Concept designs: candy for the eye

Here is a first draft of the package for the current PCB design for the GPS module. I thought giving it an iPhone look would be attractive. The intention was to have it look like a MiniPhone (a Miniature iPhone). The size is about 1in x 1in.

Concept 1

3D View:


Front view:


Side view:


Bottom view:



Now, if we really want to push the limits, I could come up with a different package design, but this would require a new design of the PCB board for a smaller GPS chip and a smaller antenna. The resulting size would be about 46mm x 15mm. Note that I haven't really looked into this re-design in detail, so these numbers are preliminary. Concept 2 shows this alternative design.

Concept 2

3D View:


Front view:


Side view:


Bottom view:


And lastly a few notes:

• Extending the package all the way to the edge of the iPhone doesn't look good due to the fact that the corners of the phone have a fairly large radius of curvature.
• Due to the curvature of the iPhone itself, the speaker and microphone at the bottom of the phone will not be interfered with by the package, even if the package overlaps those areas. You can try this out yourself: just press a flat object against the areas while playing some music or making a call to your home.
• I haven't forgotten about the iTouch. The iTouch has a smaller thickness than the iPhone (8mm instead of 11.6mm) and there is the headphone jack in the bottom. Due to this, it will require a different kind of antenna and a re-design of the PCB board. As such, it might be better to go with a Concept 2 approach for the iTouch. I still need think some more about how to integrate/pass-through the headphone jack...

I encourage everyone to post their comments on the current two package concepts. And also, if you have more friends with an iPhone/iTouch, tell them about the site and have them vote. The more people who want a GPS module, the better, since it will make it worth my effort and time and it will also reduce the cost for everyone.