Google’s New Stab at Boosting Android Brand in U.S. — The Information (Jan 17, 2017)
Android One has always been an attempt by Google to try to squelch some of the uniqueness of various OEMs’ versions of Android, which is arguably inimical to their interests, given that such customizations are often the main way OEMs can differentiate when running the same underlying OS. I had assumed Google was slowly sunsetting the program given how little it’s talked about it recently, so it’s a bit of a surprise to see it now apparently coming to the US (the main focus so far has been emerging markets). Given the low price point, this can be seen as a combination of Nexus replacement and Google Pixel counterpart – a vanilla Android experience for low-end buyers, with the promise of regular quick updates to the OS. It’s also reminiscent of the strategy Motorola began to pursue towards the end of its time as a Google subsidiary. Of course, the big question is whether any smartphones coming out of this program will get carrier distribution – that makes or breaks phone launches in the US for the most part.
via Google’s New Stab at Boosting Android Brand in U.S. — The Information
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