BLOCKS A MODULAR SMARTWATCH
By Hakeem Javaid, Blocks
Desktops. Laptops. Smartphones. Tablets. What next? Well, I think we can agree Apple confirmed it a few weeks ago. Smartwatches.
Earlier this year we had predicted just that. Smartwatches would be the next big thing in tech. We wanted to build one, but there was a problem; we couldn’t decide on what sensors to include. Should we focus on gesture control? Health sensors? A mix of both? But then it hit us. Why not let the user decide?
We all remember watching Dave’s video last year introducing the world to an amazing concept: a modular smartphone! It made perfect sense; why buy a whole new device every year just because only one part becomes outdated!? Modularity was the perfect answer. Now imagine Phonebloks applied to wearables. Blocks which you snap together to create a personal, unique smartwatch. Blocks. Yep, Dave had even inspired our name!
Wearable devices are very personal devices, so naturally being able to customise yours would be amazing, as you could make it unique to your own lifestyle! Also, because smartwatch technology is so new, there are new versions of products being released every few months, so the sustainability angle that modularity brings would also be a huge plus After months of research, we finally managed to prove our modular concept in one weekend. Not a normal weekend due to the extreme lack of sleep, but time well spent on proving it worked. We had built simple display, processor, motion sensor and temperature sensor blocks, and we could connect them in any combination we liked!
Sustainability and customisation. Both huge reasons to go for a modular device, but modularity brings an even bigger plus to devices: an open platform. A blockstore, just like an appstore, where any company or individual could build blocks with awesome tech we can’t even imagine! That’s where the big vision of blocks lies. We are not creating the perfect device, we’re making it possible for you to create the perfect device.On top of that, we’ve ended up taking modularity a step further. Why? Because wearables are not just devices, but are also fashion pieces. As a result, our modules, are now modular. Yep, modular modules! What does that mean? Well, each block now has removable covers, meaning the look of your device is now also customisable! And don’t forget, that also means we can set up an open design store.
Open software. Open hardware. Open design. We’re setting an unbeatable whole new level of open-source technology. We are already in talks with a few big companies to build a fitness block, a contactless payment block, and even a sim card block! And we are slowly gaining more interest by the day…
Want to hear some awesome news?
Over the past 8 months we’ve been working non-stop on our next prototype, and we decided to take part in Intel’s Make It Wearable challenge. Out of 400+ applicants, we ended up as one of the top 10 finalists. Not only did that bring us $50,000 funding from Intel, but also provided us with with their latest processors!
So, what’s next in our plan?
Having gone very far with the hardware and design of Blocks, we’re now focussing more on the software side. We’re currently aiming to base our OS on Samsung & Intel’s Tizen OS, and are working towards supporting Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Our team, originally 4, has now expanded to 16 extremely passionate developers and designers…and still growing!
I personally spent the past week putting together an epic promo video for Blocks, focussed entirely on sharing how awesome modularity truly is. Be sure to check it out!
We are excited to be working alongside Phonebloks. Dave’s vision will always be at the core of Blocks, and we are looking forward to helping create an innovative, limitless, modular future!
36 Notes/ Hide
- actualbluesargent liked this
- jamesdmccreary liked this
- moxaths reblogged this from phonebloks
- punando liked this
- ultrabananathings-blog reblogged this from phonebloks and added:
This is the future and i’m happy with it
- ultrabananathings-blog liked this
- incloudwetrust liked this
- seiromem liked this
- bigwezz reblogged this from phonebloks
- lopaton liked this
- michael-schulte-blogs liked this
- thelittletadpole reblogged this from phonebloks
- prismanava liked this
- jazzaloop liked this
- randomluggage reblogged this from phonebloks
- tbucksworld reblogged this from phonebloks
- tbucksworld liked this
- dakre liked this
- frefo liked this
- kaywizard reblogged this from phonebloks
- kaywizard liked this
- angry-bacon liked this
- odradeatreides reblogged this from phonebloks
- toeronto liked this
- accolyteninja liked this
- forester22-blog liked this
- flobadob222 liked this
- dorilladankster liked this
- jiltedlerk liked this
- orzath reblogged this from phonebloks
- orzath liked this
- phonebloks posted this