nuans
Latest
The makers of the most stylish Windows Phone embraced Android
Last year, at CES, I fell hard for a chubby, round Windows Phone called the NuAns Neo. Who could blame me? The two most notable Windows Phones at the time -- the Lumia 950 and 950 XL -- were drab, unimaginative-looking slabs. The Neo, with its friendly design and swappable back plates, was quirky enough to give me the kind of frisson that comes with seeing something totally out of the ordinary. Alas, Trinity, the company behind the phone, tried and failed to launch the Neo around the world by way of a Kickstarter campaign. The demand just wasn't there. Feedback from potential buyers told Trinity CEO Tetsushi Hoshikawa that they would've backed the campaign -- or bought a Neo in Trinity's native Japan -- had it run Android instead. You can probably guess what Hoshikawa did next.
NuAns raises funds to release its Windows 10 phone worldwide
When we took a closer look at the NuAns NEO in January, the Japanese company wasn't sure if the Windows 10 Mobile phone was ever going to make it outside its home country. Now, it looks like NuAns has decided to attempt a wider release, because it's raising $725,000 on Kickstarter to fund NEO's global debut. According to the team's campaign, they're using the money they'll get to buy the components needed for the device to work anywhere in the world, not just in Japan.
A closer look at NuAns' Neo, the prettiest Windows 10 phone
Windows 10 Mobile is still a work in progress, but a Japanese phone maker just might have made me a Microsoft convert. Maybe. NuAns' NEO is perhaps the first seriously pretty Windows 10 thanks to its unique split-back design, which couldn't be any further from the subdued style of this year's new Lumias. As it stands, there are 64 possible top-and-bottom combinations, a number that leaps when you factor in some of the secret, special edition covers NuAns is making. I don't think I could ever pull off an ostrich-leather-and-snakeskin phone, but I appreciate having the option.
Want a sleek Windows 10 phone? Go to Japan
Just last week, Microsoft began selling the Lumia 950, the first Windows 10 mobile phone, and though the software showed promise, the hardware itself was lacking in charm. Now, Japanese design firm NuAns is set to release the "Neo," a sleek handset that should make for a nice alternative to the Lumia (if you're okay to trade design for customizability). It sports an interchangeable upper and lower half that can be swapped out, with 64 possible combinations available. The phone is set to retail for around $350 with lower-end specs to match, including a 5-inch, 1,280 x 720 display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor and 16GB of storage (expandable via microSD slot). If this handset sounds like something you can't live without, there's one problem: it's exclusive to Japan. So, unless you want to fly over to pick one up, it looks like you'll have to get creative when customizing a smartphone available in your market.[Image credit: NuAns]
