Back in November of last year, Emblaze introduced what is presumably going to be its first product — a mobile phone called the First Else which hopes to revolutionize the phone experience by delivering a unique interface.
Emblaze launched an official site for the First Else which is a clunky flash based page that attempts to show you the “revolutionary inch interface that the First Else hopes to offer its users.
One issue with that The First Else is using the TI OMAP 3430, the same one found on the Droid and the Palm Pre, which means a 600MHz CPU before any underclocking. As we start to see phones hit the market with 1GHz CPUs (HTC HD2, Google Nexus One, etc.), I’m wondering if the First Else will be able to compete once it reaches the market (purportedly in Q2 of this year.) It would be a shame to see the First Else fail even before it leaves the gates, simply because it took to long for Emblaze to get the phone into users’ hands. I suppose only time will tell.
Presumably the phone will make it at least that far. Engadget caught up with the Emblaze guys at CES 2010 and has a short video of someone demoing the interface. I see some degree of intuitive interaction, but I also see a lot of flashy animations; Emblaze is walking a fine line between revolutionary interface and unnecessary eye-candy. Jump over to Engadget to check out the video.
that sites been up for awhile. and i have avidly been checking it to see if they are releasing any news. I’ll be the first in line to get this phone. thats the phone i want this year to replace my old iphone. i hope that they are able to bring it to the market as i for one would be very disappointed if they don’t.ive really been looking forward to the first else.
I have an invite to go and see these guys at MWC. I’ll see what I can find out!