The Internet is exploding in Africa, with access largely coming from mobile devices. According to a recent Internet Society study, 23% of mobile phones will be able to connect to the Internet in Africa by the end of this year.
The Android One program hopes to contribute to that growth by launching today in Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria in collaboration with hardware manufacturer Infinix.
Infinix’s first Android One smartphone, the HOT 2, is now available in Nigeria at select retail outlets and via online retailer Jumia at a recommended retail price of N17,500 (~$87)*. It’s also available to purchase online from Jumia in Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Morocco.
The Infinix HOT 2 phone offers a high-quality experience, with a fast quad-core MediaTek processor, dual SIM slots, front and rear-facing cameras, a FM radio tuner, and 16GB internal memory (further expandable up to XXGB) for all your favorite movies and music. The standard version, with 1GB memory, is available in black, white, blue and red, and the premium version (with 2GB memory) is available in gold.
Of course, the Infinix HOT 2 also comes with all of the benefits of an Android One phone. First, it runs the latest version of pure Android (Lollipop 5.1), which provides up to 2x better performance and extended battery features. Second, it automatically gets upgraded to the next version of Android (according to Infinix’s schedule), so your phone stays fast and responsive over time.
And because we also understand that high-speed, affordable data can be a big challenge in some of these countries, we will be releasing a new offline feature within the YouTube app later this year. This feature will make it possible for people to take videos offline to watch later during short periods of low or no internet connectivity. For videos where this feature is available, people can choose to add the video for offline viewing by tapping on the offline icon that sits under the video frame. Once taken offline, videos can be played back without an Internet connection for up to 48 hours, so you can enjoy YouTube videos without worrying about slow connections.
Nearly one year ago, Google introduced the Android One program in India. Today, six African countries — with combined populations of 379 million people — join the ten countries where partners have already released Android One phones. We’ve been thrilled and humbled by both the progress and the work that’s left to do. But we look forward to continuing our work with partners on Android One and in the Android ecosystem more broadly to ensure that users have great phones with the latest Android innovation.
The Android One program hopes to contribute to that growth by launching today in Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria in collaboration with hardware manufacturer Infinix.
Infinix’s first Android One smartphone, the HOT 2, is now available in Nigeria at select retail outlets and via online retailer Jumia at a recommended retail price of N17,500 (~$87)*. It’s also available to purchase online from Jumia in Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Morocco.
The Infinix HOT 2 phone offers a high-quality experience, with a fast quad-core MediaTek processor, dual SIM slots, front and rear-facing cameras, a FM radio tuner, and 16GB internal memory (further expandable up to XXGB) for all your favorite movies and music. The standard version, with 1GB memory, is available in black, white, blue and red, and the premium version (with 2GB memory) is available in gold.
Of course, the Infinix HOT 2 also comes with all of the benefits of an Android One phone. First, it runs the latest version of pure Android (Lollipop 5.1), which provides up to 2x better performance and extended battery features. Second, it automatically gets upgraded to the next version of Android (according to Infinix’s schedule), so your phone stays fast and responsive over time.
And because we also understand that high-speed, affordable data can be a big challenge in some of these countries, we will be releasing a new offline feature within the YouTube app later this year. This feature will make it possible for people to take videos offline to watch later during short periods of low or no internet connectivity. For videos where this feature is available, people can choose to add the video for offline viewing by tapping on the offline icon that sits under the video frame. Once taken offline, videos can be played back without an Internet connection for up to 48 hours, so you can enjoy YouTube videos without worrying about slow connections.
Nearly one year ago, Google introduced the Android One program in India. Today, six African countries — with combined populations of 379 million people — join the ten countries where partners have already released Android One phones. We’ve been thrilled and humbled by both the progress and the work that’s left to do. But we look forward to continuing our work with partners on Android One and in the Android ecosystem more broadly to ensure that users have great phones with the latest Android innovation.
Posted by Caesar Sengupta, VP, Product Management
* The pricing may differ from seller to seller in offline retail stores
* The pricing may differ from seller to seller in offline retail stores
