Bug Labs has been busy developing the holy-grail of Lego-loving cellphone tinkerers, in the shape of the BUG range of modular mobile components. Slotting together on a single computer-filled base platter (called the BUGbase), each section has a particular function; so far Bug have announced a screen, camera, GPS and accelerometer, with more promised for the future, and everyone from homebrew developers to Android programmers are eyeing them up with interest. Available March 17th, Bug Labs today opened up their store for BUG pre-orders.
The BUGbase ‘Hiro P’ edition, shown above, is a fully programmable computer with a CPU, RAM, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, USB, Ethernet, MMC, and serial interfaces, and a small LCD with button controls; it can be fitted with up to four BUG components, and is priced at $299. Although the ‘Hiro P’ version lacks WiFi, those who still choose to preorder it will be able to buy the WiFi b/g unit at cost, and will get a free ‘von Hippel’ I/O unit.
Also available is the BUGbundle, priced at $549, which includes the BUGbase and one of each of the four modules, and the modules individually:
- BUGview touchscreen LCD ($99)
- BUGmotion motion detector & accelerometer ($49)
- BUGlocate GPS receiver ($79)
- BUGcam2MP 2-megapixel camera ($69)
Although officially anybody can pre-order the devices (limited to one per-person), Bug Labs are keen that only capable developers buy this first round of hardware:
“Right now, and for the next few months, our focus is building a developer community. This is part of why we made the SDK available back in December, as we anticipate working hand-in-hand with programmers to build a huge suite of cool applications for the BUG. So if the promise of the “Lego of Gadgets” is appealing to you, but you don’t have any direct programming skills, we recommend you hold off for a few months” Bug Blogger
[via Engadget]
