Airtel, Google to launch low-cost 4G handsets with Android Oreo Go

New Delhi Feb 27 (IANS) In a bid to get more Indians online Google and telecom services provider Bharti Airtel on Tuesday announced they were collaborating to introduce low-cost smartphones powered by Android Oreo (Go Edition) in the domestic market.

With this India will become one of the first countries to commercially roll-out smartphones running on Android Oreo (Go) Operating System (OS).

This partnership is a major milestone for the Mera Pehla Smartphone initiative. We are excited to collaborate with Google and our device partners to work towards bringing smartphones within the reach of more people " Vani Venkatesh Chief Marketing Officer Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

Entry-level 4G smartphones under Airtel s "Mera Pehla Smartphone" programme will be shipped with Android Oreo (Go) OS starting March 2018.

"Android s mission has always been to bring the power of computing to everyone. We re excited to see Airtel take a leading role in that effort through introducing a range of devices powered by Android Oreo (Go) " added Jon Gold Global Director of Android Partnerships at Google.

Android Oreo (Go) is essentially made for entry-level Android smartphones with less than 1GB RAM and hence uses less storage space less memory and still runs smoothly.

Originally announced at Google I/O 2017 annual developer conference the OS is a toned-down version of the latest Android Oreo OS which is currently present in high-end devices.

As part of "Mera Pehla Smartphone" programme Airtel has partnered with several mobile handset manufacturers to build an "open ecosystem" of affordable 4G smartphones.

--IANS
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