15 Things The Bartender Won’t SayMore Articles January 15, 2015 Google’s Module Smartphone Project Ara is now becoming a reality. Ara smartphones should give users more input on the appearance and expense of their phone’s apps capabilities. Google can achieve the goal of creating an endlessly upgradable and customizable phone by supplying the basic frame or “endoskeleton” to which users will attach swappable modules containing each part of the phone, such as its battery camera speakers and more. And how does Google plan to make this modular smartphone into a reality? Why does it feel when it hits the market? And what is Google having in mind for the future of Ara?
Where, in 2015, will Project Ara go? At its Project Ara Module Developers Conference, Google revealed it plans to launch its first Project Ara smartphones commercially this year in Puerto Rico. VentureBeat says Google is working with Ingram Micro OpenMobile and Claro to make the modular phones a reality. Ingram Mobile will manage the pilot’s retail logistics and OpenMobile and Claro will serve as network partners. Google aims to sell the phones across the country through a network of mobile food truck type stores. Explaining its decision to take Ara phones to Puerto Rico, the company first notices that Puerto Rico has a mobile-first audience accounting for 75 percent of mobile device Internet access. In addition, Puerto Rico is under the control of the FCC allowing Google to hammer out the regulatory approach to application building and selling, and has free trade zones that will allow the importation of modules from developers around the world. TechCrunch states that Google has also partnered with all of the University of Puerto Rico’s eleven schools to associate Google’s Advanced Technology And Projects community with Puerto Rico researchers who want to experiment with building modules for Ara.
What kind of smartphones would Project Ara look like at launch?
Google has built eleven prototype modules that slide into the phone most likely from third-party developers and put in the frame the magnets that protect the phone modules. (The company hopes that between 20 and 30 modules will be installed by the end of 2015.) Eremenko noted that Google had stepped away from the original 3D printing strategy for Ara hardware and would instead be using a dye sublimation technique. A prototype Spiral 3 is now in the works and Eremenko says it will carry the radios up to 4 G LTE, thus providing more space for larger batteries in the endoskeleton. He noted that Ara’s battery life is a challenge with current designs taking a hit of 20% to 30% compared to traditional devices with identical specifications. Hoped the Spiral 3 will enable a battery to last “all day.”
How will Project Ara change the demand for smartphones?
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