41–50 of 71 posts
http://www.talkandroid.com/154586-rumor-upcoming-motorola-x-...
> And finally— the mysterious device(s) will be completely customizable by allowing the device’s color, RAM and internal storage to be completely configurable.
The (imho) most important ones in short:
* Mechanical modularity increases size and cost, makes it harder to create a beautiful phone, and is not in the manufacturer's commercial interests. Therefore, it would be hard to find companies/customers to build/buy this.
* Many current components are highly integrated - SoCs, sensor ICs, Display/Touchscreen, etc. Making these modular would require development of many new components (and would increase size, cost, power consumption).
* The concept assumes that all components use a common communication backplane. This is not feasible, as a variety of voltages and communication protocols are in use in a typical phone (I2C, SPI, UART, USB, various display protocols, etc.). Many components need very short connections to the CPU/GPU/whatever without crossing other PCB traces. It is not really feasible to make this work with a generic communication backplane. Proper heat dissipation for CPU/GPU is another problem.
In summary, while it is certainly feasible to build a modular phone (look at David Mellis' DIY cellphone [3]), doing so for current hardware would involve major engineering effort (== design and manufacture dozens of new chips) and would result in less stable, more expensive, and less beautiful phones requiring more power.
Nevertheless, such ideas are certainly helpful to catalyze thoughts about future hardware.
[1] http://www.reddit.com/r/gadgets/comments/1m6y1q/that_phonebl...
[2] http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1m4pmy/el...
[many] http://www.reddit.com/r/all/search?q=phonebloks&restrict_sr=...
My biggest gripe with this is, what problem does this actually solve? Phones exist as they are as a sealed unit, so if something fails or you want something new, you buy it from the manufacturer or network. Networks or manufacturers wouldn't want this kind of thing because it would affect their profits, so what's in it for them? What solution is it offering them? That's before we even get into the engineering flaws..…
Well standards and replaceable parts brought the PC to world domination. And the networks should be removed from the device business at all. So a smartphone that could be assembled and upgraded with full control and root access is idea that I stand behind. And if it forces the carries to compete on services and not lock people with contracts all the better.
See the problem, is that this idea, with today's technology would be more expensive to build than the device it is competing against. (if it was possible at all)
And if you need to go against the network too, it means competing against $200 iPhone5s and the like.
While this is obviously very far from feasible, what _is_ possible is a return to servicability for the two parts that most commonly fail: batteries and screens. The rest of the phone is usually fine unless subjected to serious physical battering. The legendarily reliable Nokia 3210 is your landmark here. Note that in a modern phone, the screen strength usually is achieved by bonding it to the case, so in practice "r…
Ideally, I wouldn't mind paying ~$100 for a new screen (or any other assembly), but the problem is that the price of replacing exceeds the cost of the part.
One trend is towards purchasing "accidential" warranties and allowing the customer to trade in for a new device if / when something happens. But the issue is that this coverage is at most 2 - 3 years.
Another issue is that in America, for example, most carriers want to subsidize the phones their customers purchase. By doing this, most people don't see the need for keeping an older phone more than 1.5 - 2 years. If the cost of the phone is taken out of the monthly payments and forced upon the customers, this may allow more people to keep phones for a lot longer.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
E-ink has too many problems, and it's not very good for anything other than mostly static content. If you're thinking "like Pebble" - Pebble doesn't use e-ink. It's using a type of LCD similar to PixelQi. Mirasol on the other hand, has a ton of potential, and it seems to improve the overall battery life of a device by at least 3x (which means the display itself should be many times more efficient than LCD). Too bad n…
Despite the disadvantages, I would really like an e-ink phone (and netbook) for the significant increase in battery life it could give. The software could be designed so that it is usable on e-ink. No animations, no reliance on color for indicators, flipping instead of scrolling, etc. As you say, it would only really work for static content, but for me that is fine.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Europe, the manufacturer is _legally required_ to either accept old devices for recycling or contribute to a shared fund for doing this. (The program is called "WEEE": http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/topics/waste/1... )
Which is an enormous racket and close to impossible to comply with economically for small manufacturers in some countries. As an example, in Germany, if you are a small electronics manufacturer and sign up to the system, you get entered into a lottery weighted by the amount of devices (measured by weight) you ship, and whenever a container of e-waste gets filled, a randomly selected unlucky participant has to take po…
I'm still wrestling with CE approval for a device containing a GSM module. Which looks like it's going to be about E15000 for the radio and electrical testing, plus the complexities of RoHS compliance (random lab testing required, even if all your components are certified lead-free?)
I've concluded that Tindie-style electronics cottage industry is basically illegal in the EU. Fortunately I can still buy stuff from dealextreme and alibaba that doesn't have to comply..
People don't bother upgrading their PC boxes so why would they care about updating part of their phone ?
It's cool on paper, as long as you don't think about the technical implications. I guess it's a good project marketing-wise.
EDIT: this page is more comprehensive: http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/04/24/break-the-laws-o-phy...