Chennai: Corning Incorporated recently announced that Lava will be the first mobile device manufacturer in India to sell a Rs 5,499 military-grade smartphone featuring Gorilla Glass 3.According to a press release, it is slated for release on 22 January, and is part of a new lineup of recently launched Lava devices that also includes the Z2, Z4 and Z6 smartphones which all utilise Gorilla Glass 3 and offer an entry point for many Indian consumers to move from a feature phone to a smartphone.
‘Around 400 million Indian consumers are likely to transition from a feature phone to a smartphone in the near future and, in the last year, it’s become apparent that smartphones are a key tool for everyday living’, said Dr. Jaymin Amin, vice president and general manager, Gorilla Glass.
The Lava Z1 is completely designed in India by Indian engineers, from its industrial design to its hardware and software.
‘Based on our extensive research on the budget segment customers, we realised that an important aspect they aspire for in their device is durability’, said Tejinder Singh, head – Product, Lava International Limited.
‘This device is for consumers who are upgrading from feature phones and hence, consumer expectations of a longer life cycle are a challenge considering their extreme environmental conditions. Our design engineers worked on that in detail and using Gorilla Glass 3, the Lava Z1 was designed with military-grade toughness to meet unmatched standards of ruggedness in the segment’, he said.