A new take on the smartphone is hatching next month.
Nextbit, a San Francisco-based startup run by Google and HTC veterans, plans to start shipping its first smartphone, called the Robin, on Feb. 16 to those who've preordered it. On that same day, it plans to unveil its e-commerce store. Preorder sales are ending next Friday.
The company is hoping the Android phone's clever design and heavy focus on cloud storage will help it gain attention in a crowded smartphone field dominated by tech titans including Apple and Samsung."Nothing really stands out anymore," Scott Croyle, Nextbit's chief designer, said on CNET's Consumer Electronics Show stage in Las Vegas on Friday. "Everything feels like a derivative of either the [HTC One] M7 or the iPhone."
For that reason, Croyle said, many people are "hungry" for a fresh look in smartphones and the Robin's spare, square-sided design may fit the bill. Croyle knows a little about smartphone design, having been a key designer behind the look of the HTC One M7. Still, to avoid making another phone that blends in, he said he didn't use design cues from the M7 to create the Robin.
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