Skip to main content

Heads up! More Android One devices incoming

Google is continuing its push to dominate developing markets with affordable devices through its Android One program.

Mike Hayes, the company’s director of business development for Chrome and Android partnerships, said more Android One devices will be coming to markets this year, as a part of Google’s “broader hardware strategy.” Hayes sat down with the Economic Times of India, where he said manufacturers will also get more freedom to choose components for devices.

Recommended Videos

“For the initial devices that we had launched, we had put certain yardsticks in order to stand up the software, which is why you saw commonality between the specifications,” Hayes said. “But, since that time, we have had devices with different display sizes, and different chip-sets. [The] freedom to choose components is now around for OEMs. The decision to procure the components to build the device is still very much taken by the OEM, as they decide everything in terms of specification, pricing, and when to launch. We work around the software elements such as bringing services and Android as a platform OS on to those devices.”

Android One targets markets like India, Europe, Turkey, Africa, and South East Asia, where Google wants to provide a low-cost Android device that runs stock Android. These devices, like those in Google’s Nexus lineup, are first to get Android software updates.

Hayes says Google is taking a broader view of its hardware business — that’s easily seen with the hiring of Rick Osterloh, former president of Motorola, as the company’s head of a unified hardware division. With Android One unified under Osterloh’s Nexus program, along with other devices, Hayes says we can expect to see a strategy from the company for low-end devices.

The search giant is still very much in talks with companies that signed on to develop products under the Android One program, such as Spice, Karbon, and Micromax. The speed at which these companies now release Android One devices is entirely up to them.

Hayes says there has been four times the growth in the number of buyers in the past 18 months for the Android One program in Indonesia.

“Carrier billing has played a critical role in getting more buyers on to the platform,” he said. “We are seeing similar encouraging results in markets like Saudi Arabia, UAE. We expect same results in India.”

Cheaper devices mean the chance for more people to come online, which is a boon to Google, as the Google Play Store stands to gain the most benefit.

Julian Chokkattu
Former Mobile and Wearables Editor
Julian is the mobile and wearables editor at Digital Trends, covering smartphones, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and more…
Google’s latest Android tools will protect you from a wider range of scams
Scam alert on Android phones.

Over the past few years, Google has released a host of safeguards for calls, messages, and web browsing that increasingly use AI to protect smartphone users from scams. Ahead of the I/O 2025 developers conference, Google has now detailed the next wave of safety features coming to Android devices this year. 

Bad actors often trick users into disabling the built-in safeguards, such as Google Play Protect, sideloading malware apps, and enabling permissions that allow data theft. Google says the next-gen safety features in Android will aim to negate these attacks. 

Read more
From Android 1.0 to Android 16: How Google’s mobile OS has evolved since 2008
Android 16 logo on Google Pixel 6a kept on the edge of a table.

Google I/O 2025 will be livestreaming next week, and software developers from Google are expected to unveil Android 16, which is slated to come out before the summer. The upcoming Android software update is expected to bring a host of new features as well as some returning mechanics from a decade ago.

To hold our excitement for the upcoming conference over, we're going to take a stroll down memory lane with a complete history of Android, from its humble beginnings as a T-Mobile-exclusive mobile tech to an AI-advanced software to grace contemporary smartphones like Google Pixel 9 and Samsung Galaxy S25. Android has come a long way since 2008, and it has a long way to go to be the best mobile software for everyone. That being said, here's a full timeline of Android's evolution.

Read more
Google Chrome is getting an AI-powered scam sniffer for Android phones
Scam warning from Chrome on Android.

Google’s Chrome browser has offered a rich suite of privacy and safety features for a while now. Take, for example, Enhanced Safe Browsing, which was introduced back in 2020. It protects users against unsafe websites and files by using real-time threat detection. 

Three years later, Google switched it from an opt-in mode to a default safety protocol to guard users against phishing attacks, bad extensions, and malicious downloads. Now, the company is deploying its Gemini Nano AI to safeguard smartphone users against potential online scams, especially those hiding as a tech security warning on webpages.

Read more