UPDATED 21:32 EDT / JULY 14 2015

NEWS

Back from the dead, computer brand Commodore lives once more, in the form of a smartphone

Legendary computer brand Commodore is back from the dead, of sorts, at least in name, in the form of an Android-powered smartphone.

The Commodore-branded phone is reported to come from a pair of Italian entrepreneurs who somehow ended up with the company name (and branding) and is called the PET; if that means as much to you as a C64 does, the Commodore PET was the original company’s first breakout computer released in 1977, and although nowhere nearly as popular as the C64 went on to be, set the original company up for its monumental success in the home computing market in the 1980s.

The phone features an aluminum frame with a polycarbonate backplate that is said to support the ability to be swapped out. Along with the nifty form factor, the phone sports a 5.5-inch IPS Full HD display with Gorilla Glass 3, a 1.7 GHz Mediatek 64-bit octa-core processor with ARM Mali T760 GPU and a 3000 mAh battery.

The main camera is said to be a 13-megapixel Sony sensor with a bright f/2.0 aperture that can make images up to 4096×2304 pixels and videos up to 1080p HD. The front camera is a solid 8-megapixel with an 80-degree wide angle lens.

While that sounds good, versus exciting, here’s where it actually gets interesting, or alternatively appealing if you’re a member of Generation X or older: The phone will ship with two preinstalled emulators, a C64 emulator, and an Amiga emulator, and although details aren’t clear, it will mean you can purchase (or download by other means) games from both classic platforms and play them on the phone.

But wait, there’s more!

The pitch may not be classic Billy Mays, but putting aside the decent specs for the phone, there is more: The price is eminently affordable.

The Commodore PET will be offered in two different versions, one with 16GB of storage and 2GB of RAM for around $300, and one with 32GB of internal memory and 3GB of RAM for around $365; all prices are around given the exchange rate of the Euro on a given day.

Interestingly, both will ship with a 32GB microSD card included, although the slot for the card does support cards up to 64GB.

Sadly, though, the phone will not be widely available on launch, being released only in Italy, France, Germany and Poland, although sales in the rest of Europe and the United States will eventually follow.


A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Support our open free content by sharing and engaging with our content and community.

Join theCUBE Alumni Trust Network

Where Technology Leaders Connect, Share Intelligence & Create Opportunities

11.4k+  
CUBE Alumni Network
C-level and Technical
Domain Experts
15M+ 
theCUBE
Viewers
Connect with 11,413+ industry leaders from our network of tech and business leaders forming a unique trusted network effect.

SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation serving innovative audiences and brands, bringing together cutting-edge technology, influential content, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — such as those established in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology, and AI. .

Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a powerful ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands, with a reach of 15+ million elite tech professionals. The company’s new, proprietary theCUBE AI Video cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.