The world’s cheapest 3G smartphone, launched by an Indian firm, will cost only Rs 251 ($3.7).
Ringing
Bells, a Noida-based outfit, on Wednesday launched the highly
affordable smartphone, Freedom 251, at the hands of Union Defence
Minister Manohar Parrikar.
The company had last year launched one of India’s cheapest 4G smartphone at Rs 2,999.
The
booking for the smartphone will begin at 6.00 am on Thursday (February
18) and go on till 8.00 pm, February 21 – on the freedom251.com website.
The
smartphone has a 4-inch display, 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 1GB RAM,
8GB internal storage (expandable up to 32GB), 3.2-megapixel back camera,
0.3-megapixel front camera, and a 1450mAh battery.
The
phone runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system and offers 3G
support for Internet browsing. It is pre-loaded with apps like Facebook,
Whatsapp and some that are useful for women, farmers, etc. The phone
also comes with a 1-year warranty.
Smartphones
are available in the Indian market for as low as Rs 1,500. There have
also been reports that said that efforts were on by Anil Ambani-owned
Reliance Communications for only Rs 999.
The
Economic Times reported that Ringing Bells is likely to begin
assembling the smartphone handsets in Phase-I and ‘aims at full
indigenous development of the feature-rich smartphones’. No other
details were disclosed.
The launch of this phone is likely to severely disrupt the booming Indian mobile phone market.
Even
as the phone was launched, reports said that the Indian Cellular
Association has expressed is shock at the idea of a smartphone being
sold at Rs 251.
The
ICA has reportedly written to the Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad and appealed to the government to get ‘into the depth of the
issue’ as the telecom body believes that the rate of smartphone cannot
be less than Rs 3,500 even after a subsidised sale.
India is the world’s second largest market after China, having surpassed the United States.
Website: http://www.freedom251.com
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