YU launches 4G Cyanogen OS-based phone for Rs 8,999

YuTeleventures, on Thursday, launched its first smartphone with Cyanogen under the Yureka brand, priced at Rs 8,999. YU is the new online brand from India's largest home-grown handset maker Micromax Informatics.

The product will go up for registrations via Amazon on Friday (2pm), and is expected to be delivered in the second week of January. The device is long-term evolution (LTE) enabled, has a 5.5 inch HD screen, 2GB RAM, A 53 cortex, Qualcomm Snapdragon processor 615 octa core 64 bit chipset and 16 GB expandable memory, and has dual SIM slots. It also features a 2500 mAh battery and has a 13 megapixel camera.

"The future is moving from an applications driven experience to a services driven experience and YU in partnership with Cyanogen is a platform that is going to lead that transformation. We will work directly with developers' community and brands to build services right on the OS layer and offer a differentiated consumer experience. We are creating a global platform for Indian app developers to rise at the world stage. For YU, services will be the core focus which would be ably supported by hardware partners like Qualcomm to offer a seamless and customised experience through our devices and services," said Rahul Sharma, founder, YU.

YU Televentures has an exclusive tie-up with Cyanogen for the Indian market. Cyanogen is considered as a challenger to the dominant stock Android operating system. And India becomes a natural choice for Cyanogen given the fact that about 80 million handsets (according to IDC) get sold in India every year.

Sharma describes Cyanogen operating system as 'Android on steroids' that boasts 'thousands of features over and above stock Android'.

According to Vikram Natarajan, VP of Global Partnerships & Distribution at Cyanogen, the YU devices will focus on personalisation, performance, security and privacy, aspects he feels are the most relevant for customers in these sectors.

"India is the fastest growing smartphone market and we are excited to partner with YU, a brand with a deep understanding of Indian consumers. We will deliver a groundbreaking software experience in the form of intuitive, powerful and highly customized devices, beginning with YUREKA," said Kirt McMaster, CEO, Cyanogen, over a video conference.

During the second and third quarter of 2015, YU will launch more handsets.

Besides offers, such as early adopters will be given leather back covers worth Rs 999 free, Sharma said the company will offer "free replacement or repair" at the users' doorstep.