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SOUTH JORDAN — A second wave of pre-sells has brought in over $1 million so far for a highly praised smartphone designed in Utah.
The Saygus V², created by Utahns Chad Sayers and Tim Riker, received rave reviews from outlets like CNET at the beginning of 2015. Last week, the company launched an IndieGoGo campaign to continue spreading the word while letting more people pre-order the phone.
“We’re just a bunch of Utah guys who love this stuff,” Sayers said. “We’re promoting Utah like crazy. We put the arches on the phone.”
Sayers said IndieGoGo approached Saygus at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, but he wasn’t interested at first because the phone was already near production and they didn’t need more funding. However, he changed his mind a few months later after learning Fortune 500 companies also use the site.
“When we realized it didn’t have to be about raising money, that’s when we got excited,” he said. “We want to make sure the whole world knows about our project.”
Saygus had to push back the original shipping date for phones pre-ordered through the company website earlier this year due to manufacturer delays, but Sayers said that delay provided the opportunity to add three more features to the phone. They upgraded the Android operating system to 5.1 Lollipop and added a USB type-C port, in addition to a second SIM card slot.
Courtesy of Saygus
The second SIM card slot is especially beneficial for people living in third world countries who use multiple carriers to avoid huge roaming fees, according to Sayers. He said his team encountered the problem firsthand when they racked up a $9,000 bill in two weeks while working abroad. With a second slot, it is possible to have both a regular-use SIM card and a local SIM card in the phone at the same time.
“You can use the same phone with all of the same numbers, you just decide which SIM card you’re going to use when you make those calls,” he said. “It’s a very simple software thing. The advantages are huge and it really lends us to a lot more sales around the rest of the world.”
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More than 10 years ago, Chad Sayers was already tired of the features in smartphones, so he decided to do something about it.Other highly anticipated features on the phone include technology that allows users to wirelessly transmit HD video to nearby screens, optical image stabilization on its rear 21-megapixel and front 13-megapixel cameras and the potential for 464 GB of storage, plus a waterproof design.
“That’s what we wanted to build — the phone that it doesn’t matter if you’re a housewife or a college student or a businessman or retired person. You could be a sailor or an engineer and you’re going to love this phone,” Sayres said. “It has features that are available out there, but for some reason other carriers aren’t providing.”
Saygus is aiming to ship the V² to IndieGoGo supporters this fall. People who preordered the phone through the Saygus website will receive the phone first, with all of the the additional features.
“It’s a harder project than anyone has done before for a smartphone, there is no question it is, but it’s going to be worth it when it’s finished here shortly,” he said. “We’re so stoked about it. We’ve got them in our pockets now and we keep looking at it, going, ‘I can’t believe it. This is so cool.’”
The phones can be pre-ordered through IndieGoGo for $650.
