That was fast. A trio of Google’s new Android One devices two days ago, and Google has already released the kernel source for those phones. The code actually dropped early this morning. The source is available on Google’s GIT repositories now.
Google announced three new Android One devices for release in India; the Spice Dream UNO Mo-498, the Micromax Canvas A1, and the Karbonn Sparkle V. All three phones have the same builds for now, and the specs on each are the exact same. Google is keeping the software the same for all three phones in order to make updates easier. They’ve even committed to getting Android L rolled out to these phones in a timely manner once L is released. Android One is garnering a lot of attention because the devices are dirt cheap, and that means ROM devs will be paying attention to these smartphones too. Having the source code readily available and identical on each device will be very handy.
Android One is similar to the Nexus program in that these devices will get updates directly from Google. That means that updates will come quickly for each new Android OS change. There will be tons of interest in development for these phones too. Third-party ROM devs will flock to them, both because of their low cost and because so many people, in India and elsewhere, are expected to purchase them. Now that Google has dropped the kernel source, developers can get to work seeing what’s there, building their own kernels from source, and making changes if they want. It is fun anytime new kernel source is released, and it’s a big deal particularly for these phones.
If you’re a developer or want to tinker with the kernel source code for these new devices, hit the source links and check them out. Thanks for getting this out quickly, Google!