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Remember Phonebloks? Remember how we said that it was a long shot? Well i was wrong. Bad for my ego, but good for the future of mobile computing. Motorola recently revealed that it will be joining hands with Dave Hakkens, the creator of Phonebloks, for a new endeavor called Project Ara.

First things first, let’s refresh our memory about Phonebloks. The idea behind it is that every function of your phone can be manufactured as a separate device, a module, that can be plugged into a motherboard. So the processor, the screen, the battery, etc, can be purchased separately and assembled, just like Lego pieces, to produce your phone. This means that you pick your pieces depending on your preference: maybe you want a super high density screen but don’t care much about your camera’s megapixel count. Maybe you don’t want a camera at all. More importantly, if you wish to upgrade or repair something on your device, you don’t have to discard the entire machine.

This idea was conceived by a dutch designer by the name of Dave Hakkens. And while it sounded innovative and noble, a lot of concerns were raised concerning the feasibility of such a project. Without backing from major manufacturers, it was hard to imagine how it could materialize.

But two days ago, in an official blog post entitled ‘Goodbye Sticky. Hello Ara’, Motorola announced its intent “to do for hardware what the Android platform has done for software.” In it, the Google owned phone company announced that it will be pulling its technical expertise and working with Phonebloks to “create a vibrant third-party developer ecosystem, lower the barriers to entry, increase the pace of innovation, and substantially compress development timelines.”

Sticky, which Motorola refers to in the post, is a 6 months old project that involved a truck filled with rooted, hackable Motorola smartphones and high-end 3D printing equipment drive across the country for a series of make-a-thons. In fact Motorola seems to have been toying with the idea of hackable hardware even longer. Project Ara it claims is over a year old. Remember that the Moto X was also conceived in a similar spirit, although to a shallower extent you might say.

"Our goal is to drive a more thoughtful, expressive, and open relationship between users, developers, and their phones. To give you the power to decide what your phone does, how it looks, where and what it’s made of, how much it costs, and how long you’ll keep it."

On his YouTube page, Dave published a new video: “Phonebloks - The next step”

In it, he reveals that he had had talks with several companies concerning his project, including Intel, Nokia, Ubuntu, Qualcomm, and Philips, “but one company stood out, Motorola.” In the video as well, you can see Project Ara’s modular phone.

So what will the partnership be like? The vision of both parties according to Dave is based on four foundations: “Modular, open source, designed to last, and made for the entire world.” Motorola will design its modular phone in the open. Meaning that it will listening to the Phonebloks community for suggestions and ideas.

What is the next step? Motorola will soon be releasing a module developers kit for prototyping bloks. Phonebloks also welcomes donations as it seeks to remain independent from Motorola.

Update: On November 22nd, 3D Systems announced that it was partnering with Motorola to "create a continuous high-speed 3D printing production platform and fulfillment system" for Ara. The deal spans multiple years.