Motorola presented its project modular phone, Ara code

Ara terminals would create an Open Source development hardware for mobile phones ecosystem. The project is directly inspired by Motorola Phonebloks and conducted with the designer, Dave Hakkens.

The massive canvas Phonebloks discovered the concept in September. Today, Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of Google, takes the project. I must say that the enthusiasm for the idea of ​​Dave Hakkens, a Dutch 25 years behind Phonebloks, will not let the giant Net indifferent. His introductory video posted on YouTube has been viewed over 17 million times. Motorola is launching in collaboration with Dave Hakkens in the technical design of the project under the name of Ara code.

One of the main selling points for Google since its acquisition of Motorola Mobility has been customizing terminals. Users are advised to effect their own designer phone via the website Motomaker. A commendable attention, but an unfortunate fact: the customization options on Motomaker do that offer very little choice. The company then takes the initiative, albeit ambitious, to complete the project on a global craze.

The company has Ara as an open hardware platform and open to facilitate the design of highly scalable smartphones. The project should allow third parties to create individual hardware components without necessarily having to make a full end. "We want to make the material that the Android platform has for software: create an ecosystem of third-party developers involved, minimize the possible barriers and accelerate the pace of innovation to significantly compress the development time" said the company in a blog post.

Developer Kit Open Source modules this winter

Ara phones would be based on a structural framework that the company calls "endo" (as endoskeleton) and interchangeable modules. These modules, the development will be open to anyone, are the source of possibilities for customizing terminals. These components can be both internal and external, such as processors, peripherals, keyboards, module design ... 

Motorola says: "The user decides everything,". The company noted that this type of project is possible only because of the versatility of smartphones and the democratization of 3D printing.

In the ecosystem Ara, the creation of a new hardware component to be accessible as well as the development of an application. The teams are currently working on the project also claim that its development will be carried out hand in hand with the community Phonebloks in an Open Source spirit. The company also hopes to release a Software Development Kit Modules (MDK) in the course of the winter. A number of notable successes of other accessories for smartphones has already made its mark. Square, for example, allows any device to treat transitions credit card. Crowdsourcing could also open the doors of the production of material for many independent creators.

Compatibility issues in overcoming   

 According to Paul Eremenko, Motorola Advanced Technology working on the project Ara, the question is already on the table for over a year, long before the viral video of Dave Hakkens. An idea that was then welcomed by Geoff Blaber, an analyst for mobile CCSInsight. "This is a very interesting concept. However, there are a number of technical and business in overcoming before reaching a final production "obstacles, he has said. "The complexity of a phone that allows you to exchange components is important," he adds. "Some of these, such as screens, are relatively easy to exchange, but others, such as processors, require a lot of software integration and programming for the whole system works. I think this is one of the major challenges of the project, "

Another major problem will undoubtedly be one of acceptance of the terminal operators. "An operator takes a product based on its components and its software. Changing components, a potential impact on performance can disrupt service experience, "he admits. "Motorola is the first player in history, but many others must commit to carry out the project."