One of the most interesting gadget rumours in recent times is that of the smart phone that is supposed to cost under £3. Could this possibly be true?
This is the strange tale of the Freedom 251 phone which has recently been advertised by Ringing Bells in India. The price? A mere 251 rupees, which works out as under £3. It can’t be true, thought, can it? Surely not for a smartphone with 8 GB of storage, a 4 inch screen and a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor?
Sadly, many people now feel that this was some sort of hoax or scam. A few of the Indian government agencies are said to be investigating the case and seeing whether people have actually paid up for phones that they will never receive.
It has also been reported that a rival firm – Advantage Computers – has said that they will sue Ringing Bells because it is their phone that they have allegedly copied. For their part, the last word from Ringing Bells is that customers can order the phones for delivery sometime in April.
Cheaper Phones to Appear Soon?
While it looks likely that the Freedom 251 will never see the light of day, the falling price of technology should mean that cheaper phones are soon available in developing countries. Of course, this is seen as being important due to the fact that millions of people around the world currently can’t afford to get hooked up to the internet.
To make matters even more confusing, rivals Advantage Computers are said to be threatening to sue Ringing Bells for using their handset and passing it off as their own.
All in all, it seems likely that the Freedom 251 will never reach the hands of consumers in India or elsewhere. This is a real shame but it shouldn’t take away from the fact that developers all over the world are genuinely looking to produce cheap smartphones that make it easier for low income families to get hooked up to the internet.
What do you think is the absolute lowest price a smartphone could be sold at?
