Mobile phones used to be a small device that allowed you to make calls and get texts but in recent years they have grown to be much larger and smarter devices. The problem is that innovation is difficult for huge companies, if they change their product too much they could lose the interest of the audience but if they change too little nobody has a reason to upgrade. However, the smaller developers out there are able to innovate and create products that can make a huge difference to the way that we interface with technology.

RePhone is a Kickstarter project by Seeed which aims to revolutionize the smartphone market with their new modular mobile phone system. The system-on-chip module which is the heart of the device is a tiny computer which is the size of a 10p piece. You can then attach other modules to this chip which could include a touch screen, speaker, camera or even a motion sensor. The idea behind the project is to give the users the ability to create their own projects. One example is to attach this to your dog’s collar and making a phone call to your dog. You can also attach the module to a door, or a window or even a plant. You could attach one to a computer and send it commands through your phone.

The possibilities of a project like this are endless. The device is compatible with Arduino, Javascript and Lua and this could lead to many great and exciting projects happening in the future. I’ve done some research with into similar embedded systems before and the number of interesting ways to interact with the world using these tiny embedded computers is incredible. The kickstarter has already reached its funding goal but it isn’t too late to pledge some money and get one for yourself.