Motorola has plans to produce smartphones 3D printers - Techworld

The company develops together with 3D Systems an open-source platform for 3D printing Ara Project, which includes modules for mounting devices

Motorola is moving fast to rise in the ranks of innovative companies in the mobile market. The company recently signed an agreement with 3D Systems – the company that created the first 3D printer in the 80 -. Desenvlver a futuristic platform for 3D printing to be used in its Ara Project

Ara Project is an ambitious initiative to create a futuristic open-source platform for mobile devices. With Ara the idea is to develop modular phones that allow users to produce and match different pieces of hardware, like a game to assemble, in a way as easy as downloading and installing software.

Users will be able to upgrade their devices with plug-in modules that can be provided by batteries displays, through other pieces and parts not previously imaginable. Ara wants to be, for all purposes, a type of ecosystem Android open-source hardware.

When Motorola announced the Ara, she made specific mention of the use of 3D printing technology as a key piece that would make it possible to create a market for open-source hardware. To reach this promise, the company closed the development agreement with 3D Systems. As part of the agreement, 3D Systems was tasked with developing an integrated platform for high-speed production that can be used as raw material for various print materials, both drivers when functional.

Depending on the success of the development phase, 3D Systems will be the exclusive partner in the manufacture of printed 3D smartphones modules Ara project. It is interesting to note that 3D Systems already has an agreement with the network of Staples stores that allows customers to order online custom parts and equipment to remove one of the stores.

Although the marketing model Ara has not been announced yet, you can imagine that it can be equal to that adopted by Staples, by which consumers could order online a phone module and remove a physical store.

Or possibly the model can follow the process adopted by Motorcycle Maker, in which users design their model Moto X online and then wait it to be mounted on the Motorola factory in Texas and sent to them by mail, without the need for intermediaries.

We can not rule out the possibility of consumers to print a new phone at home using a 3D printer with the same ease with which print a movie ticket in a conventional printer. The cost of these devices are falling, in that 3D printing is one of the hottest technologies in the coming years.

With reporting by Evan Dashevsky-TechHive