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Google is working with three manufacturers to develop a sub-$100 smartphone for the Indian market this fall, getting Android software into one of the fastest-growing major mobile markets. Those "Android One" phones would come with 4.5 inch screens, dual SIM cards and FM radio, Google senior vice president Sundar Pichai told the crowd at the company's annual developers' conference on Wednesday.



Today at Google I/O, the company launched a new initiative designed to help make smartphones more affordable to develop and release. The initiative will target OEMs specifically making phones for developing markets, which could help increase Android’s market share even further. On stage, Google SVP Sundar Pichai discussed the prevalence of mobile and smartphones in places like India and other developing nations. With Android One, Google is hoping to reduce the cost of smartphone development by identifying the components that go into a smartphone, and to pre-qualify suppliers for those parts to ensure they work together.



Thad McIlroy, a Vancouver-based digital publishing consultant, said, “This is the best phone yet for bibliophiles,” when talking about the new Amazon Fire Phone, the company’s long awaited first attempt at the smartphone market. Unlike Amazon’s principle competitors in this market, Apple and Samsung, are not companies as focused on books and reading as Amazon is. Samsung had plans to launch an ebook business but quickly abandoned them after less than a year.