Blocks, the Smartwatch You Can Build the Way You Want

Meet Blocks, the Project Ara of smartwatches that lets you choose what features you want

blocks project ara smartwatches lets choose features want — Image used with permission by copyright holder

We all know about Google’s Project Ara, a modular phone that would let you build your device by picking whatever parts you need. Want GPS and a bigger battery? Just pick those parts and you’re on your way. So, what if the same concept was applied to smartwatches? Enter Blocks.

Blocks is a modular smartwatch that, much like Project Ara, allows you to choose what you want in a wearable gadget. Want a screen and a bigger battery? The choice is completely up to you. You can combine pieces, such as a fingerprint sensor, a heart rate monitor, a microphone, a SIM card slot, and a camera, in order to make the smartwatch yours. You can also opt to choose apps that range from email to Twitter to music.

If you decide to change up your smartwatch a bit, Blocks allows you to swap out pieces as you see fit, even the screen. The platform itself is open, allowing developers to make apps and blocks (the name for the components) to call their own.

Unfortunately, while Blocks is “currently in production,” we do not know when we can expect the device to be available. Even so, the potential is there for Blocks to be quite a practical product.

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