Ara modular Android phone - coming 2017

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timmmay

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#196210 23-May-2016 13:06

From The Register.

"A modular phone that will let you snap on and pull off different components as you wish will finally launch this fall, Google has announced."

Sounds like a solution looking for a problem to me, based on the video. How many people want to change their phones hardware many times a day?

In theory the occasional module upgrade to improve the phone would be good, say adding a newer camera, faster CPU, etc, but at what cost? Probably lower reliability, potential compatibility issues, probably larger size because parts have to be self contained and packaged.

gzt

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#1557964 23-May-2016 13:59

It's a weird one. There are all kinds of niche applications where this kind of portable sensor platform will be useful. I doubt Google will keep it around long enough to become the platform of choice for those applications.

deadlyllama

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#1557971 23-May-2016 14:10

It does promise a way to get off the upgrade treadmill. To buy a decent phone once and then upgrade parts as you see fit. You could splash out on a really good camera module, and not have to throw it out when you upgraded the display or CPU.

wasabi2k

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#1558017 23-May-2016 15:29

deadlyllama:

It does promise a way to get off the upgrade treadmill. To buy a decent phone once and then upgrade parts as you see fit. You could splash out on a really good camera module, and not have to throw it out when you upgraded the display or CPU.

Which directly goes against what smartphone makers want you to do (upgrade your device every 12 months).

While a cool piece of tech, it looks to be a logistical nightmare that no sane vendor will actually pick up. AS you said - lots of cool niche things you can do, but doubt you will ever see it achieve consumer acceptance. Looks a lot to me like consoles vs PCs, but in a smartphone.

dafman

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#1558043 23-May-2016 16:02

I'd happily stick with a phone for a longer period time if it was a quality piece of kit that I could keep replacing bits over its life to keep it current.

And not to mention it's great news for the environment if it takes off.

d3Xt3r

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#1558437 24-May-2016 09:20

timmmay:
In theory the occasional module upgrade to improve the phone would be good, say adding a newer camera, faster CPU, etc, but at what cost? Probably lower reliability, potential compatibility issues, probably larger size because parts have to be self contained and packaged.

Actually, Project ARA has now been scaled down so that you can no longer upgrade the CPU/RAM/Display/Internal Battery. Yep. Apparently they did some "research" and found that most people didn't care about the internals of the phone. Which is a bit of a shame really cause the whole point of ARA was you could upgrade/replace parts as you go and not have to buy a new phone. I can understand not wanting to swap out the CPU and RAM, but atleast they should have made the display and battery swappable. I mean most people at some point end up breaking their phones display, and it's a pretty expensive affair to get it repair, or quite a bit of a hassle if you prefer to repair it yourself. ARA was going to solve that issue, but not anymore.

With this scaled down version, ARA is now nothing more than a slightly more modular version of the G5, which will get outdated in 2-3 years after release and end up in the scrap pile like the other phones. :(

Kopkiwi

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#1558479 24-May-2016 09:50

d3Xt3r:
timmmay:
In theory the occasional module upgrade to improve the phone would be good, say adding a newer camera, faster CPU, etc, but at what cost? Probably lower reliability, potential compatibility issues, probably larger size because parts have to be self contained and packaged.

Actually, Project ARA has now been scaled down so that you can no longer upgrade the CPU/RAM/Display/Internal Battery. Yep. Apparently they did some "research" and found that most people didn't care about the internals of the phone. Which is a bit of a shame really cause the whole point of ARA was you could upgrade/replace parts as you go and not have to buy a new phone. I can understand not wanting to swap out the CPU and RAM, but atleast they should have made the display and battery swappable. I mean most people at some point end up breaking their phones display, and it's a pretty expensive affair to get it repair, or quite a bit of a hassle if you prefer to repair it yourself. ARA was going to solve that issue, but not anymore.

With this scaled down version, ARA is now nothing more than a slightly more modular version of the G5, which will get outdated in 2-3 years after release and end up in the scrap pile like the other phones. :(

So that leaves...the camera? Wow what a waste of time that isn't...

mdf

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#1558516 24-May-2016 10:55

I had been looking forward to this for a while. I like a physical keyboard on my phone (I know, I'm weird) and the original Project Ara catered to this by allowing niche accessories to be snapped on (since almost no-one is making niche phones any more).

About the only use I can see is snapping on different lenses to a camera.

The video had a speaker option, but I'm thinking physics means it will always sound tinny compared to a bigger stand alone option.

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Kopkiwi

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#1558554 24-May-2016 11:25

mdf:

I had been looking forward to this for a while. I like a physical keyboard on my phone (I know, I'm weird) and the original Project Ara catered to this by allowing niche accessories to be snapped on (since almost no-one is making niche phones any more).

About the only use I can see is snapping on different lenses to a camera.

The video had a speaker option, but I'm thinking physics means it will always sound tinny compared to a bigger stand alone option.

It sounds dead in the water before it's end released.

gzt

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#1558565 24-May-2016 11:51

Time will tell. It will require a high level of adoption to make things like camera swap economic.

As a sensor platform as part of a toolkit it makes more sense. Snap in IR camera, gas sensor, multimeter, ethernet for network analysis etc. Voila! Tricorder!

gzt

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#1558567 24-May-2016 11:58

Coincidently, Google released the Science Journal app this week:

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2016-05/23/google-science-journal-science-app

It is a sensor data recording app that takes advantage of all sensors on existing phones. It will be open sourced later this year.