WhartonBrooks formally announced the Moment today. No, it's not a weapon so powerful that it became sentient and developed a conscience (sorry, Doctor Who fans); we're talking about the Cerulean Moment, the much-teased upcoming Windows phone from WhartonBrooks.
The company first announced the device back in August, providing few details other than that it will be "the most disruptive since the advent of the smartphone in 2000." This implies that the handset would have a greater impact than the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 and Android in 2008, so today, we get to find out if the company held true to its word.
It did not.
The Moment is basically a run-of-the-mill mid-range Windows 10 Mobile handset. The design is the same as the Coship Moly X1 - right down to the micro-USB port, which we'll come back to - with a few updated specs. It contains an octa-core Snapdragon 617 chipset, 3GB RAM, 32GB of storage, a 5-inch 720p display, a 13MP rear camera that can record 1080p30fps video, and a 5MP front camera.
The announcement came in the form of a Windows Central article, where the company's president Greg Murphy confirmed that the phone won't support Verizon because the device's modem doesn't have enough memory for both GSM and CDMA bands.
To enable its launch, the firm started an Indiegogo campaign today where it's looking for a goal of $1.1 million. Other companies have tried this before, and ultimately have failed. The manufacturer of the Moment, Coship, expressed its concern with Windows 10 Mobile earlier this year, and reached just 2.6% of its $100,000 goal to crowdfund its latest Windows phone. NuAns was looking for $725,000 to launch the Neo globally, and saw a grand total of $142,368; the company later abandoned the platform for Android with its next iteration.
WhartonBrooks has been playing up the idea of wireless Continuum since it first announced the device, and now we know why. It's because, as mentioned above, the device uses a micro-USB port, rather than the USB Type-C that's used in all current wired Continuum devices. Because of this, it seems likely that the Moment won't support wired Continuum; however, Microsoft lists USB Type-C as a strong recommendation, rather than a requirement, for wired Continuum.
The Moment will come with an exclusive events tracker app, which seems to be a throwback to the 90s era of design. It's basically a hub for different apps and settings, along with some additional features. According to Windows Central, none of it is automated, so you'll actually have to input everything manually.
The Moment was supposed to launch in the fall of 2016, but it ended up being delayed due to 'regulatory hurdles'. There have been various teases online - and the company was even supposed to hold an event in Connecticut in September, which it canceled - but it hadn't announced a name for the device or its specifications until today.
So when can you get your hands on the Cerulean Mobile? The answer is whenever it reaches its $1.1 million goal on Indiegogo, and if history is any indication, that probably won't happen.
Still, the Windows phone fanbase is always full of surprises, so you never can really know for sure what's going to happen.
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