COMET: World's First Floating Smartphone

[Kalidor]

https://igg.me/at/cometcore/x/10280792

It's almost as good as the pomegranatephone.com, and only for $329.
I'm just wondering how they can produce it with only $240K. 

[wraper]

My phone with 3000 mA/h battery is 7.8 mm thick, 70 x 138mm size and has the same Snapdragon 810 CPU. Weight is 130g, volume 75.35 cm³, volumetric mass density 1.73g/cm³, water has 1g/cm³. As all I need is that total volumetric mass density is less than water has, I can add a styrofoam or hollow space in it (it must let in no water inside as it will increase density otherwise). So, as a weight remains the same (consider styrofoam has no significant weight), I need to increase the volume/thickness 1.73 times, so 7.8x1.73 = 13.5 mm, add say 1.5 mm to be safe, an here you go, 15 mm for this particular hardware. If the phone used more plastic and less metal, it could be a bit lighter, so I guess something like 12-13 mm is quiet possible. But yeah, price is too low to be possible, unless they take off the shelf phone and just add a styrofoam case to it. If the off the shelf phone used is the same price as my xiaomi mi4c ($250 for 32 GB when I bought in december,  $217 now), then it is theoretically possible.

[wraper]

The funny thing is that prices they now offer as preorder are lower than those of early bird ones 

[janekm]

Baffling. Who are all these people who need a floating phone rather than just using a floating case? Pool attendants?

[Kalidor]

Baffling. Who are all these people who need a floating phone rather than just using a floating case? Pool attendants?

People that need to make a call submerged (COMET video at 0:40)

[bitwelder]

Baffling. Who are all these people who need a floating phone rather than just using a floating case? Pool attendants?

People that need to make a call submerged (COMET video at 0:40)

Must be a bit inconvenient to use a buoyant phone in a under-water call 

[edy]

Is it just me, or are these just over-the-top bull$#!t marketing videos:

https://youtu.be/xm3q5FgO5zI

As far as the phone goes, this will no doubt be custom ordered batch from an existing Chinese Android maker with these additional specs included. There are actually quite a few phones out there for <$200 already. Adding the waterproofing and buoyancy shouldn't be a major challenge, as there are already waterproof phones. The phone can be made slightly thicker and the insides filled with styrofoam which will add enough "float" to reduce it below water density. The fact that it floats also means if the phone is dropped in water, it should never reach below 1m depth anyways, it will just bounce back up to the top. So the waterproofing only has to be to 1m depth at most anyways.

The campaign certainly seems completely within the realm of what is possible. The secure messaging and other stuff is all software. They could slap something together or customize a 3rd-party app they license and brand with their own name. The price is not that bad either. I can see people using this in the shower, pool, etc.

Let's only hope they actually mean to make this thing and put it together and deliver something to backers, and not another ill-fated IGG scampaign. All the pieces seem to be totally do-able but only if the people behind it are actually sincere and work hard to pull it off.

I'm thinking $250,000 may not be enough dough for a Chinese manufacturer to spin something too different from what they already have... Unless in the deal COMET has promised that they will sell more phones. Let's say everyone who bought got it at the cheapest rate of $250. Well, that's only 1000 units MAXIMUM. They claim over 2700+ backers. How is that even possible? That's more than double the number of phones, unless there are more people contributing $1 to the campaign than actually buying the phone. I didn't tally up the contributions but this is still a SMALL order of phones, don't you think? Whoever is making them must be hoping to run off way more on production and sell it themselves, or have a guaranty from COMET that they will order a certain minimum that must be much higher than what they have obtained now in the campaign.

[bitwelder]

Oh by the way, I see almost no mention about the software side of it.
Yes it's Android, what what kind of, and especially what kind of support do they offer?

Is it just me, or 'comet' is not exactly an inspiring name for a device that you'd hope lives beyond the duration of a IGG campaign?

[stj]

if you need IP67 you can just get a RUNBO.

[charlespax]

It's like this video was made in the uncanny valley. Listening to the robot voice say "whatnot" creeps me out.

[Frank_22]

I like it! The phones often die because of water... But why can't the manufacturers like Apple produce such water-proof models?

[Koen]

Three months ago :

We are committed to delivering the product 60 days from now and will open up refund policy on the 61st day from today. Essentially, if we delay any further upon 60 days you can opt for refunds.

12 days ago :

All the final specs will be released as soon as we get the green light from the manufacturer on our final design. We are in the process of re-evaluating the market and certain hardware specs with hopes of exceeding the expectations we originally put forth.

[suicidaleggroll]

I like it! The phones often die because of water... But why can't the manufacturers like Apple produce such water-proof models?

They can, but the demand isn't there.  For every person who wants a water proof phone, there are a million who don't care, and raising the price for everybody to satisfy a small few would be a bad business decision.  They've already made the 6s water resistant, and if you need the phone to be truly waterproof you can just buy a case for it.

[edy]

Someone will come out with a phone that is completely sealed with no jacks or ports or buttons that will have ZERO repair-ability.

Inductive charging, touch screen for all inputs. No headphone jack, no power button, sealed membrane speaker/mic. May only need a secondary sealed SIM compartment which will be itself isolated/sealed from main phone. Probably already exists. If someone wants such a thing they would buy it, or get a waterproof floating case. I agree with previous post, not worth doing on every phone.

[Kilrah]

Their "latest design" with pretty much no side bezel... yeah right, even the top dogs can't do that.
Then as to buoyancy... no way it will work in that form factor either, it simply can't satisfy the required volume/weight ratio unless it's a light plasticky gimmick with a tiny battery. Would need to look like an awfully ugly and cheap feeling brick.

[Kalidor]

Someone will come out with a phone that is completely sealed with no jacks or ports or buttons that will have ZERO repair-ability.

Inductive charging, touch screen for all inputs. No headphone jack, no power button, sealed membrane speaker/mic. May only need a secondary sealed SIM compartment which will be itself isolated/sealed from main phone. Probably already exists. If someone wants such a thing they would buy it, or get a waterproof floating case. I agree with previous post, not worth doing on every phone.

Don't see why, there are good water resistand phones like the Samsung S5 & S7
https://youtu.be/jMqla13ubaA


Remember they want to make a floating phone not a water resistant phone.

[edy]

So for a floating phone they just need to make sure to keep water out and adding foam to ensure overall density is < water. Buy a stock OEM android, use a waterproofing coating and have your OEM change the back of the case with something thicker containing foam/air. If it floats well enough then most of the phone will stay above water long enough for it to be grabbed before too much exposure.

It has a niche use but I would get a floating case to put my phone in when I'm at the pool or boating. How many times in the past 10 years have I dropped my phone on the ground? Probably 50 times? Splashed it? Maybe 10? Had it fall in water and completely submerge? Never. So unless I am always around water, it's not worth the bulk... having a special case would be better for those rare occasions.

The project seems to be funded so let's see what gets delivered. I'm still waiting to see what happens with the Light Phone which is overdue and appeared to be an easier task... hugely over funded and overpriced and even the guys have delivered nothing, and they are on Kickstarter which is supposed to be better than IndieGogo. I'm not getting my hopes up for either campaign.