It was back in October when we first heard about Motorola’s modular phone project called Ara. Think of Ara like desktop PCs, which are totally modular, meaning that individual users can customize everything as opposed to existing smartphones, where users are provided very few customization options, it’s usually just the onboard storage. Motorola offered users more flexibility by launching Moto Maker this year, an online tool that lets customers make a lot of cosmetic changes to its Moto X smartphone, also launched earlier this year. The company wants Moto Maker to go far beyond engraving and custom paint jobs, CEO Dennis Woodside says that there is a possibility that Motorola’s modular phones might be sold through Moto Maker.
Woodside said that Motorola’s prototype of the modular phone is “pretty close” to seeing the light of day, so even if the project may seem ambitious to a lot of people, its clear that Motorola has no plans to give up on it any time soon. The company’s CEO says that its possible that the final product could be sold through Moto Maker, but adds that “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.” Even if its not immediately clear if project Ara will ever move beyond the prototype stage, one can certainly see that Motorola has big things planned for Moto Maker, which currently caters to just one Motorola product.
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