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Blloc – minimalist smartphone

blloc.com

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Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#121

Post by ummonk »

adhambadr wrote: post #8
decebalus1 wrote: post #6

Any other details about the OS? Is it an Android? How are the applications managed and what's their update pipeline? Are they whitelisted and managed by the manufacturer's own App Store? What's the privacy policy like? How often will it issue updates? I really like the display. I've been waiting for a phone with minimalistic display to save battery ever since the Motofone F3. But there's way too little information th…

we def. screwed up communication as we've been focused lately on finishing hardware. its based on Android 8.1 and the apps are downloaded via play-store normally. We don't white or black list, but rather are going through the most used apps and building easier integrations for them

How long will you support the phone with software updates?

Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#122

Post by adhambadr »

hestefisk wrote: post #110

Nice design. I also like the idea of built in insurance (but only 12 months, seriously?). Fact that it runs Android kills the case for me, though.

thanks. We're still negotiating extension price (for an extra 12) but will be < 20€. Whats the no-go in Android for you ? you'd go for a phone that can't install most apps out there ?

Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#125

Post by adhambadr »

existencebox wrote: post #113
adhambadr wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess you're right we have complete perception of minimal. I wrote somewhere else our aim was to be exactly between Flagship smartphones and complete detox options like litephone or an old refurbished nokia, I think you're more looking for those options.

You're probably right re: how we're looking at minimalism, and if that range was your aim, your price point seems much more fair. The mental dissonance came for me simply from my perception of the word "minimal;" I have a wonderful moment of "Oh man someone's finally making the phone I wish I could buy" whenever I see a thread with this or similar verbiage, then the sad realization that I'm apparently too far to the…

thanks a lot and sure I def. got your point and I think our target is different than you (you should checkout the other products like lite & punkt). The tag - minimalist was written by the OP and not us, we barely use (and stopping more often) the term minimalism esp. that closely to our brand / product. our html title is "back to the root" and our slogan is "people first" (printed on the packaging & on the back of the phone) as it better describes our mission.

Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#126

Post by amiga-workbench »

swyx wrote: post #54
pobo wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. I don't get if the grey scale is only for the web design or the phone is all black and white. Is gray the color color i can pick for the phone? What if I want a red phone? Is it gonna be a darker black phone?

no lie i would pay good money for an eink monochrome phone with an insane battery life

Its an engineering and repairability nightmare, but I've often thought to myself how pretty a phone would be in a seamless soap bar form factor, with an eink display, bone conduction audio, no buttons or ports and just inductive charging.

When powered off it would just be a completely featureless slab. You could even write the devices logo onto the display before powering it off to do branding without redundancy.

Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#129

Post by etatoby »

thinkxl wrote: post #52

So, I'll give some unsolicited recommendations for your website, regarding accessibility: - The contrast between the body text and background is to low; it makes it difficult for people with visual impairments to use the website. - Font size and font weight, the font is too thin and adding this to the low color contrast, it makes it even more difficult to read. - Images that don't add meaning (textually) to the page,…

What website? I only saw a white page. (I have Javascript disabled)

Re: Blloc – minimalist smartphone

#130

Post by briandear »

adhambadr wrote: post #36
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.

honestly its the lowest thats technically possible to sell. Good components just cost that much. After vat our margin is around 35 (pre-retail) which is lower than most vendors, meaning if we sell to retail we wont make a cent. it just costs that much to get tested, working components with decent manufacturing. If you find good specs cheaper trust me they used B-grade components that will break down sooner or later.

If your margin is 35, you are going to go out of business unless you can find a way to create additional revenue streams. Your customer lifetime value is likely going to be less than 100, if that. If you sell a million customers (which I think is a very difficult number to reach with this semi-niche phone,) you are going to still be struggling over the long term. A 10% margin is not enough. One misstep wipes out your margin. Also with each phone you sell, there will be additional support and warranty expenses that likely haven’t been added to your unit cost.

If wish you good luck of course, but just be aware that building the phone — that’s the easy part: sales, support and the software — that’s a lot of “stuff” that costs significant money — an expense that continues past the shipping of the actual device.

There are two ways to win in the phone business- market share/volume or profit per unit. You are also competing against established manufacturers with essentially a barely-deferentiated product and, given your margins, customer acquisition is going to be very, very tough.

If it were me, I’d work on a completely new OS — I’d build an entirely new thing rather than just something marginally different — and ostensibly, marginally better. A generic phone with a different flavor of Android — do you really want to go up against the Samsung’s and Huawei’s?

No disrespect intended — I hope you succeed!

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