Are you ready for a build-your-own smartphone? Motorola thinks so

[Jeffrey Chiu_081]

If you can build custom computers... why not build your own smartphone? Well, it appear maybe you can in the near future. :) 

 

http://mindofthegeek.com/2013/07/02/moto-x-motorola-customize-android/

 

[Chevaishr]

is saw the title and was like fck yess fck yess fckyess 

[Chevaishr]

the only reason why you can build a pc using any parts is that there are  standards that companies can follow .if motorola can come up with standards for everything in phones this would be so epic 

[crazystorm13]

now this right here

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6RWE6iEodP0/TYpU3wkPHzI/AAAAAAAABTU/2M4HO_SY0ic/s400/Aww-Yeah-meme.png

[Chevaishr]

or now read the article well not exactly what i was thinking but it is cool (was thinking that we would be able to buy  chassis and buy a standard made motherboard with whatever soc soldered on and put whatever compatible sensor and build the smart phone same way we build pc) 

[zap117]

Not too interested in building my own smartphone but what I really want someone to prioritize are some actual laptop standards. I know you can buy barebones kits but that's not nearly the same level of customization that I would like.

[Fetzie]

I would love to be able to put my own smartphone together, I am only worried that you would get gouged on component prices, similar to if you try to buy a replacement part for a laptop. It would have to be rather cheaper than buying a full device for me to do it though.

 

Reading the article, it appears to be "put together the order, and we'll build it".

[YellowDragon]

Sooooo, how long till I can shove a 7970 into a phone? XD

[Nexus]

I'm sure there was a German company that done this a few years ago. I hope that it really does become mainstream tho.

[Lyons]

Uh... yeah... I'd say this is just external design, the actual Motorola graphic doesn't indicate customisable spec as all. Journalism is terrible. The 'X phone' may now be real, but there's still nothing confirmed about it.

 

[TheGreatSkott]

building a phone would likely be terrible. unlike a PC, the space constraints are so tight that standards are practically impossible to create or utterly useless to apply. Like custom building a laptop for instance, the motherboard layout of nearly every motherboard is different to deal with the different heat, space, price and other requirements of the laptop/phone specifically. It's a cool idea but probably impossible to pull off. User replaceable (and 3rd party modifiable) components are excellent though and i would love to see that explode (want moar battery life on my nexus 4)

[DLM_012]

(ughh multiple posts going through at once)

[DLM_012]

Yeah this stuff is all just cosmetic from what I've read.

 

Here's a better article to read up on this (imo)

[DLM_012]

sorry dbl post

[DLM_012]

dang it triple post

[Frix]

Isn't the only thing you can change is the removable back, engraved name and you can send in your wallpaper when you buy it online any they apply it before you open it.

[dyent10]

did anyone see the ad?

[CobaltMK33]

I've always been an Apple guy, but I'll switch to this without hesitation.

[Nicktrance]

We can forget about ever being able to build our own phones like we can with PCs, the market for that is too small and the disadvantages of such a product are way too great. What Motoraola means is that you can tell them the back colour and such minor things and they'll build it for you.

[mgsstar]

Not a huge fan on building your own phone like building a computer. They are probably not allowing returns on these phones because these are custom made.

[Ethnod]

I would love to be able to put my own smartphone together, I am only worried that you would get gouged on component prices, similar to if you try to buy a replacement part for a laptop. It would have to be rather cheaper than buying a full device for me to do it though.

 

Reading the article, it appears to be "put together the order, and we'll build it".

 

More info is most certainly needed but initially it sounds great, reselling used ones will be a bitch though unless they are extremely popular, HTC One popular :/

[kemical]

knew it will come with a price

[Kuzma]

This is totally awesome!

[obsidian1200]

I'll wait for the service to actually launch and for product reviews to start coming. Until then, I'm just curious.

[_ASSASSIN_]

I doubt it's what ANYONE is thinking

these phones are built on a single PCB, customizing it with CPU's and GPU's will definitely not happen ok, just get that out of the way, if they are thinking of "build your own phone" It's highly likely they will appeal to the common market, not the enthusiast market share, so it will be stuff like phone color, storage capacity, hardware interface (<-doubt that one will happen) so yeah, don't get your hopes high for this