Motorolas has announced Project Ara, an initiative which hopes to do for hardware what Android has done for software. This initiative will allow third parties to offer modular parts of a smartphone that would lower the barriers to entry for competition, increase the pace of innovation and reduce development time.This will go well beyond the customizations offered for the Motorola Moto X, as Project Ara will allow smartphone buyers to truly decide what they want their smartphone to do, what it looks like and how much it will cost.
In the coming months, the wholly owned Google subsidiary will release an MDK (Module Developer’s Kit) and third party developers will be begin creating the modules. The design consists of an endoskeleton (endo) and modules. The endo is a frame on which the modules are attached to. The latter, as Motorola points out, could be "a new application processor to a new display or keyboard, an extra battery, a pulse oximeter--or something not yet thought of!"
Motorola has been working on this project for a year and is asking for your help. You can sign up to be an Ara Scout by following the source link and get emailed each month with the opportunity to share your ideas on the project, using an app available for iOS and Android phones. Motorola also met with Dave Hakkens, the creator of Phonebloks,who has a similar idea for a modular phone.
This idea that could very well change the way we buy a smartphone. You will be able to build your own individual handset picking the camera you want along with the display and all powered with the CPU that you want running your phone. This would also make repairs very much easier, allowing you to snap out the defective part, snap in the new one and you're good to go.
Motorola has shared some pictures with us that show off some of the modular designs already made in tests. You can see these truly customized models by clicking on the slideshow below.
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