Modu phone: The evolution of exchangeable covers
Tags: stereo, car, standalone, concept
We were recently contacted by a PR man so excited by what he was going to tell us, we actually thought he was going to pass out. But as he managed to string a few sentences together we realised what he was so excited by -- the Modu phone.
It might not look like much, but it's a very interesting concept with masses of potential. Better yet, it's not just a concept, this thing really exists and will be out later this year. So why are we so excited by a tiny phone with a strange looking keypad?
Think of this phone as a SIM or memory card. Imagine you could turn it into a multitude of different phones or devices, without needing to pay as much for those devices as you would if they were standalone products -- sounds interesting, right?
On its own, the Modu phone might not have a standard keypad, but it will still make calls. Put it into a 'sleeve' or 'jacket' (which are essentially cases) and you can turn it into a multitude of different devices.
If, for example, you're going out clubbing, you can pop it into a fashion sleeve with a fancy design. If you're on a business trip and you need a phone with a Qwerty keypad and large screen, you just have to pop it into a 'jacket' with those features.
The idea is that when you buy the Modu phone, you'll get a range of two or three sleeves with it and therefore you're essentially getting three phones for the price of one. If you need extra sleeves you'll be able to buy them for €40-€60 (£30-£45) depending on functionality.
The Modu phone will be available from the 1 October in Israel, Italy and Russia to start with, and it'll cost €200 (£150) unsubsidised with two jackets. According to Modu, there'll be around ten jackets to choose from.
Turning the Modu phone into other phones isn't as far as this device can go. Have a look at the next few pages to see what we're talking about. -Andrew Lim
Update: We got our hands on the Modu phone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Click here for photos of the Modu phone in person.
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AnonymousThu 7 February, 2008 11:15pm
Hey anonymous-'Duh', I don't think you actually got it.
Duh.
AnonymousFri 8 February, 2008 12:18am
Duh.... well.... think of a sim card, but maybe a sim card that can store 4GB of music, video and photos
AnonymousFri 8 February, 2008 4:59am
what if I want to use satnav and listen to music and make a phonecall at the same time? duh?
AnonymousFri 8 February, 2008 5:04am
Exciting? Revolutionary? Amazing? Lame is more like it. *YAWN*
AnonymousFri 8 February, 2008 11:19am
VERY lame.... I'm not sure I'd want to carry a bunch of sleeves or jackets with me wherever I took my phone.. Personally, I think this product is all "smoke", if the product was here already it would be here, not coming in 12 months or so...
AnonymousFri 8 February, 2008 3:15pm
i'm unclear who the target audience (demographic) is for this device.. there are a number of devices already on the market which perform the listed functions (i.e: phone, music, gps, etc) without the additional hardware (aka: 'jacket').. it's a new toy, but at first gloss seems little more than that..
what am i missing?
AnonymousSun 10 February, 2008 2:36am
This may be handy, but I'll keep my do everything archos 605 wifi for now. (of course it's hacked to run qtopia Linux)
AnonymousMon 11 February, 2008 8:10pm
i like that idea. sim card with 16 gb of memory onboard is better than this phone module, but i think, nobody can create it at this moment.
AnonymousTue 19 February, 2008 9:24am
Duh ur absolutely right, its sim card with number of attachments.
AnonymousWed 20 February, 2008 4:57am
Sim card? Really? You can make calls just with your sim card? Wow!! Get real. Would I buy one? Sure, as a nice toy - I can use it as part of my in-car navigation system (integrated calling would obviously feature here), something that would turn down the music when a call arrived, etc. Would I carry all the jackets with me? Of course not! DUH. The navigation jacket stays in my car. The speaker jacket in my bag. The tiny phone will slip in my pocket when I'm on the move. Sorry your imagination is so limited.
AnonymousWed 9 April, 2008 8:10pm
how much is it?
duh?
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AnonymousThu 7 February, 2008 8:24pm
It's called a "sim card". Duh.