Dec 2, 2014 | By Alec

Though the world is obsessed with (the latest model) smartphones, people know relatively little about their environmental impact and inner workings. Did you, for instance, know that large parts of your phone don't need to be replaced every two years? Typically, a smartphone battery starts losing its power and efficiency after about two years or so, though your screen will easily last for 10 years.

Other parts of your phone have an equally long life ahead of them, so why replace everything every one or two years? That's not only very expensive, it also impacts the environment. That's why several projects are already attempting to solve that issue with easily-replaced, multi-component smartphones. You might have heard of Google's Project Ara that consists of a handful of interchangeable parts and seeks to launch in the middle of 2015.

However a curious challenger has arisen, all the way from Finland: The Puzzlephone, that is aiming for a September 2015 release itself. While somewhat like the Project Ara, it instead features a simple and inviting design, an open-source, Linux-based philosophy and relies on 3D printing to develop it.

This intriguing new smartphone is being developed by a team of international scientists from the company Circular Devices, and are led by Spanish engineer Alejandro Santacreu. Their mission, 'to develop reliable, upgradable and repairable modular mobile devices and create the marketplace platform for the hardware developers.'

Their philosophy is inspiring. When talking about the smartphone market, Santacreu called it a disaster waiting to happen. 'What [smartphone developers] forget to mention is that it's also an 'unaffordable' scenario: six billion people using devices with a lifespan shorter than 18 months and not meant to be repaired or upgraded? It is like the perfect recipe for a total disaster, those devices are built with rare and scarce materials.'

Instead, their devices will therefore feature an easy, repairable and upgradeable design, using recyclable components and materials. As the pictures illustrate, it will consist of just three parts: the brain, (electronics), the spine (display and case) and the heart (battery). All these are easily replaced, repaired and upgraded. If a new sized model is released, simply replace the spine. Need a new battery? No need to buy a new phone. The concept itself is brilliant.


The Puzzlephone concept

For now, however ,this concept is still full in R&D, though it's already developing some interesting prototypes using 3D printing technology. To do so, they have teamed up with Versoteq, a Finland-based 3D printing and software developer. You can see their printers at work in the video below:

We currently don't know if 3D printing will also play a role in the final production process. For that, and for more about this intriguing phone's intermodularity and capabilities, we'll have to patiently wait for another update. It will be especially interesting to see if this phone can be marketed at a competitive price, as the concept of a phone that is always up to date and never needs replacing is truly remarkable.

 

 

Posted in 3D Printing Applications

 

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AMnerd wrote at 12/4/2014 12:09:48 PM:

"Need a new battery? No need to buy a new phone." Wow what a novel and innovative concept! But really, the article mentions that the chassis and hardware will be replaceable, so you are really just getting a new phone in two parts instead of one. This would be similar to replacing a laptop by buying a screen and the laptop itself separately. Who wants that?



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