MANILA, Philippines – Google on Wednesday, June 25 (June 26, Philippine time), launched Android One, a new initiative to further bring smartphones to emerging markets.

Android One is a set of guidelines to make smartphone building faster while bringing their prices down.

The announcement was made at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco in the United States.

Using the guidelines, manufacturers can provide end users with more unified experience of using Android.

By maintaining a set of standards across the building of Android smartphones in emerging markets – markets with a currently low adoption of smartphones – the experience of building Android phones and of using them becomes easier even when a user decides to get a new phone.

The Android One experience also promises fewer pre-installed apps in the built phones, as well as timely Android software updates.

Indian smartphone makers are the first test bed for the initiative, with 3 companies – Karbonn, Spice, and Micromax – providing affordable handsets.

Micromax’s first device, for example, is a sub-$100 smartphone with a 4.5-inch display, dual-SIM slots and SD card support. – Rappler.com