Mozilla Starts Pre-Orders For Its Flame Firefox OS Smart-Phone

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Mozilla Starts Pre-Orders For Its Flame Firefox OS Smart-Phone

Mozilla announced this morning that pre-orders are now being accepted for Flame, the new Firefox OS reference design for developers. In cooperation with T2Mobile, the Flame is designed to be the reference device for Firefox OS development...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=MTcwMTg

[The 11th plague]

There is only one thing that keeps me from upgrading.
I want a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

And there is no freaking one that distributes such phones in Europe.

As far as I'm concerned, all new phones are the same, a big brick with a touchscreen.

[Daktyl198]

That's awesome and all, but isn't a 4.5 inch screen a little big for that resolution? My Nokia 925 has a 4.5 inch 720p screen, and (while it's definitely beautiful) I can clearly see the pixels if I look close enough. I think a 3.5-4 inch screen would make more sense for that resolution...

Also, one thing Micheal forgot to mention is that the accessible RAM amount is adjustable by the developer, so that you can test your application on lower-tier phone specs (which is cool).

[Dukenukemx]

There is only one thing that keeps me from upgrading.
I want a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

And there is no freaking one that distributes such phones in Europe.

As far as I'm concerned, all new phones are the same, a big brick with a touchscreen.

That's why I'm holding onto my Mytouch4g Slide. I want my qwerty keyboard.

[Kivada]

There is only one thing that keeps me from upgrading.
I want a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

And there is no freaking one that distributes such phones in Europe.

As far as I'm concerned, all new phones are the same, a big brick with a touchscreen.

So back the Neo900 project.

[Kivada]

That's awesome and all, but isn't a 4.5 inch screen a little big for that resolution? My Nokia 925 has a 4.5 inch 720p screen, and (while it's definitely beautiful) I can clearly see the pixels if I look close enough. I think a 3.5-4 inch screen would make more sense for that resolution...

Also, one thing Micheal forgot to mention is that the accessible RAM amount is adjustable by the developer, so that you can test your application on lower-tier phone specs (which is cool).

They aren't targeting the high end market, they are targeting developing nations with a low end phone.

it's estimated that theres 5 billion people in the world who don't have access to the internet, they live in countries that have no infrastructure for a traditional laptop or desktop, but these nation are deploying cell networks and small solar panels w/ LED lights and a phone charger capability. Mozilla wants in on these markets to gain a foothold they would have a much harder time getting if they took on Android and iOS in the developed countries.

[Daktyl198]

They aren't targeting the high end market, they are targeting developing nations with a low end phone.

it's estimated that theres 5 billion people in the world who don't have access to the internet, they live in countries that have no infrastructure for a traditional laptop or desktop, but these nation are deploying cell networks and small solar panels w/ LED lights and a phone charger capability. Mozilla wants in on these markets to gain a foothold they would have a much harder time getting if they took on Android and iOS in the developed countries.

I get that. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the resolution, I'm saying pairing a 480p resolution with a 4.5 inch screen is going to look like crap. Make the screen size a little smaller (and keep the resolution) and it would be better (and probably a bit cheaper).
Though, I do feel 4.5 inches is like, the PERFECT screen size...

[stiiixy]

I get that. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the resolution, I'm saying pairing a 480p resolution with a 4.5 inch screen is going to look like crap. Make the screen size a little smaller (and keep the resolution) and it would be better (and probably a bit cheaper).
Though, I do feel 4.5 inches is like, the PERFECT screen size...

Possibly they got a good deal from one of the factories for that sized screen? And besides, there's no justifying resolution to humans when they have the 'bigger is AWESOME' bug =D

We all get it from time to time.

[droidhacker]

That's awesome and all, but isn't a 4.5 inch screen a little big for that resolution? My Nokia 925 has a 4.5 inch 720p screen, and (while it's definitely beautiful) I can clearly see the pixels if I look close enough. I think a 3.5-4 inch screen would make more sense for that resolution...

Also, one thing Micheal forgot to mention is that the accessible RAM amount is adjustable by the developer, so that you can test your application on lower-tier phone specs (which is cool).

It is on the outside for that resolution.
However it is 854x480, which is taller than a typical 480-line display by 54 pixels, so it really should be thought of as a 4" display with a little bit of extra space for a static menu bar.

The screen technology can also make a big difference in how the display looks. For example, my Samsung Relay (galaxy S3 with a keyboard) has a 4 inch display at 800x480. Its display is really quite terrible, but at least part of that is due to being AMOLED. AMOLED is good for power savings, but horrible for visual quality. The previous phone I had was a 3.7 inch SLCD at the same 800x480 resolution. It was, by comparison, absolutely brilliant -- clear, and with accurate color reproduction. My wife has an LG Hammerhead (nexus 5) with a 1920x1080 SLCD at 5 inches, all I can say about that is that there is absolutely no reason to go any higher than that resolution -- its resolution is higher than MY EYES.

[droidhacker]

The specs on this device leave a *lot* to be desired, even as an unlocked developer device.
Google Nexus is an unlocked developer device, to the same extent as this will be. The limitations on the "openness" of Nexus are imposed by Qualcomm, which is also responsible for the SoC on this.

For the $170 price, I basically have to say that a Nexus is a *lot* more than twice the phone for only twice the price.