The announcement late last month by Motorola of their modular ‘Phonebloks’ style customisable phone building system – Project Ara, was met with a mixed reception but Motorola is set to make a go of it, with a deal announced yesterday that will see 3D Scanning and Printing company 3D Systems Sense building the manufacturing plants that will produce some of the hardware involved.
The deal is a multi-year deal which points to a long term view for the project by Motorola and by extension Google; with Engadget advising that the company has been tasked with building a new factory which will actually be providing full end to end fabrication of the parts behind Project Ara. These parts would include everything from the Chasis or endo, the structural frame that Project Ara is built on to the Batteries and other modules required.
The concept of Project Ara is a very interesting one and many of the Ara Scouts have recently received a second round of missions to complete based on the possibilities of what Project Ara could become in the future. If you’re interested you can still head to the Ara Scouts signup page to help shape what Motorola is doing with Project Ara.
