There are many, many phone mounts out there. This Kickstarter project called The Oona, seems more versatile than most. The designers set out to solve these use cases and more:
• A GPS on the windshield of your car
• A reference device on a white board or Refrigerator
• The ability to mount your smart phone to a tripod to take photos or video
• Hands free viewing of a movie, playing on your smart phone
• A simple stand to keep your phone in view on your desk at work
I asked Sam Gordon, one of the project founders, if they’d had better luck with their suction cups than I’d had with mine. I tried Kent K. Barnes’s Garmin suction cup iPad mount trick, but couldn’t get the suction to, well, suck for more than a few minutes at a time. Sam had this to say:
We spent a lot of time designing the right suction cup for The Oona. The ones we prototyped early on were made of a thermoplastic elastomer so they could be easily injection molded. After testing we found that low shore durometer silicone produced the best results. While testing the stand we found it secures the phone more than needed when using it properly (desk, whiteboard, car window, etc.). We’ve had problems with it when trying to secure it to a bad surface, or when we used it in applications that really rocked the phone back and forth. Moreover unlike a dedicated car phone suction mount our product is not meant for adhesion for days on end, our philosophy for The Oona is a mobile mount your phone, something you can take with you to use in different places throughout the day as you change environments.
A lot depends on the smart phone and the surface, but just from personal experience, Brad (co-designer) drove from San Francisco to LA with his iPhone 3 stuck to his windshield and it did not fall once.
Also, Sam is planning to share info about their experiences as first-time product designers:
We have a deal with a manufacturer in the US to create the low durometer silicone rubber one that we found to be best after testing. One really helpful piece to the puzzle has been MFG.com for a lot of our sourcing needs. These guys are great because they help people like us, with no existing manufacturing contacts, find the best shops to make our components.
Once (once!) funding goes through, we’re planning on getting video of all the components being made at the different production shops mixed with us talking about our experience doing the process for the first time. Based on our own experience and hearing from other makers, we feel that there is a lack of information available on how to do an independent short production run and we think other makers might find it helpful to see the steps we took.
Best of luck, guys, I hope you get enough funding to produce a run of stands!
28 thoughts on “The Oona: Versatile Smartphone Stand”
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I wonder if they edited that video themselves or hired someone to help them out. It seems as though a well made video goes a long way on kickstarter.
Interesting project!
We made the video ourselves. To be fair though I’ve been doing film stuff for awhile in addition to design :)
-Brad
Wow! Great job guys, that video looks professional. I hope your project gets kickstarted!
MiMMs Mounts is another innovative gadget mount based on a magnetic, modular concept. It’s a bootstrap project – mass prototyped on a Makerbot Cupcake 3D Printer. No fancy video though. Check it out at http://www.mimmsmounts.com.
Love the design and functionality of the product; however, everybody I know has their phone in a case that would not work with a suction cup. A thin metal plate with adhesive on one side would address the issue. It would be great if the plate was somehow reusable from phone to phone.
Hey Michael, MiMMs Mounts is designed to attach to any flat (1 square inch) surface. We use 3M VHB adhesive pads (really strong stuff – YouTube it and see) to attach our base mounts to your gadget. If an when you get a new gadget, just remove the base mount, apply a new adhesive pad (we sell refills) and attach to your new gizmo. MiMMs Mounts is meant to be a universal gadget mount that is rebuildable and reusable.
Just an update on MiMMs Mounts mentioned below. We will be launching our own Kickstarter Project sometime in July. I need to pay some credit to the Oona for this turn of events. You see, I originally pitched the MiMMs Mounts idea to Kickstarter in December, but they weren’t interested. Thanks to the popularity and success of the Oona, Kickstarter reconsidered and gave my project the green light. I’ve revamped the website too with more photos and a Youtube video. http//: http://www.mimmsmounts.com
Just an update on MiMMs Mounts mentioned below. We will be launching our own Kickstarter Project sometime in July. I need to pay some credit to the Oona for this turn of events. You see, I originally pitched the MiMMs Mounts idea to Kickstarter in December, but they weren’t interested. Thanks to the popularity and success of the Oona, Kickstarter reconsidered and gave my project the green light. I’ve revamped the website too with more photos and a Youtube video. http//: http://www.mimmsmounts.com
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The Oona is currently available to buy in the UK from a website called Junk Skull which sells other gadget/iPhone related accessories. It’s selling at a reasonable price for anyone looking to purchase one :] http://www.junkskull.com/products/the-oona-smartphone-stand
I wonder with our laws up here in Canada if the windshield mount would earn you a ticket?
I got my hands on the Oona recently. There aren’t many places that sell it in the UK that sell it besides these guys. It’s pretty good. I was a little nervous that the suction wouldn’t hold my phone well, but once you use it, you realize that it isn’t really an issue. It actually has a surprisingly strong grip, perhaps even better than some of the other smartphone stands about at the moment.
My phone now spends it life stuck on the cupboard in my kitchen, displaying recipes for me to read whilst cooking :]
Bought it via PayPal and never got the item. Tried to contact them and no answers!
Do not buy…