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Nextbit reveals Robin, a smartphone that's nestled in the cloud
"Nothing excited me in mobile in the past few years," Tom Moss says, leaning back in an office chair. Far as he's concerned, smartphone makers -- especially those working with Android — have spent way too much time crafting hardware and not nearly enough effort on innovating software. That's why, when the bug to build something new bit again, Moss gathered an Android dream team to build a "cloud-first" smartphone called Robin.
Former Google, HTC execs promise an 'awesome' phone September 1st
If you think that the hype cycle for Nextbit's inaugural smartphone is already getting to be a bit much, you'll be glad to hear that you won't have to deal with it for too much longer. The team of former Google and HTC execs tells CNET that it will unveil its "friggin' awesome" phone on September 1st. It's still not clear exactly what special sauce Nextbit will bring to the table, although there are at least a few more clues. Besides the company's 'limitless' storage, you should also expect software that performs "better over time" than your garden variety Android release. There's also a hint that Nextbit will resist the urge to go with a metal body, although it doesn't sound like you're going to get a plastic fantastic handset, either.
App maker Nextbit wants to build smartphones that 'stand out'
Earlier this week, mobile software startup Nextbit revealed that it's about to launch its first smartphone. The move comes as no surprise -- it'd be silly for a company to hire Scott Croyle, HTC's former head of design, just to work on some cool continuity software on Android, right? We caught up with Nextbit CEO Tom Moss at Hong Kong's RISE conference and learned that not only will Foxconn be manufacturing the phone, but the design will "easily stand out" from the crowd.
Nextbit is bringing iOS-like app continuity and 'limitless' storage to Android
You may just about recall that Nextbit, a startup formed by ex-Googlers, has been collaborating with Cyanogen on a "really cool" secret project. As it turns out, this is all about the continuity experience across Android devices -- very timely given the recent launch of OS X Yosemite and iOS 8.1, which boast a set of continuity features. Nextbit's offering is dubbed Baton, and as the name suggests, it lets you quickly pass an app's state from one Android device to another, meaning you can continue playing on the same level in a game, editing the same document in an app or browsing the same web page right away; with the precondition being the second device must also have Baton and the same app installed. Better yet, app developers don't have to do anything at all; existing apps should just work.
Cyanogen and veterans from Google, Amazon and HTC are building 'something really cool'
Is your Tuesday evening missing a sense of ambiguous mystery? We've got something for you: Cyanogen and a start-up named Nextbit are working on "something really cool" for mobile devices, but won't say a word about what it actually is. Nextbit has been around for awhile, but its goals are nebulous at best. "The future of mobile is just getting started," its website reads. "We're building the groundbreaking technology that will take it to the next level." Cyanogen's partnership with the company was only just announced today, and it brings precious little information to the table -- offering only a survey suggesting that testers for the mysterious project may need to wipe their device (preferably a Nexus 5 or Nexus 7) to participate.
