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Firefox OS dev units coming to Geeksphone next week: Keon and Peak priced from €91
Two days ago, Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs reinforced what we already knew: Firefox OS will launch in four to five countries in Europe and South America by summer. Today, a newsletter from Spanish e-retailer Geeksphone fills in a few more details. According to the email, the Keon and Peak smartphones we saw at MWC will hit its site next week -- albeit as developer preview units. Still, Geeksphone says the two handsets "will be available for dispatch anywhere on earth." The lower-end Keon will cost €91 plus taxes, while the mid-range Peak will set you back €149. Early adopters can subscribe to the mailing list to stay updated; click through to the source link. [Thanks, William]
Geeksphone Keon hands-on: a small Firefox OS phone that has big dreams (video)
Geeksphone may be an online phone seller based in Spain, but the name of its lower-end Firefox OS reference phone, Keon, appears to be Dutch. Regardless of the title's origin, the part of the phone that's most intriguing is the fact that it's one of the first to bear Mozilla's mobile platform. It isn't much in the way of specs, and that's easy enough to tell from just glancing at it, thanks to a 3.5-inch HVGA display. Still, the Keon's set of specs is actually on par with the Firefox protocol. This means that for roughly around 100 euros, we can expect to see a device with a 3MP camera, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage, a 1,580mAh battery and a 1GHz single-core Snapdragon S17225A CPU. Don't expect an earth-shattering experience on this kind of phone, as it's meant to reside strictly on the low end. The Keon will be making its way onto the official company store in the next few weeks, so stay tuned. In the meantime, we've made a lovely video and photo gallery below, so check them out.
Geeksphone Peak hands-on: a midrange Firefox OS phone from Spain (video)
Never heard of Geeksphone before? We can't quite blame you, but it's getting a fair share of attention at Mobile World Congress. While the company has cranked out an Android handset or two over the past few years, it's now dipping a second hand into the Firefox OS pot. Of the two models unveiled at this week's show, the Peak is the higher-end: it boasts a 4.3-inch qHD display, 8MP rear camera and 2MP front-facing cam, a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Play chipset (MSM8225), 512MB RAM, 4GB storage with microSD expansion and a 1,800mAh battery. As you can see, the specs on the Peak aren't anything to email home about, but for a Firefox OS device, it's certainly above-average. The materials are rather on the plasticky side and don't necessarily exude a large sense of elegance, but we're not going to say that the build quality isn't out of the norm for a device in this price range. We didn't have any problem holding it in our hand, and while we weren't given exact dimensions, it appeared to be roughly 10mm thick. The back of the Peak sports the camera, LED flash and the branding of a Firefox OS developer device. In terms of radio frequencies, the Peak is compatible with HSPA 900/1900/2100 and quad-band GSM / EDGE. It's expected to arrive in Geeksphone's retail store in the coming weeks and the estimated price will be around 200 euros. Check out our full gallery and video of the device and OS below.
Mozilla reveals Firefox OS Developer Preview Phone
Mozilla said it won't be launching its own hardware to run the in-development Firefox OS when it's finished, but the company has just announced a "Developer Preview Phone" for putting the OS through its paces. It's not quite the same as the mystery device we saw sporting Firefox OS at CES, but its specs seem almost as basic. The handset will feature a 3.5-inch HVGA touchscreen and 3-megapixel camera on the outside, with a 1GHz Snapdragon S1 CPU, half a gig of RAM, 4GB of microSD-expandable storage and WiFi, 2G and 3G antennae inside. Sure, that processor isn't a beast, but an 800MHz S1 does just fine in the Lumia 610. A 1580mAh battery will keep the carrier-unlocked phone running, and Mozilla is promising OTA updates to Firefox OS to keep devs, well, up to date. At the moment, we have no idea how much the phone will cost, but the first units are expected to be available next month. The developer handset is called the Keon, according to creator Geekphone's website, and while not mentioned in the Mozilla Hacks blog post, it appears to have a more powerful cousin called the Peak. It's got a 4.3-inch qHD screen, 8-megapixel back-facing camera (with flash) and 2-megapixel shooter round the front. A 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 CPU and larger 1800mAh battery are within, but storage, RAM and connectivity specs are the same as the smaller Keon. Mozilla may not be formally promoting this as its own dev handset, but it was still included in the picture which accompanied the announcement (see above: the Keon is in orange, the Peak in white). We're getting in contact with Mozilla to clarify, and will update you when we hear back. Update: Mozilla has confirmed that both the Keon and Peak are official developer devices.
