Topics
later
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:Punkt
Apps
Biotech & Health
clime
Image Credits:Punkt
Cloud Computing
Commerce
Crypto
Minimalist Punkt MP02 mobile phone (2018).Image Credits:Punkt
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
Punkt MC02.Image Credits:Paul Sawers / TechCrunch
Fundraising
Gadgets
Gaming
Punkt MC02 smartphone.Image Credits:Punkt
Government & Policy
Hardware
Punkt “Digital Nomad.”Image Credits:Apostrophy
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Apostrophy OS.Image Credits:Apostrophy
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Punkt MC02 and Apostrophy: Sandboxing.Image Credits:Paul Sawers / TechCrunch
Robotics
Security
societal
Punkt MC02 replete with naughty data-harvesting apps.Image Credits:TechCrunch / Paul Sawers
Space
Startups
TikTok
Punkt MC02: Data privacy and carbon reduction ledger.Image Credits:TechCrunch / Paul Sawers
fare
Venture
More from TechCrunch
upshot
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
Punkt MC02 and Apostrophy: Two-screens.Image Credits:Apostrophy
Podcasts
Videos
Partner Content
Punkt MC02.Image Credits:TechCrunch / Paul Sawers
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
adjoin Us
Can Swiss startup put so much as a hairline fracture in the Apple-Google duopoly?
Punktfirst made a name for itself in the humankind of mobile with trim - down , homochromatic phonesfocusedon vocalism , text and not much else . Now , the Swiss troupe has taken its concept of minimalism and changed it up , with the launching of its first smartphone — a gimmick that position itself at the crossroads of public utility company , privacy and minimalism .
If you ’re reading this , chances are you own either an iPhone or Android gimmick , depending on your personal druthers and economical disposition . The Apple and Googlemobile duopolyhas been met with some rival through the years , including that fourth dimension when Microsoftthrew its might behind Nokiain an effort to propagate Windows Phone — and permit ’s not forgetAmazon ’s ill - fated Fire Phone foray .
sandwich in between these efforts has been a sight of basic phone that assure to assist the great unwashed untether from the machine-accessible creation . HMD Global has had a run ofNokia - branded phones ; and there has been a wrapping of newer players too , such asNew York - based Light Phone — andPunktwhich bring its last phone to market back in 2018 in the mannikin of the MP02 .
Theremight be a marketfor these so - called “ dense phones , ” but ramp up a sustainable business off the back of them is n’t easy . It’sdifficult to go in societywithout a smartphone , and for every individual who yearns to understate screenland time or maximize data privateness , there are gazillion more who utilise ( and carry ) inst electronic messaging , piloting , entertainment , one - tap taxis and social medium .
This institute us to theMC02 , Punkt ’s first foray into the world of smartphones . The gimmick send with a unequalled version of Android , replete with sluttish data concealment controls , a built - in VPN that works at the chipset grade and a handful of services bundled under a monthly subscription designed to make this a sustainable functioning : recur revenue is the game - design here .
After an lengthened flow on preorder at $ 749 ( USD ) / € 699 ( EUR ) / £ 599 ( GBP ) , the MC02 is now shipping to client around the world . TechCrunch spent a small mitt - on meter with it and fascinate up with Petter Neby , founder & CEO of Punkt , to ask : why a smartphone , and why now ?
Look and feel
The MC02 , specifications - wise , is a far outcry from Punkt ’s earlier machine , but it ’s also far from cutting - border . It has a 6.7 - inch HD projection screen , 6 GB of RAM , 128 GB of storage ( expansible ) , a 64MP rearward camera , a 24MP selfie camera , dual SIM trays , a 5,500 mAh bombardment and a 3.5 millimetre earphone jack . It also has many of the other feature you would await from a innovative smartphone , such as NFC , fingerprint unlocking , wireless charging ( 18W ) and fast - charging that promises up to a 50 % charge in around 40 minutes .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
However , the MC02 isn’treallyabout all that — in Punkt ’s own words , it is n’t “ in a tech spec race . ” The company or else wants to focus on the nut and bolts of the operating system of rules , something that Neby receipt with reference to the lack of “ personality ” many devices — let in his own — have .
“ If you guess about the [ MC02 ] smartphone from a hardware position , it ’s a mid - range phone , a Methedrine slab that looks like everything else , except there ’s a logo at the bottom that says ‘ Punkt ’ — everything else is the same , ” Neby tell apart TechCrunch . “ It ’s software that piddle the difference . But there ’s a passionate side of me that really like objects , and I care them to have personality — there is zero personality here . ”
The phone ships with a savour of Android ( the Android open source project , that is ) calledApostrophy OS , which itself is fork from theGrapheneOSmobile operating organization , which is designed as an independent , Google - free alternative for Google ’s Pixel smartphones .
