Google's Project Ara Delayed
Google's ambitious project to create the first-ever modular smartphone has been delayed. According to a report on The Verge, the team behind the project recently acknowledged the delay, saying that the phone was not "staying together" as expected. The report specifically mentioned that the smartphone that Project Ara has so far put together is not passing the drop test – i.e. it's components are not staying together as expected.
The Project Ara team recently tweeted this: "No more electropermanent magnets. #ProjectAra #FailedTheDropTest." In a follow-up tweet, they said that they were working on "a signature experience to attach/detach modules." According to the report, this does not indicate how the team was going to do it, but it's an acknowledgement that they need to get back to the drawing board and "rethink" how they would join the modules of the smartphone together and make sure that the phone passes the test of durability.
In another report in Tech Times, it was mentioned that this slight delay meant that the project's scheduled trials which were supposed to happen in Puerto Rico would also be delayed. However, Google has recently announced that it would add a few more test cities to the project next year. The estimated release of the modular smartphone will be sometime in 2016 and not 2015 as Google had earlier predicted.
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The idea behind the project is to create a modular smartphone - one that is made up of removable and replaceable modules. This gives the user freedom to get specific modules based on what he/she needs for the smartphone, which means that a user does not need to buy a new smartphone every time an upgrade is needed. If better battery life is required, the battery module can be replaced. Or if one needs a better camera, then one just needs to replace the camera module. The possibilities for developing different types of modules for different purposes are endless.
Although the pricing has yet to be set, Google is looking at making entry-level handsets sell for around $50 to $100 dollars. Module prices will vary, of course, depending on who is manufacturing and what is being manufactured.
