Emblaze Mobile's “First Else”

A new Linux phone is on the way. Israeli company Emblaze Mobile has announced that its new device, oddly dubbed “First Else” will be officially unveiled in January 2009.

The phone was first showcased in Japan about a month ago, but yesterday was announced to the UK in a London event.

Emblaze are new kids on the mobile block, and the company has partnered up with Access Software to produce the “Else Intuition” operating system. According to Emblaze, the handset will shake up the market as it represents a move away from smartphone towards an application centric device.

Amir Kupervas of Emblaze Mobile explained the intention behind First Else:

“We are not a phone. When you’re using an application, the entire device becomes that application, so it delivers the same experience as best-of-breed dedicated devices. If you play music, you get the experience comparable to an iPod. For email you get the experience of a BlackBerry, and for navigation the experience of TomTom,” he said.

One feature of the OS, as discovered by Register Hardware, is that the “phone” element no longer takes priority. Users will be given the choice of either answering a call or continuing with the conversation. Another feature will allow you to ask with the touch of a button whether the call is urgent. The person trying to reach you will be sent a notification too; very handy if you’re in an important meeting.

As yet the full specifications of the First Else have not been revealed, but Emblaze has revealed that it will be packing a 5 MP camera, a 854×480 capacitive screen with a 32 GB memory HSDPA 3G connectivity, haptic feedback, and an accelerometer.

It’s all very intriguing. The open source nature of Linux might pave the way for customization beyond our wildest dreams, but then again, we might just be treated to an operating system like Vodafone 360, so will have to wait and see whether the Linux phone will represent a significant departure from current operating systems.