Google Inc on Wednesday announced that it will unveil a modular smartphone in Puerto Rico this year as part of a pilot program to allow people to choose their own hardware based on their needs and interests.
The company will partner with Mexico-based carrier Claro and local carrier Open Mobile to offer the product, which will be sold from free-standing stores that look like food trucks, Google marketing executive Jessica Beavers said.
She said Puerto Rico was chosen in part because more than 90 percent of households on the island of nearly 3.7 million people use a cellphone and 77 percent of Internet access occurs through mobile devices.
“All of this makes for a truly interesting carrier landscape,” she said at a module developers conference at Google’s headquarters in California. “Mobile devices are a huge part of daily life” in Puerto Rico.
The pilot program is still being developed, but Beavers said she envisions stores first opening in the capital, San Juan, followed by Ponce, the island’s second-largest city. Stores would eventually open in other cities.
Google would manufacture and sell the phone frame as well as modules created by individual manufacturers that can be added to it like Lego blocks. Modules would range from a screen to a camera to speakers to even a pedometer, depending on people’s needs.
“We want people to walk away and say: ‘That was really freaking awesome,’” Beavers said.
Google says it is too early to say how much the phone could cost, but it might be in the US$50 to US$100 range.
Rafael Leon, a Radio Shack employee in San Juan, said he expects many Puerto Ricans to embrace the modular phone, adding that they are always eager to buy the newest mobile devices and do not mind standing in long lines.
“They always want to be ahead with what’s newest, with what’s innovative,” he said, adding that despite the island’s long economic slump, cellphone sales have always been good. “You tell them it costs [US]$800 and they’re not fazed.”
Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics Co on Wednesday started selling a US$90 smartphone in India that runs on the company’s Tizen software, its first major break from Google’s Android operating system in the mobile phone market.
The Samsung Z1 went on sale for 5,700 rupees (US$92), one of the cheapest phones that Samsung has launched.
With the Tizen operating system, Samsung is trying to lessen its dependence on Android software, which powers a majority of the company’s smartphones, including its flagship Galaxy series.
The smartphone is the latest to join the growing list of Samsung’s Tizen family. Last year, Samsung launched a Tizen-controlled camera and smartwatches.
The Z1 has a 4-inch display and 3.1 million megapixel camera. It is powered by a 1.2 gigahertz dual-core processor. The battery size is about half of Samsung’s top-end smartphones.
Analysts say Samsung will mainly use the Tizen OS in low-end smartphones for developing nations.
Sales of the Z1 will affect whether Samsung gathers more developers to write apps for Tizen users, which is crucial for the future of the operating system.
Samsung has promised developers 100 percent of revenues from the Tizen app store for one year as part of its effort to have more apps and content.
Microsoft Corp also on Wednesday unveiled two new low-cost smartphones aimed at pushing its Windows Phone operating system to users in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The two Lumia handsets — made by the unit of Finnish-based Nokia that Microsoft acquired last year — are to begin rolling out next month, with prices starting at 69 to 79 euros (US$81 to US$93). Both smartphones come with the latest Windows Phone 8.1 operating system, Microsoft’s Office suite — including Word, Outlook for e-mail and Skype — and up to 30GB of free cloud storage.
The less expensive Lumia 435 comes with a 4-inch display, and a modest 2-megapixel front camera. The more expensive 532 features the same display, but includes a more powerful camera, access to some high-speed networks and the possibility of dual SIM for using more than one phone number.
The move comes after Google’s announcement last year that it would begin selling smartphones for less than US$100 in emerging markets to boost the Android operating system.
Other low-cost handsets aimed at the same markets include some using alternative operating systems, including Firefox from Mozilla.
Additional reporting by AFP
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