Ultra lightweight mobile os

We are in the start pit projecting a new cellphone (small scale / art-project). A collector’s item if you like. An old-school, super easy phone. So the mobile processor will be from the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear series. The phone will have support for 4G/LTE, 3G, and Bluetooth. Other hardware will be a speaker, microphone, antenna, e-ink and touchscreen.

The functions of the phone is:

  • Receiving phone calls
  • Making phone calls…
  • SMS
  • Alarm / Clock
  • Maybe contacts, address book
  • Smart ink / e-ink touch screen
  • 1 button.

no apps, no fancy ringtones. No camera, no wifi, no facebook. My programming skills are limited, so i would like some advice if /e/ will run on a qualcomm wear processor?

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I like your thoughts, but without wifi you won’t get a lot people which will use it. Wifi is essential, every smartwatch does have wifi. SO better use wifi for your project.

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Interesting idea. On the Os part you could check if there are lineage versions of ROM for other similar processors. /e/ should also be portable but you will have to get someone with the skills required for that activity.

understand, its not a watch. We will use the wear mainboard to power a super easy phone, a dumbphone. Like you change clothes for different occations, you chose phone for the right moment. Leave your smartphone at home, and bring this dumbphone with you. Witch forces you to be more sosially present. A digital-detox if you like. Im not saying you should replace your smartphone.

Its all about marketing, and creating the idea why people should own more than 1 phone.

Yes, it’s great idea, but anyway, wifi is allways needed :wink:

I am 100% sure that there will be NO internet connection on this phone. You will have the opportunity to call, and receive calls. No apps, no games, no ringtones to choose from. Its literally a brick you can talk with others through. And, our goal is to have 2-3 batteryweeks standby…

Of course, any other processor systems is interesting. Need support for 4G/LTE 3G and bluetooth. A cheap and power friendly processor. i will have a look at lineage versions. Might be easier to strip down to my needs…

I would have been a potential customer. I just bought a Nokia 8110 to simplify and limit my smartphone use. I did choose that particular model because of: 4G (maps are handy) and Wifi. Wifi is so that I can use my feature phone as a hotspot for my smartphone (no sim) when travelling. I’m not tempted to use the phone for other things, because the screen is basic and no touch screen. Having said that, the idea of having this kind of half-way house feature phone with a slimmed down version of /e/ as its OS would be great, as one of the other motivations to stop using my smartphone is to get away from the Big Brother scenario we are in. A feature phone like you are suggesting, with bluetooth, 4G and Wifi and /e/ would really fill a niche. KaiOS is fine, but Google has been investing in it.

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How do we find you if we want one?

The hotspot feature is really important to me. I am really interested in the concept of minimalist phones to be re-connected to the real life but I will not buy a phone without this feature because I sometimes need Internet to work when I am not at home and it is really easier and faster to have my own connection.

thanks come_744, you might be onto something with hotspot feature. I agree with your arguments. My initial plan and idea were to get more productive during office hours, or “smart” hours. Leave my smartphone at work, and with some hocus-pocus (NFC or Bluetooth) understand that I and my dumbphone has left the building. And then transfers any calls to this unit (some might need app-assistant filtering what numbers to transfer to get maximum freedom). Any calls or texts filtered will be waiting for you the next day on your smartphone.

Hotspot is absolutly a great idea. Im using hotspot in my car for several hours in my car every day.

Its just, there is to much information to process, to much news and buzz. Its impossible to get all anyways. Im open for buzz 10 hours a day, the rest of the day - i want a dumbphone so im forced to breathe, taste the food, talk with my family, without even having the option to check “whats new since i checked the phone 5 minutes ago”…

But still, hotspot might be an option, but no internet or browser at the phone :wink: Idea is If you need to be available 24/7, that’s ok use smartphone and save your dumbphone for that special digital-detox weekend…

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If we ever get past a working prototype with ultra lightweight /e/ as OS, you will find us :smiley:

This is the Light Phone, isn’t it?