In case you missed it, Project Ara is a concept phone with a modular design. The theory is that you’ll be able to swap out different components to build the phone you want.
Don’t care about cameras? You don’t have to bother buying a camera module then. Or maybe you are really into your photography? Okay, so instead of opting for basic 5-megapixel module you could grab a hefty 13-megapixel sensor with optical stabilisation – or maybe something better than that.
Physical keyboards, enhanced speakers, different sized battery packs and different connectivity modules with varying modems and ports are also all on the cards. When the concept was first wheeled out in October 2013 most people thought it was a long-term pipedream, a really great idea, but it couldn’t be anywhere near production.
As it turns out we could see the Ara arrive much, much sooner than expected. Motorola’s former CEO Dennis Woodside explained in a December interview that the project was actually “pretty close”, he pointed out that the only thing which needs finalising is the “interfaces and protocols” which allow the modular component pieces to “speak directly to the CPU”.
But more recently Google has actively set some wheels in motion. The company took to Google+ with some photos revealing a prototype skeleton filled with circuits and connectors – this isn’t a concept render anymore, this is a real piece of kit.
Time reports that Ara could arrive as a buyable product as early as the beginning of 2015 and for a price as low as $50. Meanwhile, Google has dropped hints that it plans the Ara to be available for as many as 6 billion people. That basic package would reportedly only come with Wi-Fi but users would have the option of adding 3G and 4G radios if they wished to. Again, you spend as much or as little as you want to get the phone you want.
Plans from Google’s Advanced Technology and Patents department (ATAP), which is leading the project, allegedly aim to finish that prototype as a fully functional unit “within weeks”. The Android giant has also announced it will hold an Ara developer conference in 2014 over April 15 and April 16 in California.
We should clarify that in this context the term developers likely not only means people working with software, but also hardware, because as Woodside emphasised in his interview, Ara is intended to introduce “open source” hardware for developers to get cracking on, just like Google’s Android software has a rich ecosystem floated by thousands of developers.
He even imagined the basement programmer archetype having its equivalent in the form of independent developers making hardware modules in their garages. According to reports this is going to be the focus of Google’s April event, with Google introducing its Module Developer Kit (MDK). Google says the conference will “consist of a detailed walk-through of existing and planned features for the Ara platform.”
Google has even mentioned there’s an idea for a Google Play Store equivalent for developer-made Ara hardware modules. You’ll be able to order them, have them delivered and slot them into your phone.
The modules are reportedly as little as 4mm thick in some cases and overall bulk for the most decked-out Ara handsets isn’t expected to surpass 10mm in total thickness of the devcie. The modules will use a secure locking system so that should you drop your handset it won’t explode into its component bits.
“Removing a module will require disengaging it through an app on the phone, which will release whatever mechanism was locking it in place,” reports The Verge.
Presumably any software required for things like advanced cameras will have a partner app issued through Google Play.
According to Time’s report, Ara will come in three size variants at first; “mini, medium and jumbo”, which will cover all currently popular sizes from compact to phablet. While nothing specific has been said, in theory each size variant could offer a smaller or greater number of module slots.
Project Ara's leader, Paul Eremenko, told Time, “The question was basically, could we do for hardware what Android and other platforms have done for software? Which means lower the barrier to entry to such a degree that you could have tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of developers as opposed to just five or six big [manufacturers] that could participate in the hardware space.”
For fans of aesthetics it’s not just functional modules that are planned either. Google reportedly has its eye on leveraging 3D-printing to enable user customisation of material types, design style and, of course, colour – some concepts have even shown patterened panels.
Needless to say, the Ara is shaping up to be a real game-changer. And only just in time too, as recent major flagship launches have highlighted over 2013-2014; the hardware race is slowing down, something big needs to change. Google would also be able to simplify its mobile strategy. All the talk of manufacturers producing budget phones for emerging markets and premium devices for already buoyant markets is rendered moot by a handset which can straddle both.
