By Alcatel, manufacturer of low-priced handsets for the pay-as-you-go crowd, is looking to take advantage of an arena where Android has treaded lightly to date: the prepay cell phone market. Big wig William Peterson recently confirmed the company’s plans to launch products using Android. Not only that, but he promised in a conversation with Mobile Today that Alcatel’s Android would bring “aspirational feature sets and design to new price points.”
If by that he is suggesting that they hope to provide the most bang for the least buck — perhaps even including some features typically relegated to only the most pricey of smartphones — then we’re all for it. The pay-as-you-go market is a virtually untapped resource and an area where Android could excel provided the cost of phones stays down, which Alcatel seems committed to accomplishing.
Could the above Alcatel OT-980 be the phone in question? It features a slide-out keyboard and more for a pricepoint lower than the HTC Tattoo. If so, it indeed would be a pretty impressive pay-as-you-go option, but we’ll have to wait to learn more about Alcatel’s release plans.
[via EuroDroid]
Holy Palm PreDroid Batman!
Man, that thing’ll smash through credit if you want any kind of syncing turned on!
If it is voice over 3g and data only over wifi it could be a big winner. Lots of folks want that.
The only thing “aspirational” about this phone is how much it aspires to be the Palm Pre.
It would be nice if we got any decent android prepaid stuff like this in the States. However, I could imagine Verizon putting first generation Droid on Straight Talk.
Let’s hope Alcatel don’t bloat their phones with an overlying skin….
A cheap Android phone would be a great choice for me to take out on a drunken night, while my N1 lies in the safety of my home :D
ALl you CAn TELl. As Android fans, we’re glad to welcome prepay Android this year.