Geeksphone Zero to sell for €189, pre-orders starting soon?
Geeksphone made a minor splash back in '09 with the introduction of the Geeksphone One, an Android slider that came out at a time when Android sliders (and really, Android phones in general) were still a tad on the rare side -- and it was all happening by way of an unknown independent European firm, to boot. Well, they're coming back for round two with the Zero, said to be launching soon -- and Android France looks to have a jump on pricing and specs. The phone's clearly on the low end of the range (Geeksphone says it's saving the flagship horsepower for the yet-to-be-introduced Two) with a 600MHz processor, 256MB of RAM, a 3.2-inch HVGA display, though it gets brownie points for a 5 megapixel autofocus cam and Gingerbread out of the box. Pricing looks aggressive, too: the site claims we'll see it for €189 ($265), though early buyers will get a €179 ($251) special and previous owners of the One will get it for €168 ($236). Pre-orders will allegedly kick off within a couple weeks.
GeeksPhone One lands in France for a hands-on
Plenty of other Android phones have come and gone since the GeeksPhone One was announced way back in July of last year, but the phone is now finally available in Europe, and the folks at Android France have managed to get their hands on what seems to be one of the first ones. Unfortunately, the device is looking a tad less polished than some of the earlier shots we've seen suggested, and the device's specs don't seem to have seen any upgrades during its prolonged launch (definitely no Snapdragon here). There's also not much in the way of actual impressions of the phone just yet (Android France is promising a full review), but there are plenty of pictures to keep you busy in the meantime at the link below.
GeeksPhone One now available for pre-order, launching in Spain this December
Apparently not pushed back until January, GeeksPhone's Android-imbued smartphone, the One, is launching in Spain this December, recently-added physical keyboard and all. So far, the limited edition run will not be crossing Spanish borders on its own, but we doubt that'll stop any interested parties on foreign land. Final price will be 285 euro (US $427), 22 of which is all you need to put down to reserve yours today. [Via Engadget Spanish]
GeeksPhone One in the wild, now packing a physical keyboard
Remember the Spanish-borne Android device GeeksPhone One? It was late June when we got our first (and so far only) look at the phone. Of course we've been wanting some more time, but apparently Xataka's beaten us to the punch, and lo and behold, she's gotten herself a shiny new physical keyboard. The site stresses that the user interface isn't done and the icons temporary, but does note that the keyboard is comfortable and the total weight and size is apparently comparable to the HTC Dream / Ion / MyTouch 3G. Additionally, our compadres at Engadget Spanish have read that One's release been pushed back from fall until sometime in January. We'll certainly be keeping an eye out, but given the bevy of Android options on the horizon, we can't promise we'll be waiting. Read - One in the wild Read - One delayed until January
Spanish firm GeeksPhone launches "One" Android set
It looks exactly like a Samsung Omnia, but don't be fooled -- what you're actually looking at here is Spain's first go at producing an Android handset (which is especially ironic considering we just reported on the andromnia project). Our colleagues from Engadget Spanish were live in Barcelona today for the grand unveiling of the GeeksPhone One, a Cupcake-powered phone featuring a 625MHz PXA310 core, quadband EDGE plus HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, AGPS, 3.2 megapixel primary camera plus a front-facing cam for video calling, and microSD expansion -- sounds great, but the package is marred a bit by the fact that it's rolling with a resistive 3.2-inch touchscreen. Hard to complain with the price, though -- GeeksPhone expects to sell the set for somewhere between €250 and €300 (about $352 to $422) unlocked when it launches this fall.[Via Engadget Spanish]
