© Motorola
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Motorola’s working on a modular phone
Remeber PhoneBlocks, the modular based phone? While it was intriguing it was still only an idea, but guess just who picked up on that intriguing idea; that's right, Motorola.
Meet Ara – a project led by Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects group. Project Ara is developing a free, open hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphones.
“We want to do for hardware what the Android platform has done for software: create a vibrant third-party developer ecosystem, lower the barriers to entry, increase the pace of innovation, and substantially compress development timelines,” the company writes at the company's official blog.
The design consists of what the team calls an endoskeleton and modules – and it is just as simple as that. The endo is the structural frame keeping everything together. And the modules, well they can be what ever you want or need on your phone; a new application processor to a new display or keyboard, an extra battery or a pulse oximeter. It does sound a lot like Dave Hakkens' Phoneblocks, and the Motorola team has actually been working along side with Mr. Hakkens as they share somewhat the same vision. With Phoneblocks, Mr. Hakkens has created a community; something that is vital for the thought of “open”. Whether or not any of this will materialize as a commercial product is still not said. However, the idea is very intriguing and this time we get to see a more complete concept.© Motorola
