A few days ago Fonkfraft burst onto the scene, promising a totally modular crowd-funded Android phone. Unfortunately, it looks like the project was too good to be true.
The device has vanished from Indiegogo, where it initially hoped to raise $50,000. A letter from the crowdfunding site obtained by Modular Android reveals that the project was flagged by the site’s Trust and Safety Team for failing to meet its standards. All donations have apparently been returned as well.
It’s still unclear exactly what happened, and Fonkraft appears to be ignoring the issue online. The idea that a small company could produce a modular handset with just $50,000 in funding seems pretty far-fetched though, and it’s probably a good thing that this project was pulled from Indiegogo. Even if this wasn’t a scam, it’s unlikely the project could have ended in anything but disappointment.
For now it looks like our best hope for a modular smartphone is still Google’s Project Ara, though it could be a while before the search giant actually rolls out a product to the masses.
