Google launches Android One smartphones in India, starting at Rs. 6,299

As expected, Google has officially took the wraps off the Android One lineup of smartphones at an event in India earlier today. Android One is the initiative announced by Google in June at I/O 2014, in an attempt to reach the 'next 5 billion users' who don't currently own a smartphone. The first wave of Android One smartphones include Micromax Canvas A1, Karbonn Sparkle V and Spice Dream UNO with all featuring similar specifications.

The Spice Dream UNO is priced at Rs 6,299 and is available exclusively via Flipkart, Karbonn Sparkle V costs Rs 6,399 and is sold exclusively via Snapdeal and Micromax Canvas A1 priced at Rs 6,499 is exclusively for sale from Amazon India. We will talk about all these three smartphones in detail later individually.

Running on stock version of Android 4.4.4 KitKat, the Android One smartphones will be among those first devices that will receive the upcoming Android L update. They will be in line with the Nexus devices to receive the future Android updates and will be updated for two years since their launch.

Airtel, leading carrier in India has partnered with Google and the Airtel users can download the Android OTA updates and upto 200MB of applications from the Play Store for free every month for six months, thereby saving their mobile data.

Another enticing feature is that the Android One users will also be able to watch YouTube videos offline. They will also be given a year of free subscription to the Google Play Newsstand content. Furthermore, the exclusive partners will also be pricing more offers such as discounts on accessories, financing options and free microSD card to promote these handsets.

Besides launching the Android One smartphones in India, Google has revealed it plans of launching the Android One lineup to other emerging markets including Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka by the end of the year.

More countries will receive the lineup in the next year. For the same, Google has partnered with manufacturers such as Acer, Alcatel Onetouch, Asus, HTC, Intex, Lava, Lenovo, Panasonic and Xolo to launch more Android One devices and even chip maker Qualcomm.