How do you like the idea of a round smartphone? Open source so anyone is welcome to 3D print and distribute a 3D model of the case.
It’ll eventually be flexible for the most comfy holding, though for now we are going hard case.
(Many advantages to circular design, one which is keeping your apps visible while you attend other notifications or info. Design is for better ease of use than Apple and with the openness of Firefox.)
https://twitter.com/marketply/status/403990647876509696
“Here’s an .stl of a hemisphere with some holes” != open source. Where are the board designs so people can replicate your product?
and to actually answer your question:
I think it’s a bad idea. That screen is going to be pricey because it’s so unusual, and the phone doesn’t look ergonomic at all.
Also, the “spaceSmart” catch phrase is a bit of a misnomer. You could pack everything in those borders into the borders of a rectangular screen just as easily. What you can’t do, is display as large of a rectangle on that circular screen.
as sson as the galaxy curved phone in korea either comes down in price right now at USD$1000 or is easier to get in the U.S. ill buy it, i think the practicality of rounded or curved screens will really change how we interact with our devices
@Nick_Parker and @Garrett_Barker thanks for your opinions.
Nick, I hadn’t had time to go into details, that concept is for a computer that would be open source. Merely figured people may want to make cases now. Just please keep it open.
The eventual phone doesn’t have to be round, just showing off the shape. Although the goal is for oQuip to easily have any shape. Or any function: phone, tablet, laptop, whatever, all with the same OS.
And this isn’t our product. Will crowdfund and give away the money to other people chosen by the community to develop the designs. We invent, then you create and profit.
The roundness won’t be pricey, as most of the device parts will be made by maker communities. Custom will be the point of it, not the exception.
Forget existing computers, this is something new. Wiregraphy. https://twitter.com/wiregraphy
Uhm. Maker communities cannot make LCD screens. Just physically impossible. The LCD itself also happens to be the only thing that is expensive to produce in a non-standard shape.
Even round screens that have circular pixel arrays (rather than just a rectangle screen where you don’t see the corners), like the Nest Thermostat, have a rectangular glass substrate for those pixels to lay on.
You might be able to get people producing octagonal screens, if you try real hard.
As @Jasper_Janssen mentioned, the industry uses rectangular LCDs and capacitive touch screens. As somebody that has worked in the development of consumer devices, if you don’t try to use something already used by large cell phone manufacturer, your prices go up by orders of magnitude. Current technology for both devices work off of a grid, changing the shape would change much more than just the glass. I applaud you for pushing the boundaries of convention, but just be aware that custom always means that you do not share the cost of development. Good luck on your project
@Eric_Moy hm, I suspect that you could make a circular touchscreen in much the same way as you do a circular LCD (simply omit the pixels in the corners), but it’s going to cost a lot.
And you can’t get those costs down by doing it in your back yard.
That, @Jasper_Janssen my friend, sounds like a challenge! Even though LCDs likely won’t be impossible to reproduce by people in everyday settings, we’ll err on the side of facing down the impossible. You’re also welcome to participate. It’s a quite fun hobby and healthy for one’s outlook!
Just remember: forget existing computers. We might not even go with LCDs, as our goal eventually is a flexible hardware.
We’ll also start over from scratch with the computer as though it doesn’t exist, except using modern computers to simulate possibilities such as coding that’s so natural to everyday people that it’s based on gestures and drawing as much as on words. Modern coding will appear foreign in comparison, so forget coding with legacy keyboard symbols and syntax. It’s entirely a new world.
A handheld mockup reinforces the vision and I’m confident an ergonomic fit will arise cumulatively from ingenuity and trial and error.