Project Ara close to prototype status, and Motorola CEO suggests it could be sold through Moto Maker
When we first heard of Motorola’s Project Ara, a modular phone concept that would seemingly allow folks to upgrade different components of their phone independently of others, we were a little skeptical. It isn’t that we thought the idea wasn’t possible — technology proves that anything is possible as each year passes us by — but we didn’t wholly believe that we were close to seeing anything practical.
Thankfully, Dennis Woodside assures us that isn’t the case. In a Hangout session that the CEO did with prominent tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee, Woodside revealed that the team is close to producing its first prototype. The general public obviously won’t be able to get their hands on it, but a prototype means that we’d be one step closer to seeing this exciting idea become reality.
Of course, a prototype alone is no guarantee that the team is close to offering a consumer product, but what will happen when that time eventually comes? Woodside suggests Moto Maker could be the perfect destination for getting your phone made the way you want in more areas than design alone:
Ara is much further out, but you can see how those two things tie together and how, as we introduce new materials into Moto Maker, we’re going to pursue that theme across our product line going forward.
Imagine being able to craft your own smartphone. Perhaps the camera isn’t that important to you, so you opt for a cheaper 5 megapixel shooter instead of tricking it out with a 13 megapixel beast. And maybe that 32GB of storage isn’t enough, so you get a 64GB module that can also be expanded using a microSD card slot. And, well, who won’t want to spring for the most RAM and most powerful chipset they can get?
Dreaming aside, it’s a future that could soon be very real, and it’ll be extremely exciting to see what Motorola ends up coming with after the exhausting research and development process eventually brings us something tangible. Watch the full Hangout above.