The market for smartphones is wide open for the taking and new handset makers are taking the opportunity to execute their ambitious visions. Today, the spotlight is on German company Shift, who is working on a new modular device that sports the additional feature of being dual-OS capable.
According to a report from Phone Arena, the company plans to fuse these two concepts together in its upcoming handset called the Shift5+. The Shift official website described the device as their "flagship model."
It's still not completely clear how customizable the Shift5+ is going to be, but the developer has revealed that components such as the battery and display can be swapped. Users will be able to choose from a variety of options although it hasn't been confirmed how much components are going to cost.
Specs of the Shift5+ base unit are interesting with a five-inch IPS display and a Qualcomm processor. It also includes at least 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage space, 13-megapixel rear camera, five-megapixel front camera, and battery capacity of up to 3000 mAh.
Perhaps one of the most interesting features of the new German smartphone is its ability to be powered by both Android and Windows 10. However, it won't be a dual-boot handset, per se. Consumers can choose between either OS as they purchase the device, but they won't be able to switch between Windows 10 and Android after getting the handset.
Pre-orders begin this coming December, but Shift has announced that the smartphone will not start shipping until the third quarter of 2016. The Shift5+ will reportedly cost €399 or around $342.
Other modular smartphones have been making their mark on the gadgets circuit this year. There's Google's Project Ara in the mainstream, but also Fairphone 2 and PuzzlePhone in the mix, according to a report from Tech Times.
The Project Ara was already teased during the Google I/O last May, with key components in the device swappable so the users can ideally customize the specs of their phones. Its release date was delayed to 2016. As the team reasoned on Twitter, the project includes "Lots of iterations... More than we thought."
The PuzzlePhone will reportedly be out in Sept. 2016, but it will be divided into three parts: the brain with the key hardware like processor and RAM, the spine with the display and the heart with the battery and electronics.
The Fairphone 2 comes ahead as it was already released last month fitted with Snapdragon 801 SoC, 2 GB of RAM, 8MP camera, 2,420 mAh battery and 32 GB of storage. While a screwdriver is necessary to change most parts, it's still impressive to have every part of the phone customizable.
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Source: Shift5+ Expected To Run Both Windows 10 & Android, More Details on Modular Smartphone Revealed
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