Google has chose to shelve its modular handset programme, Project Ara, to streamline the company’s hardware efforts, according to reports. The company had also announced that it would release a developer edition of the product in autumn.
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Project Ara was an effort to allow phone users to customize a smartphone for their needs.
Google so far hasn’t commented on the news but it is seen as a big blow to one of their most significant future projects. This would make it easy to swap out and upgrade smartphone components on the fly, extending smartphone lifespans and potentially reducing waste.
Project Ara was one of the flagship efforts of Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group it inherited as part of its purchase of Motorola in 2011. Still, the company did announce a host of partners for Project Ara back in May, and it seems that it might still bring Project Ara’s technology to the market, even though the chances are slim.
Project Ara’s road from concept to product hasn’t been smooth.
What is a Modular Smartphone?
The move to suspend the phone could be an edict from former Googler, and ex-head of Motorola, Rick Osterloh, who re-joined Google in April as head of a new hardware division being built within Google. The first generation Project Ara was speculated to include six slots for adding modules.
Moreover, the goal was to ultimately create something in the space of a $50 start phone and allow for piece and part purchases to evolve it over time.
Bob O’Donnell of TECHnalysis Research told Reuters that he wasn’t surprised by the Google’s halt to the project. On the other hand, Android OEM’s are simply running with their own version of modular phones without licensing anything from Google, such as the LG G5 smartphone that debuted this year. However, Project Ara has come to an abrupt end. He said, “This was a science experiment that failed, and they are moving on”.
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And past year, an enhancement of the design was launched, and it was tested in Puerto Rico.
