Project Ara at Google I/O 2015
Project Ara only made a short cameo during Google’s Advanced Technologies and Projects (ATAP) group session at I/O 2015, but boy, what an impression it left.
The last time we saw an Ara prototype was at Mobile World Congress (see below) but it didn’t work. The exoskeleton was impressive enough but the sneak peek lacked any real oomph due to the non-functioning nature of the unit. As if in answer to that last appearance, the Project Ara demo shown at I/O just blew my mind.
In a three-minute demo at the end of ATAP’s presentation, the audience witnessed an Ara device get assembled (but without a camera), booted up and then watch as the missing camera was inserted.
The runtime detected it and the camera app started working, all in about five seconds. If you’ve been wondering just how impressive and adaptable to real-life use cases the actual hardware of Ara modules will be, we just got a really good first look.
Project Ara at MWC 2015
Project Ara’s prototype modular smartphone also made an appearance at MWC 2015, but it was not a finished product — in fact, it didn’t even switch on. Instead, Project Ara’s introduction at MWC was basically to display the device modules, and how they would fit with the device shell or endoskeleton. The component mock-ups were shown-off by US-based company Yezz Mobile, a (relatively) small smartphone manufacturer whom Google is partnering with the Project Ara launch.
Yezz has been working on hundreds of component concepts for screens, cameras, batteries, antennas and more for Project Ara, with components arriving in three sizes: one by one, two by one, or two by two squares. Though the modules will have a variety of functions, each will be made to a certain device standard so that they can easily be swapped with components from any other manufacturer; it’s very similar to how PC computer components are swapped-out and upgraded.
The advantage of Project Ara is that it provides users with far greater control over their handsets than is usually possible — consumers can spend money only on the components which most interest them. Additionally, there is a much larger scope for the capabilities of a Project Ara device, as manufacturers will be able to produce modules for whatever they want.
While we enjoyed playing with the modules and learning of more Project Ara concepts, most of the information was already known, and now we’re just eager to get our hands on a working model. The device could be launching in the next six months and we’ll keep you informed with all of the latest news until then. Check below for our previous coverage.