Firefox OS is a smartphone operating system designed to run on a wide range of hardware. But up until now the only devices to ship with Firefox OS have been phones with very entry-level specs.
Now Spanish device maker Geeksphone is offering the first Firefox OS phone with decent, or at least mid-range specs. It’s called the Peak+ and it’s available for pre-order for €149, or just under $200.
That price doesn’t include taxes, but it also doesn’t include any carrier subsidies.
Here’s what you get for the money:
- 4.3 inch, 960 x 540 pixel IPS display
- 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 8255 dual-core processor
- 1GB RAM
- 4GB storage
- MicroSD card slot
- 8MP rear camera and 2MP front camera
- WiFi, Bluetooth, FM radio, GPS
- 3G HSPA, 2G Edge connectivity
- 1800mAh battery
While those specs aren’t exactly impressive, up until now there hasn’t been a Firefox OS phone released with more than 512MB of RAM.
Geeksphone says the €149 pre-order price is a limited-time promotion. The phone will start shipping in September, and the price may go up around that time.
Update: A Mozilla spokesperson contacted Liliputing with the following statement:
“Today, Geeksphone announced the pre-sale of a new device based on Boot to Gecko technology. We want to clarify that this new phone that was announced is based on Boot to Gecko technology with pre-release software, but is not a certified or supported Firefox OS device.”
I checked with Mozilla, and apparently while Boot to Gecko (or B2G) is open source and available for anyone to use, only officially approved devices will ship with “Firefox OS.”
via GigaOm
More GSM phones…. got the Verizon blues
Here in Germany, ALL carriers have GSM/LTE Networks, and each and every phone sold works on every network in the country, poor mixed tech U.S., i feel for you.
It’s the same deal in Australia, more or less. Optus and Telstra have some slightly different frequencies available (but there is overlap) and most hardware supports both.
I happened to have the money, so I have pre-ordered the Peak+. The postage was a bit much at $50 AUD, but it is express.
I didn’t realise that it isn’t an official Firefox OS device. However at this stage of the game I think the community support will be satisfactory as the limited hardware choices should create a good focus of effort around this device. I hope.
Since Geeksphone have previously released 2 Firefox OS Developer Phones (Keon & Peak), and the Peak+ is basicaly just the Peak with slightly beefier specs, i’d say community suport for the Peak+ should be decent.