Alcatel One Touch has unveiled its latest smartphone, the Idol Alpha, in a move it hopes will put the company back on the map in SA.
Marketed as a "phone as fashion", Southern Africa Country manager Ernst Wittmann says the uniqueness of the device lies in its design - something that may be welcomed by the many smartphone users who have complained about the stale design characteristic of many next-generation devices.
The Idol Alpha body is framed by 3D aluminium and a "bright diamond cut" effect. It is flanked top and bottom with translucent panels that light up to notify the user of incoming notifications.
Featuring a 4.7-inch HD IPS design (720 x 1280 pixels), the Idol Alpha is fully laminated and has an Oleophobic coating, which repels fingerprint oil. Weighing 117.4 g, the 138 x 66.6 x 7.5mm phone runs Android 4.2 and features a 13.1 megapixel autofocus rear camera, 1.3 megapixel HD front camera and LED flash and digital zoom.
The Idol Alpha's has a a Quad Core 1.2 GHz processor and an internal memory of 16GB, with 2GB of RAM. The end-user gets 13.3GB of storage. Its 2000mAh lithium battery provides 20 hours of 2G and 10 hours of 3G talk time. It comes in soft gold and slate.
Local focus
Alcatel One Touch says its development team concentrated on the sensory experiences when designing the phone, which the Wittmann says will be heavily marketed when it comes to market on 7 July. The phone will initially be available from Vodacom and MTN. Its recommended retail price is R5 999.
Yves Morel, Alcatel One Touch GM for Europe, Middle East and Africa, says the company, which forms part of TCL Communication (a public company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and part of TCL Corporation), is focusing heavily on the South African market.
"We have a solid strategy to address the South African market, with a solid product line up [in the offing are known for bringing affordable devices with all the functionality customers are looking for to market and we will continue to do this. You can count on us for that."
Wittmann says Alcatel One Touch hopes to take the market by storm with the Idol Alpha. "Come 7 July, you will see the phone on billboards, on TV, hear about it on radio and through competitions."
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