YU wants to make apps redundant with its Around YU services launch

This is the budget smartphone buyer's dream but alas, the service we are talking about doesn't come cheap.

YU Televentures, a partly owned brand of Micromax, launched a new service, named Around YU, that could make several must-have apps on your phone redundant. Around YU is an integrated suite of services rolled into one discovery window for the users which appears after a right swipe from the home screen on the newly launched YU Yutopia smartphone running Cyanogen OS 12.1.

CyanogenMod is a free, community built distribution of Google's Android operating system which greatly extends the capabilities of a smartphone.

"Food, travel (flights, buses, trains and hotels), shopping, cabs, cricket, news and weather are some of the services that will be available under Around YU," Rahul Sharma, founder of YU Mobiles, said adding that this was first of its kind service form a smartphone in the world. The current partners in the phase one include Zomato, Ixigo, and Scandid. A user will be able to look for places, options for food, and cabs etc. near his current location, all rolled into a single screen, the company said.

The launch of Around YU explains the logic behind Micromax's move, which partly own Yu, to invest undisclosed amounts into several startups for the past year. Also, Around YU provides users incentives to use the service.

"A user will get deals, offers while using Around YU. After analysis, we will decide on what more we can include on Around YU for example booking a movie ticket or finding places to visit," Sharma said.

Also, Around YU is only available currently on the new flagship smartphone from YU -- Yutopia -- which it launched on Thursday at a price of ₹ 24,999 in an exclusive partnership with Amazon.

The phone, which runs latest Cynaogen 12.1 OS, has a 5.2" screen and eight-megapixel camera on the front; a 21-megapixel camera and fingerprint censor in the back.

The metal-clad phone runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor and 4GB of RAM. The 3,000 mAh battery that keeps the phone running supports Quick Charge 2.0 so that you spend less time restricted by the wall charge. The phone comes with House Of Marley earphone as well.

"Cyanogen is excited to continue our partnership with Yu with the launch of Yutopia," said Kirt McMaster, CEO of Cyanogen. "We built Cyanogen OS to be a better Android, with thousands of enhancements beyond stock Android. We know that consumers will love Yutopia's impressive combination of hardware and Cyanogen OS."