How Would Modular Phones Look in the Real World?

[pc747]

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Does this give you hope for the potential of Google's Project Ara?

 

[Ollie]

Definitely. I see Ara succeeding where these guys won't. Ara has major funding thrown behind it and this video is a crowd funding advert.

 

[pc747]

Definitely. I see Ara succeeding where these guys won't. Ara has major funding thrown behind it and this video is a crowd funding advert.

Agree, but when I first saw the images of Ara I liked the concept but did not like the look. I just did not have enough of an imagination to see it in a practical look. But the video in the op helped put the image of Ara in a light that I could actually see owning and using as a daily driver. Where before I was excited by the concept but saw it as a project maybe 5 years out I now see this as something that could become a reality even sooner. I just hope it catches on where we are able to see this evolve into a reality where we are not only able to swap out hardware but software as well (ie Windows and Android). If I could swap out a module and go from android to windows that would be awesome.

 

[pc747]

By the way, as @Ollie pointed out, the project in the op is an actual crowdfunding going on now (Indiegogo Continues To Have No Standards Allows 50 000 Flex-Fund Campaign For Vaporware Modular Smartphone) I am in no way even hinting at funding that project as I would recommend saving your money for Ara. I just like the look of the video because it did a nice job bringing a nice visual cue for where modular devices can go. And I see 3 to 4 years from now modular phones blowing past the concept look in the op.

 

[boidsonly]

Regardless of who gets the tech off the ground, this will be the future of a whole field of devices-and the carriers will fight it tooth and nail.
This appeals to me because I am a builder/tinkerer; it just rubs me the right way...

 

[Ollie]

I like the current look of Ara. You will be able to customize the look of it pretty much any way that you like.

 

[civiksi]

Regardless of who gets the tech off the ground, this will be the future of a whole field of devices-and the carriers will fight it tooth and nail.
This appeals to me because I am a builder/tinkerer; it just rubs me the right way...

I love the idea but you are exactly right. Theres no money for those guys.

 

[Valvoline]

cant help but picturing myself frantically scrambling on the ground looking for all the pieces after i dropped the bish, lol!

 

[bucho602]

Me want. BIG TIME!!!!!! I'm going all battery on this biyotch.

 

[cr6]

Ara may have a tough time if these guys are able to bring it mainstream first.

S5 tap'n

 

[Jonny Kansas]

The biggest hurdle for anyone making a device like this, whether these guys or Ara is going to be getting the support from hardware manufacturers. I love the idea of swapping out CPU's when the device starts to lag, but if no one's making better CPU modules for it, there's no point.

I'm also a tinkerer and enjoy customizing things, so one of these devices would be right up my alley, assuming there was actually potential for upgrading the device as time goes on.

 

[kodiak799]

There's really no reason for the carriers to resist this, except for one huge reason: COMPATABILITY. I imagine it would be a real nightmare trying to troubleshoot customers' half-baked module configurations.

I don't think this will ever get off the ground in a significant way. Just look at computers and the shelf-life of motherboards and compatibility issues across different hardware. The idea you'll just buy something off the shelf and plug it into your phone IS the concept, but probably not remotely feasible in practice.

I think the best we can hope for to come out of this is a la carte customization. Don't expect to be able to just swap out the CPU or add more ram.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

There's really no reason for the carriers to resist this, except for one huge reason: COMPATABILITY. I imagine it would be a real nightmare trying to troubleshoot customers' half-baked module configurations.

I don't think this will ever get off the ground in a significant way. Just look at computers and the shelf-life of motherboards and compatibility issues across different hardware. The idea you'll just buy something off the shelf and plug it into your phone IS the concept, but probably not remotely feasible in practice.

I think the best we can hope for to come out of this is a la carte customization. Don't expect to be able to just swap out the CPU or add more ram.

Thank you for kind of furthering my point. The only way this is really going to stick is to get some sort of standards in place as far as module size, connector type. Especially if more than one device maker/project team are going to put out modular devices like this.

With unified standards, I could more easily buy a CPU from one of these Fontkraft phones and slap it in my Ara device, or vice versa. As soon as everyone with this idea starts going their own way, you'll have even more trouble getting the component manufacturers to support all of them. My money would be on Ara in that case, just because of who's behind them.

If I'm a manufacturer of these CPU chips, I'm going to keep in mind exactly what you've pointed out about life of those components and I'm not gong to manufacture a bunch of 6-pin modules for one device, 4-pin modules for another, and so on and have all of that back stock just sit and collect dust. However, if I could make one standard module that works in any of those devices, now I'm seeing dollar signs as more and more of those devices are built and sold.

 

[Valvoline]

Main reason this was invented so you can upgrade components without having to upgrade the whole phone. But don't manufactorers WANT you to desire the next best thing and pay full price for it rather than going out and but a small component at a fraction of the price? I love the idea, and I'm sure so will consumers, but I'm not sure how it will fly with manufacturers since it seems to me to be money out of their pockets. Thoughts?

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Main reason this was invented so you can upgrade components without having to upgrade the whole phone. But don't manufactorers WANT you to desire the next best thing and pay full price for it rather than going out and but a small component at a fraction of the price? I love the idea, and I'm sure so will consumers, but I'm not sure how it will fly with manufacturers since it seems to me to be money out of their pockets. Thoughts?

If they can get the chip and other module manufacturers onboard, I don't think it'll make much of a difference. As long as they're not getting a CPU from Samsung or a battery from Motorola, there won't be anything that oems can really do to stop it.