Google introduced Project Ara, its modular smartphone concept, last year, but since then no one has heard too much about it. Recently, Google released a new video on YouTube in which the designers and makers of Project Ara talk more about modular smartphones and the importance of customization.
Google will hold its first-ever Project Ara Developer Conference from April 15-16 in Mountain View, Calif. Of course, to have a developer conference, Google has to have a Project Ara smartphone ready for developers to work with. The company has been busy coming up with designs and prototypes of the device.
In the video, Google shows off one of its first Project Ara prototypes. The main part of the smartphone, called the Endo, is the basis of the entire smartphone. Once an Endo has been chosen, you can add different, personalized attachments until you are satisfied with the final smartphone product. Each piece connects via electro-permanent magnets, which can be locked or unlocked using an app whenever you decide that you want to change up your smartphone's design.
Google is working with 3-D Systems, a 3-D printer and design company, to ensure that owners of Project Ara smartphones can edit and alter their smartphones easily. In other words, you won't have to be a tech geek to be able to give your smartphone an overhaul.
"When we created this modular phone and we realized that electro-permanent magnets would be able to keep it all together, we realized we wouldn't have to cover it," said Daniel Makoski, head of design for Google's advanced technology and projects. "We ended up deciding that embracing this block-and-modular aesthetic was part of the phone -- let's not hide it, let's not put it behind the cover. This phone can flow and adapt just as much as our lives flow and adapt, and that in itself is an aesthetic."
In the video, Google also stated that it plans to release a basic model of the Project Ara smartphone with Wi-Fi only onboard for $50. Once users have bought this basic model, they will be able to later add different modules, such as 4G LTE connectivity, more RAM, storage, etc. The idea is that the Project Ara smartphone will grow as technology improves, so that you don't have to buy a new smartphone every two years.
It's a bold idea, one that many people are interested to see in action. Hopefully, we get even more information out of Google at the developer conference this month.
