BPhone Netbook Smartphone Now Shipping [Strange Hybrid Laptop Phone Is Now Shipping For $569, 5-inch Touchscreen, 624Mhz Processor]

Posted on TFTS by Kevin Schram on Friday, 26. March 2010 under: Mobile/Cell Phones, PCs, Notebooks, Netbooks & Tablets

Please try to contain your excitement. The BPhone, the mysterious laptop-shaped smartphone that we covered back in January is now out for order and shipments. In addition, we’ve also learned a bit more about the phone and its internal specs.

The phone will be powered by a Marvell 624MHz processor. It’ll be running a special flavor of ARM Linux 2.6 for the OS. On storage, it will have 128MB of RAM and 256MB of flash memory. For connectivity, it has WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and quad-band GSM connectivity, but apparently no 3G, which is a poor omission on their part. The phone will ship fully unlocked and the Chinese importer selling them (ChinaGrabber) reports the Bphone’s flip fom factor as “compact and stylish”.

For third-party apps, it will run Java apps, which should give you a wide selection of things to run. Unfortunately, making calls on such a device is probably as horrible as it seems considering it’s a bulky 5-inch unit. The 5-inch touchscreen is convertible, so the device can be used like a tablet, which is a nice addition.

While there are a few netbooks with cell modems that allow access 3G internet on the go, I don’t think many of them allow to make calls so this little BPhone does have an advantage there. To be honest, the UI on the device looks sharp and at 5-inches it can’t be much bigger than the Dell Mini 5 or the HTC EVO 4G, but the laptop form factor just seems so unappealing. With the iPad around the corner, the JooJoo Pad now shipping and other competitors like the Dell Mini 5 and Archos 7 out there, I just can’t see anybody getting excited over the poor BPhone.

If you are excited, it will set you back $569 and it’s now shipping from various Chinese tech importers.

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