One of the next trends in smartphones could well be modular phones. We’ve seen concepts from Phonebloks and Motorola’s Ara project (which Google is hanging on to after the sale of Motorola to Lenovo) and ZTE. Another such concept is making its way to Mobile World Congress. As with other such designs, the idea behind the Puzzle Phone is to offer a smartphone made up of interchangeable modules.
Unlike other proposals, the Puzzle Phone takes a simpler approach. It consists of only three modules: The “H” Cradle is the main component. It comes with the display, stereo speakers and volume controls. The “brain” adds the processor, rear camera, 3.5mm audio jack and power button. The last is a battery module with secondary electronics. The latter two modules slide into the “H” cradle and neodium magnets and a mechanical latch keep everything together.
Behind the Puzzle Phone is the Puzzle Phone Compatible Standard (PPCS), a non-profit organization that would maintain the standards that manufacturers would have to adhere to offer modules.
The advantage the Puzzle Phone has over similar concepts is its simplicity. With fewer modules, the technology and rules required to ensure that they all work properly together are greatly simplified.
The Puzzle Phone team is now looking for supporters and investors to move to the next stage, a “ready to burn” prototype running a forked version of Android that follows the Puzzle Phone Standard Definition Greenbook.
Sources : Puzzle Phone // Concept Phones