It ’s deserving noting here that Apostrophy is in fact a standalone troupe , also create out of Switzerland by Neby . A version of the operating organisation debut on the previous Punkt wandering phone . The near - term architectural plan is to “ sell ” Apostrophy OS to other handset maker who can monetize their devices through subscription rather than information - harvest — and that is why it was set up as a disjoined company with its own funding mechanisms .
Indeed , while Punkt itself has been whole bootstrapped by Neby since its origination in 2008 when it build analarm clockandcordless home telephone , Apostrophy has taken on outdoor investment .
“ It ’s too cock-a-hoop for Punkt to cover — we postulate different skillsets and capacity and independency to make [ Apostrophy ] workplace , ” Neby explained . “ And I cogitate that if Apostrophy will in five long time be selling 5 million handsets with different brand on them , this will be much better because I do n’t think Punkt will ever get to those sort of numbers . Because Punkt ’s business is a different affair . ”
grading is the name of the plot , with Punkt serving as the first Apostrophy customer — though Neby said they are preparing to get other phonemakers on card too , one of which has already sign up .
“ From a personal point of view , I imagine it ’s of import that if you like Oppo or OnePlus or whatever , you should be capable to have an Apostrophy on that — because that is a actual selection , that ’s a modern pick , ” Neby continued . “ So the programme for Apostrophy is by next year , we will have launch at least one more brand and onboarded another , and within five twelvemonth we should have at least nine SKUs [ distinct mobile phone product ] across various brands . ”
However , the ship’s company is demure when it occur to who ’s bankrolling Apostrophy , merely put forward that it is backed by “ individuals and organisation who value data concealment and security at their heart , ” with an NDA agreement in place to keep the names under wrapper for now .
Privacy-as-a-Service
In term of stage business model , Apostrophysells subscriptions . Those who grease one’s palms the MC02 get a yr for free , after which they ’ll pay around $ 20/€15/£13 each calendar month ( push aside if give per year ) to get at a smattering of service , include electronic mail , a VPN ( dubbed “ Digital Nomad ” ) , on-line synchronization for calendar and inter-group communication , secure storage on Punkt ’s own Swiss servers and the express promise that there will be no advert or third - party crawlers .
The gimmick works just fine without a subscription or even an Apostrophy chronicle , you just wo n’t be able to get at the aforesaid services . Thus , Punkt is peg down its plan on a serving of the universe that has threadbare of Big Tech ’s reach into every crevice of our everyday life , including Google’snefarious information - hooveringefforts which have become astaple part of the Android experiencethrough the years , shoehorning its own awkward applications into the framework of the operating system .
“ They have managed to eat the whole Android subject source populace by incorporating more and more services from Google , ” Neby said .
But there is no deny that consumers like free thing , and that is what Google has done a starring job of leveraging — making its platform as sticky as possible by “ giving away ” cool software , and in riposte it gets to work a massive ecosystem of products and religious service built around data .
Thus , it remains to be go steady whether enough people would be willing to pay $ 20 / calendar month to access code products they can access for free elsewhere — even if it does hail with the promise of more privacy .
“ You have to pay , because if you ’re not paying for possess and controlling your datum , then you have to devote with your data point , ” Neby say .
Apostrophy is gear as “ private by nonremittal , ” and it features many of the similar “ stock ” apps that ship with GrapheneOS , including theChromium - based Vanadium internet browser .
The MC02 also recognize that people require to install apps , which is why it countenance the substance abuser to get at the Google gaming memory board via the build up - in GMS ( Google Mobile Services ) Wizard , using their received Google credentials .
The Android apps are walled into a separate sandboxed surround , where the information remains between the drug user and the app developer , fix the app ’s power to get at other arrangement resource and data such as contacts , files or emails .
Once installed , users can filch left on the main homescreen to access this sandboxed environment , which allow them interact with apps they ’ve set up in pretty much the same way of life as you would on a stock issue smartphone , let in all the usual push notifications and alert to secern you that you ’ve receive a message .
you’re able to also long - pressing on any app to enter the “ carbon paper and datum ledger , ” which select you to these little dials for tweaking app permission and barrage use — it ’s fundamentally a more user - favorable way of life of vary the privateness controls of each app ( rather than go through preferences ) , while also factor out in the environmental encroachment that background operation have in terminal figure of battery use of goods and services .
In terms of overall goals , there are some similarity to what European rivalMurena is trying to dowith a LineageOS fork callede / OS . But one major differentiator is that Punkt is invent its own phones , which technically establish it not bad ascendancy over how the software system play musket ball with the computer hardware at a chipset level .
