[Semi-OT News] Commodore announces a dumb-smartphone

As anyone could have guessed, the new "Commodore" owners have announced 
a pointless ill-fitting garbage device using the brand name, just as 
many previous owners stupidly tried / planned to do.  :-(


    Going retro: Commodore strips the smartphone back to essentials
    ---------------------------------------------------------------
    The dumbphone revival has been gathering momentum in recent years,
    and the newly revived Commodore brand wants in. The computing
    icon, best known for the machines that defined a generation of
    1980s bedroom keyboard warriors, has unveiled the Callback 8020,
    a retro flip phone built around a simple idea: keep the parts of
    a smartphone you actually need, and strip out the ones designed
    to keep you hooked.

    It's a space we've explored plenty before, from the minimalist
    Light Phone III to Fairphone's clever dumbphone switch, and
    Commodore is approaching it from a fresh angle. Rather than going
    fully bare-bones, the Callback positions itself as the middle
    ground between a smartphone that's too smart and a dumbphone
    that's too dumb.

    The company calls it the "not dumb dumbphone," and the pitch
    leans heavily on nostalgia, with Y2K styling, a flip-to-close
    design, and the kind of friendly, character-rich hardware that
    phones largely abandoned years ago.
    <https://commodore.net/callback/>

    Under its retro shell, the Callback runs Sailfish OS, a
    privacy-focused Linux platform developed with Finland-based
    Jolla. That choice lets the phone run around 99% of Android apps
    while still being an independent and completely de-Googled
    device - so essentials like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, maps,
    rideshare, and music streaming all work, while social media apps
    and web browsers are blocked at the system level. Commodore says
    there's no data harvesting, and no sign-in is required to get
    going.

    The hardware is mid-range but purposeful: a MediaTek Helio
    G81 chip, 4 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of storage, paired with a
    3.25-inch touchscreen that stays disabled by default to
    encourage keypad-first, T9-style texting. Audio is where
    Commodore's heritage really shines, with audiophile-grade DAC
    chips from ESS and Cirrus Logic, lossless playback, FM radio,
    bundled IEM earphones, and SID chip ringtones lifted straight
    from the Commodore 64. Rounding things out are a 48-MP camera,
    a removable battery, and a privacy kill-switch that takes you
    off-grid with a double tap.

    Pricing starts at US$499.99 for the standard editions, rising to
    around $640 for premium finishes like the gold-accented Founders
    Edition, which throws in a 24k gold-plated Commodore key and a
    presentation box. That undercuts rivals like the $699 Light
    Phone III while offering considerably more functionality,
    including those swappable batteries and back covers. Pre-orders
    open on June 30, with free worldwide shipping for a limited time
    and devices expected to ship toward the end of the year.

    It arrives as regulators tighten the screws on youth social
    media access, with Australia's under-16 restrictions already in
    place and similar UK rules expected in 2027. This means the
    Callback isn't just a good phone for minimalist adults, but
    also a great potential device for under 16s who need a somewhat
    modern phone and also need to stay away from social media.

    Commodore is betting that a phone built around deliberate
    friction, rather than willpower alone, is what the digital
    minimalism crowd has been waiting for. And although it won't be
    for everyone, anyone with an interest in digital minimalism
    should be happy to see more product offerings in this category.


    <https://newatlas.com/consumer-tech/commodore-callback-8020-flip-phone/>