The promotional video for CircuitMess’s new MAKERphone 2.0 kit notes that today, smartphone users depend on their mobile telephones while simultaneously feeling alienated from them. According to CircuitMess, that’s because we don’t understand how smartphones work, given that most of us can’t repair them or even see their components. So, how would our relationship with them change if we built them ourselves?
Assuming all of CircuitMess’s claims are correct, its new MAKERphone 2.0 will be a DIY kit allowing users to assemble a fully functional 4G telephone for voice calls, texting, and applications for alarms, calendars, music, images, note-taking, and ringtones, all starting at $129. It's currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign.
MAKERphone 2.0 features a 1.77-inch, 160 x 128-pixel color screen, which is still big enough for simple gameplay (the unit includes “5+ retro games” – does that mean six games? And which games?). Its 2=ABC, 3=DEF mechanical numeric keypad will offer retro-glee texting for many (and terrible annoyance for others). Because the unit can’t run social media applications, it’s ideal for people who need to be able to contact loved ones and workmates without the soul-sucking and productivity-destroying distraction of the Zuckerverse.
You won’t need special tools or a soldering gun to assemble MAKERphone 2.0. Unlike MAKERphone 1.0, which required seven hours of soldering, MAKERPHONE 2.0 requires no soldering at all. It’s a two-hour assembly snap-together kit allowing users to customize the unit with optional components (such as cameras, speakers, flashlights, TV infrared remote control, and sensors for motion, temperature, and humidity) for new functions.
Beyond the Lego-style snap-together construction mode, MAKERphone invites comparison with Lego Mindstorms robots, because the device comes with its own VibeBoy Claude LLM coding “studio.” VibeBoy allows users to describe a desired function so the LLM can generate code to fulfil it, code that subscribers can view, edit, and improve. If users want an LLM for learning programming, CircuitMess offers the subscription-based VibeBoy Pro (the first three months are free). But for those preferring an LLM-free life, user can program the unit with MicroPython and Arduino C++.
In addition to an ESP3-33 processor, MAKERphone features dual-core, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4 MB of flash memory and 4 MB of PSRAM, with a standard headphone jack, a 1000-mAh battery, a USB-C port for charging and computer connection, a microSD card slot, and a UMAX port for connecting modules.
A particularly enticing feature of the new device is the Pro Module Pack. It offers smartphone-to-smartphone texting without requiring a SIM, Wi-Fi, or cellular towers; a banana-clip 12-touch tab for lo-fi improvised musical instruments (for instance, a drum kit using spoons); an e-paper/zero-electricity screen; and a laser pointer. The Pro Module Pack also includes standard items such as a GPS unit, gyroscope, and a vibration motor.
Kickstarter pledges start at US$129 (planned retail: $169) for a package that includes the phone kit and three months of VibeBoy Pro. A $189 pledge (retail $258) additionally includes a MAKERband, MAKERphone 2.0’s companion DIY smartwatch that CircuitMess promises will allow users to extend MAKERphone’s usefulness.
Source: Kickstarter
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