Remember Phonebloks, the company that teased and tantalised you with a video of a modular smartphone where you could easily interchange panels on the back for a better camera, improved battery life or additional storage. Well, another company, Blocks Wearables talked about a modular smartwatch at CES and unlike the modular smartphone by Phonebloks, the smartwatch might actually be launched!
Of course, the essential central block in the modular smartwatch will be the watch face. This will contain a screen and other basic hardware which is necessary for the watch to function. But then the strap, comprised of 6 blocks, will be interchangeable and each one will have different capabilities. You will be able to add links which extend battery, monitor heart rate, allow the user to make contactless payments, and much more.
This smartwatch will be dead in the water unless it gathers funding. Blocks Wearables anticipates to do this in June on Kickstarter.com; a crowd-sourcing website ideal for raising money for projects such as this one.
The concept of this watch is great, however I’m unconvinced it will be a success (if it even gets funding that is). Smartwatches were almost non-existent this time last year and I think it might be too soon for a modular smartwatch to be made; manufactures still haven’t managed to make an perfect regular smartwatch yet (although the LG G Watch and the Pebble Steel come close). The reason the Phonebloks modular smartphone was never made was because it was too complex and I feat that might also be an issue that Blocks Wearables might run in to.