Dressable. Smartphone, or flexible smartphone Portal.
Dressable… smartphone, or flexible smartphone Portal
The fashion for wearables is constantly going on, and what’s more – interest in them will grow and in the next 5 years the wearables market is expected to expand tenfold. We are already familiar with virtual reality helmets, smartglasses, smartwatches, smartbands, smartclothes. Now the idea has emerged…wearable smartphones (smartwatches?).
Such an idea was initiated by the originators of a smartphone called Portal.
Flexible, unbreakable and waterproof – the perfect smartphone?
Smartphone developers have recognized the limited functionality of the small screens of smartwatches and the ease of breaking a smartphone e.g. during the fall. The result is a smartphone that is flexible, waterproof and, most importantly (and strangest of all?) – wearable. The smartphone, as intended by the developers, is designed to be worn on the forearm.
This creates quite an amazing effect, bearing in mind that the smartphone screen is as large as 6 inches, which is supposed to guarantee ease and speed of use. However, it seems that a slightly smaller screen would not hurt the functionality of the device, and would be more comfortable to wear. Portal features not only flexibility, but also water resistance and shock and drop resistance. So the portal is not frightened of accidental slips out of hands, and the encounter with the floor will not end up shattering the screen. Inside the smartphone you’ll find 2GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage and a 3200 mAh battery.
The phone is expected to run on Android, but it is not known which version.
Mysterious disappearance
Funds for the smartphone ($300,000) were to be raised through crowdfunding and the Indiegogo portal. However, shortly after the world became interested in Portal, the subpage for the project disappeared from Indiegogo. It turned out that Portal disappeared from Indiegogo because someone had already come up with the idea for this type of device, in view of which Portal violated the rights of the site. The creators of the project are currently reviewing the complaint with their lawyer, hoping to resume the project soon. The idea was that support of the project with the sum of $ 349 guaranteed receipt of a smartphone in September 2022.
A year later, a scaled-down version would be released, with a screen size of 4 inches. In the video introducing the Portal, we also see primarily smartphone and computer-generated device designs. There is a definite lack of a viable prototype of the device, which may undermine the confidence of possible investors.
If the creation of such a resilient and flexible smartphone was within reach, probably many manufacturers would already take advantage of these opportunities. Looking at the video, however, we have the impression that the implementation of this project is still a long way off.
