If you can’t decide between a Desire and a Droid or if the Galaxy Pro doesn’t quite tick all the boxes, perhaps Sir or Madam would like something a little more bespoke? German telecoms outfit Synapse Phones claim to offer just that – a custom Android phone service that will let you spec your own hardware.
If Steve Jobs is right and Android device fragmentation is such a big problem then this.. well, this isn’t really going to help to be honest. It might be cool though and – ultimately – that is the important thing.
Synapse Phones is offering you the chance to design your own Android blower. You start with a basic model priced at €299 which comes with a 1GHz processor, Android 2.2, microSD slot and a 4-inch Super-AMOLED screen and use the form on Synapse’s website to add extras.
Goodies you can add at the moment include HDMI-out, Camera (up to 12 megapixel), body colour and either capacitive or physical buttons. You also have to choose whether you want a 3G, 4G, LTE or WiMAX radio.
This all sounds great to us – perhaps a bit too great. Unfortunately the Synapse site is down at the moment so we haven’t been able to check it out ourselves. A temporary Posterous blog states that they will be shipping handsets some time in Q1 next year. It is not clear if you need to pay up now and then twiddle your thumbs while you wait for the hardware to be built, however.
We have contacted Synapse for comment and will keep you all updated as soon as we get confirmation that this is legit.
Update – 20/10/2010 15:30 : A Synapse spokesperson has been in touch to say that the site should be back up this evening. Shipping should begin in February and orders should take no more than four weeks to process.
Q1 2011 | From €299 | Synapse Phones (via Android Central)
