Alcatel are not a name well known in Australian Android devices, as they’ve primarily made devices for the budget / prepaid sector, which have not (traditionally) been big sellers. However, they have innovated in an area where no one else has, just yet, with a phone that can run not one, not two, but a choice of three operating systems — Android, Windows Phone or Firefox OS.
Alcatel’s new Pixi 3 range are available in a variety of screen sizes between 3.5″ and 5″, and while the smallest version is 3G only, those 4″ and above feature 4G LTE connectivity as well.
While the choice of OS sounds cool, it’s not a choice for the user, it’s going to be a choice for the operator to make instead. This means, for example, that Telstra could offer a discount device running Windows Phone while the same phone could be offered by Optus running Android. Frankly, this sounds pretty cool, and really opens up a world of choice for users and carriers alike.
There’s no indication of whether these devices will come to Australia or not, but one hopes that they will to increase the competition in the discount phone sector. There’s no word on price either, beyond “affordable” so they’re definitely going to be at the bargain end of the scale.
The Pixi 3 is likely to debut at CES this week.
Update:
Looks like the Pixi 3 will be coming down under to ‘Australia via leading mobile carriers’, with Sam Skontos, Regional Managing Director, Australia and Pacific, Alcatel OneTouch advising :
The announcements we have made this week at CES epitomise our commitment to accessibility and affordability to exciting innovation and technological advancements for our consumers. We have strong growth ambitions in the local market and are looking forward to launching the PIXI 3 series in Australia in coming months. We have already had very positive feedback from our retail partners on the range the local consumers will see in stores this year, and are thrilled to be able to provide quality products to Australians without a hefty price-tag.
We may even be seeing the Alcatel Smartwatch, the WATCH features Android connectivity, but isn’t running Android Wear. The WATCH will connect to your phone to track your daily activities, control music, take photos and receive notifications.
We’ll advise as soon as we see any further news on the Alcatel Pixi 3 or WATCH.
Alcatel could have done the RightThing by users, letting the users choose which OS to run on the device they select, without telco interference.
Instead, Alcatel chose to do the BadEvilThing, by blocking Real user choice, and instead making it telco choice as to what the user is permitted to access.
Who cares – it’s a budget device that almost no-one will care about.
Cool? Sure. Good phone? Highly unlikely.
Not a bad looking phone, are you considering upgrading?
Clearly you don’t work in the business world. You are not smart just because you can pick a so called fault with anything. And now you are the invisible moral police by saying the “Right Thing by users”, yeh right whatever