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The Bastion of Belmont
THE company behind the popular browser Firefox has its eye on very cheap smartphones at this year’s Mobile World Congress.
Mozilla first announced its Firefox OS at last year’s MWC, along with a reference handset built by Chinese firm ZTE.
At this year’s event it’s announced a slew of new devices, both tablets and smartphones, with slightly higher specifications and significantly lower price points.
Firefox OS will go into more powerful devices, including a range of tablets from Alcatel at higher price points, but a partnership with chip design firm Spreadtrum Communications will also see a reference design with the decidedly unmarketable name of “SC6821” that should cost around $US25.
The SC6821 is designed primarily for emerging markets where the high cost of traditional smartphones has hampered adoption.
Where it also has some potential is in the feature phone category. According to Ovum Analyst Nick Dillon, “this is a price point currently out of the reach of Google and even the lowest-cost Android handset vendors. It pushes Firefox OS into feature-phone territory, potentially signalling the beginning of the end for the category.”
There’s no word as yet as to whether we’ll see the new Firefox OS phones and tablets in Australia; the previous reference design, the ZTE Open was tested by Telstra, but the only way to buy it was to purchase it directly from ZTE via eBay.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/g...e-for-the-masses/story-fn6vihic-1226835846611
Mozilla first announced its Firefox OS at last year’s MWC, along with a reference handset built by Chinese firm ZTE.
At this year’s event it’s announced a slew of new devices, both tablets and smartphones, with slightly higher specifications and significantly lower price points.
Firefox OS will go into more powerful devices, including a range of tablets from Alcatel at higher price points, but a partnership with chip design firm Spreadtrum Communications will also see a reference design with the decidedly unmarketable name of “SC6821” that should cost around $US25.
The SC6821 is designed primarily for emerging markets where the high cost of traditional smartphones has hampered adoption.
Where it also has some potential is in the feature phone category. According to Ovum Analyst Nick Dillon, “this is a price point currently out of the reach of Google and even the lowest-cost Android handset vendors. It pushes Firefox OS into feature-phone territory, potentially signalling the beginning of the end for the category.”
There’s no word as yet as to whether we’ll see the new Firefox OS phones and tablets in Australia; the previous reference design, the ZTE Open was tested by Telstra, but the only way to buy it was to purchase it directly from ZTE via eBay.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/g...e-for-the-masses/story-fn6vihic-1226835846611
