Vodafone
360 H1

The Vodafone 360 H1 was a Samsung-manufactured phone made exclusively for the network operator. It was the first device based on the LiMo Foundation’s Release 2 (R2) Linux-based operating system. The phone’s launch coincided with the unveiling of the Vodafone 360 service, and the 360 H1 was Vodafone's flagship device for this new service offering. The 360 service encompassed music, applications, social networking and mapping and the full range of Vodafone 360 services were initially only available on the Vodafone 360 H1. The Vodafone 360 H1 was not only important to Vodafone, as it was also a landmark device for the LiMo Foundation. Although it was not the first LiMo-based handset, it was the first phone based on the R2 specification which provided a greater level of architectural consistency between devices using the platform. The 360 H1 was intended to act as a flagship device for Vodafone’s new 360 service. Vodafone’s decision to adopt LiMo for the 360 H1 reflected its view that the LiMo platform was different from rivals as it was free from the service and content interests of a single party such as Google. The result was a device built from the ground up for the delivery of Vodafone services, in contrast to the high-level customisation required on other smartphone platforms such as Android. Although the 360 H1 had an impressive vivid colour display and some innovative features overall the experience was pretty bad. There were issues with the software which meant the touchscreen performance was unreliable and sometimes the phone became completely unresponsive. Users also found the user interface and the Vodafone 360 service confusing. Ultimately Vodafone’s strategy was shortlived. In July 2010 it stopped developing dedicated 360 handsets which used the Linux-based LiMo OS and by the end of 2011, it had closed down its 360 service.