Earlier this year, Google said that it would release its highly-anticipated modular smartphone in Puerto Rico, but has now pushed back the launch date to 2016. PC Mag reports:
Project Ara is housed within Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group. The team was unveiled in October 2013, and tasked with doing for hardware what the Android platform has done for software: create a vibrant third-party developer ecosystem.
In April 2014, Google's team showed off a prototype of the phone's structural frame, highlighting electro-permanent magnets which keep in place components like an application processor, keyboard, extra battery, or pulse oximeter.
In March, relative unknown Yezz showed off 11 modules (pictured above) during this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The announcement comes just days after Google launched its new company, Alphabet, which will oversee Google and the various side projects in which the search giant has invested—including Ara. As part of the change, Sundar Pichai—senior vice president of Android, Chrome, and Apps—will replace Larry Page as CEO of Google.
ZDNet writes:
With Project Ara, Google is aiming to change how smartphones are sold by offering consumers core components like the display, camera, processor and sensors that can be purchased separately and attached to a base unit that Google calls the Endoskeleton.
If the idea gets off the ground, the modular design could give consumers a cheaper way to upgrade handsets, allowing them to keep the same body and replace each component as needed. It also opens up new possibilities for module makers to develop specialised components that might not be available in other readymade smartphones.
Google had lined up Android device maker Yezz as one of its Ara partners. Yezz was to deliver around 20 to 30 modules for the now-scrapped Puerto Rico launch.
