If, like me, you’ve been following Firefox OS with great interest since the platform was officially unveiled in the summer of last year (and further demonstrated at Mobile World Congress this year), then I’ve got some good news for you. Geeksphone, who appear to be the first to start shipping Firefox OS devices, have announced that their two devices will be shipping around the world from next week.
They are bringing two devices to this already packed smartphone world – the Geeksphone Keon, and the Geeksphone Peak. These are both designed as development devices for Firefox OS, although you don’t have to be a developer to buy them.
The Keon is the baby Geeksphone. It’s specifications look like this:
- CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 7225AB 1Ghz.
- UMTS 2100/1900/900 (3G HSPA).
GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (2G EDGE). - Screen 3.5″ HVGA Multitouch.
- Camera 3 MP.
- 4 GB (ROM) and 512 MB (RAM).
- MicroSD, Wifi N, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, Radio FM, Light & Prox. Sensor, G-Sensor, GPS, MicroUSB.
- Battery 1580 mAh.
All standard faire for a low end device, really, and it’s certainly encouraging to see that Firefox OS will run on lower-specification hardware like this. The price, however, is rather special, as for this developer device you’ll have to pay a mere €99 plus tax (that’s £101.70 including VAT at 20% here in the UK as of 17:37PM on the 17th April 2013 – the exchange rate will naturally fluctuate and this price might be different by the time you read this). That would be a good price for a Android phone with those specifications, let alone one of the primary, developer-orientated devices for an emerging mobile operating system.
If you’re looking for something bigger with a bit more punch, then the Geeksphone Peak could fit your needs. It is described as ‘A powerful developer preview device’ and it is ‘for those who like to be one step beyond’. Inspring stuff, but how do it’s specifications look like on paper?
- CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 8225 1.2Ghz x2.
- UMTS 2100/1900/900 (3G HSPA).
GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (2G EDGE). - Screen 4.3″ qHD IPS Multitouch.
- Camera 8 MP (back) + 2 MP (front).
- 4 GB (ROM) and 512 MB (RAM).
- MicroSD, Wifi N, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, Radio FM, Light & Prox. Sensor, G-Sensor, GPS, MicroUSB, Flash (camera).
- Battery 1800 mAh.
It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 8225 processor, the same one found in the HTC Desire X and the Desire SV, both relatively expensive devices. The screen, with a resolution of 960×540, may not be the sharpest on the block, but it’s relatively small compared to the latest flagships (excluding the iPhone 5 of course) so that should help. It retains the same low internal storage and RAM of the Peak, showing that Firefox are fairly confident that Firefox OS can run nicely on 512MB of RAM – always a bonus. This one is priced at €149 (that’s £153.99 with tax included – see the caveats above), again rather remarkable for the device you will be receiving.
Are you thinking of getting a Firefox OS device? Let us know. In the meantime, watch our hands on with Firefox OS on the ZTE Open at Mobile World Congress below, or read our post on it here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5fqA0-TtzmU