The screen also doesn't seem to support multi- or even mono-touch either. That large display also means the phone is several stories tall — it falls into the larger side of the phablet spectrum and probably won't fit into your skinny jeans.
Still, it includes a fully-functional web browser the low resolution of the display does have a slight negative impact on its usability and is even able to make two-way video calls to actual phones in our real, non-blocky world. On the upside, mobile coverage is universally available — just plant a cell tower sapling and the game's virtual engineers will come build one for you free of charge. The phone also appears to have one of the longest battery lives we've seen on any device, with at least several billion years of screen-on time before the juice runs out.
The project is available on github for anyone who wants to learn more, and although Verizon doesn't offer any way to try out the new phone, it does provide some instructions on how to build one youself.
Martim is more of a numbers guy. He likes biking. He goes rock climbing to overcome his fear of heights. He is also the former world-record holder for youngest man alive. To get in touch via email, please feel free to reach me at martim [at] androidpolice. Image Gallery 1 Images. Share Share Tweet Email. Martim Lobao Articles Published. The phone lets players make pixelated video calls and surf the Web. There's even a selfie-stick feature that lets you take a selfie and text it to a friend.
The video calls are probably the coolest aspect of the project. Dial someone in and you can see them translated into blocks. That person sees your avatar within Minecraft from the other end of the call.
The Web-browsing feature isn't quite as useful, but it's still plenty entertaining. Websites are once again translated into blocks, so you're not going to get a lot of detailed reading done. Getting a cell phone to function in Minecraft took quite a bit of work.
Verizon and its partners built a custom application called Boxel that takes Web pages and video and turns them into blocks, essentially putting the visual information into terms Minecraft can understand and serve up to players within the world.
A demonstration video with Minecraft expert Captain Sparklez shows how the cell phone build works. He creates the phone and builds a cell tower an impressive four-level-tall structure. Streaming particles give a visual indication that the phone is connected to the tower. He puts it through its paces by loading websites and making a couple of video calls. Experienced Minecraft players with some coding chops can toy with the open-source libraries and create new experiences that involve turning video into blocks.
The project code is available through software site GitHub.
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