Airtel, Google to bring Android Oreo (Go Edition)-powered smartphones to India

Airtel, Google to bring Android Oreo (Go Edition)-powered smartphones to India.

Airtel and Google have partnered to launch low-cost 4G smartphones powered by Android Oreo (Go Edition) in India. Lava and Micromax will manufacture the first set of devices. These smartphones will also come pre-loaded with several apps, including MyAirtel App, Airtel TV and Wynk Music. Starting March 2018, all entry-level 4G smartphones unveiled under Airtel’s ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ program will be shipped with Android Oreo (Go Edition).

Android Oreo (Go edition) is a tailored version of the Android Oreo, customised to offer a smooth experience on devices with 512MB to 1GB RAM. The devices running Android Ore (Go Edition) come with a set of customised apps that have been designed to run faster while using less data. These include Google Go, Google Assistant Go, YouTube Go, Google Maps Go, Gmail Go, Gboard, Google Play, Chrome, and Files Go.

“This partnership is a major milestone for the ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ initiative. Android Go will provide a massive boost to our efforts to bring affordable smartphone options to the market and potentially enable hundreds of millions of feature phone users and unconnected people to get online. We are excited to collaborate with Google and our device partners to work towards this shared vision of bringing smartphones within the reach of more people,” Vani Venkatesh, Chief Marketing Officer – Bharti Airtel, said in a press statement.

“Android’s mission has always been to bring the power of computing to everyone. We’re excited to see Airtel take a leading role in that effort through introducing a range of devices powered by Android Oreo (Go edition),” said Jon Gold, Director of Android Partnerships.