'Freedom 251' smartphone set for delivery from June 28: Top official

NEW DELHI: The Rs 251 (less that $4) smartphone that created a global buzz in February is set to be delivered to the first 30,000 customers beginning from June 28, a top official has said. These people had pre-booked the device before the pre-booking website crashed owing to huge traffic. According to media reports, Mohit Goel, CEO of Noida-based firm Ringing Bells Pvt. Ltd., has said that the company will start shipping “Freedom 251” from June 28 in cash-on-delivery (COD) mode to those who had pre-booked the device. In an earlier interview to IANS, Ringing Bells President Ashok Chadha had said that "Freedom 251" customers will be required to make payment only when the smartphone is delivered to them. "The company has decided that we will, henceforth, offer 'cash on delivery' mode of payments for those who have placed an order for the 'Freedom 251' smartphone. This will ensure further transparency and clear any misgivings," Chadha had told IANS. The company that planned to give 25 lakh handsets in the first phase before June 30, received a mammoth over seven crore registrations before the payment gateway crashed. Ringing Bells launched 'Freedom 251' in February in the presence of veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi. It distributed some "prototypes" of the product to the media which turned out to be handsets from another domestic handset maker Adcom. However, the company maintained that the device has been developed "with immense support" from the government. According to the company, the smartphone will run on Android 5.1 operating system and sport a 4-inch qHD IPS display, a 3.2-megapixel primary and a 0.3-megapixel front camera. "Our humble beginning to provide a high-tech gadget that will benefit all in the hinterlands and bridge the huge gap that clearly exists between the metros and semi-urban/rural areas is in keeping with the government's initiatives," Chadha had earlier told IANS. However, doubts were raised after assessments of the handset's viability concluded that such a device cannot be offered for less than Rs 2,300-2,400.