That's what I was talking about!

By Aditya Kumar Saroj

Yep! This is what I was talking about! I hope you have read My Prophecy: Apple Watch will be unsuccessful. If you have not read it now. Portal can be the amazing beginning of smart, flexible, wearable technology. I have copied the content below from Indiegogo. Please contribute to this wonderful project. 

Portal by Arubixs - Flexible Wearable Smartphone

If you’re like us, you've become frustrated with the profit engine known as the smartphone market. A category once synonymous with innovation and technological advancement has been replaced with minor yearly “upgrades,” uninspired design, and a lack of uniqueness.  Manufacturers these days are dumping money into manufacturing technology to make the phones cheaper and at higher volumes; not into developing revolutionary technology. 

We were tired of being told what the epitome of technology and innovation were by the products offered to us on the shelf, so we sought to test those limits for ourselves and ask, “What do we want in a smartphone, and can we do it?”

The answer to that question was something so unique, versatile, and beautiful, we’ve made it our mission to bring it to life.

WHAT IS PORTAL? 

The Portal is a smartphone designed for tech enthusiasts, active individuals, and on-the-go professionals who are frustrated with bulky, cluttered, non-durable phones that constantly get in the way of their dynamic lifestyles. Our goal was to create a device that combines advanced smartphone technology with the convenience and mobility of smart watches and fitness trackers- a handheld phone when you need it, a wearable device when you want it. No longer will you need to carry and connect a smartwatch, fitness tracker and smartphone all at once.  Portal offers you the best of those devices at the times you choose.

HARDWARE 

Portal can be comfortably worn on either forearm and features no ports or cord connectivity, freeing your hands and pockets to keep your life active, connected, and hassle-free.

Portal is scratch & shatter proof, water resistant, and flexible, making it an ideal companion for the most demanding activities.

• Unlocked and usable with most major carriers*

• Soft Impact restive Kevlar infused body

• Durability and flexibly allowing a stress free use

• Button-less design which also makes it water resistant

• Wearability allowing to use your phone on the go at work, exercising, or even if you just have a busy lifestyle 

SOFTWARE 

People on the move want a phone that works with them, not against them- Portal harnesses an revolutionary new customizable user interface that redefines intuitiveness, accessibility and convenience. Most importantly it's stunning beautiful to look at and live with everyday.

• Android Based OS with Portal OS Customizable User Interface

• Ambidextrous (right or left handed) User Interface

• Gesture and motion based native function commands (volume, unlock, home, back, etc.)

• Futuristic new notification and ringtone library 

SPECIFICATIONS 

*Update: The 4" display will not be available until 2015. 

**Specifications are subject to change to ensure the best available components. We will update all backers on any notable changes.

Portal 600 Sport (white)

(black)

Portal 600 Executive (Organic Tan and Stainless Steel bands included)

WHO ARE WE? 

We tech enthusiasts, inventors, and serial entrepreneurs, are passionate about finding solutions rather than waiting for so called established corporations to take care of the issues we customers face.

In the smartphone industry space, innovation is getting limited to making them thinner and lighter with little thought put into making them durable. When we look  at other smart devices such as smart-watches and fitness trackers, we notice that they struggle with limited functionality and stickiness. 

We as a team decided to take this problem head on and have created a device that combines advanced smartphone technology with the convenience and mobility of smart watches and fitness trackers- a handheld phone when you need it, a wearable device when you want it. We named it as “Portal”.

Portal is a new unique Android based smartphone that is flexible, water resistant, shatterproof, and wearable. We are lucky to have award winning team members. Adam Eastman, our lead mechanical engineer is UC Berkeley inventor and entrepreneur. Jonathan Quintin is award winning graphic designer who has led design projects for companies such as Bosch, Google, Intel and Mitsubishi Motors. Dan Daogaru, CTO and award winning HW engineer, is himself a successful serial entrepreneur and has been in the wireless space since the analog phone days. 

We have roped in a passionate team of engineers, marketing enthusiasts, and finance gurus who have a singular passion to see Portal become the most successful launch in 2015.

WHERE ARE WE? 

Started with concepts, sketches, CAD, 3D prints, etc.  Built a team, PCB design, built a few prototypes, mechanical tooling, software development, set up supplier logistics, etc.

Contributions will help in final steps to deliver: 

• Production & Assembly tooling 

• Approvals & Certifications

The campaign is to raise initial funding for approvals, certifications, completion of OS development, and support in taking Portal to market. 

RISKS AND CHALLENGES?

Building a smartphone or a tech company isn't rocket science. However, somethings which are out of our hands that play the most risk to our timeline are:

• Testing & Government Certifications

• IP Licensing Negotiations

• Fulfillment Logistics involved in distribution

FULFILLMENT TIMELINE? 

