For months, Junqo has existed as an idea, research, software, experiments and hardware on a workbench.
Today, we're showing you the first physical prototype.
It isn't the finished Junqo. It isn't the production hardware.
It's the first version we can actually put on a table, power on, connect to our software, and build from.
Junqo Prototype 01 is our first working hardware-and-software prototype of the idea behind Junqo:
What if your physical SIM didn't have to live inside the phone you're using?
The prototype combines cellular hardware, an ESP32-S3 microcontroller, Wi-Fi connectivity and the Junqo companion software into one experimental system.
The SIM remains inside Junqo.
Junqo communicates with the companion software.
And we're building the layer that allows supported SIM functionality to become available to the devices you use.
This is our proof-of-concept platform — the hardware we're using to test the idea before moving toward a smaller, purpose-built Junqo board.
The cellular modem currently used in the prototype. It gives Junqo access to the SIM and cellular network for the functionality we're building around messaging, calls, USSD and cellular data.
The processor responsible for running Junqo's firmware and managing communication between the cellular subsystem and companion software. The current prototype primarily uses Wi-Fi for communication, while Bluetooth Low Energy is also being researched for discovery, onboarding and device authentication.
Prototype 01 is built around a Waveshare development platform combining the ESP32-S3 and A7670E cellular modem. It gives us a platform for developing and testing Junqo before designing the custom production hardware.
Junqo can communicate with the cellular modem and we're demonstrating SMS functionality through the prototype and companion experience.
The current prototype can communicate with the Junqo companion software over Wi-Fi. That connection is the foundation for moving SIM functionality beyond the device physically holding the SIM.
Call control and the complete phone-side experience are still being developed. One of the biggest engineering challenges is getting the cellular call experience — particularly audio — from the modem into the device you're actually using.
USSD support is part of the Junqo architecture and is still being integrated into the complete companion experience.
We're developing the data path that will allow supported devices to use the cellular connection available through Junqo.
We're building toward a world where supported SIM functionality can be available across the devices you already own — phone, tablet, laptop — without the physical SIM living inside each one.
“This isn't the finished Junqo.
It's the first Junqo.”
Prototype 01 exists to answer the first important question:
Can we take the SIM out of the phone, put it into dedicated hardware, connect that hardware to our software, and begin exposing SIM functionality to another device?
We're building toward that answer one working function at a time.
And now, instead of only talking about Junqo, we can show you the hardware and software we're building it with.
Why should your physical SIM be tied to one device?
Hardware. Firmware. Companion software. Messaging. A real system to develop against.
Calls. USSD. Cellular data. Secure communication. Multi-device functionality.
Smaller. Purpose-built. Power efficient. Designed around the Junqo experience.
From Prototype 01 to a Junqo people can actually carry every day.
Prototype 01 is only the beginning. We're building Junqo publicly — the breakthroughs, the difficult engineering problems, the things that work, and the things we're still figuring out.
Follow the build and be there for what comes next.
Your physical SIM shouldn't define which device you can use. We're building Junqo so supported SIM functionality can move with you across the devices you already own.
Your SIM. Your devices. Your connection.