Updated on 12-1-2015 by Julian Chokkattu: Added a statement from Nurve Technologies founder Drew Mabens on why information on battery capacity was left out from the Indiegogo campaign.
Well, the team at Nurve Technologies is trying to do just that.
The company has launched an Indigogo campaign for the SyncPhone, a device that runs Windows 10 and aims to bridge the gap between the smartphone and the PC. That’s right, it’s running Windows 10, not Windows 10 Mobile, which means it can run any application you use on your laptop or desktop, and has access to all the apps in the Windows Store.
The campaign lists the team behind the SyncPhone as Zack Teale, Abdou Bouam, and Nathan Smith, led by entrepreneur Drew Maben, founder of MELOReal Multimedia Entertainment Studios.
The 5.4-inch SyncPhone will have a 64-bit desktop architecture, thanks to an Intel Atom chip, and will feature a textured aluminum uni-body. The company is touting three variants of the SyncPhone, along with three different colors — solar gold, sterling silver and midnight black. The SyncPhone, S, and Pro variants come with 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB of RAM; 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB of storage; a 8, 12, or 20 megapixel camera; and an Intel Atom x5-Z8300, x5-Z8500, or x7-Z8700 CPU, respectively.
But those are all specifications — as always, it’s hard to tell how well this phone will function. The campaign claims that the SyncPhone will offer perfomance comparable to the Microsoft Surface 3 tablet, which is impressive if true.
The device will also have a MicroSD slot, Dual-LTE-GSM, WiFi capabilities, and will come unlocked, so you can use it with any carrier. It also comes with a kickstand, a detachable keyboard (you’ll have to buy that separately), and the SyncPhone S and Pro will come with a stylus that can be stored in the device.
As for the battery, Mabens told Digital Trends the company is still testing various configurations.
“While the Atom CPU does provide decent energy efficiency, Windows 10 Core itself can drain power in many systems fairly quickly depending on what the user is doing. The SyncPhone uses technology akin to what you would find in some of the latest PC sticks, so at this point we are still uncommitted in terms of the battery technology, but battery chemistry will be addressed during the course of a series of video updates I plan to give the campaign,” Mabens told us.
That might be an issue for some would-be backers.
But if everything else about the SyncPhone hasn’t piqued your interest yet, maybe this will. The team plans to have the phone run three different operating systems.
“Because SyncPhone has PC specs, it’s capable of running most of the modern OSes, both on their own and in dual-boot fashion,” Maben says on the Indiegogo campaign page. “So, if we reach one million dollars, we’ll add a dual-boot reward, complete with Android and Windows 10. If we reach two million, we’ll do the same with Ubuntu Mobile. If we reach three million, we’ll love you guys forever.”
At face value, the device is similar to what the Ubuntu Edge promised, but that campaign failed as the company couldn’t reach its goal of raising $38 million. The SyncPhone’s campaign just started, and as of publication time, it has raised $2,596 of its $750,000 goal.
In the next month, Windows 10 Mobile will launch, bringing Continuum with it as well. Continuum lets Windows Phone users use their phone like a PC, attempting to bring more productivity to smartphones, but Windows 10 mobile will only be able to launch Store apps. The large library of legacy x86 programs won’t work. The SyncPhone doesn’t have that problem because it runs the full edition of Windows 10.
The retail price of the basic SyncPhone will be $280, the S will be $390, and the Pro will set you back $700. As usual, the campaign offers various early adopter prices if you decide to back the product.
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