A year has passed since Commodore, the computer brand many of you know and love, came back from the dead under new ownership. The comeback is picking up pace too, with a lineup that already includes multiple Commodore 64 Ultimate editions, a C64X PC, and a licensing program that invites outside builders to use the name. Now, they have announced a return to the phone market, and not in the doomscrolling glass-slab avatar we are all used to, but in a retro, very equippable flip phone format…

  • Tim_Bisley@piefed.social
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    10 hours ago

    This phone should cost $150 max. What’s with dumb phones charging smart phone levels of money?

      • zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        7 hours ago

        They are definitely charging way too much, the price and the browser block are the only reasons I am not buying one. I think they could reasonably price it at $250 based on the hardware and that it will certainly be a low production run which massively increases the price. Also, that Sony with SailfishOS is both old (it was released over five years ago) and refurbished, not exactly a fair comparison.

    • Mihies@programming.dev
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      9 hours ago

      I love how people throw around “it’s too expensive”. But did you ever try developing a relatively small batch gadget for the market? Plus as others said, it’s not a dumbp phone at all.

      • zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        6 hours ago

        Being too expensive doesn’t mean they are necessarily gouging. My wife crochets blankets as a hobby, but she’d have to charge a stupid amount to sell them at a profit if she used decent yarn and valued her time at even minimum wage. Said blanket would be “too expensive” without a doubt.

      • GalacticRobot@lemmy.world
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        6 hours ago

        Isn’t there a whole lot of small volume ‘phone’ companies that are charging far less? Nothing Phone, or the plethora of Chinese companies like Unihertz come to mind.

        • noodles@slrpnk.net
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          2 hours ago

          Sidephone, key phone, ikko one with the optional keyboard, upcoming clicks communicator, and dumber mini are all modern semi-smart keyboard phones at or below their discounted introductory price for the base model, with similar enough specs in most areas. Most of these are on some sort of privacy AOSP rom too.

          And that’s not including all the unihertz, blue fox, and other Chinese phones that would compete

    • yeehaw@lemmy.caOP
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      10 hours ago

      Agree, was thinking the same thing. I would have considered it at that price…

    • FunkyCheese@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      8 hours ago

      Higher end camera and a HD DAC (maybe high power audio output?)

      Those sorta things are expensive

      Also it runs 99% of android apps

      Probably also a low volume product which increases price

      • Wispy2891@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        99% of android apps

        I’m certain that the number is inflated by the massive amount of slop and shovelware that is in the play store. The missing 1% is the apps that you actually need, like banking and such

    • thisbenzingring@lemmy.today
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      10 hours ago

      its an initial offer model and it does look to have lots of modern tech components in it

      the price seems reasonable to me, especially if its got a designer edge to it