G, as well as a microUSB port and a microSD card slot. The dimensions of the device are 113mm x 66mm x 10.4mm and it has GPS (with A-GPS support). Micromax has provided a 1,700mAh battery in the device, which it claims will provide up to six hours of talk time and 160 hours of standby time.

Additional offers: A free Strontium 8GB memory card; 10 per cent cash back on SBI debit and credit cards; and 1,610 lucky buyers will also get Amazon.in gift cards worth up to Rs 10,000.

Spice Android One Dream UNO Mi-498 for Rs 6,999 (Flipkart.com)

This one comes with a 4.5 inch LCD IPS FWVGA capacitive touchscreen display (480x854 pixels resolution) and runs on the Android 4.4.4 KitKat operating system. It is powered by a 1.3 GHz MediaTek quad-core processor and has 1GB of RAM. The internal memory of the device is 4GB (2.27GB available to the user) that can be further expanded up to 32GB with a microSD card.

The smartphone offers a 5 megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED Flash that can also record full HD videos, and a 2MP front facing camera for video calling. On the connectivity front, it has Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, 3G, as well as a microUSB port and a microSD card slot. The dimensions of the device are 132mm x 67mm x 9.15mm and it has GPS (with A-GPS support). Spice has provided a 1,700mAh battery in the device, which it claims will provide up to 10 hours of talk time and 160 hours of standby time.

Additional offers: Flipkart's offers include Rs 200 worth of recharge from Freecharge.com; free preselected eBooks worth Rs 1,000; discounts of up to Rs 1,500 for purchases made via the Myntra app; 50 per cent off on Spice Dream Uno flip covers; and a free SanDisk 8 GB memory card.

All three of them come with dual SIM capability, a replaceable battery and built-in FM radio. The company is also providing each of them with 35GB of free Google Drive storage. Also, similar to the Moto E, G, and X offerings, the Android One devices have stock Android OS, and will come with local language support for Hindi.

And to help ensure a consistent experience, Android One devices will receive the latest versions of Android directly from Google for up to two years. This also means they will be some of the first to be updated to the Android L release later this year.

In addition, Airtel subscribers will get these software updates for free for the first six months. As part of this same Airtel offer, you will also be able to download up to 200MB per month worth of apps from Google Play- without incurring mobile data charges. Going forward, other telecom operators are also expected to join the programme.

What's in store?

The company has also partnered with a number of phone manufacturers like Acer, Alcatel Onetouch, ASUS, HTC, Intex, Lava, Lenovo, Panasonic, Xolo, and chipmaker Qualcomm, for the program. So you can expect to see even more devices with different screen sizes, colours, hardware configurations and customised software experiences going forward.

Google also plans to expand the Android One program to Indonesia, the Philippines and South Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) by the end of this year.