¡Viva la Revolution! Geeksphone's new mobe to go on sale this month

Intel-powered handset lets you load the OS you want

Smartphone startup Geeksphone has announced complete specs, pricing, and a selling date for Revolution, its Intel-powered, OS-agnostic handset.

The Spanish firm said the device will go on sale in its online store on February 20 with a list price of €239, but "for a limited time" – exact dates unspecified – it will be discounted to €222, excluding VAT.

As El Reg reported earlier, Revolution will be Geeksphone's first handset powered by an Intel processor – specifically, the "Cloverview" Z2560 dual-core Atom system on a chip (SoC), clocked at 1.6GHz.

On Tuesday, the company revealed that the device will ship with 1GB of LPDDR2 RAM and 4GB of onboard EMMC storage, which can be expanded via MicroSD cards of up to 32GB.

Its screen is a 4.7-inch IPS LCD multi-touch display, and it ships with a 1.3-megapixel front camera and an 8-megapixel rear camera. The rear camera features an LED flash and is capable of recording 1080p video at 30 frames per second.

In addition to the standard 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0, the phone is also fitted with radios that are compatible with nearly every conceivable mobile network, whether GSM or HSPA/WCDMA-based. It can move HSUPA data at up to 5.76Mbps and its HSDPA support maxes out at 21Mbps.

Besides its Intel processor – which is still something of a curiosity in a world of mostly ARM-based handsets – one of Revolution's key selling points is Geeksphone's promise that customers will be able to load alternative operating systems onto the device without voiding its warranty.

Not a misprint: Geeksphone's Revolution mobe
runs on an Intel Atom processor, not an ARM

"Our new Geeksphone 'Revolution' device is the result of a Spanish company's commitment to innovation," Geeksphone cofounder Rodrigo Silva-Ramos said in an emailed statement. "We want to offer our users the possibility to choose between different operating systems in a single device. We also want to give them one of the most advanced microprocessors on the market."

Initially, Revolution will ship with Android preloaded, but Geeksphone says it also plans to release a version running an OS based on Mozilla technology. While Geeksphone was the first company to ship devices running Firefox OS, however, its marketing materials for Revolution are careful to use the earlier "Boot2Gecko" codename, which may mean it has had to make custom modifications to get the OS running on Revolution's Intel-based hardware.

Geeksphone's website says the device will also support "other community-developed builds," which suggests customers could potentially load such operating systems as Tizen or Ubuntu Phone, provided someone can get them running.

There was no word on how many Revolution handsets will be manufactured in the first run, but past Geeksphone product releases have sold out quickly. The company's online store currently lists its earlier models, the Firefox OS–based Peak and Keon, as both being out of stock. ®