Every day it is becoming more and more apparent that crowdfunding is one of the most viable ways to fund a startup. Amazing products previously doomed to years of rejection by mainstream manufacturers finally have a way to bypass the corporate big whigs and get direct access to consumers wallets. While websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo are certainly awesome places to raise funds, it seems as though certain products with massive budgets can’t quite the cash they need just yet. Sadly, one such project will be the incredibly promising Ubuntu Edge.
The Edge was to be the first attempt to fund a smartphone entirely via crowdfunding. While its massive $32 million may be downright cheap for producing a brand new flagship smartphone, it’s a lot of money to ask individuals to pony up for a phone that May be produced. Especially since they won’t see it for more than six months after the campaign ends.
The Ubuntu Edge would go far beyond anything we’ve ever seen in terms of specs. The processor would’ve been the highest end quad-core available and would come paired with an unprecidented 4GB of RAM and an almost unfathomable 128GB of storage. The screen would be made of sapphire glass, a material that goes far beyond the scratch protection offered by Gorilla Glass. Canonical is even planning on using the first silicon-anode smartphone battery. The screen resolution is the only slightly disappointing aspect, with a still sharp 720p display. The device would dual boot Android 5.0 (assuming that is the next version) and Ubuntu touch. This would allow Ubuntu to get its mobile OS on a few devices, while still guaranteeing the app support needed for a good experience.
Despite the specs, the campaign is sitting at around 10 and a half million dollars. While that is certainly an impressive amount, edging (No pun intended) past the Pebble smart-watch for the most funding for any tech product, it’s still only a third of their goal. While being interviewed by the BBC Chris Green, senior consultant at the Davies Murphy Group, said that Canonical was “naive” to think that a single crowdfunding campaign would be able to raise sufficient funds.
All hope is not lost for those brave souls who slapped down anywhere from $600 to $830 for a chance to own an Edge. Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth said that the massive buzz surrounding the project had earned interest from not only hardcore phone enthusiasts, but manufacturers as well. Hopefully the Edge will see production, if only to show manufacturers what the specs of a 2014 phone should look like.