Sameer Samat, vice president of product management, Android and Google Play, speaks on stage during the annual Google I/O developers conference in San Jose, California, U.S., May 17, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Lam
Google is making another go at getting cheap Android phones to support its latest software, an attempt to lock more consumers in the developing world into the internet giant’s services.
The new program, called Android Go, was announced at the Alphabet Inc division’s I/O developer conference on May 17 in Mountain View, California. It bakes features directly into Google’s mobile operating system that are designed specifically for cheap phones, including software to manage cellular data costs. The service will launch in 2018.
