I have always wished to have smartphone where component are so loosely coupled that I can easily upgrade my hardware to cop up with the Software upgrades but unfortunately we don't have any option other than to buy an new phone with higher configuration and of course higher price. I bet , I am not alone stuck with this coice, many people have always dreamed of such phones where components can be easily upgraded. Google has listened to the people's voice and is working on the very same concept popularly known as Project Ara.
What is Project Ara?
This week Google held its first developer conference for Project Ara, the new project on which Google's ATAP which comprises of former DARPA engineers alongwith Google's brightest tech minds is working on. Project Ara is concept of modular Smartphone wherein user can replace (read upgrade) anything they want from display to camera, from RAM to Processor, which makes it customers last destination for a smartphone once it is in market. No doubt this will hit largely the current market especially the biggies like Samsung and Apple who sells high end device at extremely high prices than it should actually be and customers are left with no choice.
This will change the concept of Smartphone market, imagine you are having difficulty in playing your favorite game because of lack of RAM you have in your smartphone you go to shop and asks for a higher RAM module without changing any other piece of hardware, wouldn't it be wonderful? (you may also sell your old RAM module on OLX to get some money :P )
Concept:
Ara would be Modular phone for which there will be no casing where all the components are packed in instead there will be a Case with Skeleton and Ribs to support your different modules. All the modules will stick to the skeleton with the help of electropermanentmagnets. The center line creating partition between two sides is termed as Skeleton and the horizontal lines to support each module are named as ribs by Google. Refer (Fig ARA1). Apart from regular cell phone modules users would be able to use some other modules to make their smartphone more than a conventional smartphone for example medical devices integration, night vision camera and lot more. The enclosures of the modules are 3D - Printed which will enable customers to design their own enclosures and replace them as they wish.
Possibilities:
Modular smartphones has been tried earlier as well in 2007 , Modu an Israeli startup came up with smartphones which can be fitted in electronic Jackets and can act as fitness tracker, music player or camera. But unfortunately the idea failed because of clunky design and limited number of module availability. Chinese tech giant ZTE also announced its modular phones where user can upgrade/replace four parts viz. screen, battery, camera and combination of memory and processor.
With this concept materializing Google can gain stronghold for its software services as well in emerging markets.Thanks to shrinking cost of smartphone hardware components which was very high at one time, now Google can convince hardware manufacturers as well as customers to think in a different way. Google has to to make such an ecosystem where Ara's modular parts will be easily available in market to satisfy customer's needs.
This will enable small manufacturers to gain share in the market who can build compatible modules with requiring a licence or paying a fee.
“We believe that the smartphone hardware ecosystem should be, and can be, a lot more like the Android app ecosystem: with a low barrier to entry, lots and lots of developers, and faster, richer innovation,” says Paul Eremenko, a former office head at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency who leads the project (his boss, Regina Dugan, was DARPA’s director and now runs ATAP for Google).
Availability:
The first model of the phone is scheduled to be released in January 2015 with an expected price tag of $50 which will include frame, display, battery, lower end CPU and WiFi.
What is Project Ara?
This week Google held its first developer conference for Project Ara, the new project on which Google's ATAP which comprises of former DARPA engineers alongwith Google's brightest tech minds is working on. Project Ara is concept of modular Smartphone wherein user can replace (read upgrade) anything they want from display to camera, from RAM to Processor, which makes it customers last destination for a smartphone once it is in market. No doubt this will hit largely the current market especially the biggies like Samsung and Apple who sells high end device at extremely high prices than it should actually be and customers are left with no choice.
This will change the concept of Smartphone market, imagine you are having difficulty in playing your favorite game because of lack of RAM you have in your smartphone you go to shop and asks for a higher RAM module without changing any other piece of hardware, wouldn't it be wonderful? (you may also sell your old RAM module on OLX to get some money :P )
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| ARA 4 |
Concept:
Ara would be Modular phone for which there will be no casing where all the components are packed in instead there will be a Case with Skeleton and Ribs to support your different modules. All the modules will stick to the skeleton with the help of electropermanentmagnets. The center line creating partition between two sides is termed as Skeleton and the horizontal lines to support each module are named as ribs by Google. Refer (Fig ARA1). Apart from regular cell phone modules users would be able to use some other modules to make their smartphone more than a conventional smartphone for example medical devices integration, night vision camera and lot more. The enclosures of the modules are 3D - Printed which will enable customers to design their own enclosures and replace them as they wish.
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| ARA 1 |
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| ARA 3 |
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| ARA 2 |
Possibilities:
Modular smartphones has been tried earlier as well in 2007 , Modu an Israeli startup came up with smartphones which can be fitted in electronic Jackets and can act as fitness tracker, music player or camera. But unfortunately the idea failed because of clunky design and limited number of module availability. Chinese tech giant ZTE also announced its modular phones where user can upgrade/replace four parts viz. screen, battery, camera and combination of memory and processor.
With this concept materializing Google can gain stronghold for its software services as well in emerging markets.Thanks to shrinking cost of smartphone hardware components which was very high at one time, now Google can convince hardware manufacturers as well as customers to think in a different way. Google has to to make such an ecosystem where Ara's modular parts will be easily available in market to satisfy customer's needs.
This will enable small manufacturers to gain share in the market who can build compatible modules with requiring a licence or paying a fee.
“We believe that the smartphone hardware ecosystem should be, and can be, a lot more like the Android app ecosystem: with a low barrier to entry, lots and lots of developers, and faster, richer innovation,” says Paul Eremenko, a former office head at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency who leads the project (his boss, Regina Dugan, was DARPA’s director and now runs ATAP for Google).
Availability:
The first model of the phone is scheduled to be released in January 2015 with an expected price tag of $50 which will include frame, display, battery, lower end CPU and WiFi.
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