Google is extending Android One, its low-cost smartphone program which was launched in India last year, to six African countries where access to Internet continues to be a challenge, the company announced this week.
Beginning Aug. 18, Google’s new Hot 2 phone became available at retail stores in Nigeria at a recommended price of $88. The handset is also available through online retailer Jumia in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Egypt, and Morocco, and will become available in other countries in the following weeks.
The smartphone was made by Infinix, one of several device makers to partner with Google in its initiative to make the Web accessible to people in less developed parts of the world. The cheap phones, while they lack all the bells and whistles of top-shelf Android models, are equipped with the latest Android software. The Hot 2 comes equipped with the “Lollipop” operating system and will receive an update to the next version of OS, nicknamed “Marshmallow.”
Google will facilitate online activity on the new smartphones by streamlining Google Search to reduce data usage and extending YouTube Offline, which allows YouTube videos to be stored on the phone for 48 hours so videos can be watched even when Web connection are compromised.
“Access for access’s sake is not enough. With Android One, we not only want to help people get online, we want to make sure that when they get there, they can tap into the wealth of information and knowledge the web holds for everyone,” said Sundar Pichai, senior vice president, Android, Chrome & Apps at the time of the program’s launch last year.
Less than one-third of the global population uses smartphones, according to Statista.com, and Google estimates that 5 billion people do not.
“That means most people are only able to make simple voice calls, rather than connect with family through a live video chat, use mapping apps to find the closest hospital, or simply search the web. We want to bring these experiences to more people,” Pichai said in the blogpost.
