sciencetech-blog

comments

From 3D sets, to televisions with curved screens - it may seem as if there is already a TV to suit any living room.

But Google is reportedly working on screens that fit seamlessly together - potentially making the days of having to pick the perfect sized screen to fit a given space a thing of the past.

The search giant said the screens would fit seamlessly together in a similar way to Lego bricks, and won't have a surrounding bezel, like current smartphones and tablets.

Google is reportedly working on screens that can fit seamlessly together to create a larger ones. Its modular system would be different to video walls (illustrated) which show different images on different screens with spaces between them

Engineers at the Google X lab, in California, which is also responsible for the company's self-driving car, are working on the new screens, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

It is rumoured that the screens could be put together to form different shapes, enabling users to watch films on a large widescreen, before reassembling the screen blocks to view a document in portrait format, or simply choosing to use one of them as a smaller screen.

The project is at an early stage as the experts at Google try to work out how to makes screens without bezels that can connect together seamlessly, and work as one large screen.

It is reportedly being led by Mary Lou Jepsen, co-founder of One Laptop Per Child. 

It appears that Google believes the future is likely to be modular, because the company is already working on Project Ara smartphones (pictured), where components clip together. They could be ready for consumers to buy in January

It appears that Google believes the future is likely to be modular, because the company is already working on Project Ara smartphones, where components clip together. 

They are set to go on sale in January.

The idea is that the Ara phones will be able run on multiple batteries, so that when one battery dies, it can be detached and replaced with a full battery module.

Lower-resolution cameras can be swapped with higher-res versions, and users will be also be able to 3D print replacement parts. 

By printing their own parts, users will also be able to customise them.

Files seen in April hinted that each phone would have a central 'spine' and an endoskeleton - nicknamed 'endo' - made of ribs that the individual modules will clip on to.

There will be three different sized endos - including mini, medium and large - to rival the existing range of phones currently on the market, from compacts to phablets.

Larger Ara phones will be able to accommodate more modules than the mini will, for example.

Google's kit describes various modules including batteries, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips, cameras, speakers and more.

In theory, any sensor that can be fitted to a module will be able to attach to an Ara device, and while Google will make the shell, these modules will be made by other companies.

Files seen in April hinted that each phone will have a central 'spine' and an endoskeleton - nicknamed 'endo' - made of ribs that the individual modules will clip on to. There will be three different sized endos (illusrated) - including mini, medium and large - to rival the existing range of phones currently on the market