14 DAY TRIAL // Google’s Project Ara has attracted the attention of smartphone enthusiasts all over the world because it promises to allow users to build exactly the phone they need.
But that’s not the only perk of modularity. Today the refresh cycle of a handset is barely of a year, in some cases you need to upgrade even faster.
But if you owned a handset that allowed you to swap out its internal components (for example, the processor), you wouldn't be forced to change smartphones at all.
Project Ara is not alone in its quest to offer modular smartphone-ship. Earlier this month, we talked about the ongoing plans of Finnish company Circular Devices which is working on its own modular platform, called the Puzzlephone.
Puzzlephone aims to last up to 10 years
The creators behind Puzzlephone believe that there’s no point in discarding a perfectly viable smartphone just because you need more power under the hood or a better camera module.
The Puzzlephone is built around the so-called “Brain modules” which include the CPU and all the others components required to keep the handset operating at full speed like a battery.
The designers of Puzzlephone are also planning to reuse old batteries to back up power, so they have come up with the Puzzlecluster concept.
We have a few drawings of this system, which show a chassis featuring slots that can house reused modules. In turn, they can be interconnected in order to form a fully integrated computer cluster.
Puzzlecluster is just a concept for the time being
In its first instance, the Puzzlecluster will have to come equipped with a power supply, internal connectivity for the Puzzlephone Brain modules plus supporting peripherals and external connectivity.
Puzzlephone battery modules will also be used for built-in UPS functionalities. So basically, the Puzzlecluster will support a prolonged usable life cycle of Puzzlephone’s Brain modules.
For the time being, Circular Devices hasn't said anything about when we can expect Puzzlecluster to actually start shipping to consumers or what software will be used to manage the hardware, so many details about this initiative remain unknown.
But keep an eye on us, as we update you with the latest information about Puzzlecluster.
