Project Ara: A Modular Smartphone

Project Ara is a modular phone concept that was started by Motorola and is now being continued as a Google project. The Ara, which is predicted to be selling in a watered down version next year, uses tiles that perform individual functions to create a smartphone that is exactly what the user wants. Want more memory. There's a module for that. Need a better camera? There's a module for that.

The concept is brilliant. Instead of having to upgrade an entire device you can simply swap out individual components. And of course you are able to change the phone to your changing interests.This phone also leaves itself open to hackers, makers, and small companies to create modules for it. This will create a new generation of hardware "apps" that can be used with this phone. It really brings development back from software and more toward the hardware. It can become a hobby to create a module for your phone just as it is to create an app now.

Overall, the design of the Ara is decent. It remains slim like other phones, and its modules are aesthetically pleasing and comfortable. The only issue right off is that the design of the endoskeleton frame limits layout of modules to certain sizes in certain places. This decreases the modularity somewhat, but helps to maintain the the overall aesthetic of the phone. (people can't make ugly phones)

The Ara also adds one more touch of customizability to the phone by planning to let customers 3-D print panels to cover the modules with. These panels can be multicolored and have various textures to suit the user.

In a world with increasing demand for products to adapt to the needs of the user, especially in software, it is great to see that someone is working to add that personalization to the tangible world.

The video below was a promotion to get an earlier modular phone concept off the ground, Phoneblocs