Elephone want to attract more devs, will release 5.1 source code for P8000


ELEPHONE p8000 specifications

Elephone are hoping to attract a larger audience of developers by releasing the source code for the Elephone P8000.

The Elephone P8000 is the upcoming phone to launch of the every growing Elephone range. The 5.5-inch FHD device boasts 3GB RAM, Samsung camera and a rear fingerprint scanner and runs Android 5.1 from the word go.

Elephone are already known for providing various custom ROMs for their phones, and now want to attract more developers by releasing the Android 5.1 Lollipop source code for the P8000 at launch. As far as we are aware this is the first time a Chinese phone had its source code released at launch, allowing developers around the world to build their own custom installs for the phone.

Anyone wanting to try their hand at a custom P8000 ROM needs to get in touch with Elephone for more details.

[ Cngdgt, Elephone ]
Disclaimer: We may be compensated by some of the companies whose products we talk about, but our articles and reviews are always our honest opinions. For more details, you can check out our editorial guidelines and learn about how we use affiliate links.

Previous Mlais M7 hands on and first impressions: A nice design surprise
Next Price cut makes 16GB Xiaomi Mi 4 super affordable in India

42 Comments

  1. MaxPower
    June 17, 2015

    First smart thing I’ve seen from these people.

    It has a been a while since I said that Chinese companies should release the source code and let the developers work on it.

    Obviously the phone has to be appealing otherwise nobody would work on it.

  2. Don Rogers
    June 17, 2015

    Another day another Elephone story If this phone is physically the same bendy design as P7000 I don’t care what ROM it has on it.

  3. Tawse
    June 17, 2015

    After my experiences ordering and waiting… and waiting… and waiting… and finally cancelling my P7000 phone… I have little interest in the P8000 or Elephone now.

    If I ordered a P8000 when would I get it? July? August? September? Not worth bothering with IMPO. Waste of time.

    • Sprime
      June 17, 2015

      I think the preorder “””flash””” sale ends on the 15th of July, so I wouldn’t expect to get it before August, and even that is a VERY optimistic estimate.

      • a
        June 17, 2015

        By then they will already start a P9000 flash sale

        • iKosh
          June 17, 2015

          Exactly.

    • Don Rogers
      June 17, 2015

      Snap I waited from 25/04/2015 and cancelled 4 days ago as the product (P7000) was not shipped. I am really glad that it was delayed after reading / viewing the reviews. I ordered a Jiayu S3 instead. Hopefully this will arrive shortly and I will have a good reliable non bendy phone.

  4. Joe mont
    June 17, 2015

    This is great news, a phone can only be as good as the software that runs on it.

  5. turbos
    June 17, 2015

    best decision ever. If they do this for the Vowney, and priced right it will be a win. At least if source is buildable and quality of phone worth building on ๐Ÿ™‚

    hope mediatek doesnt mind.

    • Marius Cirsta
      June 17, 2015

      Mediatek even has to contribute code for mainline these days… Google makes them do it they want to have their SOC in any of the Chromebooks so …

      Well they didn’t put in support for all of their SOCs but the MT8173 is there. And anyway as soon as some big names will use Mediatek those will have no problem whatsoever with open sourcing the kernel code….

      You think Samsung or Sony or LG care that Mediatek minds ? They just release it and that’s that… it’s only the smaller Chinese companies that were either to chicken to do it or were using Mediatek as an excuse.

  6. asdf
    June 17, 2015

    release the source code for P7000 as well

    • Lazar Prodanovic
      June 19, 2015

      It’s mostly the same so don’t worry.

  7. MaxPower
    June 17, 2015

    First smart thing I’ve seen from these people.

    It has a been a while since I said that Chinese companies should release the source code and let the developers work on it.

    Obviously the phone has to be appealing otherwise nobody would work on it.

  8. Don Rogers
    June 17, 2015

    Another day another Elephone story If this phone is physically the same bendy design as P7000 I don’t care what ROM it has on it.

    • Christopher StraรŸer
      June 17, 2015

      It isn’t, luckily

  9. Tawse
    June 17, 2015

    After my experiences ordering and waiting… and waiting… and waiting… and finally cancelling my P7000 phone… I have little interest in the P8000 or Elephone now.

    If I ordered a P8000 when would I get it? July? August? September? Not worth bothering with IMPO. Waste of time.

    • Sprime
      June 17, 2015

      I think the preorder “””flash””” sale ends on the 15th of July, so I wouldn’t expect to get it before August, and even that is a VERY optimistic estimate.

    • Guest
      June 17, 2015

      By then they will already start a P9000 flash sale

    • iKosh
      June 17, 2015

      Exactly.

