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Spice and MicroMax are huge in India. The handsets are dirt cheap[1], support up to 3 SIMs in the same device, have battery lives measured in days, do nearly ev

Spice and MicroMax are huge in India. The handsets are dirt cheap[1], support up to 3 SIMs in the same device, have battery lives measured in days, do nearly everything except browsing the web[2] and are incredibly rugged. The appeal is huge. And now both companies have their own Android offerings which, surprisingly, are not complete pieces of crap. I'm not a fan, but I see these companies being pretty huge in the future. --- [1] So cheap some people keep extra handsets at home. Some people will buy a handset on their way to the airport because they need a cheapo device for their trip. [2] Most of them come with a Facebook app, a multi-protocol IM client, a YouTube app, an email app and a lightweight version of Opera that works fine for simple websites. All of them support J2ME apps, so you also get to use GMail, Google Maps, Twitter, etc. Some of them have this weird office suite that lets you read, but not edit, Microsoft Word documents. All this for $100 or less.

dexen 15y ago
> The handsets are dirt cheap[1], support up to 3 SIMs in the same device, (...) This is it, the killer feature: two or three SIM cards. Why don't mainstream vendors provide such phones, ever?
- NonEUCitizen 15y ago
  Nokia does; e.g. http://mobile.engadget.com/2011/05/25/nokias-promised-dual-sim-handsets-arrive-look-strangely-famili/ http://mobile.engadget.com/2011/05/25/nokias-promised-dual-s... It seems more popular in developing countries, where 1 physical phone may be shared by multiple users.
  - vlado 15y ago
    It's not about multiple users using the same device. It's about calling a contact with the card of her respective carrier in order to reduce the bill. Making a call inside the carrier's network is almost always free with the cheapest plans.
keithpeter 15y ago
ZTE make the Orange Rio (UK) that does some of that. Sells for £20 quid. You see them about.

dexen 15y ago

> The handsets are dirt cheap[1], support up to 3 SIMs in the same device, (...) This is it, the killer feature: two or three SIM cards. Why don't mainstream vendors provide such phones, ever?

NonEUCitizen 15y ago
Nokia does; e.g. http://mobile.engadget.com/2011/05/25/nokias-promised-dual-sim-handsets-arrive-look-strangely-famili/ http://mobile.engadget.com/2011/05/25/nokias-promised-dual-s... It seems more popular in developing countries, where 1 physical phone may be shared by multiple users.
- vlado 15y ago
  It's not about multiple users using the same device. It's about calling a contact with the card of her respective carrier in order to reduce the bill. Making a call inside the carrier's network is almost always free with the cheapest plans.

keithpeter 15y ago

ZTE make the Orange Rio (UK) that does some of that. Sells for £20 quid. You see them about.