Google Previews Ara At Developer Conference
As expected, Google has showcased a bit more of its Ara module phone concept at the company's developer conference, which has taken place over April 15-16. According to reports from the event, Google reps have explained that the first Ara smartphones are expected to ship as early as January 2015, with an Android update being launched in December to add support for the phone's hardware modules. Ara's project lead, Paul Eremenko, revealed there would be two further developer conferences held this year in July and September.He also honed in a little more on initial plans and cost for the device. That $50 price we've heard before is apparently what it will cost developers to produce the first model, a generic "gray phone", according to Mashable, so expect that price to go up a wee bit for the end buyer.
"The phone will be purposely designed to be 'drab' to encourage owners to be creative, and personalise their devices," the report added.
And one of the more interesting revelations of the conference explained exactly how said users can go about personalising their devices. It's been reported before that Google has plans for a Play Store equivalent for hardware modules, but it seems there'll be another facet to that which is comparable to Motorola's Moto X "Moto Maker" customisation web store. The so-called Ara Configurator has been designed to allow users to design a custom appearance for every module aboard their handset, and this doesn't just go as far as colours either, things like printed graphics, multi-tone paintjobs and even 3D texturised effects courtesy of 3D printing.
"Users can import photos into Ara's Configurator, which will create a personalized design based off of the color palette in the images. Or, they can create customized 3D-printed textures for the surface of their device's modules," says Mashable's Karissa Bell. "These textures, which can only be placed on the top surface of modules, are designed to be easily replaceable, so users can swap them out when they want a new design."
The Wall Street Journal spoke to several developers present at Google's conference and reports that some very interesting ideas were already being thrown around.
"Peter Sisk, a senior engineer from The Institute for Health Metrics, said he is working on an Ara module that could analyze a small drop of blood and collect results that usually require much larger samples," the report said.
Sisk described the idea as "a blood lab on a chip” and added that such a module could help take blood samples while away from medical centres before sending the information to them via the web.
Today is the second and final day of the current conference, you can see the agenda here and livestream here.
Google Launches Project Ara Module Developers Kit
Google has officially released its Module Developers Kit (MDK) for Project Ara (if you're thinking of becoming a developer you, or are just interested, you can download the kit at that link). The kit outlines the three sizes of Ara device - mini, medium and large - and shows component parts, the bigger phone sizes can take more module pieces.For now, Google will be the only manufacturer producing the Ara frames, but of course the idea is that thousands of developers will create module components. The MDK provides guides as to how developers can create new parts, including processor chips, display panels, connectivity modules such as Wi-Fi cells, battery packs and much more besides.
The front panel will also be customisable, with users being able to choose from larger touchscreens or smaller ones, and accessories such as Qwerty keyboards.
Further MDK updates will be released in 2014 and Google's first Ara Developer Conference starts on April 15 (next week at time of writing), with the first devices hitting the market as early as Q1 2015 with a bespoke Google Play-like store for hardware modules going live around that time.
Project Ara Demo Videos
Ahead of Google's Ara developer conference taking place on April 15, the handset and project lead Paul Eremenko appeared at the LAUNCH tech conference for a bit of a showcase.Said showcase was captured on video, it's a hefty 2 hours 45 minutes, although Ara is only covered for around 25 minutes (skip to about 5 minutes in). We even get to see modules being slotted and un-slotted from a prototype model.
Interestingly, the phone was referred to as "Google Ara" rather than "Project Ara", so potentially that's a name to expect when it arrives on the market in 2015.
We previously heard how the Ara would cost as little as $50, but it seems this will be for some kind of package deal with particular components. According to Eremenko's comments in the video the base unit will cost $15 (this is presumably the "Mini" variant), so perhaps the other $35 is the component modules.
Another interesting thing is that the phone's display is demonstrated as a detachable model. Previously we had assumed the display would be one of the few "fixed" components of the device, but it appears you will also be able to swap this. This could mean you can, for example, start with a basic 800x480 LCD and perhaps upgrade when you have some spare cash to a full HD 1080p IPS setup or some kind of OLED.
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