Karbonn To Follow Spice's Lead; Will Launch New Android One Smartphone In Q1 2015

Karbonn Mobiles is optimistic about the future of Android One smartphones and is willing to invest more. Following the success of the first-gen Android One Sparkle V smartphone, Karbonn is looking at the second-generation Android One smartphone in Q1 2015, Shashin Devsare, Executive Director of Karbonn Mobiles told BGR at the Dream 500 Million Smartphones event in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Karbonn's announcement follows Spice's launch of a new Android One smartphone, focused exclusively on Hindi users in India. Karbonn is one of the three launch partners of Android One project in India, and more companies will join the fleet soon

"Expect [a] new Android One smartphone in 2015 first quarter," Devsare said. "We have had an excellent response on Android One devices. We believe that Android One will mature over time. Our partnership for Android One is going to be long term."

Google's Android One program kicked off earlier this year as a way to bring high-quality smartphones within the reach of almost everyone around the world. Micromax, Spice and Karbonn launched the first Android One smartphones in India. There are other tech companies like Alcatel Onetouch, Asus, HTC, Intex, Lava, Lenovo, Panasonic, Xolo and Qualcomm that will join the program. With more companies, there will be a wide range of Android One smartphones in the market for consumers to choose from.

The second wave of Android One smartphones will likely see an upgrade in terms of specs, like a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Karbonn did not reveal the second-gen Android One smarpthone's specs but there will likely be an upgrade from the current model. The Android One Sparkle V features a 4.5-inch IPS display, dual SIM, quad-core Mediatex processor, 1GB RAM, 4GB storage, 5MP rear-camera and 2MP front camera.