Apple's iconic iPhone has been so successful that it seems to have mesmerized Apple's competitors into producing meek clones of its iconic user interface instead of striking back with some innovation. At last Israel's Else Mobile, formerly known as Emblaze Mobile, is trying something ELSE. Leila Makki reports.
According to Amir Kupervas, CEO, of Else Mobile, the ELSE phone is the result of over five years of hard work and thinking outside the box. And a first impression of the phone conveys exactly that.
The First Else, a touchscreen phone with a Linux-based operating system called Else Intuition is due to launch in the second half of next year.
It's expected to ship with its own app store and SDK (software development kit) and will be backed up by a full media store to rival Apple's iTunes, claims Kupervas. Big difference: users will be able to purchase apps through a billing agreement with the operator rather than a credit-card or via PayPal. But the Else has some other key differentiators that make it stand apart from the growing list of iPhone copycats.
The main highlight of the phone is centered around a unique graphical user experience. The single-hand user interface (UI) is in fact more like a one-finger job.
It features an innovative display fan (see video below) which enables you, with a flick of the thumb, to scroll up and down the catalogue of pre-integrated apps. Many of the now-standard one are there, such as GPS and live RSS feeds. However, the phone's right panel makes it very difficult to navigate if you are left-handed.
According to Kupervas, the First Else belongs to a new category of mobile devices. "It is not a cell-phone, feature-phone, smart-phone or any phone for that matter. No longer just 'all-in-one' but 'all-for-one'."
On why the application-centric device runs on Linux Kupervas explained that the other mobile operating systems are too old and outdated. But when asked whether the company considered Android, he said that Google's open source OS was not available when the company began working on its phone. However, Kupervas did reveal a willingness to use Android in the next ELSE model. Under Android the UI could be made to look exactly the same as the Else Intuition, he claimed.
Currently, Else Mobile is in talks with carriers in Western Europe, United States and Russia.
Click below to see our exclusive hands-on encounter with the new ELSE.
please sign in to rate this article
45788
At last...an iPhone killer that is not a copycat, but something ELSE