We believe 12 months is incredibly fast for a start-up at our stage. For example Motorola's design to delivery time takes twelve to eighteenth months. We can and will beat that. The campaign is to raise initial funding, which would help us in approvals, certifications, development of OS, and support in taking Portal to market. 

Nov. Final designs are completed

Dec. Volume scale tooling completed

Jan. Components inventory established

Feb. Manufacturing and distribution logistics finalized

Mar. All licensing finalized 

Apr. Final debugging and software iterations completed

May. Government certification and testing submitted

Jun. Government certification approvals completed

Jul. High volume manufacture begins

Aug. Packaging materials and design completed

Sep. Ship to backers

Please keep in mind each month we will email exclusive video up dates with behind the scenes footage to all of our backers. 

MADE IN USA

• Designed & Assembled in USA.

FAQs 

• What happens if the campaign does not reach its goal?

We’re extremely thankful for all our backers thus far, and will turn to individual investors to complete the funding we need to build each of your Portal phones.  We’re incredibly inspired by the fantastic feedback Portal has received thus far, and guarantee you we will not let anything stop us from bringing Portal to life.  We have been in discussions and negotiations with VC firms for a while now.  We hope that with crowd funding, we (the founding team) can keep the majority of ownership in the company and avoid the VC route. 

• Do I have to wear it?

Well, no.  Its still a smart phone- it just bends so you can.  The cradles are included but they are optional.  You can throw it in your back pocket just like every other phone- except your phone won't be a pain in the rear (literally) and you don't have to worry about breaking it.  

• Where are the hard specs, what's the processor, why aren't there pics of the chips, what's the display resolution, etc?

Unfortunately the mobile space is very competitive and every supplier wraps us up in more legal documents than you can imagine.  This is why some of our details are so vague.  Some of them are vague simply for competitive advantage.  You don't see the "big guys" publishing specs prior to launch either.  The "big guys" just print money so they don't need to expose any details prior to launch so we have somewhat of a disadvantage with that. 

Every component manufacturer has a product road map.  The road map shows what they are coming out with 6 months from now, a year from now, sometimes even 2 years from now.  So, we selected a processor that isn't commercially out yet,  but has engineering samples available, and will be ready before we need it to be.  The same thing applies to the display and several other components that make up Portal. 

So here's the deal- the simple answer is all of our vendors put us under non-disclosure agreements (NDA).  This is standard practice in most industries but when you get into mobile; whoa you should see how many lawyers get involved with IP licensing, NDA's, etc.  

Since Portal is still being baked, in order to tell you the processor we have selected, what this or that is, etc.; we would have to tell you what our vendors product road maps look like which is their confidential information.  The chip maker isn't going to like a picture of their prototype chip that hasn't been released yet publicly, up on IndieGoGo.  We thought about it but the lawyers got mad at us.  So our hands are tied and we have to be somewhat evasive.

Portal isn't just something we just came up with a few weeks ago.  We've actually been working on Portal for a while now.  

In fact, here's an article from late 2013: 

http://upstart.bizjournals.com/news/technology/2013/12/13/sf-hackers-phone-coming-in-2015.html?page=all

Here is what we can tell you today:

1. At production release Portal will have the latest and greatest technology commercially available. 

2. The processor and all of the chips are well known by name and vendor.  We aren't inventing chips, and we aren't crazy. The majority of the components that make up Portal will be in other smart phones you don't know about yet from the "big guys".  There aren't very many mobile chipset manufactures- lets leave it at that. 

3. Yes, we do have prototypes and we have been working on this quite a while.

4.  All of our backers will receive detailed information and updates as soon as we can release the data without having lawyers on our doorstep the next day.

5. We intend to make this phone a revolutionary device and throw the book at it for innovation and functionality.  Our motivation is the failures we see as consumers with other manufacturers products.

6.  The specs aren't 100% yet baked in.  Some things will change but for the better.  We intend to max Portal out where it makes sense. At production launch, Portal's specifications will be competitive with other devices being released in the same time frame. 

• What OS is on Portal?

Portal runs the latest stable build of stock Android with a custom user interface to support Portal's additional features.  At production, Portal will ship with the latest stable Android build.  

• Does Portal support Android Apps and Google Play Store?

Yes, it's still an Android smart phone and will support most apps from the Google Play Store.  We just had to create a custom user interface to support features like landscape mode.  We think you'll love the user interface- Jonathan put a ton of time into creating it. 

• What type of testing are you doing with Portal?

