Wileyfox Introduces Mobile Handsets for the Savvy Open Market Customer

LONDON, August 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Cyanogen Powered Handsets, Quality Hardware and Pricing Geared at Disrupting Mobile Market  

Wileyfox has announced it will launch with two, competitive, open market handsets - Swift and Storm. Available online only, each handset boasts a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ processor and will be the first to come pre-loaded with Cyanogen OS 12.1 in EMEA.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150825/260884 )

Swift will retail at £129 (€179) and Storm at £199 (€279) and will be available from September and October respectively. They are both highly customisable and with exceptional data security settings enabled by Cyanogen and Qualcomm's SecureMSM™ technology. Both are finished in premium materials, such as Swift's Corning® Gorilla® Glass display, and offer extraordinary value for money.

Built on Android™, the Cyanogen powered experience gives users the freedom to customise their mobile experience from scratch. Privacy control over data shared with apps, full UI customisation and the elimination of bloatware - to free up storage space and processing power - are all central to the groundbreaking OS.

Wileyfox after sales service features market-wide call centres for advice, support and repairs. Both devices will be available exclusively online, at wileyfox.com as well as at leading e-tailers across the region including Amazon, Ebay, JD, Souq, Expansys and Clove.

Nick Muir, European Chief Executive Officer at Wileyfox comments, "Our target customer values choice, security and reassurance. These savvy individuals do not want their data made available beyond their control. They want to be able to change the appearance of their screen, beyond just the wallpaper and lock-screen. They want efficient, personalised shortcuts and gestures. They want friendly, helpful 24/7 customer service.  And above all they want great quality, premium handsets with the latest technology. Responsive, well-built, reliable, quick-charging handsets with great battery life. And that's what Wileyfox is all about."

Customisation - Cyanogen offers users the ability to personalise everything on the handset from soft and hard keys to gesture controls and deep customisation using the Themes app. Themes lets users completely modify the look and feel of the phone's interface, including wallpapers, fonts, icons, boot animations, and even third party apps. Wileyfox owners can choose from the myriad of apps built for Android but have the freedom to build their own mobile experience from the ground up if they so desire.

Privacy & security - In a world where people want to protect their data and privacy, Cyanogen makes it easy to control what, where and when data is shared with Privacy Guard. Extensive security features include Protected Apps to keep selected apps out of sight in lockable folders on the home screen. PIN Scramble to randomise the numbers behind the device's password, and Blocked Caller List, which blocks incoming calls and texts from selected numbers.  The Qualcomm SecureMSM technology is the foundation of some of the Cyanogen OS privacy features. It includes security hardware and firmware, or more precisely, a feature called SecureBoot, which both the Storm and Swift are equipped with to ensure that your precious information is secured.

Enhanced experiences - Cyanogen delivers a number of rich enhancements across audio, dialer, email, browser, camera and screen display. Audio FX improves the audio playback quality when listening to music and LiveDisplay intelligently adjusts the brightness and contrast of the screen, based on lighting conditions and the time of day. Truecaller integrated Dialer provides caller ID, spam detection and blocking.

Quality components - The Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 and 615 processors (embedded in Swift and Storm respectively) offer extended battery life. In addition, each handset boasts rear and front-facing cameras with rapid auto-focus and high-quality, low-light photography, HDR and panorama mode features as standard.

European infrastructure - European call centres offering efficient and effective after sales service for Wileyfox customers.  A replacement screen service is available for £9.99 a year and there's a three year extended warranty for the same price.

Partner Quotes  

Cyanogen 

Vikram Natarajan, Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships and Distribution for Cyanogen says: "Our partnership with Wileyfox brings the user-oriented proposition to life by giving consumers unlimited possibilities to customize their device experiences. We're excited to come together with Wileyfox to bring real differentiation to consumers in EMEA, and a better Android experience in a number of areas including device performance, customization, privacy and security, and enhanced apps."

