Pebble founder is back with a tiny smartphone

A recent article suggested that Apple may have been correct to discontinue the iPhone mini line with the iPhone 13 mini. But the absence of Apple doesn't spell the end of tiny phones; Pebble smartwatch team alums are working on an Android smartphone. The Tiny Android Phone is a community initiative (not really a corporation yet), but it has a lot of talent on board, including Eric Migicovsky, the founder of Pebble, and other Pebble alumni. Additionally, it looks like this idea is well on its way to becoming a reality, according to an interview with The Verge(opens in new tab). Alex De Stasio, who formerly worked as an industrial designer at Pebble, Go Pro, and other companies, claims that the team has many ideas, including various potential camera designs, with the aim of making it seem "quite uniquely recognizable and extremely iconic." The graphic below shows how some of these potential camera designs might seem. Regardless of the final design chosen, the hardware would probably feature a 50MP sensor, according to Benjamin Bryant, a former employee of Pebble. That would probably be combined with camera software that the team develops independently, with the aim of creating "something that's going to result in photographs that look beautiful," according to Bryant. De Stasio asserts that they are striving for "a wonderful soft slab, that's really high quality, very nicely put together, very solid feeling, and that just has very soft details that feel really nice on your fingers" when it comes to the rest of the phone's body. There are reportedly several materials being considered for it, but the team will place more emphasis on attention to detail than on uncommon materials (looking at you, OnePlus). Even the name of this tiny phone hasn't been chosen yet, but among the many suggestions made are Pico, Atom, Bud, Mato, and of course Pebble. The bad news is that, according to Bryant, it will probably cost around $850 (or roughly £690 or AU$1,265). By comparison, the starting price of the iPhone 13 small is currently $599, £649, or AU$1,049, and even at debut, it was less expensive than this suggested pricing. One of the newest little Android phones, the Asus Zenfone 9, has a lower starting price with a starting MSRP of $699, £699, or AU$1,199. So, it may be difficult to sell this proposed little phone.