After successfully acquiring EU funding and support which will pay for R&D, Circular Devices is now getting ready to launch a crowdfunding campaign for their modular smartphone the PuzzlePhone.

Not much information has been released as of late about the progress of the PuzzlePhone, but we are all hoping that this will change leading up to, and at the crowdfunding campaign.

Back in January of 2013 Alejandro Santacreu Alfonso uploaded the first ever video showing off a concept upon which the main idea of the PuzzlePhone was based. A few months later Alejandro introduced the PuzzlePhone at Pitch and Beer 2nd Edition and wins a trip to the Cambridge venture camp 2013. Alejandro then went on to show off the concept of the PuzzlePhone at larger events such as Mobile World Congress 2014 which was held in Barcelona, and 4YFN (4 Years From Now). During this time Laurea UAS approved an initial budget, which went on to support first project expenses, Alejandro got some new team members and Circular Devices OY (Ltd) the company behind the PuzzlePhone was incorporated.

What We Know About The PuzzlePhone

The PuzzlePhone presents a very simple modular solution, it contains three main modules which have been classified as the Heart, Brain and the Spine:

The Brain module – This is the main module, it consists of all the main electronics such as the SOC, memory and camera.

The Heart – The heart will be the module consisting of the battery which powers the device and any other secondary electronics that are needed to add additional functionalities.

The Spine – This module will hold the capacitive touchscreen display coupled with earphone and main speaker.

Click ARM modular technology will be the main tech powering the PuzzlePhone, along with another system which in turn extends its modular capabilities.

Because the PuzzlePhone will be built upon the Click ARM modular platform, out of the box it will be compatible with multiple Linux OS such as: Android, Tizen, Ubuntu Touch and Madext. These operating systems can be installed on separate Brain modules and use interchangeably.

Kickstarter Date, Release Date and Price

In order for modular smartphones/devices to really take off they have to be priced reasonably well, they need to have very low price for standard modules and only increase the price for more premium modules. We expect the lowest priced PuzzlePhone to be roughly that of the price of a low end smartphone, which puts it close to the $250 mark (not an official price).

Circular devices’ announcement of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign has only recently been made, and we expect them to kick things off before the end of 2015. A release date for the device is set for 2016.

Edit & Update 10/20/2015:

From a recent communication with Circular Devices, some very important information was shared on the following topics: Price, crowdsourcing platform, modular technology, Operating System.

Price – I previously thought that the PuzzlePhone modular smartphone would have a low-end offering (since it is a modular device), but I have been made aware that Circular Devices seem to be focusing on providing a mid to high end device, so please, take my predicted $250 price with not only a grain of salt but rather a salt and pepper combination.

Crowdsourcing platform – The use of Kickstarter as the crowdfunding platform MIGHT not be official.

Modular Technology & Operating System – This is a big one! When ModularAndroid broke news that ImasD’s Clickarm One Modular Tablet is delayed due to a patent related problem, Circular Devices made us aware that ImasD’s Click ARM modular technology will not be the only tech that will power the PuzzlePhone (follow this link for more information).

Circular Devices has made the decision to have the PuzzlePhone’s technology made based on technology that will be created by their partners located in the city of Oulu. Click ARM’s modular technology will only be a considered future option. Circular Devices explains that it “will mostly depend on how ImasD rides the product development roadmap. So the Clickarm path is not discarded at all. We just will go for a wider range of options that will make the development of the standard faster and, above all, easier for third parties to join and be part of the PuzzlePhone Compatible Open Standard.”

This new technology that the PuzzlePhone will be based upon will run Google’s Android OS.

Stay tuned for more information on the PuzzlePhone.