A Second Screen for Your Smartphone!

The Anywhere Tablet for Multitasking on the Go!

Overview

A second monitor used to be a luxury, and now it’s a necessity. Juggling between apps and screens is how things go today. Adding a second screen to a PC is easy, but what about a second one for your smartphone? It’s not like you leave the need for multitasking behind when you are away from your desktop, out in the world doing things.

Introducing castAway™ case, a fantastic new accessory that adds a second, ultra-slim screen to your favorite smartphone. The second screen is a powerful Chromium-based tablet that lets you multitask while on the go. 

“What’s on your second screen?”
 

Quick Facts

• castAway™ case connects with any iOS or Android phone and continues to work even when detached from your smartphone.
• Features a dual boot option that lets you quickly turn it into a larger keyboard, trackpad, or game controller for your phone.
• It is fully-equipped with a hi-res capacitive touch screen, WiFi, Bluetooth, front and back-facing cameras, & audio jack.
• Integrated SD slot allows you to expand storage and offload photos from your phone
• The built-in battery can do double duty and be used to boost your smartphone.

Media Coverage

The castAway™ case is for…

Work & Play: 

Watch Netflix while browsing the web. Catch the game while reading email or texting with friends.

Finding Your Way: 

Look up information while texting and making plans with friends.

Staying Focused: 

Stay dialed into a conference call without looking distracted while searching for relevant information in a file, email, or business app like Salesforce.

Sharing Photos while Maintaining Privacy

Listening to Music without Interruption 

Let friends flip through the photos you want to share without them seeing private things on your phone. Let someone else DJ while you take a call. Passing the aux cord just got a whole lot cooler!

Staying on Track and in the Moment:

Focus on what matters and not the aggravation of bouncing in and out of apps as you juggle the list of ingredients, directions, or instructional video.

The Perfect Companion for Your Smartphone

The castAway™ case tablet allows you to open multiple apps at once, copy/paste, and access files and photos from either screen.

Created by Ken Mages, a 40-year veteran of the electronics industry, the castAway™ case is your second screen. Ken brought on a skilled product designer, Joe Jasinski, the former head of industrial design at Dell, along with two former executives from Microsoft and Intel to create this fantastic device.

Intended For Every Smartphone

By Design. The castAway™ case design uses an ingenious patent-pending universal magnetic hinge. The magic part of the hinge is on the second screen tablet side. When the tablet is detached from your smartphone, your phone will look and feel like it would in any other high-end protective case. The hinge design also simplifies the task of supporting the myriad of smartphones. The smartphone side of the case is a custom fit for each major model type. That said, there are many unique (lower volume) phones for which we are developing a universal case back that works with the hinge. The castAway™ case will be available in 3 model sizes:

• one/S with a 5.8” screen for smartphones with screens of similar size
• one/L with a 6.3” screen for smartphones with screens of similar size
• one/XL with a 6.9” screen for smartphones with screens of similar size

Upgrading or Replacing your Smartphone

We’ve got you covered (pardon the pun). As long as you stay within one of the three model sizes (S, L, XL), all that is needed is a new smartphone case back, which we will sell separately. With that in mind, if you pledge now and then change your phone before we ship, just let us know (email: mycase@castawaycase.com), and we’ll update your pledge with the right case back for your new smartphone.

Which castAway™ case is Right for Your Smartphone?

• castAway™one/S with a 5.8” screen
  • iPhone Models: 6, 6S, 7, 8, X, XS, XR, 11 Pro
  • Samsung Models: S7, S8, S9, S10, Note 7
  • Pixel Models: Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 3, Pixel 3a, Pixel 4 
• castAway™one/L with a 6.3” screen
  • iPhone Models: 6 Plus, 6S Plus, 7 Plus, 8 Plus, XS Max, 11 Pro Max
  • Samsung Models: S8+, S9+, S10+, Note 8, Note 9, Note 10
  • Pixel Models: Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 3a XL, Pixel 4 XL
  • OnePlus Models 6, 6T
• castAway™one/XL with a 6.9” screen
  • Samsung Models: Note 10+
  • OnePlus Models: 7 Pro, 7T, 7T Pro

This list will be updated as we add new phone models. 

BACKERS: When you make a pledge for your castAway™ case, please send us a heads up email to mycase@castawaycase.com and let us know your smartphone model. Also, we will be sending an email to everyone before shipping to confirm your smartphone, so we send the right case. This pre-shipping email will help catch those of you who decide to change phones beforehand.

If your phone isn’t on the list above, please email joe@castawaycase.com and let us know that you’d like to have us add it to our tooling list or the list that will be supported by the universal option we are designing.

