$38 Firefox OS smartphone - the Spice Fire One Mi-FX1

Pictured above is the Mozilla Flame which has recently been made available to developers

Earlier this year, Mozilla announced its intentions to launch a $25 Firefox OS smartphone. So far they haven't made good on their claim, however the Indian smartphone manufacturer Spice Mobility has launched a device that is almost there.

Priced at approximately $38, the Spice Fire One Mi – FX1 will be targetting first-time smartphone users and those on an extremely limited budget. The specs are nothing to write home about, with the biggest limitations hovering around the low-resolution display and the lack of 3G connectivity, but it does various useful elements such as dual sim functionality, bluetooth, and a front and rear camera.

“With the ultra-low cost Spice Fire One, we at Spice, aim to convert the feature phone users into smartphone users, thereby, aiding them with the power of internet. This partnership with Mozilla showcases our commitment to providing the best technological innovations first hand to our customers.” Mr. Prashant Bindal, Chief Executive Officer, Spice Mobility

The full list of specs are as follows:

1 Ghz single core processor
3.5" HVGA display (480 x 320 pixels)
2.5G connectivity
1.3 megapixel selfie camera
2 megapixel rear camera
Bluetooth, WiFi support
Dual sim functionality
Firefox OS
GPS/Gyroscope

It comes with some very reasonable bloatware-- Twitter and Facebook are pre-installed. Other apps can be installed via Firefox's Marketplace. Screencaps (shown below) also show apps like HERE Maps and AccuWeather installed on the device, however there is no mention if this will come with the device or if it will need to be acquired seperately via the Marketplace. One thing that does make this notable however is that if HERE Maps is included, then the device must also have some sort of GPS and gyroscope sensors, which is definitely a plus.

The Spice Fire One Mi - FX1 is following a very similar design language to other Firefox OS phones

Although there is no mention of battery capacity, on-board storage or RAM size, all-in-all it is definitely worth its value at such a low price. More importantly, however, is that this may usher in a new niche for the smartphone manufactuers-- previously we had the high-end market, mid-tier market, and low-tier market, but now we are also seeing the development of the ultra low-tier smartphone market that will slowly see smartphones replace feature phones.

“Just one year after the first Firefox OS device launched, Firefox OS smartphone is now available in 17 countries across Europe, Asia and Latin America. Our partnership with Spice will be an exciting Firefox OS launch in India. Having one more strong partner as Spice, we are confident that Firefox OS devices will realize a whole new category of smartphones with affordable price. Furthermore, we can ensure every user to enjoy the power of Web” Dr. Li Gong, President of Mozilla Corporation

This month has been a fairly significant month with Firefox OS, as just last week Mozilla made the Flame, a Firefox OS smartphone, available to developers.

Source: Firstpost | Image via ComputerHoy