So, I'll give some unsolicited recommendations for your website, regarding accessibility:<p>- The contrast between the body text and background is to low; it makes it difficult for people with visual impairments to use the website.<p>- Font size and font weight, the font is too thin and adding this to the low color contrast, it makes it even more difficult to read.<p>- Images that don't add meaning (textually) to the page, e.g., the logos you use on the "Agile and precise" section. It's a good idea to add `aria-hidden="true"` so they don't "distract" screen readers.<p>- Also, several images don't have their alt tag, which describes the image to screen readers.<p>- I can't navigate your website with my keyword.<p>I don't want to sound like a jerk, but your company builds assistive technology--yes, a phone is an assistive device--so it makes sense that you take care of your primary point of sales, your website, and make it <i>accessible</i> to everybody.
Any other details about the OS? Is it an Android? How are the applications managed and what's their update pipeline? Are they whitelisted and managed by the manufacturer's own App Store? What's the privacy policy like? How often will it issue updates?<p>I really like the display. I've been waiting for a phone with minimalistic display to save battery ever since the Motofone F3.<p>But there's way too little information there to convince me to pre-order.
Who designed this site? Readability is very poor. 8px font size for the 'pre-order' button, really?<p>And the contrast ratio is pretty low too.<p>Please, don't hire designers who just care about the graphic design aspect and making it look beautiful, but a pain to use, i.e. totally neglect usability.<p>Erik Spiekermann said it best (enable english captions): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw0syzCeH4Q" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw0syzCeH4Q</a>
Seems interesting.<p>But can you bump up the font size?
Being partially sighted means that with the current fontSize of 10px the site is unreadable to me.
It would be pretty funny if the phone's camera only took black-and-white pictures, to match its web page.<p>There's your minimalist right there.<p>(Also, what is that, a font for ants?)
50K for the marketing campaign to probably 200K in pre-orders for a product that will never ship. Not a bad 4X return on investment for the founding team.
Trying to do hardware and software simultaneously from the start is going to kill this project. Pick one and get it right; let the lessons from that inform the next phase.<p>It looks like you're building a pretty generic device with an interesting software stack, so I'd start by making the software shine, and leveraging e.g. LineageOS to get an install base. Once you have feedback from a good swath real users you can look at making a bespoke device based on real-world needs.
Looks fake.<p>Do you have any working versions of the phone?<p>A video of the phone being used?<p>All pictures look like renders, not real devices.<p>Not sure who would pre-order something with such little information.
Basic Android phone with fancy skin, what am I missing? I suppose their custom launcher app might be neat, but I'm not sure I'd buy complete phone just for that..
I don't see anything minimalist in the specs.<p>What I do see is the UI which looks good (at least on pictures), and, above all, looks <i>consistent</i>.<p>There would be definitely a market for such an UI. (It's more lucrative if sold with dedicated hardware, of course.)
Good idea. Actually this year in the same thougts direction i refused to buy iPhone X. I use iPhone SE with minimal setup of Reeder, Protonmail, Viber, Mullvad Vpn. Made shortkey to homne button for reducing white point and aded black and white color filter. I am definetely your customer base but this is what i want: 1. High res ink display. 2 Open source OS, no ties with Google. 2. Web based apps (like Palm OS). 3. Security by default, hardware encryption etc. 4. Default mail client. 5. Third party GPS / Maps/. 6 Original visual language. If someone made this, i will spend 500+ eur instantly.:)
Does anybody know of any projects similar to this one (and Light Phone 2 [1]) but for desktop OS in laptop format? Apple's products of late does not interest me and I'm stuck with my beloved 2013 MacBook Air until it dies or something better comes along. I have yet to find something better.<p>I long for a laptop purposely designed for productivity, simplicity and minimalism. Ideally with a custom designed OS (could just be a linux distro checked for compatibility etc.) to go along with it.<p>Is anybody working on something in this vein?<p>[1]: <a href="http://www.lightphone2.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.lightphone2.com</a>
"The root" is an exact copy of BlackBerry 10's Hub and sounds great. The problem with all these new phones is they can't secure enough funding or developer attention to ever take off. Not to mention hostility from third party app providers like Facebook. This is android based which is great, but how the heck is The Root supposed to work? I don't think it's possible with closed APIs and walled gardens. You chat with your facebook friends how and when facebook wants you to.
who is the manufacturer? what country is it manufactured in?
basic information that no one provides, and you have to go to the store to look at the back of the box to see...
I am totally looking for a phone like this which serves the minimalism purpose.<p>All I need is Calling, SMS, Whatsapp, Browsing (HN), News Occasionally, Email, Calendar, Navigation (maybe Uber)<p>Apart from the Black and White UI and amazing looking device, why is this any different than installing Copperhead[0] on Pixel XL and sideloading chosen apps?<p><a href="https://copperhead.co/android/" rel="nofollow">https://copperhead.co/android/</a>
>Instead of multiple distractions we aim for focus. Instead of fragmented conversations, we strive for continuity and fluidity. Booking your flight, checking the weather or ordering an Uber, it all happens in one place, the Root.<p>I don't see how this will work but reading my messages whilst being informed about my Uber, flights, and/or weather seems quite fragmented and unfocused.
Will you be able to remove or add different widgets (FB/Uber/Maps) on the phone or are you locked with what is pre-loaded?<p>This is getting very close to what I want in a phone - a pared down smartphone that has the basic utilities for when I am away from a desktop/laptop without the social + internet distractions.
Would love to get more information on this Blloc OS in terms of updates, both security and regular. Also, a video of this thing in action wouldn't be bad either.<p>It's definitely an interesting concept, but for me at least I need a lot more information from the get-go to go ahead and pre-order.
<a href="https://www.quora.com/Is-it-legal-for-vendors-to-sell-an-Android-device-without-any-Google-services-pre-installed-so-that-they-can-use-similar-services-from-other-companies" rel="nofollow">https://www.quora.com/Is-it-legal-for-vendors-to-sell-an-And...</a><p>>The AOSP doesn't come with Google Services. You can build a device and sell it, but it will not have the incredibly important set of Google Apps people love, not even Google Play (so people cannot go and download Google Maps and Gmail afterwards).<p>Hmmm, and yet this comes with Google Maps... Suspicious...<p>Edit: A post below indicates that it is Android 8.1. I'm no lawyer, but it sounds like a trademark violation to sell Android but call it something else.
I'm unclear from the website what exactly the pitch is. I really like the idea of a grayscale medium intelligence phone which helps counter the addictive nature of smartphones and is focused around the essentials: maps, camera, calendar, email, slack...<p>For some time my wife and I have both been wanting a dumber minimal smartphone, to help break our addiction to our phones without depriving us of their usefulness. This might be a good fit, but it's hard to tell from the website.
Devices like this intrigue me but the price always seems way too high. I wonder if anyone will actually come up with a minimalist phone that has a minimalist price to match.
I like the idea! Aaaand I'd love to try it on my Pixel, because I know and love its hardware.<p>Is there a functionality reason that restricts the OS to the Blloc hardware, or might we see OS builds for certain hardware targets available for purchase eventually?
Looks like designer vaporware to me.<p>All focus on the typography and making stuff “look cool”, without any concern for how the page actually functions or how the device would actually function.<p>All UI, no UX.
Impressive. Per the site, this is a phone that adopts a monochromatic interface to increase power efficiency, yet there is no mention of battery life anywhere.
Just a warning on the name. Phonetically, it could sound very close to bullock, or bullocks (if multiple of them).<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollocks" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollocks</a>