Project Ara: The Future of Smartphones

Hey readers!

So, if you were poking around the internet and blogs over the past year or so, you might have seen this guy floating around:

This is Phonebloks, a modular smartphone with infinite possibilities. By swapping the various tile's location, or size, you could create the phone you want. Photographers that don't necessarily use their phones for games could swap out the processor for one that takes up less space, and attach a larger lens. Or you could remove the back camera entirely and slap on a larger battery for extended life. Drop your phone and shatter the screen? Just order a new one, pop the old one off and replace it yourself. No need to send the phone in or buy a new one. There's even opportunities for modules that stick off the device. Google's example is a blood-oxygen meter hanging off the top of the phone. The introductory video for it went viral in tech communities, and their kickstarter was met easily.

During this time, Motorola, the phone company, was bought by Google.

Phonebloks devs began talking to major phone companies about partnering in order to get the phone of their dreams made, and one company stood out to them through these meetings: Motorola.

As it turned out, Motorola had been working in-house on a modular smartphone, called Ara. They sought to do for hardware what android did for software. With Google, Motorola, and the Phonebloks team working on this device, it seems feasible that we will see this technology soon.

In fact, the latest report suggests as early as January 2015. For $50 for the basic phone!

So far they plan to have three "Endo"s, which is what they call the actual shell the modules connect to. A mini and regular size to be available at launch, and a larger size to be released at a later date. The idea is that you'll only ever need one Endo, and you can just upgrade the parts as you see fit.

Here's the thing though, it might not even have to be a phone! Design a tablet that suits your needs and completely leave off the cell-reciever. With the right companies developing modules, this might not just be the future of smartphones, but the future of portable computing as a whole!

I already have a few ideas on how I'd set mine up. Bigger battery, better processor, more memory, no bluetooth or GPS. I'd love to hear how you'd do yours!

- Matt