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Trolltech announces pricing for Greenphone kits
The good news: the Greenphone really is available for purchase. The bad news: Trolltech wasn't joking when they said the phones would be heading straight to developers with nary an end user in sight. The Greenphone is only available as part of one of three software development bundles put together by the company, ranging in price from $695 to $890; to be fair, those aren't unheard of prices to pay for an unbranded, unlocked smartphone these days (SDK or no), but when you take a good, hard look at the candybar's specs, there are clearly better buys on the market. That being said, bright green smartphones running Linux have a certain appeal to them that we're having a hard time denying. Quantities are apparently limited, so consumers hoping to deny actual developers from getting their hands on a kit best get in touch with Trolltech on the double.
Trolltech's Linux-based "Greenphone" for developers
Why wait for Access Linux or a garden-variety consortium to come to market, when Trolltech's got us covered right now with their Qtopia smartphone platform? Of course, devices running Qtopia have been few and far between, and unless you're willing to hit up France for one of your own, tracking down a handset is likely an exercise in futility. Trolltech has been feeling your pain and looks to introduce their "Greenphone" as part of several software development kits they'll be offering starting next month. We had a chance to hit up their launch event last night and snapped a couple shots (our apologies for the quality) and we have to admit, even though this thing is targeted squarely at Qtopia developers, it could just as well be decent looking handset for the masses. The quadband GSM / GPRS Greenphone includes Bluetooth, 64MB of RAM, 128MB of ROM with a miniSD slot for expansion, and a QVGA touchscreen sitting atop a 317MHz XScale; we're even digging the ecto-green exterior. Interested parties best be on their toes -- the phone won't be offered alone, and SDK packages will be available in strictly limited quantities.
