Google has revealed Cherry Mobile and MyPhone as its OEM partners for the Philippines market. The new Android One phones - the [Cherry Mobile One] and [MyPhone Uno] - will be available in the coming weeks, according to Google. The Mountain View giant however is yet to announce pricing for the Android One smartphones in the country.
(Also see: Cherry Mobile One vs. MyPhone Uno)
Similar to what the company announced in India for Airtel customers, Google announced select data benefits for Android One customers.
"With the launch, our connectivity partners will be offering promotional plans to people who buy Android One's that will help reduce costs for over-the-air (OTA) updates and app downloads from Google Play," the official Google Asia Pacific blog notes.
Android One's Philippines page lists Smart and Sun mobile telecom providers who will offer up to 100MB per month for upgrading to the latest version of Android while for app downloads from Google Play store both the providers are offering up to 200MB per month.
Philippines will also be among the first few countries where users can watch YouTube videos offline.
"To help people in the Philippines save money on data, these phones will also include features such as Chrome browser data compression and YouTube Offline," the blog post added. The company had launched the feature in India in December.
Earlier this month, Android One phones launched in Indonesia sporting an unannounced version of Android, v5.1 Lollipop. It's not clear at this point if the phones being launched in Philippines also have the same build.
Unfortunately, despite Google's claim that Android One phones will get new OS versions straight from the company soon after release, there has been no sign yet of the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for the Android One handsets in India. A Google spokesperson earlier this month suggested that the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for Android One smartphones in India will roll out soon, though there's no sign of the update yet.
As for specifications, the Cherry One and MyPhone Uno handsets will come with identical specifications as the Karbonn Sparkle V, Micromax Canvas A1, and Spice Dream Uno. They will feature a 4.5-inch FWVGA (480x854 pixels) display; 1.3GHz quad-core processor; 1GB of RAM; 8GB of built-in storage; expandable storage via microSD card (up to 32GB); Dual SIM (Micro SIMs) support; 5-megapixel rear camera; 2-megapixel front camera, and 1700mAh battery.
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