Project Ara | The Computer Potato

We talked about Project Ara a while back! Since then, like always in the tech age, things have changed and the world has advanced even more. Google has changed its parent name to Alphabet and made Google a division of that. Project Ara has also changed leadership and changed the focus of how the project would take off.

Instead of a full modular phone, the screen and processor (brain in the phone) will not be changeable but the rest of the phone will be. “We’ve integrated the phone technology in the frame. That frees up space for modules that will create and integrate new functionality that you cannot get on your smartphone today,” Said the project’s lead engineer, recently at a conference!

The good news is that the project is definitely moving forward, and we have started to see some devices trying to incorporate the idea. See below

The LG G5 lets you swap the battery pack and add a camera grip in seconds.

However, the Alphabet’s Ara wants to do more. As of the time of this article, the prototype is aiming at swapping things like a secondary e-paper display, a high-resolution camera, loud speakers, expandable storage, or even a kickstand. And it is proposed to be out commercially by end of 2017!

In another news, a new research is making screens that can be remodulated just like a rubik cube! Crazy!

We say good work to everyone involved in this. This futuristic idea will definitely change the standard we have today and make the same devices more useful to different people!

Fancy making your own phone? Yeah, you read right, make your own phone. Not to worry you will not be buying your own factory to create the phone, rather you will be able to customise your own phone thanks to a project named Project Ara by Google. Project Ara is looking to provide a build-your-own smartphone with which users can mix and match features themselves. Users will get an empty phone frame with a screen, and can add or remove modular parts of the handset to make up the phone of your dreams. You don’t get it? Think of it as a Lego box and from the pieces you are making a fully functional phone.

History; Project Ara was started by Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility with the goal of offering a highly customizable smartphone based on open hardware. Motorola Mobility was later acquired by Lenovo, but Google retained the Project Ara effort, which is now part of the company’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) division.

Production; Google has said the snap-on modules (or Lego like bricks) will be mass-produced via 3D printing. 3D Systems is Google’s exclusive printing partner for Project Ara. 3D Systems has said Project Ara’s success could depend on the modular parts available, and the ability to mass produce those components in time.

How it will work; Ara phones are going to be built using modules inserted into metal endoskeletal frames known as “endos”. The endos will be the only component in an Ara phone made by Google. It acts as the switch to the on-device network linking all the modules together. You can then upgrade your phone by changing the modules connected to it and viola; you have a new powerful phone.

This is a great idea as you spend less to keep a new phone, you can decide to change the screen, or the processor, the battery or all of it without buying the whole phone. If it is ever commercial, it is the best idea ever! Gone will be the days of losing that phone case you are sentimental to because a newer model of your phone is out. You will be able to hold on to your “old-new” phone until it actually gives up or you decide to change it yourself, not forced to.

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