From ComputerWorld: Motorola is developing a free, open hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphones.
With Project Ara, Google-owned Motorola wants to create a third-party developer ecosystem around a customizable framework that gives users more choice in the components that make up their smartphones, according to Paul Eremenko of the Motorola Advanced Technology and Projects group, Project Ara Team in a blog post. The project has been in the works for over a year.
"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," he wrote.
The project consists of a structural frame called an "endoskeleton" that holds various modules in place. The modules can be anything ranging from a new display, keyboard, an extra battery or something not yet thought of, he wrote.
The team is also working with Dave Hakkens, a Dutch designer that recently introduced a concept called Phonebloks, a vision of a modular, customizable and open smartphone platform. The idea has been met with a positive response.
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