

Android One - cleverjake
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/for-next-five-billion-android-one.html

======
JoshTriplett
> To help ensure a consistent experience, Android One devices will receive the
> latest versions of Android directly from Google.

Finally! Hopefully we'll see all new Android devices going this direction in
the future, with carriers and handset/tablet vendors (who have no incentive to
support a device that's already been sold) removed from the software side of
things entirely.

That's one of the most significant differences with Chrome OS, where the
software stack always comes directly from Google no matter who you get your
Chrome device from.

------
the_rosentotter
I just came back from a month in the subcontinent. Practically everyone has a
modern smartphone from some Chinese company or other. Good ones with modern
specs, running Android 4.4. Many children had better phones than mine. And I
am talking about regular people, shopkeepers, etc.

Their main problem is that there are no worthwhile mobile data networks. The
ones they have are slow, expensive and with very poor coverage. This is the
problem to solve - hardware is already a commodity at this point.

------
kin
I am a long time Android user and recently pre-ordered an iPhone 6. Many
people I know have done the same.

But after reading this post, I don't think Google cares. They're aiming at
getting a phone in the hands of millions without the means to get a legit
smart phone.

~~~
DannyBee
"I am a long time Android user and recently pre-ordered an iPhone 6."

Okay, i'll bite. The iphone6 seems like a slightly better iphone 5 (hardware
wise) What was the hardware feature that drove you to this?

(If it was IOS 8, that's interesting, but you make it sound like the iPhone 6
offered something over and above the iPhone 5S that made you want it over an
android device, so i'm really curious what it was)

~~~
kin
I was tired of being left out. Indy games always release iOS first and
sometimes don't even port to Android. Cool apps that come out like Hyperlapse
are also iOS first. Even Google's own apps release features an iOS before
Android. Device fragmentation plagues Google's apps. Hardware-wise, they're
all more or less the same.

In terms of iPhone 5s vs. 6 it's really just the timing. I was disappointed
with this year's Google I/O and felt I should get the newest device.

------
dang
A dupe of
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8317943](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8317943).

------
discardorama
It looks like Google is trying to become more like Apple. Seeing that Apple
does not make its own hardware (and it's made by contractors like FoxConn),
the similarities are pretty high between A-1 and Apple.

Not an Apple fanboi, but I like the whole iOS ecosystem: less noise, things
"just work", etc.

