If you are product of the current age, you surely will be accustomed with terms such as modular kitchen. A modular kitchen is something that allows you to customize your own kitchen the way you like. But how would you like to have that same kind of feature on a smartphone?
In case you didn't know, the build-it-yourself Google Ara Project is already up and running behind the closed doors of Google. This is basically Google's way of telling its fans that you too can design and build your dream handset.
Project Ara, basically, is part of the Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group, and comes as a part of whatever Google retained in its sale of Motorola Mobility to Lenovo. The project is a plan to create an open-source smartphone hardware platform, with users starting off with a piece of base hardware known as an Endo.
But if the concept of building your own smartphone attracts you, here's everything that you will need to know about the latest Project ARA.
Modules in Use
Going by whatever little we know about it, the feature tiles, known as modules, will connect to the phone's skeleton. This phone's skeleton known as the Endo will connect via electro-permanent magnets. Hitting the magnets "On" will see electrical pulse create a bond between the Endo and module. On hitting "Off", the magnets will release the bond for you to replace the module. Anything, ranging from batteries to processors to cameras, can be fitted into the module shell.
Updated Platform
While, as of now, Android doesn't support a modular system, there are talks that the operating system is being updated to support it. There's even an expected release date for it in early 2015.
How To Buy Modules
There have been reports that once Project Ara is ready for public, Google will have a e-commerce site ready for it that will work alongside the Google Play store. Here, you will be able to purchase modules online, with the store even helping you out in deciding which modules to pick. But more on this will be revealed going forward.
A Lot of Functionalities
There's no real limit to the number of functionalities a developer can put into a single module. And there's nothing as a specified place for a certain feature as anything that fits within the module's physical constraints is good as it is.
What's in it For You?
A single Project Ara handset is expected to last you at least five years. And this is far more than what an average handset offers. And instead of upgrading to a new phone each year, you could actually save up on a new module. So that means as soon as there's a new release in terms of a better camera or a processor, you can effectively fit it inside your module and you are good to go.
