Facebook is preparing to release the modular smartphone

Google's Project Ara meant to make a modular phone that can be assembled using different units on to the "frames" provided by the company.

Are you excited about a Facebook-made modular phone? The vague description does not really say exactly Facebook has in mind and while a modular smartphone like Google's Project Ara is not out of the question, the accompanying images appear a bit thick for a mobile phone.

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The patent reveals the device would consist of a chassis, or a base, and a "plurality of functional modules that can be connected", including a speaker, microphone, touchpad, GPS, display screen, and thermometer.

According to reports by the Business Insider, many former Project Ara team members are now working in Facebook's Building 8. Facebook is declined to comment but should not surprise. However we should note that many companies do file patents from time to time and they don't always materialize as actual products, so maybe we shouldn't get our hopes up just yet. It was filed in early 2016 and published by United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on July 20, 2017. The social-media giant is apparently working on a "modular electrochemical device" which could be used as a phone among many other things.

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Bottom line, all signs point to Facebook at least toying with the idea of a truly modular smartphone or smart speaker, as "conventional consumer electronics have a short life cycle".

Under its original design, Project Ara was meant to consist of hardware modules providing common smartphone components, such as processors, displays, batteries, and cameras, as well as modules providing more specialized components, and "frames" that these modules were to be attached to. Dugan has a history with these devices and she was previously in charge of Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group. Now Facebook's Building 8 group is working new modular device. According to the patent, the hardware components in the gadgets that are marked as "outdated" can be used again, but owing to the closed system design of consumer electronics, such components are rendered unusable.

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Source: Facebook is preparing to release the modular smartphone