【Ghost Over Flowers (2014) Uncut】

Smartphones are Ghost Over Flowers (2014) Uncutexciting again.

Like all products that reach maturity, modern smartphones as we know them today -- rectangle glass touchscreen slabs -- have become boring. Each new device iteration usually brings modest feature upgrades and industrial designers are playing it safe. Just look at the OnePlus 5: It's not even trying to hide its iPhone 7 Plus-like looks.

It's felt for some time like there wouldn't be much more meaningful innovation to come, but now we have a contender to shake things up.

The next big feature in phones is a magnetic connector for quickly attaching and enabling accessories. And surprisingly, Apple's not leading the charge here. It's Motorola.

SEE ALSO: Motorola doubles down on modular phones with the impressive Moto Z2 Force Edition

Motorola was the first to get modular right with its early concept, and this year it's doubling down on modular phones and snap-on accessories.

Tough sell

Modular phones have always been a tough sell. On paper, they're a fantastic idea. Why pay an exorbitant amount of money for a brand new phone when you could just buy new parts -- like a processor, or camera module, or more storage, etc. -- and swap them in as needed? It'd be good for the environment, too, since it'd help reduce the amount of e-waste that ends up in landfills because of consumerism.

This modular system works beautifully for desktop PCs, so why wouldn't it work for phones?

Well, it turns out phones are very different than desktop computers. We carry our phones everywhere in the heat and in the cold, toss them around in our bags, drop them, and just all around handle them all day long. Our phones are lovinglyabused, if you will. Desktop PCs, on the other hand, just sit there and never move.

Howwe use these two types of devices is crucial to how designers and engineers can realistically improve and evolve them.

Modular phones are hard

Google wisely shelved its ambitious Project Ara modular phone project for many reasons, but none more so than the fact that all of the individual components kept falling apart from the body's skeletal frame.

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LG's semi-modular G5 failed for a different reason: the phone was ugly and the "LG Friends" modules such as the wonky camera grip and Bang & Olufsen Hi-Fi audio DAC weren't compelling enough to buy. But what really sealed the G5's fate was that third-party companies didn't hop onboard with building modules. Without an ecosystem of accessories, there is no point to the whole modular phone.

The only company that got modular phones right was Motorola. After being jockeyed at Google and then finally landing in Lenovo's arms, the company put a bold stake in the ground last year with the modular Moto Z series.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The Moto Z phones didn't have swappable parts like Ara and you did't need to remove the battery to swap in a new module like on the LG G5. Instead, Motorola went with a magnetic contact with 16 tiny little exposed round pins on the back of the phones. It's modular approach was simple: Connect a Moto Mod accessory via the magnetic contacts and the phone automatically recognizes it.

Some of the Moto Mods were on the pricey side (the Hasselblad True Zoom camera and Moto Insta-Share Projector cost $300 a pop), but at least there was a good variety of add-ons. Besides the camera and projector, there were decorative Style Shells in a number of finishes, a battery pack, and a JBL speaker with kickstand.

None of these accessories are ones that you can't already find as separate products that can either connect wirelessly to your phone or through a physical cable. The simple fact that Moto Mods are so convenient to connect and remove, and work so smoothly with the Moto Z phones is what makes them so appealing.

The winning formula

Sadly, the Moto Z went largely ignored unless you went looking for something other than an iPhone or Samsung. In the U.S., you couldn't even buy into the modular future unless you were on Verizon since the phones were exclusive to the carrier.

But that didn't stop Motorola's push and its new all-in strategy around modular phones and snap-on accessories could really pay off. For starters, the new Moto Z2 Force will available on five major U.S. carriers.

Secondly, there's now an even larger ecosystem of Moto Mods to choose from, including the new Moto GamePad, which turns your phone into a Nintendo Switch-like handheld, and the excellent Moto 360 Camera, which captures 360-degree photos and videos.

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Motorola's commitment to its Z-series phones and Moto Mods isn't enough to push this modular form factor forward, though. Other phones need to rally behind this idea, and it looks like that's starting to happen.

Android founder Andy Rubin's futuristic-looking Essential Phone, which is supposedly launching next month after missing its release, also has a magnetic connector for clipping on accessories, and the company's already announced a 360-degree camera attachment for it, too. The 360-camera is much smaller than the full-body Moto Mods, so it's possible the Essential Phone's magnetic accessories will look even more elegant than Motorola's.

Connecting accessories will actually be fun and frustration-free at last.

Digital camera maker, RED, is also planning to follow in Motorola's footsteps next year with its Hydrogen phone. While we don't know much about the phone itself or what the accessories look like, they should work in a similar manner to Moto Mods, connecting via magnetic contacts.

Unproven as Essential and RED are at making phones, it's no coincidence that these two promising phones have magnetic connectors. Sales success aside, Motorola's modular phone system works really well and I think more phone makers will embrace a similar solution in the future. It's even been rumored many times that Apple's had iPhone prototypes with the iPad Pro's Smart Connector.

Our steady march towards a truly wireless future also demands an alternative connector for accessories. You may not want it to happen, but phones without traditional ports are inevitable.

On the beloved port's tombstone will read: Killed by the magnetic connector. And we'll love it because connecting accessories and transforming our phones into loud speakers, or beefy cameras, or projectors, or 360-degree cameras will actually be fun and frustration-free at last.

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Topics Android Motorola