Mobile Accessory Maker Backbone has recently presented Backbone Pro, the first main addition to the composition of the mobile controller since the premiere of the original skeleton in 2020.
His renovated project takes everything we have already loved in one of the best mobile controllers to a higher level, adding full -size thumbs and renovation rear entrances, as well as completely redesigned ergonomics with a gigantic number.
Even his face buttons and D-Pad are corrected, with the spongy switching much more according to those found about the DualSense wireless controller than senior tactile clicking. Backbone Pro is also loaded with stacks of recent functions, and most importantly, the possibility of wireless exploit of the controller. It has Bluetooth support, which gives you the option to pair it with everything, from a computer and laptop to VR and Smart TV headphone sets and a built -in battery that offers impressive up to 40 hours of charging.
I sat down with the founder and general director of Maneet Khaira to learn more about this recent controller, but first he carefully emphasizes that the existing spine is not chosen anywhere. “To make it very bright, we still consider Backbone they to be the best mobile game device in the class. So if your interest is to play games on your mobile phone and have something small, portable and comfortable, which you can take with you, we still highly recommend the skeleton” – it starts.
“Thanks to Backbone Pro, this is a really more premium impression. Backbone Pro allows you to do everything you want better.”
To the cloud
Backbone One will remain an critical part of the company’s offer, but thanks to the Bluetooth Bluetooth Backbone Pro function it is clear that it now has a dominance for the rapidly developing cloud market.
“To add some context for the development of Backbone Pro, I think that in a world where you can stream games for each screen, and you can also play games about high faithfulness on phones, the character of the device like you want to use, it can look completely different than those we use today,” explains Khaira.
“It is really designed around the view that you can play games on every screen, which is becoming more and more.”
According to a consulting company analysis AlixpartnersContinuous implementation of 5G infrastructure, in addition to higher demand for experience related to AAA games for mobile and increased investments in cloud infrastructure from main players, such as Xbox and PlayStation, can cause the cloud market to reach $ 64 billion until 2030.
This, in turn, would significantly boost the demand for broadly compatible cloud -game accessories, and not time-honored gamepads designed for exploit with one specific system.
It seems that cloud games are the future, and Khaira apparently wants to overtake the curve. “There are two macro trends that we have always believed in. One of them is that games about high loyalty will be more and more popular on mobile devices. When I worked on this area on Google, one digital percentage of all Google Play revenues The influence of GenshinIN FortniteIN Roblox – Types of titles that you would not consider typical free mobile games. There are more than half now – he says.
“Secondly, we think that, like music and television, they moved to stream transmission, it was also inevitable that the games would also move to stream transmission. Phil Spencer, general director of Microsoft Gaming, recently said that the two -digit rate spent on Xbox is time to send plane games from clouds, more than one in ten minutes. It was practically zero. when you received the first device at the back. “
Part of this height depends on the fact that cloud games quickly become a more attractive and inexpensive option for consumers. The Xbox Cloud Gaming is now included in the Oltimate Membership Xbox Game Pass, and the Sony competitor offers the stream of cloud games as part of the PlayStation Premium offer. Nvidia GeForce is now intended for enthusiasts willing to experience the highest class graphics without the need for a powerful game platform, while the Amazon Luna version, a cloud game service from the title online giant and cloud processing, is part of the extremely popular Amazon Prime subscription, even gives ordinary players the opportunity to try this technology.
“I think that one of the reasons why the company came to this moment is the fact that these two trends are becoming more and more significant,” reveals Khaira. “Backbone Pro really answers the question” What should we look like future devices? “
Two human hair
Backbone Pro is a surprisingly compact mobile controller despite a wide set of functions that is conveniently smaller than competitive offers, such as Razer Kishi Ultra. Achieving this was not an basic feat, which apparently required much more research and development than almost any other peripheral on the market. As Khaira took concisely: “This thing is extremely complicated.
“If you opened it, you would see three individual peripheral plates on each side to allow you to match all components that are basically an Apple Watch engineering. A typical game controller would probably have one printed plate for context,” he continues.
“At some point in development, we realized that our thumbs would have 250 microns more proud than we intended, and that was a problem because it rejected our ergonomic specifications.” To remove this unintentional height, equivalent to the thickness of two human hair, the team had to “find a way to release 25 microns in 10 different locations in the entire project.”
This may sound excessively, but ergonomics was one of the greatest considerations in the design process. According to Khaira, the programmers’ team relied on a reserved digital goniometry method, which consisted in recording movies about 360 degrees of the tester’s hands and using them to measure the angle of joints to assess general comfort.
“Usually, if you want to measure the common angles of your hand, you would have to exploit a tool called a goniometr and you would have to force someone to stop playing to make the ergonomist take measurement,” he explains. “But the problem is that you interrupt the natural game. This is something that people are in motion, and if you just capture a very stationary moment, you don’t have a full picture of whether something is comfortable or not.”
Over 9,000 attempts
“Over 9,000 individual parts of parts have passed to reach the final project”, the level of tuning, which according to Khaira sets the company’s offer ahead of all others. “I do not think that any product passes through many iterations, I would be surprised if Xbox or Sony even did so much,” he notes. “After all these partial iterations, we could finally break free in the general sculpture and create.”
There were also many other design considerations going beyond the general shape to continue these complex matters. For example, a pleasant consistency at the back of the controller’s grips, for example, “underwent 100 iterations” with everything, from linear patterns to tested radial, until they settled on one that would help “break the surface tension from sweat, not being too gritty to stay in your hand.” The texture even extends to the DNA of triggers, which is an intelligent way to offer a bit more grip and stop your fingers from slipping.
Even the soft appearance of the rounded D-Pad had a lot of thoughts. “We are not interested in RGB lighting,” says Khaira. “We want to build products that you can skip on the table at home, and it would look like really engaging and engaging objects. Part of it was behind the decision to make such a shape of D-PAD.”
I mention that the end result is a general look, which is not too far from the appearance, in my opinion, quite a charming Google-Gamepad controller in Wi-Fi service designed for use with the non-existent Google cloud game service. “I intended to add that our research team is led by Evan Silverman, who was the main manager of the Stadia controller, so he conducted all ergonomics tests,” says Khaira.
Backbone bet on a gigantic future in the cloud. Backbone Pro certainly looks like it has a great gamepad from a design and aesthetic point of view, but only time will show whether consumers are attracted to the function of many devices. It can now be ordered for USD 169.99 / 169.99 GBP via the backbone website.
