Yandex to start selling own smartphone for 17,990 rbl from Thu

MOSCOW, Dec 5 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Yandex has unveiled its first smartphone, Yandex.Phone, with the company’s intelligent assistant Alice along with a suite of Yandex mobile services, which will be offered for sale from Thursday for 17,990 rubles, the Internet giant said on Wednesday in a statement.

“Yandex.Phone is built to offer Russian users a smartphone equipped with all the localized tools needed for users to navigate their daily routines. Users can interact with Alice and the most widely used Yandex applications in a new way on this phone,” Corporate Vice President for ecosystem products Fyodor Yezhov said.

“Fully integrated into the phone, Alice provides users with comprehensive access to Yandex apps. It’s not necessary to open individual apps to solve a task - just ask Alice.”

Yandex.Phone runs Android 8.1 and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 processor. It features a 5.65-inch Full HD+ screen with a 2160x1080 resolution. A fingerprint sensor lets the user unlock their phone with just a touch, while the NFC technology enables contactless payments.

The Qualcomm Aqstic audio codec ensures quality sound for gaming and streaming video and music. Yandex.Phone is also equipped with dual rear 12 MP and 5 MP cameras and a 5 MP front camera.

The device will be available on Thursday at the Yandex Store at the company’s headquarters in Moscow and from Friday through stores of mobile operator VimpelCom, working under the Beeline brand, and at M.Video and Eldorado retail electronics stores.

Users will also be able to buy the phone on Friday through Yandex’s new Beru e-commerce marketplace, with free delivery across Russia.

With the purchase of a Yandex.Phone, owners will receive a free six-month subscription to Yandex.Plus, which provides unlimited access to Yandex.Music and discounts for Yandex.Taxi and Yandex.Drive.

Yandex.Phone buyers will also receive a 300 ruble credit for Yandex.Taxi and 500 rubles for their Yandex.Money account, along with 10% cash back on purchases made with Yandex.Money for three months.

(66.4467 rubles – U.S. $1)

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