 "Ringing Bells to launch India's cheapest sub-Rs 500 smartphone")
Are you planning to buy the world’s cheapest smartphone? You might want to hold on as the Rs 251-smartphone has come under a cloud after the website to book the handset has been crashing since the open sale began.
An overload on the servers due to six lakh clicks per second on its website has forced the company to halt bookings. The sale will resume after 24 hours, the company said.
Ordering the phone online has been a struggle for many as the server directs them to the homepage even if all the required details are entered correctly, The Huffington Post reported.
Moreover, there is no limit on the quantity that can be ordered. Even if one enters 0.5 units as quantity, the system accepts it and just halves the price, the report added.
Ashok Chadha, the company's president, had said at the launch that after 2.5 lakh units were sold on the website, it would stop accepting orders.
Questions Raised
Who is behind the making the finished product is still unknown. A report from NDTV Gadgets 360 said that the shipment of the final product will be different from the ones handed out as review units.
Not just that, there have been questions raised on the device's low cost. Chadha had said the real cost of the device was Rs 2,500, Hindustan Times reported. This money will be recovered through a series of measures like innovative marketing, reduction in duties and creating an e-commerce marketplace.
The estimated cost of the phone is valued at $60 (Rs 4,125), Pranav Dixit, Tech editor for the Hindustan Times also said in a Reddit AMA. He received this information in a letter from Indian Cellular Association (ICA), written to Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Moreover, the phone is unsafe to use as it is not registered at Bureau of Indian Standards, the report added.
The icons and software design is blatantly an iOS ripoff, and the phone has copied elements from the iPhone on hardware and software sites as well, reports suggest.
Meanwhile, The BGR certifies that the phone is not made in India, as the Adcom logo on the top is covered by whitener.
