Incorporated in 2015, Ringing bells directed by Mohit Goel along with Sushma Devi & Rajesh Kumar has launched the new smartphone Freedom 251, just at the price of Rs. 251. It is the second largest smartphone market in the world after china.
Freedom 251 will come with one year warranty and will be serviced at 650 centers across India. This Android device updated with lollipop 5.1 provides features likes 4-inch display, 1.3 GHz quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, and a 1450 mAh battery. The front camera comes with 3.2 megapixel and rear camera with 0.3 megapixels. The internal storage memory is 8GB while you can expand the external storage memory with 32GB.
Now let’s get down to each and every controversy that’s happening around Freedom 251
No promised Government Apps:
Government apps like Swacch Bharat, Women Safety were not available on the phones provided to chosen people of Media. We hope these apps are there in the devices “to be” delivered. According to Gadgets 360 reports, the phone is not certified by the Bureau of Indian standards. Though the certification is mandatory but it is time-consuming and expensive also, so it might possibly fail some radiation tests.
The cost of Rs 251.00 "ONLY":
The official explanation given by Ashok Chadha from Ringing Bells company is that “the real cost of the device is Rs 2,500, which will be recovered through a raft of measures like economies of scale, innovative marketing, reduction in duties and creating an e-commerce marketplace.
Undeniably something is fishy here because none of these exist now.
Apple’s Copyright Violation:
All the app icons on the built-in apps look exactly like iOS app icons. Mail, Music, Settings are the same. You can sense the clear violation of Apple’s copyright when you see browser has a Safari icon on it. When Ringing Bells was asked about this at the event yesterday, their technical head Vikas Sharma mentioned: “we have used Apple’s icons because Apple hasn’t copyrighted their designs.” This definitely doesn’t sound true or logical.
“Adcom Ikon” printed Freedom 251:
Freedom 251 comes with Adcom Ikon company printed brands. Adcom Ikon is a 4G phone, not a 3G one like the Freedom 251. Adcom Ikon mobile is available of Flipkart for Rs 4081.00. The Freedom 251 is a phone that is rebranded and sold under three Indian schemes: Make in India, Digital India and Startup India.
Website Crash:
After launching the controversial mobile "Freedom 251", within few hours, the website was crashed. People were trying to place the order the next day, but all in vain as the server wasn't made to take such push from people. It does look like the website was created by a college student.
The company should have definitely invested in the website, at least!!