ZTE Open Firefox OS phone available online for Rs. 6,990

Anupam Saxena, October 25, 2013

While Mozilla and its partners have not announced an official rollout of Firefox OS based phones in the Indian market, online marketplace eBay India has announced that it will offer the ZTE Open, the first Firefox OS based smartphone, in India through its website. 

While the official statement from the company mentions the pricing as Rs. 8,590, the phone isavailable for Rs. 6,990 on the site with free shipping.
 
It's worth pointing out that ZTE had earlier announced that it would start selling the ZTE Open Firefox OS phone on the ZTE store on eBay US and UK in a bid to extend its reach to mainstream markets. However, India was not in the list, at that point in time.
 
It's also strange that the ZTE Open Firefox OS phone is not being sold by ZTE or eBay and instead by a Punjab-based seller 'randeep_singh_arora'. The phone comes with one-year third party warranty through a company called Serve Pro. eBay has not put up a special page dedicated to the product but is promoting the phone on social networks like Twitter through contests.
 
The ZTE Open was earlier launched with Telefonica in Spain, Venezuela and Colombia.
 
ZTE had first showcased the ZTE Open during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2013. The ZTE Open features a 3.5-inch screen with HVGA display. The smartphones is powered by a Cortex A5 processor, which is clocked at 1GHz. It has 256MB of RAM, and 512MB of internal storage enhanced with a 4GB microSD card that comes as part of the package. It sports a 3.2-megapixel rear camera. Connectivity options include Bluetooth, A-GPS and Wi-Fi capabilities. The ZTE Open packs in a 1,200mAh battery. 
 
The ZTE Open offers all the functions expected from a smartphone including calls, messaging, email, camera in addition to built-in social integration with Facebook and Twitter, location-based services like Nokia HERE maps which include local transit and traffic information and features like the Firefox Web browser and the Firefox Marketplace. Applications already available on the Firefox Marketplace include eBay, Badoo, Terra, Kayak, The Weather Channel, TMZ,AOL, Wikipedia, CNNMoney, Huffington Post, Time, Facebook, Airbnb, Time Out, Twitter and SoundCloud.
 
ZTE Open key specifications

• 3.5-inch screen with HVGA display
• 1GHz processor
• 256MB of RAM
• 512MB of built-in storage
• Bluetooth, A-GPS and Wi-Fi capabilities
• 3.2-megapixel camera
• Firefox OS
• 114 x 62 x 12.5mm
• 1,200mAh battery

First Firefox OS-based smartphone launched in Europe

NDTV Correspondent, July 02, 2013

Spain's Telefonica is offering the world's first smartphone with the Firefox operating system to compete with devices running Google Android and Apple iOS.

The ZTE Open smartphone goes on sale in Spain this week for 69 euros (about $90) and will soon be available in several Latin American countries.

The device is aimed at the youth market and at people who are new to smartphones, Telefonica's chief of product development, Carlos Domingo, said during a Madrid press conference where he was joined by executives from Mozilla and telephone-maker ZTE.

Equipped with a 3.5-inch 320x480-pixel touchscreen, the ZTE Open includes a 3.2-megapixel camera, 256MB RAM and 512MB flash storage enhanced with a 4GB microSD card that comes as part of the package.

The purchase price includes 30 euros ($39) of pay-as-you-go credit.

The ZTE Open is fully integrated with Facebook and the Spain-based social network Tuenti and talks are on about incorporating the WhatsApp instant-messaging service, Telefonica said.

Commenting on the launch, Luis Miguel Gilperez, CEO of Telefonica Espana, said, "We believe that smartphones need to be more open and that the web is the platform for making this possible. Consumers should not be locked to any one system but have the choice to consume the content they want and the flexibility to be able to take it with them when they change devices. This first open web device marks a significant milestone in making this possible. This is just the beginning as we plan to bring a wide range of Firefox OS devices to our customers."

The ZTE Open is the first of a number of Firefox OS devices that will be launched by Telefonica this year, offering the benefits of this new open operating system across a range of different price points. Other device manufacturers supporting Firefox OS include Alcatel OneTouch, LG, Huawei and Sony.

Mozilla executives said the ZTE Open is the "first chapter" in what they expect to be a long project, one that is already attracting interest from many other telecommunications companies.