We are testing Portal against MIL-810G standards.  Once we determine the failure points we will then make additional adjustments in the design to correct the issue.  We are also going to do highly-accelerated life testing (HALT) on the final pre-production prototype.  This will show where the failure points are and where we can make improvements if we need to.  Our goal is to make Portal rugged enough that you really can jump out of a plane and send a Tweet at the same time.  Although that may not be a good idea and we are completely advising against it; if you do please use the hashtag  #disruptoverload  so we can retweet!

• How bendable is Portal?

Well, you won't be rolling it up like a dollar bill.  There are still rigid components within Portal that are strategically placed to allow Portal to flex the way it does.  Portal consists of both flex and rigid PCB material.  This is very common and not a new thing.  Its simply semi-rigid PCB technology that's been around for a long time in many products. 

The largest factor in "bendable" is really rigid component placement on the circuit board.   Every single resistor, diode, LED, etc. had to be placed with an orientation that will allow maximum flexing without breaking a solder joint.  Where the larger parts are on the PCB, like processor and memory- that's rigid.  Even with the rigid PCB the amount of flex and bend-ability that Portal provides is astounding.  

• How do you make a phone water proof?

We have some tricks up our sleeve.  These days, there are all kinds of compounds out there developed to protect circuit boards from exposure to the elements.  There is cold potting which turns the circuit board into a hockey puck, there is conformal coating which is like putting clear nail polish on top of the circuit board.  There are hundreds of different chemicals, materials, and processes that have been used in other industries to achieve the exact same result.  We'll just say we did some tinkering and made a few discoveries- the rest is top secret for now. 

• Does the Portal have Wifi?

Yes, it does support WiFi - 802.11 b/g/n/ac to be exact.

• What's with the battery?

None of us are chemists so we partnered with a major well known battery manufacturer to assist us in developing a custom battery for Portal.  Its not an off the shelf battery and we are still testing battery life, charge cycles, and so on.  

• Will the Portal work internationally?

Internationally, it will run on any carrier that supports the wireless over-the-air interface protocols listed in the specifications.  Portal is a quad-band GSM based device with HSPA, LTE, and TD-LTE.  The ability for Portal to operate on a specific carrier is based on the carriers frequencies.  

• Does the phone come with warranty if it malfunctions?

The standard warranty of 1 year will apply to all devices sold by Arubixs regardless of if it was purchased on Indiegogo or other outlets.

• Where do we get to choose our color? Can we order multiple arm bands?

At the end of our campaign we will email each of our backers confirming their orders (including color preferences & band quantities) before shipping out the perks.

• Why four cameras?

We have created an ambidextrous phone.  Two cameras are on the sides to film outward on either side, while the other two are front facing cameras.

• How does the phone measure heart rates?

The Portal utilizes the same technology already existing in many wearable tech products.  See above regarding non-disclosure. 

• What kind of SIM card is used in Portal?

Currently we are using an embedded SIM card.  This is essentially a soldered chip on the circuit board.  This isn’t new technology- it’s used mostly in automotive and telematics applications where “rugged” matters for extended temperatures and water resistance.  An embedded SIM card is the same as every other SIM card with the only difference being that you have to call your wireless carrier to do a SIM ID swap instead of just physically swapping out a SIM card.  We did this to make sure that Portal can withstand the abuse of active users.  We intend to still investigate using a nanoSIM however it’s not likely that having a SIM door of any kind will allow Portal to still remain submersible.

• What certifications are you doing on Portal?

We have to do several wireless certifications.  This includes FCC, PTCRB, Bluetooth AG, Wi-Fi Alliance, etc.  We also have to do wireless carrier device certifications for several wireless carriers on the globe.  We have to do a lot of certifications actually, which is why we are doing this crowd funding event.

• How nerdy are you guys?

Well, if you want to talk about coplanar wave guides, the differences between ENIG and OSP PCB, or MIPS we can go there and somewhat enjoy it.  If you have a "in the weeds" question shoot us a message and we'll be happy to discuss.

Something else?

If you have any additional questions, please send us the question and we promise we'll respond to every message as quickly as we can!

SPECIAL THANKS 

Francisco Ramirez

Troy McBroom

Noah Eastman 

Charlotte Skinner 

Noah Popick

Christina Knoll

Kyle Wilson

Clay Bonavito @bayareaskydiving

Nick @milweb1

Random Cyclist on Sand Hill Rd.

All of our suppliers

Our family and friends

and anyone else we forgot to mention!

OTHER WAYS TO HELP 

 Can't contribute? No worries. We understand. Ways you can help:

• Use the share tools on this page to help spread the word about our movement.
• Ask folks to get the word out and make some noise about our campaign.
• Expect more from our competitors and voice your opinion.  It will help drive innovation in a stale industry.