Bangladesh

Two 'Bangladesh' stories November 2014 - December 2014

Android One coming to Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka in the coming weeks

Google announced an initiative called Android One earlier this year that intends to bring some affordable smartphones to emerging markets, and now the Mountain View company says that the program is expanding beyond India (where it launched earlier this year in September). As noted on the company’s Asia Pacific Blog, the next few countries that will be getting Android One are three of India’s neighbors: Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

In these countries — with a combined population of over 200 million people — a wide range of manufacturers and network partners such as Banglalink will begin to sell Android One smartphones. In addition to Micromax, Karbonn and Spice, Bangladesh’s own Symphony will launch their first Android One phone with the Symphony Roar A50. All these devices will give people a high quality mobile experience for an affordable price, running stock-Android with updates from Google.

This is the company’s first step at the “next 5 billion people” it says, with these three countries comprising more than 200 million of the world’s population. A variety of manufacturers will soon begin selling Android One devices in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, including Micromax, Karbonn and Spice. But Google also says that Bangladesh-based manufacturer Symphony will be also be launching their first Android One device dubbed the Symphony Roar A50.

Recently, Karbonn committed to a long-term partnership with Android One in India, and it looks like the company is ready to push some high quality, affordable phones to a few new countries.

3G-equipped Google Bus aims to help 500,000 Bangladesh students start businesses

Google has begun a year-long tour of Bangladesh in a 3G-equipped bus which will visit over 500 campuses in order to introduce half a million students to web tools that can help them start and grow a business.

The specially retrofitted bus with 3G Internet will hopefully help give half a million undergraduates a better sense of the power and utility of the Internet, and show them how to plan and collaborate in new ways […]

We hope this program equips the country’s next generation of entrepreneurs with the digital tools that will empower them to start and grow their own projects and businesses online.

Students who want the Google Bus to visit their school or college can make a request on the project’s Google+ page.