Micromax's YU Cyanogen OS Smartphone Set to Launch on December 18

Micromax on Thursday, as expected, started sending invites for an event scheduled on December 18, where it is expected to launch the first Cyanogen-based smartphone under its new YU brand.

Unfortunately, the official invite from the company does not reveal much about the handset and currently, details regarding the innards of the new YU series smartphone are unknown.

Micromax last month announced its new YU brand in partnership with Cyanogen and the first handset under the brand was expected to be announced this month.

Some of the preliminary leaks have indicated that Micromax's first YU brand smartphone will feature CyanogenMod OS version and will be powered by a 64-bit CPU, though no word on an exact chipset. The handset will be launched in India on December 18; though the market availability has been rumoured to be 2-3 weeks after the announcement.

Micromax has been leaving no stone unturned to promote its new brand and recently announced the 'Apps for YU' challenge inviting Indian developers to create apps for its upcoming YU brand of smartphones running a custom Cyanogen OS build based on Android.

The company revealed that the best app would be featured on Micromax's new YU smartphone and the grand prize winner will receive Rs. 1,00,000. Further, the top three entries would get YU phones and top ten developers will receive YU merchandise.

Prior to this, Cyanogen, now Micromax's official partner for YU brand, gave a huge blow to potential OnePlus One buyers in India. The company clarified that the OnePlus One sold in the country won't receive OTA updates. In a blog post the company said, "If a user in India purchased an OnePlus One global device in channels outside of India, they will receive our OTA firmware updates. However, this excludes OnePlus One regional devices sold directly in India. We are committed to our exclusive partnership in India with Micromax, which will be launching its first Cyanogen OS device under their new YU brand."