Shanghai-based manufacturer GEAK (I presume that’s pronounced “geek”) has announced some very interesting tech today, including two new smartphones and a NFC ring. Starting with the smartphones, GEAK announced that they’ll be making a 5-inch phone called the Eye and a larger 5.8-inch phone called the Mars.
The Eye is the decidedly more frugal version featuring a quad-core Mediatek 1.2GHz CPU, running Android 4.2, 1GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. The display will be 720p, bringing the ppi count to 294. Perhaps interesting is the fact that the Eye will come with a 13MP rear camera and a 8MP front camera. Yes, that’s not a typo. And all of this will be going for ¥1,999 ($326) outright.
The Mars, as the bigger brother, is appropriately configured with a Snapdragon 600 running at 1.7GHz, 2GB RAM, rather strangely running Android 4.1 (unless this is a typo on the site), and 16GB internal storage. The display will be 1080p, making for 377 ppi and the cameras in the Mars will be a 13MP rear and 2MP front. For the performance bump, the Mars will likely go for ¥2,999 ($490) outright.
Both phones have their upsides; the Eye is definitely geared towards those self-portrait junkies, whereas the Mars is a more standard high performance smartphone, and while they are competitively priced, these devices will likely be confined to the Chinese market. Which is a shame because the NFC ring GEAK also announced would be a cool companion to these smartphones.
The GEAK ring is NFC enabled and allows you unlock your phone simply by holding it in the hand wearing the ring. And as with other NFC devices, you can store your contact details on the ring. At release, the GEAK ring will only support GEAK devices, however will be compatible with other devices by November and is priced for preorder at ¥199 ($30). Of course, it is just a little bit of novelty, but a cool bit of novelty all the same.
Would you get any one of these devices if they were available outside of China? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: GEAK (1), (2), (3) via engadget (1), (2)
