Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Phoneblocks becoming a reality

S

strausd

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 11, 2008
2,998
1
Texas
Not sure if this is something I'd go for, but its great to see new and innovative things.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/29/motorola-project-ara-modular-smartphone/

ara1blogpost.jpg


Original Phoneblocks video:
 
Yay, I can't wait to have a phone with a 41MP front and back camera, 128GB flash storage, a 4" screen, a nice gamepad, and two MicroSD slots. :D Just wifi, no NFC, no Bluetooth. Woohoo.

I would seriously go nuts with it. :eek: Probably buy different pieces just to use on certain days. "I'm going on a 18 hour trip today, I need my 72 hour battery attachment and 1080p 6" screen!"
 
Even though I agree with the pollution that electronics create, this will add even more to it. What do you do with old blocks? Most likely, throw them away!:eek: Not only do you need the hardware, you will need software to handle all of the changes. Cute concept but not realistic.
 
rhinosrcool said:
Even though I agree with the pollution that electronics create, this will add even more to it. What do you do with old blocks? Most likely, throw them away!:eek: Not only do you need the hardware, you will need software to handle all of the changes. Cute concept but not realistic.
Click to expand...

I have a similar view. I foresee too many issues coming from this. I don't see it becoming a common thing for people to carry around. "Cute" really is a perfect word to describe it.
 
"It almost goes without saying, but if Motorola (with Google's backing) can make this work, it's going to be an honest-to-goodness revolution in the smartphone industry." -Android Police on Project Ara

This statement I agree with 100%. I honestly didn't think this concept of phoneblocks will catch on. It was a good concept but I didn't feel that big companies will do it. Well...I was wrong, Motorola really surprised me with this and I say that I will support this project and it will be interesting to see how it will work and how the consumer will receive it when it is available for public in the future.
 
I think it's fantastic. I agree there's a good chance it won't happen, but I disagree that, if it does, it will increase waste.

A lot of people buy a new phone every year or two simply because there is a new phone out and they can, and those people often discard their old phones (or put them in a drawer, then discard them a year or two later).

This idea might very well reduce the overall waste by allowing people to upgrade what they care about upgrading, not everything.

My Nexus 4 is fine. I don't even care that it doesn't have LTE. I don't use NFC. But I'd love to be able to add a new camera and a bigger battery. That's a lot better than a whole new phone, and the previously used modules would be easier to put to good use - you'd think that almost any modules that still worked would be usable by someone, who wouldn't need the technical know-how to replace a broken display, to open a 'sealed" phone to replace the battery, and so on.
 
I've signed up with dScout. There's about a 1:10,000 chance I'll be one of the top 100 users by the end of the feedback time, in which case I'll get a free phone. Or a pamphlet. Or a nice email. Or something. They're not very clear.
 
jsw said:
I've signed up with dScout. There's about a 1:10,000 chance I'll be one of the top 100 users by the end of the feedback time, in which case I'll get a free phone. Or a pamphlet. Or a nice email. Or something. They're not very clear.
Click to expand...

What does it have to do with this? I'm on their homepage but don't see anything about a modular phone.
 
3bs said:
Worth a try :p
Click to expand...

It won't let me submit anything yet, which is not an encouraging sign. I'm starting to think that downloading a free app and supplying personal information isn't a guarantee of receiving free tech.

Edit: I submitted my first snippet! Surely I am destined to receive free goods now.
 
Last edited:
jsw said:
It won't let me submit anything yet, which is not an encouraging sign. I'm starting to think that downloading a free app and supplying personal information isn't a guarantee of receiving free tech.
Click to expand...

Do you mean signing up? I couldn't sign up on Chrome but Safari worked fine. Eh is just a name and an email. What's the worst thing that could happen.
 
So Motorola who don't even offer the basic customisation of the Motorola X outside of the USA wants me to have faith in their build block mobile..... mmmm
 
3bs said:
Do you mean signing up? I couldn't sign up on Chrome but Safari worked fine. Eh is just a name and an email. What's the worst thing that could happen.
Click to expand...
I meant submitting - you download the app, then submit your thoughts to various missions.

There are already over 3K submissions (on my "team" alone? maybe) so I'm thinking the chances of success are low.

----------
MacRumorUser said:
So Motorola who don't even offer the basic customisation of the Motorola X outside of the USA wants me to have faith in their build block mobile..... mmmm
Click to expand...
Oh please - like you'd be able to buy these outside of the US! Come on. ;)
 
rhinosrcool said:
Even though I agree with the pollution that electronics create, this will add even more to it. What do you do with old blocks? Most likely, throw them away!:eek: Not only do you need the hardware, you will need software to handle all of the changes. Cute concept but not realistic.
Click to expand...

we already do this in computers. The OS is not tied directly to the hardware. It goes threw drivers. Google been needing to for a while to make the OS rather independent of hardware not requiring deep modifications to make it run on different devices.
 
Motorola Ara

http://motorola-blog.blogspot.jp/2013/10/goodbye-sticky-hello-ara.html

Meet Ara.

Led by Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects group, Project Ara is developing a free, open hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphones. 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.

Our goal is to drive a more thoughtful, expressive, and open relationship between users, developers, and their phones. To give you the power to decide what your phone does, how it looks, where and what it’s made of, how much it costs, and how long you’ll keep it.
Click to expand...

What do you think?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back