Android One Phones to Come to U.S. Mid-2017

Google is rumored to be bringing the Android One line of smartphones to the US. The Information website writes that the first phone bearing the brand could launch as early as mid 2017. Its believed that the phone will be priced somewhere between $200 and $300.

The report doesn't disclose who the phone will be manufactured by, but its understood that LG is potentially a partner already for the Android One Brand. Android phones account for more than half the smartphone sales in the U.S. partly in thanks to strong phone manufacturer marketing by brands like Samsung and LG. Google wants Android to be recognized as a brand on its own and hopes that the Android One brand and the newly-released Pixel will help raise that awareness in the US.

Manufacturers that partner with Google to release a phone under the Android One brand will be given "major Promotional dollars if they play by the rules" The Information stated. The rules include the phones launching with Google Apps preloaded, as expected. Part of this push for the Android One brand to be released in the US is that Google realizes that Android is not a well known brand when compared to phone manufacturers themselves, and of course Apple. Google still makes the majority of its mobile income from advertising and via the Google Search bar, Google is hoping that the Pixel and Android One brands will allow Google to showcase its AI and VR abilities through hardware Google has more control over.

The Android One brand was launched in 2014 in India through which low cost phones were supported directly by Google to ensure timely updates for a minimum of two years from the date of release. This is to combat the criticism that Android suffers from fragmentation and doesn't offer timely security updates across its ecosystem when compared to Apple. Google has since expanded the Android One brand to Europe and Japan as well as African countries like Ghana and Kenya.

The Information

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