As our phones get smarter, they become a constant source of annoyance for us just like their smart human counterparts. They continually barrage us with notifications; the apps need updates; the video games need to be played and nearly always end up having a low battery at a crucial time. We can’t turn them off as it is our primary communication source. That is where the bizarre Light Phone comes in. It is a simple GSM device with lots of battery timing, and the only thing you can do with it is take calls. But how does it work? Through the smartphone of course!
It has five hundred pre-paid minutes that can be used to attend call forwarding from the parent smartphone. It can also store ten numbers on speed dial at all times. The device is currently looking for crowd funding at Kickstarter. All of these incredible numbers of functions are handled through a companion app installed in your primary smartphone.
The anti-smart phone’s design is the most positive thing about it. The design is extremely simple and the display is whitish making it appear something like a long-lost instrument from the Hoth planet in Empire Strikes Back. The screen is a simple dot matrix LED one with even a touch module over the keyboard. The overall size of the anti-smart phone is more or less equal to a credit card. It weighs 39 grams, and the total thickness is 4 mm. A micro-USB port is used for charging purposes. Such is the small power requirement that the phone can run for a good twenty days.
Despite the lengths to which the company has gone to, we can’t scratch our heads enough to wonder why anybody would want this 100$ gadget. Many of us have older phones that can be used for similar purposes like those obscure Nokia and Motorolla ones. They can be our anti-smartphones for the weekend or even the whole week. Why not an app that takes over the entire system and reduces it into a call receiving drone? Well, the Light Phone might not be the ideal situation for an anti-smart phone. Plus, it also needs a real smartphone to begin with too!
The Kickstarter project is aiming for a 100,000 $ investment from backers around the world. Once the initial figures are met, the company hopes to ship the gadgets out by May 2016.