Qualcomm 

Roberto Di Pietro, VP business development at Qualcomm Europe says: "Today's mobile devices need to be powerful, fast and reliable and Snapdragon processors are specifically designed to deliver advanced connected mobile computing experiences across video, imaging, graphics and interactive applications. Partnering with new mobile brands such as Wileyfox is important for us to help deliver the next generation of mobile experiences to more users across Europe."

Product Specifications

Wileyfox Storm

Network: 4G LTE/ Dual SIM/ unlocked, compatible with all European providers
Display: 5.5" Full HD Display
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 Chipset, Octa-Core
OS: Cyanogen OS 12.1 based on Android Lollipop 5.1
Camera: 20MP Rear Camera / 8MP Front Facing with flash and range of shooting features
Video: MP2/4, AVC, HEVC, Sorenson, realVideo 4, wmv2/3 VP8
Audio: AAC, MP3, FLAC, DTS, AC-3, HE-AAC, MPEG-1 Layer II, Cooker, Vorbis, WMAV2
Connectivity: WiFi 2.4GHz, protocols 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v.4 (LE)
Memory: 32GB ROM + 3GB RAM. Expandable MicroSD up to 128GB
Dimension & weight: 155.6 x 77.3 x 9.2mm, 155g    
Battery: Non-removable 2,500mAh
Note: Shipping without a charger in the box.

Wileyfox Swift

Network: 4G LTE/ Dual SIM/ unlocked, compatible with all European providers
Display: 5" HD Corning® Gorilla® Glass
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 Chipset, Quad Core
OS: Cyanogen OS 12.1 based on Android Lollipop 5.1
Camera: 13MP Dual LED Flash Rear Camera / 5MP Front Facing, range of shooting features
Video: MP2/4, AVC, HEVC, Sorenson, realVideo 4, wmv2/3 VP8
Audio: AAC, MP3, FLAC, DTS, AC-3, HE-AAC, MPEG-1 Layer II, Cooker, Vorbis, WMAV2
Connectivity: WiFi 2.4GHz, protocols 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v.4 (LE)
Memory: 16GB ROM + 2GB RAM. Expandable MicroSD up to 32GB
Dimension & weight: 141.15 x 71 x 9.37, 136g
Battery: Removable 2,500mAh
Note: Shipping without a charger in the box.    

About Wileyfox 

Wileyfox is an online only handset brand that offers consumers a democratic, freedom-rich mobile experience that is intuitive and highly customisable, highly spec'd and competitively priced. The company is agile, spirited, competitive and independent.

Wileyfox is a disruptive company that leverages the best in Chinese hardware manufacturing with the best of Silicon Valley software with a fully established infrastructure: supply chain, customer service and add on services. Wileyfox is a privately held company with its HQ in London, UK and operations internationally.

For more information, visit http://www.wileyfox.com.

Wileyfox® is a registered trade mark in the UK and EU.

About Cyanogen Inc. 

Cyanogen is reimagining mobile computing, giving power to the people to customize their mobile device and content experiences. The CYANOGEN® operating system is built on Android and known for its revolutionary personalisation features, intuitive interface, speed, improved battery life, and enhanced security. With a rapidly growing global user base and a vibrant community of developers, we're intelligently connecting smartphone consumers to people, apps, and things they love. For more information, visit Cyanogen's website, Google+, Twitter, and Facebook.

About Qualcomm Incorporated 

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is a world leader in 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technologies. Qualcomm Incorporated includes Qualcomm's licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of its patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of Qualcomm's engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of its products and services businesses, including its semiconductor business, QCT. For more than 25 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of digital communications, linking people everywhere more closely to information, entertainment and each other. For more information, visit Qualcomm's website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.

Notes to Editors 

The Snapdragon 615 processor, in the Storm device, sets the standard for high-tier mobile device design with the industry's first commercial 64-bit capable processor with Octa-core CPU architecture, and integrated 4G LTE, for virtually seamless communications and outstanding battery life.

The Snapdragon 410 processor, found in the Swift device, delivers a quad-core, 64-bit performance and 4G LTE integration as well, and offers a powerful combination of features, performance and battery efficiency.

Google and Android are trademarks of Google, Inc. 

SOURCE Wileyfox