Emblaze Mobile pulls the plug on the First ELSE prematurely

We can hardly say we are completely shocked by this news but it’s a pity nonetheless. Today Emblaze Mobile announced that they are stopping the First ELSE project due to delays in deliveries and the project going too slow in general.

After the exciting announcement we saw last November and an encouraging hands-on experience at the MWC 2010 we had some hope that the Access Linux running device might just make it to the shelves. Alas, Emblaze is having some financial difficulties right now and saw seizing the funding of the First ELSE project as the quickest way out.

The company says that this decision will drastically reduce its operational and development costs and will positively contribute to its route to profitability. No argument there, but the geeks in us would have loved it if the First ELSE actually made it.

Let’s hope that at least the company will seek to recoup some of its investment by selling parts of the user interface to some of the established manufacturers so we can have a taste of it elsewhere.

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