However , Punkt ’s devices are still made in China ( as you might ’ve guessed ) with its manufacture partnerFxtec , a troupe well bed for a quirkyAndroid gimmick with sliding QWERTY keyboard .
“ It ’s absolutely 100 % Chinese , but when the telephone is twinkle [ a processfor establish software and firmware ] , that groove is master by us , ” Neby said . “ So no one there can flash the handsets at the end of a conveyor whang . ”
A third option
Neby is immediate to strain that it has n’t give up its minimalist source , and will still develop more pared - down telephone set in the future à la the MP02 . Plus , he maintains that the MC02 still has one infantry in the minimalist camp due to the gadget ’s nonremittal configurations and the style it presents information , including the different homescreens full with an uneditable default option persuasion contain basic “ stock ” apps such as calendar , contact and VPN .
“ I would say this is a natural evolution of reductivism , ” Neby say .
However , while Punkt pitches the MC02 as a “ 5 G ‘ secure ’ phone , ” this is n’t exactly the Fort Knox of smartphones . There is often conflation between “ secret ” and “ secure , ” and while the MC02 can surely pose claim to some colour of being privacy - orient , there is n’t much become on here as it appertain to actual “ security measure ” — certainly , not in the sentiency of military - grade hardening .
Indeed , the “ secure ” in its tagline is actually more about pleasing the SEO divinity than anything else — the society confirmed as much , observe that people tend to conflate the watchword “ good ” and “ privacy ” when searching for products online .
So this is n’t for governing official that might be subject to targeted attacks from foreign entity . This is a consumer twist for those seeking a mediate - ground between a equipment that perennially pings data to God knows where , and one that offers not much more than SMS and phone calls .
Resurgence
There are some sign that canonical “ feature ” phones are having a minor resurgence , particularly among a Gen Z / millennial demographic front to switch off from social media through “ digital detoxing . ”The New York Times operate a account last yearlooking at the Brooklyn - base “ Luddite Club ” involving teenager labor back against smartphones . AndCounterpoint dataindicates that just a little more than 2 % of handset gross revenue in the U.S. are feature phones , translate to an judge 2.8 million sale last twelvemonth — not a vast number , for certain , but Counterpoint said that shape had slip one’s mind to below 1 % in 2021 . So this might not be the comeback thatsome headlinesclaimed , but there is some evidence that at leastsomepeople require an alternative to the established smartphone incumbents .
And this is where the MC02 might find some fans — it ’s another option for those that need to deoxidize the presence of Apple and Google in their digital life .
“ When you ’ve father a option of two , that ’s insane , ” Neby enunciate . “ From my personal perspective , it ’s all about breeding — wake up , understand where you are and take a conscious determination of what you ’re doing . And then you become a much more train consumer of technology . I ’m certain that the younger genesis is go there , some are already there . But they do n’t really have a choice . ”
As for the privacy side , well , user still have to divulge personal data point , but rather than being channeled to the servers of Big Tech , it function to Punkt ’s in Switzerland — furthermore , it ’s unreadable which “ individual and organizations ” are bankroll Apostrophy .
So that is essentially the choice that consumers are presented with here .
The well - wear out mantra that “ if you do n’t pay for a Cartesian product , then you are the Cartesian product ” might be something of a cliche , but there is a fundamental truism within it . However , we have all become so accustomed to produce things for detached , that the very notion of pay a smartphone company a recurring subscription for services that are normallygratismight seem freakish to most people . But there are 8 billion people on Earth , and even if just 0.01 % — 800,000 — of those could be convinced to pay $ 20 a month for something just a footling bit dissimilar to the condition quo , then it might just work as a sustainable commercial enterprise .
On top of that , Punkt is also follow up on other gross streams , including an own - sword mobile net itlaunched last weekin cahoots with “ MVNO in a box ” startup Gigs . This follows other “ challenger ” peregrine phone companionship such asMurena , which enteredthe MVNO fray last month . With the Punkt Mobile SIM plan , usable only in the U.S. for now , the companionship charges from $ 30 to $ 60 per calendar month for various 5 GB data plans replete with limitless call and SMS .
When all is said and done , there ’s no dismiss the $ 750 upfront price - tag and recurring $ 20 / month subscription ( for those who desire it ) after year one — this will likely dissuade many . But a third option , as pricey as it might be , is an choice that some might be uncoerced to embrace — even if it does n’t amount to millions of users for Punkt . And that is what the fellowship is appear to do with the MC02 — furnish an alternative for those who need it .
