SmolPhone

The SmolPhone project is an action-research initiative aimed at exploring the idea of low-tech mobile computing, i.e., resource-efficient, empowering for individuals, and fostering social connections. In practice, we are working on designing a device that offers some of the services of a conventional smartphone but with a battery life of one week and a lifespan of a decade [PQQR23, RPQR24].

To achieve this, the device uses existing ultra-low-power technologies for the processor (replaced by a microcontroller), the screen (monochrome LCD with integrated memory), and the network (4G Category 1—designed for machine-to-machine IoT). The goal is not to optimize a conventional smartphone but to impose strong hardware constraints in order to explore innovative approaches to mobile computing.

This project, still in its preliminary stages, has received funding from Inria for 2024-2026 to support two engineers in overcoming certain technical challenges and establishing a research foundation for low-tech and frugal computing. Beyond the development of an initial hardware demonstration platform, the main challenge lies in designing an execution environment that is both highly optimized to run on the target hardware and easily scriptable to allow users to develop their own applications with ease. We are also exploring alternative solutions for web browsing on a device too limited to render complex HTML5 pages.

Current students and engineers

  • Victorien Elvinger (Dec. 2024-Nov 2026): Engineer on the SmolPhone project
  • Aurel Hamon (Sept 2024-April 2025): M1 year-long project on embedded HTML rendering

Open positions