Last month, Motorola announced a plan for a modular smartphone.Project Ara, the company said, will be a simple way for users to individualize their phones, swapping out parts like the battery and camera until users havea phone that'sjust for them. How do they plan on doing that? With 3D printing, apparently.
The company has inked a deal with 3D Systems, a global 3-D printing manufacturing company, to help produce parts of the phone. Assuming the project - still officially in development - takes off, 3D Systems would be a "multi-year" production partner, making smartphone "enclosures and modules" for the Google-owned phone company.
There's reason to be skeptical of modular phone technology, but Project Ara does get a pedigree boost from former DARPA director and now-Google exec Regina Dugan, and having the weight of a big tech company behind it doesn't hurt. Motorola says they'll be releasing more details on the project in the coming months.