Remember Modu? A few years ago these guys took MWC by storm, promising a tiny phone that fit into different sleeves that offered various functions like game playing and movie playback. Why not have one phone that’s good at all of those and didn’t use the sleeves? We still don’t know, but Modu is still kicking and they just released the Modu T.
The T is a Java-powered 3G miniphone that is apparently the “lightest phone in the world,” not that people have been concerned about weight thus far. Regardless, it appears to be available overseas and an upcoming Android model, called the W, should be considerably more interesting.
Regardless, you’ll probably never see it in the wild so enjoy looking at it here. → Read More
Modu isn’t well known in the US, but they make a tiny handset that’s been out for a while. While their current product offering has been criticized for being outdated and clunky, the good news (at least for them) is that they have developed a new Android based handset which should be available in the near future. That handset leaked, and while it’s got some strange things about it (no 3G, have to use wifi for data transfer) this may be because it’s a prototype. The Modu android phone also has a built in FM receiver, but you have to use a head set with it in order to hear the tunes. The leaker sent over some video, you can check it out after the jump. → Read More
Israeli modular phone manufacturer, Modu, looks to be shaking things up with its next modular gadget – Modu 2. In a recent interview with TechRadar, Modu CEO, Dov Moran, has let (some of) the beans spill on Modu’s ambitions for its next generation of devices. → Read More
Robin at TC writes:
Modu, the heavily-funded Israel-based modular phone manufacturer that enables you to slip a light mobile device into a variety of so-called “jackets” (think music players, other cellphones, car stereos, digital cameras, etc.), is prepping its big commercial launch for this year by unveiling its family of phones at the upcoming Mobile World Congress. The actual sales for the device will start at the beginning of next quarter.
Modu started teasing everyone in January last year, and revealed what it had in store a month after. Crunchgear’s John Biggs dubbed it cool but flawed, but this was all way before the company ever had something to show for its promises and – meanwhile – over $85 million in venture capital funding. Well, now they do. → Read More
Modu, the heavily-funded Israel-based modular phone manufacturer that enables you to slip a light mobile device into a variety of so-called “jackets” (think music players, other cellphones, car stereos, digital cameras, etc.), is prepping its big commercial launch for this year by unveiling its family of phones at the upcoming Mobile World Congress. The actual sales for the device will start at the beginning of next quarter.
Modu started teasing everyone in January last year, and revealed what it had in store a month after. Crunchgear’s John Biggs dubbed it cool but flawed, but this was all way before the company ever had something to show for its promises and – meanwhile – over $127 million in venture capital funding. Well, now they do. → Read More
Calcalist is reporting (Hebrew only) that Modu has brought in another $7M in funding courtesy of Qualcomm which as part of the agreement will also manufacture the Modu “core”.
Modu has had a whirlwind of a year, first debuting to much fanfare at last year’s Mobile World Congress, where we had a chance to sit with the company’s CEO, Dov Moran, for a 1-on-1 for a demo. The company then went on to raise a whopping $100M round. Then in November Modu announced a 33%, 88-employee downsizing in November. → Read More
Calcalist is reporting (Hebrew only) that Modu has brought in another $7M in funding courtesy of Qualcomm which as part of the agreement will also manufacture the Modu “core”.
