UK vendor Horizon Electronics has launched a £10 million ($18.3 million) crowdfunding campaign to help it bring a new smartphone design to market.
Horizon was formed in 2013 and has designed and manufactured smartphones for other major electronics brands, but now it wants to roll out its own smartphone design with “cutting edge design and features.”
In what the company says is an attempt to keep the phone at a competitive price, Horizon has launched the crowdfunding campaign with an August 15 deadline to help it finish the phones software and begin manufacturing.
According to Hyperion, which takes its name from the Greek sun god, the phone will feature a state of the art internal design, including a dual boot system and a desktop-based operating system that can be docked.
“Hyperion’s operating system will be fast with a multicore central processing unit and six gigabytes of RAM,” said Horizon Electronics CEO Mike Baxter, in a statement. “It will also come with 64 GB storage with a place for optional external storage.”
The smartphone will feature a display of Sapphire Glass – described as virtually unscratchable — to also protect the integrated front camera, and microscopic holes to produce high definition audio. The back will feature a 3-D dual-lens camera.
Crowdfunding supporters will have exclusive access to purchase prototypes featuring ultra-light and durable carbon fiber casing, with availability by September, for £400. Logoed merchandise will also be available.
“The campaign is going to help us keep production to a reasonable cost so we can pass that price point on to our supporters,” said Baxter. “Compared to our contemporaries – the iPhone 5s 64 GB for £709 and the Samsung Galaxy S5 for £569 – supporters of the campaign will receive a great value.”
The campaign launched on July 1st. At publication, it had yet to receive a contribution.