project ara

"GOOGLE’S INTEREST IN PROJECT ARA ISN’T NECESSARILY ABOUT CHANGING THE WORLD TOMORROW — IT’S ABOUT INVESTING IN THE FUTURE"

Project Ara is the codename for an initiative by Google that aims to develop a free, open hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphones. The platform will include a structural frame that holds smartphone modules of the owner's choice, such as a display, keyboard or an extra battery. It would allow users to swap out malfunctioning modules or upgrade individual modules as innovations emerge, providing longer lifetime cycles for the handset, and potentially reducing electronic waste.

The project was originally spearheaded by the Advanced Technologies And Projects team within Motorola Mobility, then a subsidiary of Google. Although Google is selling Motorola to Lenovo, it is retaining the team, who will work under the direction of the Android division.

motivation=

Google says the phone is designed for "six billion people",including the one billion smartphone users and the five billion feature phone users. Google intends to sell a US$50 starter pack that includes a frame, a screen, a battery, a low end CPU and WiFi.

Google wants Project Ara to lower the barrier entry for phone hardware manufacturers so there could be "hundreds of thousands of developers" instead of the current handful of big manufacturers. Anyone will be able to build a module, without requiring a licence or paying a fee.

modules and frames=

•   Ara phones are built using modules inserted into metal endoskeleton frames. The frame 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.
• 
  
•    There will be three frame sizes available at first: "mini", which is about the size of an iPhone, "medium", which is about the size of a 4.7 inch phone, and "phablet", which is about a third larger than "medium".
• 
  
•    Frames have two slots on the front: a space for the screen and a small horizontal bar. On the back they have square and rectangular slots of various sizes. Each frame is expected to cost around US$15.
• 
  
•   Modules can provide common smartphone features, such as cameras and speakers, but can also provide more specialized features, like a medical device, receipt printer, laser pointer, pico projector, night vision camera, or game controller buttons.
• 
  
•    Each slot on the frame will accept any module of the correct size. Modules can be hot-swapped without switching the phone off. (The frame includes a small backup battery so the main battery can be swapped.)
• 
  
•    Modules are secured with either latches or electropermanent magnets. The enclosures of the modules are 3D printed, so customers can design their own individual look and replace them as they wish.
•    Modules will be available both at an official Google store, and at third party stores. Ara phones will only accept official modules by default, but users can simply change a setting to install unofficial modules. This is similar to how Android handles app installations.

technical  details=

The first version of the developers' kit relies on a prototype implementation of the Ara on-device network using the MIPI UniPro protocol implemented on FPGA and running over an LVDS physical layer with modules connecting via retractable pins. Subsequent versions will soon be built around a much more efficient and higher performance ASIC implementation of UniPro, running over a capacitive M-PHY physical layer.

the team =

Project Ara was developed and is led by Paul Eremenko.The project falls under Regina Dugan, who runs Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) organization. Both Eremenko and Dugan come to Google from DARPA, where Eremenko originated the Fractionated Spacecraft concept and ran the Adaptive Vehicle Make program, before heading the Tactical Technology Office. The core Project Ara team at Google consists of three people, with most of the work done by outside contractors. One of the main contractor is NK Labs, a Massachusetts engineering firm. (Project Ara is named after NK Lab's co-founder Ara Knaian). Another contractor is 3D Systems.

reception=

Initial reception to the earlier modular Phonebloks concept was mixed, citing its infeasibility, lack of a working prototype, as well as other production and development concerns. The current prototype is 9.7mm thick, slightly thicker than conventional smartphones. 

future of project ara=

Sure, Project Ara and modular phones might seem like a pipe-dream right now, but ten years from now? Technology moves quickly. Ten years ago from today, advanced mobile operating systems like Android and iOS would have seemed unbelievable. Quad-core phones? Forget about it.

Bottom-line, modular phones have a ton of potential, particularly from the angle of improving end-user/customer experiences, even if such a model is still unproven in the mobile world. Whether modular phones can actually live up to this potential remains unseen for now.

But according to the latest news, google has cancelled the project ara.To know more go to fortune.com