It seems that Gigabyte wasn't content with making motherboards and other PC electronics. They have just joined the Android smartphone fray with three new devices. Earlier today at Computex in Taipei, Gigabyte debuted the G1362, G1342 and M1348. There was no word yet on which carriers might get these (or even if these will come to the U.S.). Here's a breakdown of each:

The G1362: (likely a mid-range phone)
  • 4.3-inch FWVGA (854x480) display
  • 5 megapixel AF camera with LED flash
  • 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 CPU
  • 512MB or RAM
  • 4GB of internal storage


G1342: (budget-friendly device)
  • 3.5-inch HVGA (480x320) LCD
  • 5 MP autofocus camera with flash
  • 800MHz single core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor
  • 512MB of RAM
  • 1GB of built-in flash


The third phone, the M1348, was non-functional and hidden in a display case. "It's expected to match the G1342 in specs but uses a 1GHz MediaTek CPU and offers 4GB of built-in storage. As previously mentioned, all three phones include two SIM slots (one of them HSPA 7.2Mbps-capable) and run Android 4.0.4."

Here's a quote from the Engadget article with their brief impressions of the devices,

Despite packing a Snapdragon S4, the G1362 looks and feels like a mid-range handset, with a less-than-stellar display (poor brightness and viewing angles). The UI was reasonably responsive, however, which is pretty much what you'd expect from a phone with such a powerful processor. As for the G1362, it's basically your standard fare low-end Android handset albeit with dual-SIM support and ICS. Build quality was in line with other prototypes we've handled -- that is to say a little rough around the edges. Of course, it's important to keep in mind that we played with pre-production units running non-final software.

The G1362 should be available in July for less than $300 unsubsidized, the G1342 is shipping this month (June) for under $200 and the M1348 is expected later this summer at a sub $150 price point.
Hmmm... it's interesting to note that although the devices are obviously not high end at all, they actually have some amazing unsubsidized prices. Maybe a sign of the future?

Source: Engadget