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Six futuristic phone designs
By Cat DiStasio Cell phone technology continues moving forward year after year, but many of the developments are incremental—a better camera, more storage space, or a faster processor. Those are just the improvements that make it to the mass market, though. There's is a whole world of innovative developments in cellular phone design and technology that most people have never heard a word about, and some of them even come from leading cell phone manufacturers. Nokia, for instance, has developed a cell phone that can recharge in your pocket and other models made from largely recycled materials. Other companies are working hard to develop modular phones that are easier to repair and upgrade, thereby cutting down on electronic waste. It's impossible to know which of these futuristic technologies we'll actually be able to get our hands on, but it's fun to dream about what kind of features your cell phone might have in another five years.
Google plans to let you design your own Project Ara phone with an app
OK, so far we know that Project Ara's Spiral 2 prototype is in good shape, Spiral 3 should be even better, and that devices will hit Puerto Rico before anywhere else. Now we turn our attention to how you'll configure your very own Ara device, a decidedly incomplete process that Google's Jason Chua demoed using an as-yet incomplete Ara Configurator app.
Motorola's modular phone prototype is almost ready, final product might be sold on Moto Maker
Sure, Moto Maker makes it easy to deck out your phone with a fresh paint job, but the company's CEO has bigger goals in mind for the customization engine. Speaking with YouTuber Marques Brownlee, Dennis Woodside envisioned a Moto Maker capable of customizing not just your smartphone's color scheme, but its functionality too. He was talking, of course, about Project Ara. "The idea is you have a skeleton that holds together a set of components and the components slide in and out," Woodside told Brownlee, explaining the modular cell phone project that was revealed in October. The CEO said that a prototype is "pretty close" to being ready, and the final product could find its way to Moto Maker. "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." It's a vague prediction, but it is encouraging to hear that the customization platform might eventually grow beyond its one phone trick.
Motorola inks deal with 3D Systems to build its modular 'Ara' smartphones
When Motorola threw its weight behind Phonebloks' modular smartphone concept, it pretty much signaled to the rest of the industry that the Google company was dead serious about customization. But that radical vision of a completely upgradeable handset needs an equally radical manufacturing partner and Motorola's found that in 3D Systems. Today, the two companies have announced a multi-year deal that'll see 3D Systems building what Motorola calls "the factory of the future," and providing a complete end-to-end fabrication process for 'Project Ara.' As part of the deal, Motorola's exclusively tasking 3D Systems with creating new "multi-material printing capabilities including conductive and functional materials" to build these modules (e.g., chassis, battery, etc.) and help it keep pace with eventual consumer demand for 'Ara' phones. That's all if 3D Systems can prove its undeveloped printing process actually, you know, works. If not, well, 3D Systems can kiss that exclusivity agreement goodbye.
Motorola's 'Project Ara' modular smartphone setup switches out hardware like apps
We were intrigued by the Phonebloks concept phone that teased the ability to switch out a handset's components the way most users change ringtones, and now Motorola is putting its resources behind it. In what Motorola calls Project Ara, the advanced Technology and Products group is working with Phonebloks creator Dave Hakkens on an "endoskeleton (endo) and modules." Announced this evening on the company blog by Paul Eremenko, the company says it's already "done deep technical work" and is opening the process up to the community and volunteers (aka Ara Scouts, sign up here) to begin designing hardware modules. Its stated goal is to do for hardware what it says Android 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." Suggestions for modules include the phone's CPU, display, extra battery, external sensors or anything else one can think of. The timeline currently points to a Module Developer's Kit (MDK) release this winter, while those volunteers can expect an exclusive discount when the product launches and the 100 most active are getting free phones. Hakkens has described his design as a "phone worth keeping" -- with the ability to upgrade piece by piece and (hopefully) never experience obsolescence again we'd call this idea a phone definitely worth building.
