Commtiva Z1 brings Android to the masses of Taiwan

0 Trackbacks (Pingbacks are enabled)

Comments Posted on Oct 16, 2009 Posted by Song Jiang

Taiwan mobile phone operator FarEasTone is offering customers the Commtiva Z1 sliding smart phone replete with Android, and they're letting go for a relative song. The cupcake loaded device might not be the slickest kid on the block, but its lower price point should attract plenty of custom, bringing with it a new entry level price for Android-based smart phones.

The Commtiva Z1 phone is manufactured by Foxconn and features FarEasTone's own branding. It's loaded with Google's Android 1.5 OS with a sliding hardware keyboard and specifications that include 3.5G, Wifi, AGPS, 3.2-inch WQVGA-(240 x 400 resolution) resistive touch screen and a 3.1 million pixel camera powered by a 528MHz Qualcomm 7225 ARM SoC. Frequencies covered include HSDPA + 850/900/1800/1900MHz and WCDMA 2100. There's an SD card slot and software support for 3GP, MPEG4, WMV video formats. Dimensions are 110mm x 55mm x 15.1mm, weighing in at 124.6 grams.

Check out this video for a closer look.

{youtubejw}gvmT2dKel4M{/youtubejw}

FarEasTone's Commtiva Z1 offering is available to Taiwanese consumers with contract for only 3,400 NT or approx 105 USD, if you forgo the contract it'll cost you 385 USD. These prices under cut current Android offerings, substantially lowering the cost of entry. FarEasTone has, surprise, surprise, also set up their own app store called the called the "S" Market.

Comment:

It's only a matter of time before we see more and more affordable handsets appearing in the Mainland too. shanzhai manufacturing is at the point where the hardware is looking fairly slick (almost to the levels of players like Foxconn, Lenovo and HTC), and I'm predicting the development of Android and Android-based OSes will prove to accelerate smart phone adoption in China. The iPhone will remain high-end, but a new middle and even low-end will emerge wearing Google's colors.

[Source]

Tags: