Android One smartphones to get Lollipop update next month: Report

Google is steadily rolling out Android 5.0 Lollipop update for Nexus devices, and Motorola smartphone users too are getting the latest Android OS on their phones. Android One smartphones, which too run on stock Android, however will have to wait a bit longer to get the update.

According to IndiaToday, Google will start rolling out the update for the Android One smartphones sometime in mid-December. While it is not clear which Android One smartphone will get the update first, Spice Dream Uno users are likely to get the update only next year. Speaking to the publication, Spice’s CEO Prashant Bindal said, “We plan to provide Lollipop in our Android One devices around January 2015 and the update will be available for all Dream Uno users in India.”

Since there is no official word from Google yet, we would advise you to take it with the proverbial pinch of salt. If however Android One smartphone users do get the Lollipop update towards to the end of this year, Google will have failed to stick to the USP of these smartphones.

In addition to being affordable, Android One smartphones run on stock Android, and Google had promised that they would be one of the first smartphones along with Nexus devices to get the update. But with over a week since Nexus devices have started getting the update, and so have some Motorola devices, Android One users are still waiting.

Started as Google’s grand plan to offer good Android smartphones at an affordable smartphone range, the initiative hasn’t got off to the best of starts. Recent reports suggest that Android One smartphones have been suffering from tough competition from the likes of Motorola and Xiaomi, as well as Google’s failure to effectively convey how these devices and its operating system that offer Google Services like Maps and Google Now, are different. Reports of other shortcomings such as the inability to take pictures without adding an external card to the devices are also said to have hurt sales.

According to import data for the month of October, only two lakh handsets had arrived in the country, which is lesser than the 2.3 lakh units available at the time of launch. As far as the hardware partners are concerned, Micromax led the way selling more handsets compared to Spice and Karbonn. Micromax imported 1.32 lakh units of the Canvas A1 in October, while Karbonn and Spice only imported 34,390 units each of the Sparkle V and the Dream UNO.

IMPORT:-BGR.in

Google launched the Android One initiative in India by launching affordable smartphones running on stock Android. These smartphones were developed in conjunction with hardware partners like Micromax, Karbonn and Spice, and are priced between Rs 6,299 and Rs 6,499. These smartphones were initially only available online, but have since hit offline retail stores as well.

Going forward, Google expects the sales to pick up. Google also announced new hardware partners including HTC, Lava, Xolo, Intex, Asus, Alcatel Onetouch, Lenovo, and Panasonic and aims to launch new smartphones in the beginning of next year.