6 things you need to know about Android One’s launch in the Philippines

It’s finally here. What has been dubbed as Nexus for the masses has made its way to the Philippines. Our country is the sixth one to join the Android One program (after India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia). Here’s what you need to know about Google’s Android One platform:

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1. All Android One devices will ship with Google’s latest operating system (in this case, Android 5.1 Lollipop) and it’s a vanilla experience of the OS. This means you get access to all Google services and apps and it’ll be one of the first devices to be getting Android M when it comes out later this year, as hinted by Google Inc.’s Vice President for Product Management Caesar Sengupta, who flew in just for this launch. They will receive updates from Google for up to two years. So, any major or minor update should come their way.

2. Localization is updated in Android Lollipop and in the new Android One phones. The new phones have a distinct Filipino flavor to them. Google Philippines Country Manager Kenneth Lingan demonstrated Ok Google, the voice-activated search tool for the OS, in pure Filipino. Google was able to answer questions like, kailan ikinasal si Marian Rivera and gaano kahaba ang EDSA. Just to test it out, we tried Ok Google in Taglish. While it didn’t give the most accurate answer, it was able to answer kailan ang birthday ni President Aquino. Other Filipino dialects are expected to roll out in the future.

3. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) work with Google-designed reference boards. Caesar likens it to having your lola’s recipe for a dish. There will be specific design specs and manufacturing standards that they have to follow to make sure users get the best experience out of the Android One device. For example, these phones will definitely have features like front- and rear-facing cameras, dual SIM slots, replaceable batteries, FM radio, and a micro SD card slot.

4. As the second largest Internet market in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is a huge market to tap, especially when it comes to the mobile-first initiative Google is working on, according to Lingan. Google hopes the platform will encourage and entice more Filipinos to switch from simple feature phones to smartphones. They aim to bring high quality mobile experience to the masses without price being a limiting factor. Think of the folks from the provinces who haven’t experienced a smartphone yet.

5. Right now there are two local brands who called dibs on developing the first Android One devices in the Philippines—the Cherry Mobile One and the MyPhone Uno. Both devices will be coming very soon and will be selling for under P5,000. (We will have reviews of the products up soon, so watch for that.) And other brands have also partnered with Google to release their own Android One devices. Expect them to come out within the year.

6. Google has also partnered with local telcos Globe, Smart, and Sun. They promise to bring free over-the-air updates for the OS. Smart and Sun are also developing plans to offer certain amounts of app downloads for free from Google Play for the first six months. There are no details on this yet but we will let you know when we find out more.