When Google sold its struggling Motorola Mobility division to Lenovo, it didn't sell off the entire thing: Google kept the good stuff. One of the things Google held on to was the futuristic, modular smartphone program, Project Ara, which the company just released new details about.
Motorola's former Project Ara is still in Google's hands after it sold the hardware division to Lenovo, and Google is apparently serious about the experimental 3D-printed, modular smartphone.
Google is not averse to taking risks, but it's also a company that has to make a profit. That's why Google surprisingly put in a bid to buy cellphone company Motorola Mobility in the summer of 2011, and also why it is selling it now.
