Motorola’s ‘Project Ara’ Modular Smartphone
I have always said that the future of smartphones will evolve similar to that of computers. With Android and iOS being the two major players in the field it seems it might follow the path of PC and Mac’s, where you have the Android platform giving the user more freedom to customize and Apple providing the user more optimized products.
A new concept from Motorola called ‘Project Ara’ gives the user the freedom to choose and build smartphones using various modules like that of building PCs. It allows you to switch out hardware like you would apps.
Motorola 'Project Ara' (photo from engadget.com)
“Its stated goal is to do for hardware what it says Android 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.”
Project Ara allows you to mix and match components such as screens, CPU, and batteries to your personal needs. While Apple will continue to keep their platform more closed and provide controlled and optimized phones, Android users might have the freedom to customize their phones.
Project Ara allows you to mix and match components such as screens, CPU, and batteries to your personal needs (photo from engadget.com).
“Hakkens has described his design as a ‘phone worth keeping’ – with the ability to upgrade piece by piece and (hopefully) never experience obsolescence again we’d call this idea a phone definitely worth building.”
Is the phone not pretty enough for you? Well, that’s also what people said 20 years ago when PC users started to build their own machines. While ‘Project Ara’ is currently in the concept stage, they are hoping that through crowdfunding sites it will gain traction and become a reality in the coming year. You can read more on the project here.
Written by: Jung Chei, Industrial Designer, Beyond Design
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