Commodore is making an Android smartphone with a built-in C64 emulator

Commodore—yes, that Commodore, the same company that played a major role in popularizing household computers—is now hard at work on the Commodore PET, an Android phone sporting modernized specs and a built-in Commodore 64 emulator.

As tech site Wired reports, the PET is no dinosaur, though it was likely named after Commodore's PET 2001, which released in 1977. The phone features an aluminum frame with a customizable face, a 5.5-inch 1080p display made of Gorilla Glass 3, and a 13-megapixel camera. The innards are up to par as well: the phone sports a 1.7GHz eight-core processor, a 3000 mAH battery and will support 4G connectivity. PET will be available in a $300 edition with 16GB of storage and 2GB RAM, as well as a $365 deluxe version packing 32GB storage and 3GB RAM. All that in a device roughly 500 times smaller than a C64.

The cherry on top is of course the PET’s unique version of the Android 5.0 Lollipop OS, which incorporates custom builds of existing Android emulators for the C64 and Amiga. A medley of best-sellers from both systems will also be packed in pre-launch.

PET will launch in Italy, France, Germany and Poland in just a few days. The team behind it, including some Commodore veterans, is working to bring the retro darling to more European countries and the United States.

To see a company now some 20 years past its prime release a new product is bizarre, but for that product to be on par with modern smartphones is nothing short of astonishing. It's fairly priced for its specs, but it remains to be seen whether nostalgia for an endearing age of antiquated computers is enough to sell PET.

Source [Wired]

Via [GameSpot]