北京時間10月30日上午消息，谷歌旗下摩托羅拉移動本周表示，該公司已經啟動了“Ara項目”，希望創造一套免費、開放的準化平台，讓用戶可以自由選擇自己想要的手機配件，然后組裝起來。
這個項目的目標是製作一套手機框架，可以根據用戶的偏好向其中添加不同的模組，包括處理器、電池或存儲晶片。“我們的目標是在用戶、開發者和他們的手機之間創造更體貼、更有表達力且更為開放的關係。讓你擁有手機功能、外形、地、材料、成本、使用時間的決定權。”摩托羅拉移動。
摩托羅拉移動的DIY智能手機將採用其母公司谷歌的 Android 手機平台，該平台免費向各大廠商開放，並且允許廠商進行定製。相比於蘋果公司的iOS系統，Android 還為用戶提供了更多功能上的自主權。
摩托羅拉移動表示，該公司的 Ara 項目已經啟動一年多時間，最近剛剛與開源項目 Phonebloks 展開了合作，后者也在創建模組化的智能手機零部件，方便用戶替換。
摩托羅拉移動今年早些時候剛剛推出了 Moto X 智能手機，允許用戶自主選擇前后蓋和按鈕的色。
在 Phonebloks 的官方網站上，該公司設想了未來的場景：用戶可以通過在商店了解智能手機零部件的各種評論，然后購買新模組或二手模組，並且定製手機。
其實早在1980年代和1990年代，就有很多精通技術的消費者使用硬碟、電源、CPU等零部件組裝台式機。但當定製難度較大的筆記本普及后，這種情況逐漸減少，但電腦零部件仍在以準尺寸生，而且仍然可以直接安裝到多數PC上。
摩托羅拉移動表示，該公司將繼續公開研發這一項目，並製作了一些實驗性模組。該公司計劃邀請開發者，並招募“Ara偵察兵”幫助其研究和完成這一項目。
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.
Phonebloks: a utopian world where smartphones are a bit more like Legos
We hate to open too negatively here, but let's just say that this seems like one of those ideas that's just too good to be true. But heck, much stranger things have happened in the world of consumer electronics, and certainly the maker and crowdfunding communities have gone a ways toward helping us rethink our devices.
What about a smartphone that could score a 10 every time iFixit teared it down? A simple, modular handset that you could configure and reconfigure it to your heart's content and upgrade simply instead of throwing it all away? Phoneblok is still firmly in the chipper YouTube video concept phase, but its creators are hoping that, with enough social push at the same time, the company will be able to attract some big names to its big idea. Crazy? Sure. But crazier things have happened.
分析
- 台 PC 廠商須相當注意 Google Android 戰略，只要 Google + Moto 這一戰略成功，智能手機產業將只變成模組、元件產業；
- Google 加上摩托羅拉 = 開源碼, DIY, 開放硬體智能手機平台，致少 Google Android 發展、創新速度將更快，Microsoft Win8 及 Apple inc., iOS 都將難以對抗；
- 以目前技術，開放硬體智能手機平台，成本不見得是最低的，但使用者可隨時升級；