How It Works

Hardware

Think of the castAway™ case as a perfectly sized tablet that pairs with your smartphone. It is an anywhere computer that runs the latest version of Chromium. We intend to seek certification with Google LLC. Both the tablet and your iOS or Android smartphone run our app, code-named MultiTask+™, which pairs the two and enables them to communicate over encrypted WiFi and Bluetooth channels.

Developing an optimal way to have the castAway™ case pair and communicate bidirectionally with an iOS or Android smartphone wasn’t easy. That technical process yielded some novel ideas around which we have filed our patents.

With the encrypted synchronization communication figured out, we launched parallel development efforts to build the software application experience and hardware prototype. The hardware prototyping effort progressed through a few breadboard iterations, then a few design iterations on the PCB design, refining it from 8 to 6 layers and getting it to 0.6 mm thin.

As you can gather, there is more to the castAway™ case than meets the eye. Here is how it works:

There are many layers to the castAway™ case one/S/L/XL. We’d be honored to have your support to get this into production and shipped to you by May of 2020. 

(For Illustration Purposes Only – not the actual castAway™ device)

Specifications

Compatibility 

• iOS & Android 

Operating System

• Chromium* (We intend to seek certification with Google LLC)

Display

• 5.8, 6.3 & 6.9 with Multi-Touch Screen WQXGA Screen (subject to change)

CPU

• OP1, Hexa-core (Dual ARM® Cortex®-A72, Quad Cortex®-A53 big.LITTLE™ configuration) Processor, 1.5 GHz (up to 2.0 GHz) Memory LPDDR3 1866MT/s 4GB

Graphics

• Mali-T864

Storage

• 32GB eMMC

Wireless Data Network

• WLAN 802.11 ac@2.4GHz/ 5GHz
• Bluetooth V4.1

Camera

• 2 MP Front Camera
• 5 MP Rear Camera

Audio

• Stereo Speakers

Interfaces

• Horizontal & Vertical USB 3.1 gen1 Type-C Ports (Full-function, support PD+Alt. mode+BC1.2, Support NB charging)
• 1X Audio Combo Jack
• 1 x micro SD card

Sensor

• G-Sensor
• Gyro

Battery

• 35 WHr battery Li-Polymer, 1S2P

Power Adapter

• Adaptor type: Adapter with power cord; Output: 15V/3A DC 45W with Type-C connector; Input: 100~240V AC, 50/60Hz universal

Color

• Standard: Black
• Upgrade Options: Chrome & Black Leather 

Dimensions

• Final TBD*  – castAway™case one/S
• Final TBD* – castAway™case one/L
• Final TBD* – castAway™case one/XL

* Production Specs to Updated February 2020.  

Weight

• Approx. 0.18 kg

Accessories

• EMR stylus

Industrial Design – The Case and a Dock

Magic. We spent months exploring unique ways to create a hinge that would give 360° range of motion, fixed positions (flat, back to back, laptop, tented), and the ability to detach and go. We were obsessed with keeping the design simple, slim, and as Joe likes to say, have that “Snap, Crackle, & Pop” that will make it a treat to use. 

Magnets. It didn’t take Joe and his team long to start playing around with the geometry using magnets. Here is a short video tutorial of Joe explaining the basic concept.

Power. Smartphone out of gas? 38% of people say that battery life is the second biggest criteria when selecting a new smartphone. The castAway™ case has a comparable battery life to your smartphone. We designed the castAway™ case to be able to boost your smartphone using a small cable. 

Docking Station. This is something we are offering as a quick follow-up to augment your user experience. The castAway™ dock is an elegant and compact docking station for home, office, or school. Cradle the castAway™ case with power, HDMI, and LAN connections. Could this be your next laptop/desktop? 

Docking Station Ship Date: June 2020.

Software

Our app, code-named MultiTask+™, for iOS and Android, is the software experience that enables you to connect your smartphone to your castAway™ case with simple commands and shortcuts. A neat feature of the castAway™ case is that you can detach your tablet from your phone, and it will continue to function as a standalone device while continuing to communicate with your phone over WiFi.

Why We’re Using Indiegogo

We’ve built the prototype and are ready to go into production. We need your help to bring it to the world. When you contribute to our campaign, you will get an early-bird unit for a fantastic price, and you’ll help us build something everyone needs: a powerful second screen for the smartphone you already own and love!

Challenges

We know that making hardware is hard. We’ve been doing it for decades. We have a full supply chain ready to manufacture the castAway™ case, and we will be shipping in May 2020. There could be extenuating issues that could slow down the delivery, but we believe our innovative second-screen case will be available as expected.