popSLATE 2 eInk iPhone Case : One Mobile Phone Case to Rule them All

You can call it a disruptive innovation or pushing the mobile phone accessory to a whole new level. How about using the backside of your iPhone 6 series into a secondary E-Ink display? This is what the revolutionary popSlate does. The company says that popSLATE is pioneering the second screen experience by embedding an e-paper screen in a smartphone case.

In an exclusive interview to DATAQUEST Greg Moon, CMO, Co-founder, popSLATE speaks about how this mobile case will take user experience to a new level and his company's recent offering - popSLATE 2.

Can you talk about the genesis of popSLATE - from version 1 to 2 and how did you bump on to this idea?

We started shipping our original popSLATE (popSLATE 1), in April of last year.  Since that time, we have thousands of enthusiastic users in more than 45 countries.  popSLATE 1 also generated a lot of excitement in the press as a new category-defining product in the rapidly expanding smart hardware space.

popSLATE 1 focused primarily on visual self-expression, by connecting people to multiple sources of vibrant images with which to instantly customize their phones (including the iPhone camera and photo library, Instagram, and other members in the popSLATE user community).  Users started hacking around with always-on productivity uses, too, such as daily schedule screen shots, boarding passes, and grocery lists.  These early experiments spurred further brainstorming at popSLATE, which led to the development of our first productivity features, like ‘popBook’ where you can store your scannable membership cards, and ‘auto-pops,’ which enabled notification-type bits of information (e.g. a sports score), to be delivered automatically to the back of the phone.  For the latter feature, we created an IFTTT channel to integrate with 100+ popular content sources;  IFTTT served as a terrific sandbox to understand which content sources were most popular, and how they could best be leveraged within the always-on experience.

For the uninitiated, IFTTT, if we go by Wiki is a free web based service that allows users to create chains of simple conditional statements called "recipes", which are triggered based on changes to other web services such as Gmail, FB, Instagram and Pinterest. IFTTT is an abbreviation of "If This Then That”.

After popSLATE 1 - it was time to ask the question, “What should the smart second screen really be?”  Driven by this question, we conceived of a slew of new, always-on features, in order to take full advantage of that big space on the back of the phone: configurable Dashboards, richer news and information feeds; phone-sized clocks, a clutter-saving e-reader, a quick list maker, faster access to the digital wallet, and a few other surprises we have in store.

It also became clear that to knit together all this new functionality, we needed to develop a whole new interaction model to run—and seamlessly jump between—multiple apps on the popSLATE device.

What about the design and the hardware in popSLATE 2?

We needed to re-imagine the hardware to usher in an expanded user experience.  We had already heard from users that they wanted popSLATE to be thinner and sleeker, and that they found it to be a hassle to charge popSLATE separately from the phone.  The new UX would also require slightly more, but still minimal, device interactivity, and a higher resolution screen.  The result was a product that was 40% thinner, had a bigger, higher-resolution screen, three captive touch navigation keys, and an interface with the iPhone through the Lightning connector.  Once you go through the Lightning connector, it was a no-brainer to add phone charging capabilities to the product.

When the dust of the design process had finally settled, we realized that we had—in addition to capabilities unique to popSLATE—co-opted the best features of a smartwatch, a battery case, and an e-reader.  And with that, popSLATE 2 was born.

Can you talk more about your entrepreneurial journey- like founding popSLATE and disrupting the mobile phone case space?

The idea came from the following thought experiment:  Look at the front of your phone.  Let’s say you are trying to get an update on a game score (or, if you are at the office, trying to locate your next meeting).  You start by unlocking your phone, then you swipe and tap around to find and open your app and then you scroll around for the information you want.  Now think about the fact that people on average do this 150 times per day.   We figured out that there had to be a better way—a way that surfaces the information you need.  We thought, wouldn’t it be much better if your apps did the work for you, rather than the other way around.

Now look at the back of your phone. What do you see? nothing. That big, empty space offers you zero value, and you carry it everywhere you go. Instead, imagine that you saw: a beautiful clock face, pictures of your friends and family, customized dashboards, news and sports score, stock quotes and your latest e-book and reminders  In other words, imagine any image or information you could want, awaiting your glance, changing up throughout the day.

Can you give more insight on eInk technology?

E-Ink is a great technology. To date, it has mainly been valued for readability in Kindles and other e-readers.  We were the first to start touting it’s ‘always-on’ capabilities,  due its incredibly efficient use of power: it takes zero power to hold an image, and just a sip of power to change an image.  It's therefore the perfect medium for the popSLATE use case of providing personalized content for consumption at a glance, 24/7, without unlocking your phone.

 Can you talk about the pricing models - will it be available in emerging geos like India? 

US pricing will be USD129 for the 6/6S and USD149 for the 6+/6S+.  We recognize that there is downward pricing pressure in emerging markets, but we will need to understand each market a bit more before making any adjustments to pricing.

Your plans for future - will you launch similar cases for other brands other than for Apple phones- currently which iPhone models are covered? 

We are focusing only on iPhone for now.  popSLATE 2 addresses the 6, 6S, 6+, and 6S+.  With the right partner, we will step into the Android space in the future.