Bug Labs' Swiss Army Knife of Gadgets

If you've ever wished you could tweak that handheld gadget of yours just a bit, or even a lot, to make it better meet your needs, has a gadget you might want to check out. Well, it's less of a "gadget" and more a gestalt of gadget-like objects. OK, you may be wondering just what the heck that even means, but when you see how the Bug platform works, you'll understand.

See, the idea is that you have a base gadget--similar to a mini-motherboard. Like a mobo, you plug other components into it and then use software that makes those components do what you want. The Bug Base allows other modules to attach onto it. You then add your own (or other folks') Java apps to make those modules do what you need them to do. and really does give a new meaning to the phrase "plug and play."

But what modules are available and what modules are on their way?

Currently, the only available modules are a screen ($99), motion detector ($49), 2 megapixel camera ($69), and a GPS ($79). Not that you can't do a lot with just those. However, despite , the price seems like it would be quite a deterrent against buying all of the modules and the prices mentioned above are the what early-adopters pay. Bug Labs will raise prices at some point, making the price tag for the complete collection of modules and the Bug Base seem like something James Bond might scoff at. Combined, they'll run you around $690.

What's even more bizarre are the claims on as to what modules are coming soon. Two of the four modules mentioned are perfectly reasonable. These are the touch-sensitive, color LCD screen and the qwerty keyboard. However, the addition of the audio module featuring a speaker and input/output jacks seems odd since those features are rather basic--like things that should come with the Bug Base. Perhaps the speaker can come in a module, but a handheld device without a headphone jack? AM radios in the 1950s had headphone jacks.

The other odd claim for a module-on-the-way is that of a Teleporter. Seriously, as of this writing, a claim of a "Teleporter" module is in the "Available Q2, 2008" column on the Bug Labs product page. This is most likely a leftover from a ridiculous attempt at an April Fool's joke. All in all, it seems like the Bug will be quite an interesting gadget, assuming it survives the early-adoption stage.