MessagePhone: New smartphone for under R800

I wouldn't go as far as calling a device with 10MB of user memory a smartphone, hell the 200 model only has 32MB.

Even a Nokia 5800 is a borderline feature phone.

I think they're going doing marketing speech when they refer to these as smartphones.

QS 150
# Messaging and browsing device with VGA camera and MP3 player
# 2.2" QVGA 262K TFT LCD
# 2.5G (GPRS) - GSM tri-band, not quad-band
# Bundled push email service (users can have up to four email accounts)
# Contact list and calendar synchronization
# Bolt web browser, IM client, and social networking
# Support for Java MIDP 2.0
# QWERTY keyboard
# 10 MB user memory
# MicroSD card slot (up to 4 GB)
# 5.5 hours talk time, 17 days standby

QS 200
# Messaging and browsing device with camera (1.3 megapixel), MP3 player, Bluetooth, and FM radio
# 2.2" QVGA 262K TFT LCD
# 2.75G (GPRS / EDGE) - GSM quad-band
# Bundled push email service (users can have up to five email accounts)
# Contact list and calendar synchronization
# Bolt web browser, IM client, and social networking
# Support for Java MIDP 2.0
# QWERTY keyboard
# 32 MB user memory
# MicroSD card slot (up to 4 GB)
# 5.5 hours talk time, 17 days standby â™  JC
 
Pyro said:
I wouldn't go as far as calling a device with 10MB of user memory a smartphone, hell the 200 model only has 32MB.

Even a Nokia 5800 is a borderline feature phone.

I think they're going doing marketing speech when they refer to these as smartphones.

QS 150
# Messaging and browsing device with VGA camera and MP3 player
# 2.2" QVGA 262K TFT LCD
# 2.5G (GPRS) - GSM tri-band, not quad-band
# Bundled push email service (users can have up to four email accounts)
# Contact list and calendar synchronization
# Bolt web browser, IM client, and social networking
# Support for Java MIDP 2.0
# QWERTY keyboard
# 10 MB user memory
# MicroSD card slot (up to 4 GB)
# 5.5 hours talk time, 17 days standby

QS 200
# Messaging and browsing device with camera (1.3 megapixel), MP3 player, Bluetooth, and FM radio
# 2.2" QVGA 262K TFT LCD
# 2.75G (GPRS / EDGE) - GSM quad-band
# Bundled push email service (users can have up to five email accounts)
# Contact list and calendar synchronization
# Bolt web browser, IM client, and social networking
# Support for Java MIDP 2.0
# QWERTY keyboard
# 32 MB user memory
# MicroSD card slot (up to 4 GB)
# 5.5 hours talk time, 17 days standby â™  JC
Click to expand...

With expandable memory up to 4GB there isn't really a problem with memory then.
 
Those are not smartphones, there already are phones like that, all you have to do is download the extra apps
 
The real hurdle to greater penetration and internet access is not the acquiring of equipment but the running costs thereafter.
In addition, internet and e-mail capability without being able to print things and offload files to other devices is close to useless. What are the phones' capabilities for this?
 
It will do good, it's target market is not mybroadband users with their HTC and Nokia monsters, it's for someone who has no phone, or a very very old/basic phone, giving even the lowest end phone email and other messaging capability, will help bring poor/'simple' people into the digital age, I see a lot of potential - and with JAVA.. there's even a lot of "educational"-software potential there.
 
The thing is, the user-base they are aiming at usually has better phones around here, having been "confiscated" from people who have better phones. But yeah, both honest business dealers that fall into that class can now have slightly okay phones by 2005 standards.
 
AirWolf said:
With expandable memory up to 4GB there isn't really a problem with memory then.
Click to expand...


Correct me if i'm wrong, but 10mb phone memory will only allow storage of 10mb of data in memory aka RAM?? The expandable memory SD card slot is for storage.

How can they call this a "smartphone" ? o.0
 
fxit_man said:
Correct me if i'm wrong, but 10mb phone memory will only allow storage of 10mb of data in memory aka RAM?? The expandable memory SD card slot is for storage.

How can they call this a "smartphone" ? o.0
Click to expand...

Phone stats usually never quote stats on "RAM". The 10mb and 32mb are internal storage ie the "hard drive" of the phone.
 
If these phones do what they are mentioned to do, at cheap data costs, I would buy one. Seriously, my BB Bold still can't sync GMail's calender items natively - I need to download a seperate app for that!!
 
Neverwhere said:
Wonder what OS it's got? A super cheap android phone would be awesome.
Click to expand...

That's my question too. OS will determine popularity to a large extent. I can't imagine a proprietary OS being cost effective, but I can't imagine NOT advertising the OS if it's Android or Symbian, so I'm not holding my breath. I think it's going to be a cheap and nasty version of the current Samsung/LG range being sold atm... the touch screen / qwerty style keyboard ones. I honestly can't see anyone in Africa going for an unknown brand phone with an unknown OS over a known brand phone of any sort... even if it can do one or two more things. African's are way too brand conscious - probably more so than the average Brit for example. You can get away with rebranding a chinese phone with the vodaphone logo overseas, not that easy here, especially if the price is in the R750+ range.
 
Last edited:
francoislr said:
The thing is, the user-base they are aiming at usually has better phones around here, having been "confiscated" from people who have better phones. But yeah, both honest business dealers that fall into that class can now have slightly okay phones by 2005 standards.
Click to expand...

No francoislr, they are not aiming the phone at thieves - really now rofl.
 
I doubt it would have Android on it. From the pictures, I can see that it has the imps client on it (nokia team suite). On other mobile phones it is probably called something else. My guess is that Android would promote jabber where as this is imps. Symbian based OS? I'm going no with android for now :)
 
chubster said:
I doubt it would have Android on it. From the pictures, I can see that it has the imps client on it (nokia team suite). On other mobile phones it is probably called something else. My guess is that Android would promote jabber where as this is imps. Symbian based OS? I'm going no with android for now :)
Click to expand...

It would be a coup IMO if it's symbian based... especially if 15 year old Sipho's cheap smartphone can do what his director dad's 5 grand Nokia can.
 
hmmm
US$99 not bad! Now I wonder what it would sell for in SA? R7000 ???

example...You can buy a iPhone in USA for US$199 (approx R1400) but locked to AT&T and here Vodacom sell this phone for R10,000 locked to them!!!
When I asked Vodacom why so expensive they replied that they know that the price in USA is US$199 but that ICASA was happy with that price of theirs!!!! Take it or leave it!

My God we DO get so terribly ripped off here!
 
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