    • Don Rogers
      June 17, 2015

      Snap I waited from 25/04/2015 and cancelled 4 days ago as the product (P7000) was not shipped. I am really glad that it was delayed after reading / viewing the reviews. I ordered a Jiayu S3 instead. Hopefully this will arrive shortly and I will have a good reliable non bendy phone.

  10. Joe mont
    June 17, 2015

    This is great news, a phone can only be as good as the software that runs on it.

  11. Guest
    June 17, 2015

    best decision ever. If they do this for the Vowney, and priced right it will be a win. At least if source is buildable and quality of phone worth building on ๐Ÿ™‚

    hope mediatek doesnt mind.

    • Marius Cirsta
      June 17, 2015

      Mediatek even has to contribute code for mainline these days… Google makes them do it they want to have their SOC in any of the Chromebooks so …

      Well they didn’t put in support for all of their SOCs but the MT8173 is there. And anyway as soon as some big names will use Mediatek those will have no problem whatsoever with open sourcing the kernel code….

      You think Samsung or Sony or LG care that Mediatek minds ? They just release it and that’s that… it’s only the smaller Chinese companies that were either to chicken to do it or were using Mediatek as an excuse.

  12. asdf
    June 17, 2015

    release the source code for P7000 as well

    • Lazar Prodanovic
      June 19, 2015

      It’s mostly the same so don’t worry.

  13. Libidon
    June 17, 2015

    Is P8000 based on MTK SoC? If it is MTK, this is so big step for us.

  14. Guest
    June 17, 2015

    Is P8000 based on MTK SoC? If it is MTK, this is so big step for us.

  15. Ruby
    June 18, 2015

    Telephone should just release engineering models a month before going to market and pay a bounty to the first developer who posts a working ROM that addresses the most amount of bugs. Plenty of talent out there… Just gotta pay them.

  16. David Koลกiฤ
    June 18, 2015

    I have a stupid question how do you attract developers for a phones that will maybe a few 10.000 units sold in its lifetime compared to other phones that sell in the millions?

  17. Ruby
    June 18, 2015

    Telephone should just release engineering models a month before going to market and pay a bounty to the first developer who posts a working ROM that addresses the most amount of bugs. Plenty of talent out there… Just gotta pay them.

  18. Frank Andwendy
    June 18, 2015

    ELE3304378089

    ELE5833521376

    ELE4426269018

    ELE5679183346

    ELE5013466434

  19. Sansa
    June 18, 2015

    Well, this is a move that might save Elephone. People complain about their lack of “fixing”. So let others fix it for you for free! Geek developers get their source code to play around, people get their “fixing”. Win win.

  20. frankandwendy
    June 18, 2015

    ELE3304378089

    ELE5833521376

    ELE4426269018

    ELE5679183346

    ELE5013466434

  21. Sansa
    June 18, 2015

    Well, this is a move that might save Elephone. People complain about their lack of “fixing”. So let others fix it for you for free! Geek developers get their source code to play around, people get their “fixing”. Win win.

  22. RonJeremyClarkson
    June 18, 2015

    No developer support? No sale. This is the biggest reason stopping me from buying a mediatek-powered phone. Hope things will change with the bigger manufacturers starting to use mediatek SoCs on their devices and the Chinese manufacturers start listening to the demands for better developer support.

  23. Guest
    June 18, 2015

    No developer support? No sale. This is the biggest reason stopping me from buying a mediatek-powered phone. Hope things will change with the bigger manufacturers starting to use mediatek SoCs on their devices and the Chinese manufacturers start listening to the demands for better developer support.

  24. Lazar Prodanovic
    June 19, 2015

    This certainly represent a step in a rights direction & it will certainly help P8000 to get some official costume ROM’s along with recovery suport if they are lucky enough to attract some good developers.
    Looks likelike somesome Elephone people where reading comment & user opinions. ?

  25. Lazar Prodanovic
    June 19, 2015

    This certainly represent a step in a rights direction & it will certainly help P8000 to get some official costume ROM’s along with recovery suport if they are lucky enough to attract some good developers.
    Looks likelike some Elephone people where reading comment & user opinions. ?

  26. Lazar Prodanovic
    June 19, 2015

    This certainly represent a step in a rights direction & it will certainly help P8000 to get some official costume ROM’s along with recovery suport if they are lucky enough to attract some good developers.
    Looks likelike some Elephone people where reading comment & user opinions. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  27. Ruby
    June 20, 2015

    Just when I thought that the P8000 was their newest flagship, I saw this…Vowney.

    http://www.kimovil.com/en/where-to-buy-elephone-vowney

  28. Ruby
    June 20, 2015

    Just when I thought that the P8000 was their newest flagship, I saw this…Vowney.

    http://www.kimovil.com/en/where-to-buy-elephone-vowney