Motorola Gets Serious About Moto Mods Expansion In Partnership With Indiegogo For Developer Contest

by Brandon Hill — Thursday, November 03, 2016, 11:52 AM EDT

LG dipped its toes into the modular smartphone arena with the G5 flagship, but it was arguably Lenovo/Motorola that made the concept easy to use and incorporated useful integration into the Android operating system with Moto Mods.

The Moto Z, Moto Z Force and Moto Z Play support the hot-swappable Moto Mods, which snap onto the back of the smartphone with the help of magnets. Official Moto Mods available for the Moto Z family include include the Insta-Share Mod pico projector, Incipio Power Pack Mod, JBL SoundBoost Mod and the Hasselblad 4116 True Zoom Mod.

But what about people who want to create their own Moto Mods for the Moto Z? Motorola is making it easier for developers to build and fund their own Moto Mods for a larger audience. To do so, there are three avenues that Motorola is taking to make sure that innovative Moto Mods explode onto the marketplace.

First off, Motorola has teamed up with Indiegogo to help developers raise money for their Moto Mods. Developers will be able to enter Motorola’s Moto Mods Contest, where he or she will have a chance to win a Moto Mods Developer Kit (MDK) and a brand new Moto Z smartphone. There will be up to 10 ten Grand Prize winners who not only will receive the MDK and Moto Z, but also a free roundtrip flight and accommodations to travel to Chicago. Once there, they will present their Moto Mod concepts to the Motorola Moto Mod executive development team.

In addition, Motorola will host Moto Mods hackathons, which will be held in New York and San Francisco. Participants will be tasked with coming up with Moto Mod ideas that revolve around health and fitness, in-store retail experiences, and multimedia. The grand prize for the winning team will be a $5,000 cash prize and a trip to Moto HQ. Each team will be given a MDK and each team member will receive a Moto Z.

Finally, for the really “elite” Moto Mods that are created, you have the chance to get a cash infusion from Lenovo Capital. Lenovo Capital is reserving up to $1 million for the very best ideas that have potential in the retail market. “Our Moto Mods executive development team will be on the lookout for the best working prototypes,” says Motorola. “If it finds something truly outstanding, the responsible development teams will be invited to pitch for investment funding from Lenovo Capital.”

So if you think that you have what it takes to make a great contribution to the Moto Mods community, get off your butt and submit your entry.

Tags: Lenovo, Motorola, Indiegogo, moto mods

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

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