As a pretty technically literate populace, there’s many Australians with a positive memory of their first computer. For many people, their first computer was the venerable Commodore 64, while the company finally went out of business in the 90’s, the name lives on similarly to Polaroid as a brand for sale. The brand is currently controlled by two Italian entrepreneurs, Massimo Canigiani and Carlo Scattolini and they want to release a Commodore branded phone with a focus on gaming.
The handset which will carry the Commodore brand will, like the computer be aimed at gamers. The main way will be to focus on Commodore games, with the handset pre-loaded with two emulators – VICE C64 and Uae4All2-SDL Amiga – sure to fire the imaginations of those retro gamers out there. The software will all run on Android 5.0, though what modifications to the software beyond the emulators they intend to make is unknown.
The handset, called the PET, will use a 64-bit octa-core Mediatek processor clocked at 1.7GHz and come with either 16GB of storage with 2GB RAM for US$300, or with 32GB of storage and 3GB of RAM for US$365. A 5.5″ 1080P FullHD display with Gorilla Glass 3 will sit on the front of the phone and it will also include a 13MP f/2.0 camera on the rear and an 8MP camera on the front, with an physical shutter button and a 3,000mAh battery powering the whole shebang.
Initially the handset will be sold in Italy, France, Germany, and Poland though there are plans to sell the phone in more European countries as well as possibly in the US. No plans for Australia have been announced, but we’ll be watching.
Does a Commodore branded phone sound good to you?
The screen has to be 5.25″; right?
Chinese oem phone with Commodore branding. Meh.
It sounds great…. As long they make a 3.5 floppy drive add-on, So I can play my Amiga 500 games