Google and Motorola’s X Phone may have customizable hardware
Even though I initially thought that the Motorola X Phone project was just getting started, more and more information has started to surface that suggests the device is actually quite close to production. Several leaked Motorola devices, such as the one that you see above, have spurred speculation about the exact hardware features of the device. Still, none of the leaks included sufficient evidence to suggest that a certain device was really the X Phone, and in fact there were a few devices thought to be the X Phone.
However, it turns out that it may actually be possible for a few slightly different devices to all be the Motorola X Phone. Last week, a rumor began circulating that the X Phone was not a single device, but the name for a new Motorola/Google brand akin to Samsung’s Galaxy brand. This meant that the X Phone might be a line of two or more devices, or more interestingly, a customizable piece of hardware.
A relatively vague Google+ posting seems to confirm the latter option. Guy Kawasaki, hired by Google to advise and work with Motorola, posted a video of a customizable Porsche to his Google+ page, with the caption, “Wouldn’t it be great if you could personalize your phone like this?” While this could obviously just be his own speculation or vision of the future, it sounds a lot like drumming up some vague hype for a customizable smartphone. Combined with the previous rumors, that possibility actually seems quite likely.
Obviously, this is still all our own speculation, and a rumor and a vague Google+ posting doesn’t make for a customizable X Phone. Still, I think that the idea of a high end customizable smartphone is a very interesting one. The Synapse-Phone was a failed attempt at this sort of product, but the heft of both Google and Motorola may make a made-to-order X Phone a possiblity. Of course, some things will probably have to be static to keep costs down, such as the processor and display. Even so, a base model phone that offered users the option of many different storage amounts, RAM, camera sensors, casing colors or materials, and even perhaps a removable battery, in addition to stock Android, would be pretty cool.
The biggest potential problem I see is an increased cost for the device because it can’t be mass produced, but hopefully Motorola has a way around that. I’m also not sure whether the average smartphone buyer will be eager to choose between 1GB and 2GB of RAM on their smartphone, but I suspect the idea will resonate with the power users. It worked for Dell, so perhaps the idea of a custom-built device isn’t too bad after all. We will just have to see if it works for smartphones.
[Google+ via BGR]
