Blloc – minimalist smartphone • Hacker News Board

Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#21

Post by mrybczyn » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 6:08 PM UTC

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...

Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#22

Post by nine_k » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 6:08 PM UTC

I don't see anything minimalist in the specs.

What I do see is the UI which looks good (at least on pictures), and, above all, looks consistent.

There would be definitely a market for such an UI. (It's more lucrative if sold with dedicated hardware, of course.)

Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#23

Post by weego » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 6:09 PM UTC

adhambadr wrote: post #3

frenchie4111 wrote: post #2

I am interested, but I will never pre-order another product. Has anyone seen any details about ship-date / progress?

fair-point. we will also (try to) never do kickstarter. We're shipping in August.

Good luck with the launch! I'll be keeping an eye out for the reviews.

Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#24

Post by failedartifact » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 6:10 PM UTC

RubenSandwich wrote: post #15

Seems interesting. 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.

Yes I too think the font is too small.

Also the specscontainer does not contain all of the 'outline' image of the phone.

Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#25

Post by I_complete_me » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 6:11 PM UTC

How do you say the name? It might be problematic especially if there are more than one involved.

Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#26

Post by shmageggy » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 6:12 PM UTC

RubenSandwich wrote: post #15

Seems interesting. 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.

Yes, and if you zoom in the page, the images become enormous

Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#27

Post by anarchimedes » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 6:12 PM UTC

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?

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.

Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#28

Post by monkeynotes » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 6:15 PM UTC

anthk_ wrote: post #9

Meh. Just give me some portable device like the PocketCHIP or the ZipitZ2, not this hipster bullshit.

PocketCHIP looks to me to be the definition of hipster, haha!

Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#29

Post by mrec » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 6:16 PM UTC

RubenSandwich wrote: post #15

Seems interesting. 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.

I found the same, and my eyesight's still mostly OK. The use of grey text on a grey background doesn't exactly help, and that kind of "design over usability" choice is a bit of a red flag for the product itself.

Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#30

Post by michaelmior » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 6:17 PM UTC

onli wrote: post #19

michaelmior wrote: post #7

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.

For an unconventional phone (=limited target group, risky) + the insurance + the work going into the app integration the price does not seem to be high at all, to me.

It's true that in this case the insurance is a nice benefit. But as a consumer, I don't really care about the fact that the venture is risky. I'm getting a phone with fewer features, but not really paying less.