Intex Set to Launch Firefox OS Smartphone Under Rs. 2,000 on August 25

The company has started sending media invites for an event scheduled on August 25. Intex is touting that the event will see the launch of "India's lowest priced smartphone."

Intex has already revealed that the company's first Firefox OS smartphone will be called Cloud FX and will be priced under Rs. 2,000.

There's no doubt that the launch of Firefox-OS based smartphones will offer Indian consumers more options in the entry-level segment than just the dominating Android OS platform.

(Also see: Android KitKat Now Running on Over 20 Percent of Android Devices: Google)

The Indian smartphone market has lately seen some major Android handset makers, such as Micromax, Motorola, and Samsung, pushing their smartphones into the sub-Rs. 10,000 category. The launch of a new Firefox OS smartphone will definitely increase competition in the budget smartphone segment for domestic as well as global handset manufacturers.

The company had also announced some of specifications of the Intex Cloud FX smartphone, which will include a 3.5-inch display (resolution unspecified), and will be powered by a 1GHz processor (number of cores unspecified).

Other features detailed by Intex for its Cloud FX smartphone running Firefox OS include a 2-megapixel rear camera, as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.

Notably, the specifications detailed by Intex were noticeably similar to the reference $25 Firefox OS smartphone platform unveiled by Mozilla and Spreadtrum at MWC.

The reference $25 (roughly Rs. 1,500) Firefox OS smartphone is based on the Spreadtrum SC6821 chipset, which supports 3.5-inch HVGA (320x480 pixels) touchscreens, integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, FM radio and camera functions, and access to HTML 5 apps. We can expect the Intex Cloud FX to sport the same display resolution and connectivity features mentioned by Spreadtrum.

Apart from Intex, Mozilla had named Spice as another Firefox OS smartphone partner for the Indian market.

Unfortunately, we are yet to hear any official word from Spice on the launch of its first Firefox OS smartphone. An earlier report had claimed a July timeframe for the launch of Spice's first Firefox OS smartphone; however, that never happened.