Cyrcle phone lifestyle Source: Cyrcle

What you need to know

  • Tech startup Cyrcle is showing off its prototype Android phone at CES 2020.
  • It's got Android 9, two headphone jacks, and two SIM cards.
  • Battling against the rectangle conspiracy, Cyrcle's new phone is also a circle.

While some argue that it might be hip to be square, tech startup Cyrcle seems to have a vendetta against rectangles in general. The company showed off its new circular phone at CES this week (via the BBC,) promising a launch later this year or next after five years of development.

The problem appeared to be that while the Cyrcle phone's hardware was ready, the software needed to support the esoteric device wasn't quite there yet. With Android 9 and 10, Google's support for non-slab phone form factors has improved to support the rise of foldables, possibly accelerating development.

From the website, the Cyrcle phone's merits are enumerated:

A non-rectangular phone for non-rectangular people, the new Cyrcle Phone exists to inspire a world where you can be you — whatever shape you are.

While that doesn't tell us very much, we do know from Cyrcle's own video that it's going to feature two headphone jacks, two SIM cards, and at least Android 9 (though the firm may want to upgrade to 10.)

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The Cyrcle phone seems like a really cool-looking, albeit really impractical device that probably has no reason to exist. Foldable phones justify their existence with the promise of a screen that showcases more content or a compact folded shape, this Cyrcle seems to exist just to be a circle.

There's a good reason we opted for rectangular phones. Nokia even gave the old form factor a try back in its heydey and Microsoft's Kin was kinda-sorta circlish. The only difference between this and those seems to be that at some point before those eventually crashed and burned, they did go on sale.

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