From ARA Forums Wrote:This Year in Mountain View, California Google held its first developers conference of Project Ara
modular smartphone project. Developed by a small team within the company called ATAP staffed with ex- DARPA engineers and some of the brilliant minds on Earth.
What is Project Ara
Project Ara is a mission to make a modular smartphone. It would be the last phone you ever needed to buy, Because you'd be able to swap out everything from the camera to the display to the Processor and to the battery, in order to always have the exact phone you want.
In a line you can say that Project Ara is a modular smartphone concept which makes smartphone components replaceable with a new and a fresh component, Means you can upgrade your Cpu and camera if you want to upgrade it, You can also use two battery module's instead of a battery and a camera module and the customizations are limitless. Project Ara was a Motorola's project but now it is a Google's project because Google sold Motorola to lenovo but Google still own's the patents of Project Ara.
Why We Need Modular Smartphones
Smartphone's which is widely used electronic device in our world has More then a billion smartphone user are there so we can say that we generates a huge amount of electronic wastes by this, Because electronic devices are not designed for last longer so if a smartphone have replaceable components then we can throw only the dead or not working component and replace it with a new working component so that only not working component will generates electronic waste not the whole smartphone or device. This will be definitely helpful to cut Down our carbon footprint, This is Project Ara. Project Ara is not only a modular smartphone project but also it is a Eco friendly smartphone project as PhoneBlocks said.
Google says the phone is designed to be used by "six billion people" including One billion smartphone users.
What We Know About It
We don't know much about it but some videos and information tells that google will only sale Frames named `Endos`, It acts as the switch to the on-device network linking all the modules together. There will be two frame sizes available at first: "mini", a frame about the size of a Nokia 3310 and "medium", about the size of a LG Nexus 5. In the future, a "large" frame about the size of a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will be available. Frames have slots on the front for the display and other modules. On the back are additional slots for modules. Each frame is expected to cost around US$15.
Frame Size Rear module slots
Mini 45 x 118 x 9.7mm 2 x 5
Medium 68 x 141 x 9.7 mm 3 x 6
Large 91 x 164 x 9.7 mm 4 x 7
Who works on Project Ara?
Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects division is headed by Regina Dugan, who was once the director of the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Some of the brightest minds on our earth.
How much it will Cost
Google expects it will cost $50 to produce the smallest, entry-level shell. The specifications are very simple a single core Cpu a WiFi chip and some normal parts like a small camera and a low capacity battery, But you can upgrade each of your module for the performance and features you want on your Modular Smartphone.
Module Store
Recently globant released a letter that they will make a dedicated google play like Project Ara Module's Store.
Project Ara Launch Date
Project Ara first conference scheduled for April 15-16, where Google plans to release the developers' kit. Commercial release for Google's First Project Ara based Modular Smartphone is planned for Q1 2015.
Tell us what you think about it in the discussions below.
So yeah,heard about this a long while back,looks like its getting closer to completion now.
Just w8 few more years and you will have a cellphone integrated in your body with 4D-UHD graphics,smells,sounds and whatever else there is (with no getting rid of spam and pop up ads,even while u sleep).
On a side note,it is cool idea,but im more in favor of the nokia morph concept.
"Your words are powerful; write carefully, with precision and meaning. Use them to nurture, not destroy." - Jools Noctru of the Order of Krath
It's an old Motorola Project that was abandoned and now bought by Google. 2 or 3 years ago another project like this was started called Phonebloks (google it xD).
Anyway if they finish with ARA, that would be really great ... but, wait a couple of years from now.
And it's a cool phone.