The California startup Monohm has unveiled Runcible, described as the anti smartphone by its designers. It is designed to have minimalist communication functions to allow the user to stay connected without being bombarded with constant notification.
An “anti-smartphone” presented at the Mobile World Congress (MWC). This deliberately provocative device has been designed by the young North American company Monohm based in Berkeley, California. This rather curious looking object looks more like a UFO. Circular in shape, it fits in the palm of the hand. It has a touch screen on the front while it has curved rear wood hull with a photo sensor in the center. This design illustrates the intention of developers to offer a product that soothes and is pleasant to hold. The philosophy is to break the Runcible from the frenzy of smartphones and connected devices that constantly seek user with a continuous stream of notifications.
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This is shown in the press release of “focus user attention on real people and the real world”. To this end, the device will therefore only propose the basic functions: phone calls, assisted navigation and access to Internet (compatible with 4G, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi ). No social networks or instant messaging that we spend our time looking at all times … The interface itself is simplified to the maximum to broadcast only the essential information. No need to see the icon glare and other unnecessary indicators.
To guarantee this simplicity, the Runcible will not use Android or iOS applications but rather web applications. It is based on the open source mobile Firefox OS. So it is worth having this device ahead of time.