Modu has had a whirlwind of a year, first debuting to much fanfare at last year’s Mobile World Congress, where we had a chance to sit with the company’s CEO, Dov Moran, for a 1-on-1 for a demo. The company then went on to raise a whopping $100M round. Then in November Modu announced a 33%, 88-employee downsizing in November. → Read More
The Guinness Book of World Records has named the Modu mini phone “the lightest mobile phone in the world.” The phone, which we saw at MWC this year, weighs a mere 1.4 ounces and is .3 inches thick. Modu received a $100 million cash infusion last week. The phone, as you’ll remember, works as a standalone mobile device or fits into different “jackets” that basically take control of the mini core and can act as smartphones, game phones, or music phones. Expect Modu to hit the US late this year or early next. Product Page → Read More
Modu, an Israeli startup founded in 2007, is going to be adding $100 million to the $20 million in venture capital they’ve already raised, says Israeli newspaper The Globes. The company will create tiny modular phones that can be slipped into different device “jackets”— like an MP3 player, GPS, bigger cell phone, car stereo, or digital camera (see here for a demo video). The round hasn’t closed yet, but clearly the details are leaking. The Globes isn’t naming the new investors but says that the company is being valued at $150 million pre-money, meaning they’re giving away a whopping 40% of the equity in this round. They must really need the money to get the product to market to take that kind of dilution. Founder Dov Moran’s previous company, M-Systems, pioneered the concept of the USB flash drive and sold to SanDisk for $1.6 billion in 2006. See an interview with Moran here. CrunchBase Information Modu Dov Moran Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
[photopress:scaled.IMG_1205.JPG,full,pp_image] I was pretty down on Modu, which is essentially a module-based GSM system that consists of a tiny handset — no bigger than a business card and about a quarter-inch thick — and a bunch of “mates” or “jackets” that wrap around the phone to do different things. Now that I’ve seen it up close and talked to the founder, I’m a bit more interested yet still reluctant to state that this will be an absolute success. The idea is this: Modu makes the modules and sells an SDK to manufacturers like Bosch and Magellan, two actual partners. The partners write a few GSM hooks into their firmware and to make calls, pick up SMSes, and get data. You buy a module and two jackets for about 200 euro in shops and then buy additional jackets — media players, GPS devices, vibrators, etc. — as needed. [photopress:scaled.IMG_1203.JPG,thumb,pp_image][photopress:scaled.IMG_1204.JPG,thumb,pp_image][photopress:scaled.IMG_1201.JPG,thumb,pp_image][photopress:scaled.IMG_1206.JPG,thumb,pp_image][photopress:scaled.IMG_1202.JPG,thumb,pp_image][photopress:scaled.IMG_1199.JPG,thumb,pp_image][photopress:scaled.IMG_1197.JPG,thumb,pp_image] → Read More
http://flixwagon.com/flvPlayer.swf → Read More
http://flixwagon.com/flvPlayer.swf We just got out of an interview with Dov Moran, founder of Modu. As we suspected, the device is a module-based GSM system that includes a small, fully-functional phone and a set of “mates” or “jackets.” You can pop the phone in and out of different devices and add GSM functionality to almost anything, from GPS units to cameras. You’ll pay about 200 euro for a phone and two jackets and then a little extra for different devices. The product will be very interesting to CE manufacturers in that it reduces to the time-to-market considerably and ensures they don’t have to go through FCC testing with every new mobile product. John at CrunchGear has a more detailed take on things but the idea is very compelling. → Read More
Modu, the mysterious modular cell phone doohickey that we told you about a couple weeks ago, “is set to announce Thursday that it will launch the phone, also called Modu, on Oct. 1 with Telecom Italia SpA in Italy, OAA Vimpel Communications in Russia and Cellcom Israel Ltd,” according to the Associated Press. → Read More
Looks like our own John Biggs will be eating his hat very soon. Thanks to a stealthy tipster we have some info on Modu just for you. Chances are we’ll see an official announcement and a hands on with the device at 3GSM. → Read More
Feel free to call me cynical but I’ve seen this video a thousand times — remember Origami? — and the concept of a take-it-with you ID built-in to various CE devices like phones and apparently GPS receivers is compelling but almost impossible in reality. Look for more info at DEMO next week but I’m calling bullshit. via TC → Read More
In an obvious attempt to generate buzz, mobile stealth startup Modu is circulating the teaser video below about its soon-to-launch product. (Perhaps in advance of a launch at Demo next week the Mobile World Congress in February?). We’ll bite and help spread the video because of who is behind the startup. CEO Dov Moran sold his previous company—M-Systems, which pioneered the concept of the USB flash drive—to SanDisk for $1.6 billion in 2006. Now what’s Moran up to at Modu? The company recently changed its name from InFone Tech, an Israeli startup that raised $20 million in June, 2007 from Gemini Israel Funds and Genesis Partners. Since Modu is inviting speculation as to what it is all about, here is mine: it looks to me like a mobile device, or possibly a broader platform, based on a removable flash drive that can be swapped from your cell phone to your car to your MP3 player to your laptop. Taking your music with you in a Modu flash drive would be one obvious application, but maybe the startup has grander ambitions than just music. Can you figure out what Modu does from the video below? Update: I’ve received more information that suggests this is a cell phone/flash drive. That is, it has cellular capabilities and you can store your music, pictures, videos, and contacts on it. Plug it into your car and it becomes your phone and music player on the go. That device you see at the end of the video is the default device that you snap the flash drive/phone into. It has a one-inch screen is supposedly very power-efficient. CrunchBase Information Modu Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
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