Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Eric Migicovsky, the founder of Pebble, wants to build a small Android phone that can compete with the iPhone Mini.
- The initiative is a crowdfunded project like the Pebble Watch.
- The team wants the phone to be “a nice soft slab, very high quality, very nicely put together, very solid to the touch.”
Remember the little smartwatch known as the Pebble? It looks like the Pebble may be making a comeback. Not as a smartwatch, but as a small Android phone. New details have come out about the device and where it is in the development process.
Last year, Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky announced that he wanted to create a small Android phone that could compete with the iPhone Mini. android authority reported on the wishlist Migicovsky posted on his website a description of what his compact dream phone would contain. In a recent interview with The edgeMigicovsky shared some insight into the project.
According to the interview, the announcement has evolved into a community-based project with a team – not yet a company – working on the design and production of the handset. That team consists of a group of professionals with different backgrounds that vary across the industry. It looks like the crew is currently trying to find a display, choose a chip and choose a body design.
Right now, Alex De Stasio – former GoPro industrial designer – says he’s trying to figure out the camera bump. “A lot of my sketches focus on the camera bump,” De Stascio said The edge. “This has a huge impact on the visual icon of the phone, so I wanted to spend a little extra time on it to make sure it’s very uniquely recognizable and very iconic.”
With regard to the cameras, the group is trying to aim for a phone that can “take good pictures,” according to Pebble founder Benjamin Bryant. As a result, they don’t use 100MP shooters, instead opting for reliable 50MP lenses. For the second half of the image comparison, Bryant says they have “some clues” to camera software that they can compete with, but eventually develop their own software.
For the chip, it seems they want something capable, but not necessarily top-tier. According to Bryant, the team is considering last year’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 or a yet-to-be-released mid-tier chip.
Finally, it seems that the group for the display is still trying to pin the right screen. Bryant claims it was hard to find a screen under six inches. One manufacturer discontinued its sub-6-inch screens, and another was too similar to the iPhone Mini’s 5.4-inch screen.
In addition to this new information, the team also revealed some other details about the device. The body can have a metal frame covered with glass composite, aluminum with a ceramic coating, forged carbon, bioresin or ceramic composites. For the cost, it could get an $850 price tag due to production size and other factors. However, Bryant says the price will depend on manufacturer negotiations and how many people sign up for a phone. While the phone only has a code name – Marvin – the team has a few ideas, including Pico, Pip, Atlas, Howdy, and Pebble.
If you want to support the project, the team is still accepting applications website. All you have to do is fill out a short survey and hit submit.