Google kicks off Android One program with three $100 smartphones

Just as expected, Google launched the Android One program with three extremely affordable handsets. The Android One program rolls out in India first and will offer users a choice of three smartphones in the beginning: the Micromax Canvas A1, Spice Dream UNO, and the Karbonn Sparkle V.

Those are all basic Android devices running on 4.4 KitKat, and sharing pretty much identical hardware under the hood. The phones have 4.5-inch displays with a resolution of 480 x 854-pixels (FWVGA), a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek system chips with 1GB of RAM. In terms of camera, they are equipped with a 5-megapixel rear shooter and a 2-megapixel front cam. The biggest shortcoming seems to be the small amount of on board storage: just 4GB on the gadgets, but you can at least easily expand via microSD cards. All three offers come with 3G connectivity, but no 4G LTE.

Interestingly, Google has also partnered with local carrier Airtel to give buyers the extra of having free OTA updates and 200MB of free app downloads from the Play Store.

Amazon India, Flipkart and Snapdeal will all be selling the new phones, and starting prices run at around $100 off-contract.

source: Google via BGR