Balmuda, a Japanese design firm known for its eye-catching appliances, has announced plans to create a smartphone. There aren’t many details about the device yet, but it’ll be a 5G handset that will be available in November. SoftBank will sell it as a carrier model, while Balmuda will sell an unlocked model.
Belmuda notes in its announcement that, as the smartphone market becomes more commoditized, the company wants to provide an experience that only it can provide. However, actual manufacturing is outside of Balmuda’s purview, so it is collaborating on the phone with Kyocera.
Balmuda’s home product line is fairly limited, consisting of air purifiers, humidifiers, lights, speakers, rice cookers, and so on.The clever design touches throughout, from the tiny little mug you use to pour in water for the steam to the cute noises it makes when you turn the timer dial, make me wonder what Balmuda could bring to a phone. We’ll let you know as soon as we find out.
