Items tagged with Modular
Laptops are one of the most egregious product categories with regards to e-waste. Most laptops are made of almost completely proprietary components that are exclusive to that device, and the chips are generally BGA, meaning it's impractical to desolder and re-use them when a board fails. Framework was the first...
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Modular laptop trailblazer Framework has made some big new product announcements at the GDC 2023. Where previously the DIY-friendly laptop maker had one Intel-based 13-inch model, it has now launched a 16-inch device – and thrown the option of AMD Ryzen processors into the mix. One more surprise announcement, was of...
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Laptops have never really been a go-to model when it comes to upgrades. While some high-end gaming laptops allow you to swap out the memory, processor, and even GPU in some cases, most thin-and-light laptops are designed so that upgrades are extremely difficult or impossible once you get it in your hands.
Framework...
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Dell has just unveiled a rather intriguing new desktop that is incredibly modular in design. Meet the OptiPlex 7070 Ultra, which manages to house a fully functioning PC within its display stand in a zero-footprint design. Dell is billing this hybrid all-in-one as the "world's most flexible commercial desktop".
So...
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Now, more than ever, manufacturers are exploring alternative ways to differentiate smartphones. One savior to the oversaturated smartphone market, that is rife with products with similar specifications, may come in the form of modularity. The promise of a modular phone, is an ability to adapt to a user’s needs in the moment. Purchasing...
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Google's Project Ara was ambitious from the start. The goal of Project Ara was to produce a modular smartphone platform, that could updated, upgraded, or augmented, by simply snapping new components in place. The concept seemed like a good idea. If your phone's performance was up to snuff, but you wanted a better...
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Google parent company Alphabet apparently has zero tolerance for failure and money-losing endeavors. We’ve seen Alphabet toss its Boston Dynamics robotics division to the side, and the company recently slashed Google Fiber’s staff in half. And now it looks as though the latest victim is the ambitious Project Ara...
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When it comes to “modern” gaming consoles like the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, it almost seems like we’re often stuck in the past. Sony and Microsoft released these fixed-hardware platforms, and we’re stuck with them for 7 to 8 years until the next generation comes around, and then the process repeats itself. Compared...
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Microsoft is actually starting to pick up a bit of steam with its Surface hardware. Back in October, the company unveiled the Surface Pro 4 and the Surface Book, and the company is reportedly developing a Surface Phone to replace its Lumia smartphone family. So what else is in the pipeline for the Surface hardware...
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Google has making some huge strides in perfecting its Project Ara modular smartphone platform. Project Ara will allow customers to customize nearly every aspect of the their smartphones from processors to batteries to wireless connectivity to display. You want a higher resolution display? Just swap out your old...
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Google’s efforts to build a modular, “LEGO” smartphone are coming closer to fruition. When we last visited Project Ara back in late December, Google was in the midst of testing early version of its Spiral 2 prototypes. At the time, project lead Paul Eremenko revealed that not only would production Ara smartphones be...
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Google’s modular phone may be a long shot, but the prototype is ready and the project is still alive and kicking – and it may now get a boost from the recent popularity of health tech for mobile phones. Paul Eremenko, the head of Project Ara, spoke recently at the Engadget Engage conference and...
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There's probably a million and one reasons that skeptics can think of as to why Project Ara is doomed. And to be fair to the naysayers, the initiative certainly seemed doomed when Google sold its Motorola Mobility division to Lenovo for $2.91 billion earlier this year. But Project Ara lives, and though it remains to...
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Google’s Project Ara seeks to develop a modular smartphone that could revolutionize the mobile industry, but one company--Entegra Technologies--has already announced a modular tablet that it believes will bring about radical change perhaps even sooner. The Entegra Crossfire Pro is a tablet whose components you...
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Even though Google’s Project Ara modular smartphone isn’t a Real Thing just yet (but allegedly will be come January), creative minds are already cooking up intriguing modules and add-ons for the smartphone. One from Samuel Herb, “The Aether Technician”, is a device that attaches to the Ara...
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Google’s Project Ara, an effort to develop a modular smartphone platform, sounded at first as much like vaporware as anything we’ve ever encountered, but Google is actually making it happen. In a whimsically upbeat YouTube video, Dave Hakkens (the guy who created the Phonebloks design that appears to be...
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When Google unexpectedly sold off Motorola to Lenovo after investing heavily in the Moto X and Moto G smartphones and owning the Motorola brand for less than two years, the fate of the Project Ara modular smartphone seemed doomed, but it appears that the project is very much alive and well. According to Time’s...
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Razer has impressed at past CES events with innovative ideas such as Project Fiona (which became the Razer Edge), and the company is looking to conjure up that magic again with Project Christine, a unique, modular approach to constructing a gaming PC. Basically, the machine starts out with a spine of sorts onto which...
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Motorola has embarked on the ambitious and exciting Project Ara, an effort to realize the vision of the PhoneBloks concept of a modular smartphone, and it sounds as though things are rolling along faster than most might expect. In an interview with YouTuber (and professional ultimate Frisbee player) Marques Brownlee...
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Our eyes got all misty dreaming about the future portended by the Phonebloks modular smartphone design when we heard about it in September, but thanks to Google-owned Motorola (as well as Dave Hakkens, the Phonebloks designer), that future could be coming astonishingly fast. Motorola announced that it’s actively...
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Xi3’s modular computers are intriguing to say the least, and now the company is expanding to the data center with a unique take on drive clusters in the FreeForm dataCENT3R. The structure features two vertical steel support posts with seven horizontal curved steel bars perched atop a metal base that has wheels...
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Although Xi3 made CES headlines for other things this week, the company has some tasty wares to show off in the form of its unique modular computers, and we got a firsthand look. There are just a handful of models in the lineup thus far, but despite their small size, these machines pack a wallop. The X7A is the highest end unit in the group...
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