Late last year, Google announced a new initiative called Android Oreo (Go edition), which is designed for low-end handsets. Now, a couple of months later, Google has officially announced that the first Android Oreo (Go edition) smartphones will be unveiled at this year’s Mobile World Congress, which kicks off next week. The idea behind the (Go edition) initiative is to create a specific build of Android that is designed to reduce strain on low-end handsets, especially those that have somewhere between 512MB and 1GB of RAM. That includes apps specifically designed for Android Oreo (Go edition), like Gmail, Google Assistant, Chrome, and other first-party apps. Now, while Google is announcing that there will be Android Oreo (Go edition) smartphones at this year’s MWC, they are not confirming which manufacturers will be on hand to debut those handsets. With only a few days to go before the big trade event starts, it’s surprising to see that Google has managed to keep the partners a secret this long. The devices that will be shown off next week will go on sale at some point in the near future, but Google isn’t divulging just when, or how much they will be.
