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Dubai-based Obi Mobiles has launched two mid-range handsets targeting the fast growing telecom markets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The handsets, called Obi Worldphone, would be available across 70 countries around the world by 2017.
The handsets - SF1 and SJ1.5 - designed by San Francisco-based product studio Ammunition, is being introduced to address the market need between high-design smartphones at high prices and generic smartphones at low prices, co-founder John Sculley said in a press conference.
Obi Mobiles was co-founded by John Sculley, former President of Apple and Pepsi-Cola, serial entrepreneurs Neeraj Chauhan, Shane Maine and Gordon McMillan.
Obi phones integrate high-end technology from Qualcomm, Dolby, Sony, Corning, Google, MediaTek, Japan Display and Samsung.
Obi Worldphone SF1 is the company’s flagship 4G/LTE smartphone, which has a raised 5-inch display. It also features a dual SIM slot with micro secure digital (SD) expansion and is being priced at $199 for the 16 GB version and $249 for the 32 GB.
The SJ1.5 is a 3G smartphone powered by the MediaTek MT6580 Quad-Core processor. The model working on the Android Lollipop operating system is priced at $129.
Available markets
The handsets will be initially available across Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, Pakistan and Turkey.
In addition, global insurance giant Generali Group has co-invested in Obi with a venture capital fund. However, the quantum of investment was not disclosed.
(The correspondent is in San Francisco at the invitation of Obi Mobiles).
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