Smartwatches

Wacky Portal concept aims to put a flexible smartphone on your wrist

Wacky Portal concept aims to put a flexible smartphone on your wrist
The Portal is an ambitious wearable that acts as a wearable and a smartphone
The Portal is an ambitious wearable that acts as a wearable and a smartphone
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The Portal is one of the more flexible devices we've seen
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The Portal is one of the more flexible devices we've seen
The Portal is an ambitious wearable that acts as a wearable and a smartphone
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The Portal is an ambitious wearable that acts as a wearable and a smartphone
The Portal features a custom, Android-based user interface
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The Portal features a custom, Android-based user interface
The device acts as a fitness tracker, recording heart rate, distance travelled, duration of session and more
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The device acts as a fitness tracker, recording heart rate, distance travelled, duration of session and more
Arubixs sees the device as ideal for athletes
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Arubixs sees the device as ideal for athletes
The Portal wearable fitted with a leather strap
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The Portal wearable fitted with a leather strap
The company is looking for funding for the Portal via Indiegogo
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The company is looking for funding for the Portal via Indiegogo
View gallery - 7 images

Currently the subject of a crowdfunding campaign, Portal is a flexible wrist-mounted smartphone that takes wearable technology to new extremes. Rather than taking the under-the-radar approach we’ve seen with recent smartwatch releases, the new device simply slaps a full-sized smartphone on the wrist.

Wearable technology has been a mainstay of science fiction for decades, but the product category still struggles for acceptance in the real world. You might get some strange looks if you walk down the street wearing the latest smartwatch, but those devices are practically covert compared to the Portal.

The Portal doesn’t provide a small, connected window on your wrist like, say, the Moto 360 or Apple Watch, but instead slaps a large-screened smartphone on your forearm. The flexible handset can be used as a conventional, rubbery-looking smartphone, and can also be slotted into a wrist mountable, dual-strap housing. If the look of Samsung’s Gear S smartwatch was a little too out-there for your tastes, then you’re unlikely to love the Portal.

The Portal is one of the more flexible devices we've seen
The Portal is one of the more flexible devices we've seen

This isn't the first time we've seen a full-fledged smartphone on the wrist concept. The same idea cropped up in the the Rufus Cuff and Neptune Pine. But the sheer size of the Portal makes it just about the wackiest wearable we’ve seen to date.

The founders claim that it's water resistant up to 10 meters, both flexible and shatter-proof, and sports a custom Android UI designed specifically for wearable use. The team behind the product thinks it would be ideal for athletes, with the device acting as a sports tracker – recording heart rate, distance travelled, duration of session and more.

The device acts as a fitness tracker, recording heart rate, distance travelled, duration of session and more
The device acts as a fitness tracker, recording heart rate, distance travelled, duration of session and more

The wearable smartphone is very much a work in progress, with several key components (including the chip that would power the device) still in flux. If and when we see it, the final product will be constructed from flexible kevlar-reinforced polyurethane, packing 2 GB RAM and 64 GB internal storage. The company plans to ship it in variants with 4-in and 6-in screens.

The device is the subject of an Indiegogo crowd funding campaign scheduled to end on October 24. If the over-the-top wearable hits its lofty US$300,000 target (at the time of publication, it's 8 percent of the way there with 26 days to go), then the company aims to send out the first units in September of 2015. Early-bird prices start at $350.

For more on the Portal, you can check out the video below.

Source: Indiegogo

Arubixs Portal Smartphone that's Wearable Indiegogo Video #disruptoverload

View gallery - 7 images
8 comments
8 comments
Bob Flint
The i-Gauntlet, seems apple has already experimented with the bendy iPhone 6, oh sorry that was the Mc-butt wrap...
Summer climates only, since long sleeves, jackets, coats, etc. would cover up the usefulness, but I suppose you could wear it on the outside as well and add some lasers, and jamming radar..
The Skud
Looks like the perfect way to say: "Up yours" to the smart watch more-money-than-brains snobs.
Daishi
There are probably professional applications where this form factor would actually be useful. It could be used as a mobile point of sale device for instance. Medical staff could keep use it for patient diagnostics, mechanics could use it to see OBDII data while they work on stuff etc.

BigGoofyGuy
I think that is cool. It reminds me of the device in a movie about going to Mars. I think it would make Dick Tracy jealous.
It is like actually make a smart phone wearable on the wrist as opposed to a small watch size devise used in addition to a smart phone.
VoiceofReason
I'd like to see one with a cover as I don't think something that bendable will be scratch resistant.
mikalos
Does anyone know what happened with this product/company? Their page on IndieGoGo seems to have disappeared.
the.other.will
Maybe somebody just picked up an old magazine. The Army was experimenting with something like it 4 years ago.
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-10/15/wrist-mounted-computers
Phillip Moritz
their website is up: http://www.arubixs.com/ their twitter explains what happened to the indiegogo page