Puzzlecluster: PuzzlePhone's afterlife

We know Circular Devices as the creators of the modular Puzzlephone smartphone competitive to the Project Ara. Today, however, we do not write about the device itself, but about applying for its modules - which, for various reasons, are not working at the moment in a smartphone. As we know, the user will be able to independently modify the phones in kind of Ara or Puzzlephone. Some modules will be replaced over time with more modern ones, others will be replaced with those which are currently more needed... And what to do with unnecessary elements? Keep them in a drawer or maybe send for disposal or sell? They are not, however, neither environmental nor economic ways. And what if it was possible to make from them a simple computer? It is the proposal of Circular Devices! Puzzlecluster project is nothing more than a computer made of the same modules as a smartphone! The device takes the form of cabinets, cluster-like appearance and the principle of construction of a disk array. Here, however - instead of only disks – we will replace all the modules, such as a processor, memory and communication interfaces. Computer drawers are built to fit into the same modules that are used by Puzzlephone. Authors of a concept assumed that the pockets for modules are versatile - no matter what component we put into each of them.

The idea seems great. First - the modules can be exchanged between the two appliances, according to our needs. If we do not use the computer and the phone at the same time, we can still use the same memory or CPU - and that reduces costs. The fact that we can use in the computer the modules no longer used in the smartphone - I wrote in the introduction. Moreover, the structure facilitates the exchange of files between devices, and above all – it is a fun toy for gadget lovers. Circular Devices engineers went a step further - and gave the opportunity to combine several Puzzleclusters in a larger, more powerful machines. And here the fun part starts...

Unfortunately, this is so far only a preliminary concept, the first draft of the device. It is not known whether the equipment will be created at all and what form it eventually turns into. However, I hope that the creation - would be a perfect complement to modular phones. What's more, there are no obstacles to form other household devices from modules used by phones. Now we have a computer - and what would you say for a player, set-top box or TV with "building blocks"? And why not a washing machine and a microwave with a quad-core Snapdragon and 6-inch FullHD display...?