In a shocker of a move, gaming brand Razer has announced that it has acquired Nextbit Systems Inc, the startup that brought us the intriguing Robin smartphone. No financial details have been revealed, but Nextbit management and employees are retained in deal.
If you can recall, Nextbit introduced the cloud-focused Robin smartphone in 2015 after a successful Kickstarter campaign. It raised over US$1.3 million. The startup was founded in 2013 by early Android veterans Tom Moss and Mike Chan, and was later joined by former HTC design lead Scott Croyle.
While the phone itself is uniquely designed (and I do personally like it), its claim to fame is that it “will never run out of storage.” Harnessing the power of the cloud and the intelligent Nextbit OS, Robin seamlessly backs up your apps and intelligently archives data you’re not using.
Nextbit has stopped selling the Robin and its accessories. However, it will honour full warranties for a further six months. Nextbit says it will provide updates and patches through February 2018.
In a blog post, Nextbit says “it will operate as an independent division inside Razer, focused on unique mobile design and experiences.” It will continue to do exactly what it’s been doing all along, only now at a bigger scale, and with Razer’s financial backing.
The purchase doesn’t mean Razer will start making smartphones per se, but who knows that might just happen in the not-so-distant future.
With a reputation of disrupting industries with its edgy design and cutting-edge innovations, Razer may have just found the perfect vehicle to fast track its way into the smartphone space (if it decides to enter it, that is).
A triple-display smartphone anyone?
