Google first talked about the Android Go (Oreo edition) at its Google I/O in May 2017, the OS was released to manufacturers and developers at the latter part of December. While no phone has debuted with the lightweight OS, Google has today hinted that devices powered by the Android Go (Oreo edition) will be unveiled at the MWC coming up in few days time, and will be available to buy from stores soon after they are unveiled.
This was made known by Google Platforms and Ecosystems SVP Hiroshi Lockheimer in a blog post on the Android Journey so far. He also confirmed more Android one based smartphones will be unveiled at the MWC too.
While no specific on the OEM from whom we expect first set of Android Go (Oreo edition), the accompanying image of the Xiaomi Mi A1 could be a signal that the Android One phone from Xiaomi may be updated with the Android Go (Oreo edition).
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For the uninformed, the Android Go (Oreo edition) is a specially optimized build of Android Oreo that is designed to run better on phones with either 512MB or 1GB of RAM. Unlike the Android One platform, the Android Go edition is lightweight and can only run special apps. Apps compatible with Android Go (Oreo edition) such as YouTube Go, Google Go, and Gmail Go surfaced on the play store.
Going by recent reports, HMD Global might be one of the first few OEMs that will be introducing devices powered by the Android Go (Oreo edition) as the company is rumored to be working on the Nokia 1 with the OS on board.
Asus could also join the train as the Asus X00RD with the Android Oreo (Go Edition) on board was spotted recently on the Geekbench site.
