Commodore may have stopped selling personal computers in the 1990s, but after the company went bankrupt, its assets (including the brand name) have changed hands a few times.

Now an Italian company is launching a smartphone called the Commodore PET, and it has more than just the name of a classic PC maker. It also comes with an emulator that lets you run classic Commodore 64 games. There’s also a separate emulator for Amiga games… because if you’re going to be nostalgic, why not go all out?

Wired reports the Commodore PET should be available in Europe this week for about $300 and up.

commodore pet_01

The phone will come in two different versions. The entry-level model has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. For $365 you can get a model with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Both come with a 32 GB microSD card.

It runs Android 5.0 Lollipop software and features a 3,000 mAH battery.

Other specs include a 5.5 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel IPS display, a 1.7 GHz octa-core, 64-bit processor, a 13MP rear camera, an 8MP front camera, and support for GSM/4G LTE networks. The Commodore PET is a dual-SIM phone.

Of course, you could also get the retro computing experience by installing a free C64 emulator on just about any Android phone. But then you wouldn’t get the Commodore logo on the back of your device.

While Wired reports the phone will only be available in Italy, France, Germany, and Poland at launch, there are plans to bring it to more countries in the future… including the United States.

via Engadget

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5 replies on “Commodore (sort of) launches an Android phone (with a C64 emulator)”

  1. I honestly hope it goes well for them. Big task ahead, but remember, the launch iphone had no apps and couldn’t even mms…….

  2. built-in emulator? now why haven’t more chinese phone makers done that already?? given that MP5 players is still very much a thing there

  3. Wacky notion, might be interesting to see whether they recoup the investement required to produce it. I’m not sure who lugs around unnpocketable 5.5″ phones, but maybe the target market already carries European Man Bags so perhaps it is less of an issue there.

    1. How is a 5.5″ phone unpocketable? Do you put your phone in your pocket sideways or something? Maybe you have really tiny pockets?

      I tend to keep my 5.5″ phone in my pocket most of the time. It’s pretty much the standard size phone now.

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