Android One in India

Google today launched 3 Android One pieces in India, in association with vendors Micromax, Karbonn and Spice. These phones have the advantage that updates will be sent directly by Google. Many vendors sell mobile phones in India, that are not Android One. These phones never receive any update. Updates are mandatory for a mobile phone, just like a PC; because bugs are found and software can usually be made more efficient over time.

All three Android phones, launched today, suffer from the same problems i.e.

• They have only 1GB RAM. If a person is buying phone today and wants to use it for next few years, then RAM should be at least 2GB.
• Internal memory is only 4GB and of this some part is used by mobile operations system. So only, about 2GB is left for Apps. If a person buys a phone today and wants to install games on it for the next few years, the internal memory should have been at least 16GB. It is inconvenient to move games from internal SD-card to external after each install/update.
• The screen for all three phones is only 4.5". Nowadays, many people use mobile phone instead of PC/Laptop/Tablet to watch movies. They need at least 5" screen with stronger battery.
• Google says that it will give updates to these Android One phones for upto two years. In India, people still PCs with Windows XP; they purchase a PC and try to use it for 10 years. Google should have guaranteed updates for at least 4 years.

The vendors needs to rectify these errors quickly. They need to launch new Android One phones, with 2GB RAM, internal card of 16GB, screen size of at least 5" and free updates for four years at least. The rest of the specifications can remain the same. Many people in India will purchase phones with improved specification, even if the cost rises by few dollars. Without considering overall value, Google and its vendors cannot capture Indian market just on the basis of initial price.