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posted by janrinok on Friday August 29 2014, @02:11AM   Printer-friendly
from the low-spec-but-very-cheap dept.

Gigaom reports:

Mozilla continues to push its web-based Firefox OS phone with the first model in India available this week. Intex Technologies is selling the handset, dubbed the Cloud FX, for 1,999 rupees ($33.03 US) through Snapdeal.com.

The Cloud FX is powered by a 1 GHz chip and comes with a meager 128 MB of memory and 256 MB of internal storage, although the latter can be expanded up to 4 GB. The phone supports a dual-SIM configuration and has both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios. Don't expect speedy mobile broadband though: This handset uses 2G networks to connect to the web. Buyers will also be limited by the display, which is a 3.5-inch screen with 320 x 480 resolution. Images are captured with a 2 megapixel camera.

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  • (Score: 2) by tibman on Friday August 29 2014, @03:09AM

    by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 29 2014, @03:09AM (#87029)

    The 200 hrs standby time does look appealing. How long until it outsells winphone8?

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    • (Score: 4, Informative) by c0lo on Friday August 29 2014, @04:13AM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 29 2014, @04:13AM (#87047) Journal

      How long until it outsells winphone8?

      Given the target market and the price, I guess pretty soon (even if cheaper [aliexpress.com] or about same price/slightly better specs [aliexpress.com] Androids exist).

      The 200 hrs standby time does look appealing.

      Yeap. What does look repulsive, though:
      – the smallish screen
      – some other [infobigz.com] sources [indiatimes.com] do mention the GPS**, so while not enough display economy for anything significantly useful, it may act as a tracking device (useful for others)

      ** and some other [cnet.com] sources explicitly deny it.

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    • (Score: 4, Funny) by Tork on Friday August 29 2014, @04:30AM

      by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 29 2014, @04:30AM (#87051)
      Isn't that a bit like asking when McDonalds will outsell IHOP?
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 29 2014, @03:19AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 29 2014, @03:19AM (#87033)

    Developed in India, made in China, doesn't even need to be shipped off the Asian continent.

  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday August 29 2014, @04:19AM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 29 2014, @04:19AM (#87048) Journal
    Alternative link:
    http://www.cnet.com/news/mozilla-launches-low-cost-firefox-os-phone-in-india/
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 29 2014, @07:01AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 29 2014, @07:01AM (#87073)

    That's about the price of a ceramic toilet, right?

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by evilviper on Friday August 29 2014, @07:25AM

    by evilviper (1760) on Friday August 29 2014, @07:25AM (#87079) Homepage Journal

    Unfortunately, the market shies away from low-cost smart phones, but there are some out there.

    This $40 Android phone has far and away better specs:

    http://www.virginmobileusa.com/shop/cell-phones/kyocera-event-phone/features/ [virginmobileusa.com]

    And not having every app written in javascript probably means 10-100X better performance.

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    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by n1 on Friday August 29 2014, @12:27PM

      by n1 (993) on Friday August 29 2014, @12:27PM (#87164) Journal

      I think there's different dynamic for consumer demand in places like India with a GDP of $4300 per capita.

      Also from what I've seen (please correct me), the Kyocera handsets you're speaking of are US only and not available on the Indian market officially.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 30 2014, @09:48PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 30 2014, @09:48PM (#87660)

      That's still 21% more expensive than this Firefox OS phone, and likely subsidised and locked to virginmobile at that price. May not a be a huge subsidy, but I wouldn't be surprised at $10-15, so the real price is likely $50 which would put it at ~50% more expensive.

      • (Score: 2) by evilviper on Sunday August 31 2014, @08:17AM

        by evilviper (1760) on Sunday August 31 2014, @08:17AM (#87779) Homepage Journal

        Okay, well here it is for $29 shipped:

        http://www.amazon.com/Kyocera-Event-Prepaid-Android-Virgin/dp/B00B9K6ESC/ [amazon.com]

        Now, being an honest and fair-minded person, are you going to condemn the FirefoxOS phone for being 12% more expensive in an area where people can't afford it, even with its lower and poorer specs?

        likely subsidised and locked to virginmobile at that price

        If you find any evidence of subsidy, be sure to let me know, otherwise we'll just assume there's none. And unlocking a phone so you can switch to another carrier is now blanket legal in the US. That's a very good reason not to subsidize phones... Other reasons include their extensive utility when used without cellular data plans, so companies may be motivated to buy hundreds of these as everything from wifi video surveillance cameras to handy barcode readers for inventory purposes. You have to plan to lose your subsidy on a LOT of those phones, no matter how well they might be "locked" to Sprint's network.

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        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 02 2014, @10:30PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 02 2014, @10:30PM (#88677)

          Hey, I didn't condemn the Kyocera for being more expensive, so I won't condemn the FirefoxOS one for being more expensive. But yes, being fair minded and honest I will concede that if the Kyocera (or something similar to the one you linked) is available in India for around the same price or less than the the FirefoxOS phone it would be a better buy than the FirefoxOS phone. Your link with a cheaper price for the Kyocera doesn't prove there will be something equivalent in India for the same price, but at least makes it seem likely.

          As to subsidies, phone companies generally don't disclose that information, but you can infer their existence by the price difference between the carrier version and the unlocked version. Unless it is available unlocked for that price I'll assume it is subsidised. So long as not too many people unlock their phones (are carriers allowed to charge a fee for this? yes, I'm aware it is often possible to obtain lock codes cheaply elsewhere, but not everyone will be) it can still be viable to offer some subsidy. I'm pretty sure it is not illegal in the UK, yet pay-as-you-go phones still seem to be cheaper when bought locked to a carrier, as an example a few months ago I bought a Moto E, it was generally available for £89, but through various carriers you could get it locked for £79 (I got a further £10 off mine through a special promotion, so paid £69, and promptly unlocked it through a code I bought on ebay for £2), the price difference indicates that is some subsidy otherwise why lock it? Carriers can make it difficult to buy these in bulk, but so long as on average the subsidy is covered by usage, it is still worth doing. And would those Kyoceras really make good Wifi cameras or barcode readers, I should think whatever camera they have on them is pretty dire and would do a poor job at either of those possible non-phone uses.