Meet Ara, Google-Modular Phone

                                                       Project Ara was a modular smartphone project under development by Google. The project was originally headed by the Advanced Technology and Projects team within Motorola Mobility while it was a Google subsidiary. Google retained the ATAP group when selling Motorola to Lenovo, and it was placed under the stewardship of the Android development staff; Ara was later split off as an independent operation.

                               Under its original design, Project Ara was intended to consist of hardware modules providing common smartphone components, such as processors, displays, batteries, and cameras, as well as modules providing more specialized components, and "frames" that these modules were to be attached to. This design would allow a device to be upgraded over time with new capabilities and upgraded specifications without requiring the purchase of an entire new device, providing a longer lifecycle for the device and potentially reducing electronic waste.However, by 2016, the concept had been revised, resulting in a base phone with non-upgradable core components, and modules providing supplemental features.

Project goals

                           Google stated that Project Ara was being designed to be utilized by "6 billion people": 1 billion current smartphone users, and 5 billion feature phone users.Google intended to sell a starter kit where the bill of materials is US$50 and includes a frame, display, battery, low-end CPU and WiFi.

Google intended Project Ara to lower the entry barrier for phone hardware manufacturers so there could be "hundreds of thousands of developers" instead of the existing oligarchy of phone manufacturers.Google planned to provide an open development process for modules, and would not have required manufacturers to pay a license fee.

Ara Features

                                           The Project Ara concept consisted of modules inserted into metal endoskeletal frames known as "endos". The frame would be the only component manufactured by Google.The frame was the switch to the on-device network linking all the modules together. Google planned two sizes of frames on launch; a "mini" frame about the size of a Nokia 3310 and a "medium" frame about the size of a Nexus 5. Modules could provide common smartphone features, such as cameras and speakers, but could also provide more specialized features, such as medical devices, receipt printers, laser pointers, pico projectors, night vision sensors, or game controller buttons. Each slot on the frame accepted any module of the correct size. The front slots are of various heights and took up the whole width of the frame.The rear slots had standard sizes of 1×1, 1×2 and 2×2.Modules could be hot-swapped without turning the phone off. The frame also included a small backup battery so the main battery can be hot-swapped.Modules were originally to be secured with electropermanent magnets, but this was replaced by a different method. The enclosures of the modules were planned to be 3D-printed, but due to the lack of development in the technology Google opted instead for a customizable molded case.