Anyone can create and customise the Ara according to their tastes using selected modules. Will this idea revolutionise the smartphone market?
When Google sold the mobile phone manufacturer Motorola to Lenovo at the start of 2014 and made a loss of 10 billion US dollars as a result, it became the butt of many caustic comments in the industry. However in the bargain, the IT giant retained not only thousands of patents but also Motorola’s research centre “Advanced Technology and Projects” (ATAP). This department has been working on an idea for a long time – an idea that can rightly be described as revolutionary, namely, a modular smartphone, code name “Project Ara”. If Google’s plan works, its loss of billions could soon turn into a huge advantage and give Google’s competitors – from Apple to Samsung – a terrible headache.
The principle is simple but brilliant. Every buyer would assemble their Ara phone themselves because every component is a replaceable module - display, battery, camera, GPS, loudspeaker, CPU and GPU. Today, the customer can only select from a few configurations. But with Ara, one can assemble their own completely customised smartphone – just like the golden times of PC DIY. According to Google, customers will always have an app with which they can assemble, design and organise their Ara phone. The device will then be like a plug-in kit for the customer. Since the modules can also be purchased individually, the operating life of the smartphone could increase to five to six years. If the battery weakens, it can be replaced by a new battery module. If the quality of the full HD camera is no longer enough, it can be replaced by a 4K module.
Prototype presentation in the backroom
The base body of every Ara phone is the barebones frame (“Endo”) made out of aluminium, which will be available in different sizes in the future. The current Ara prototype is slightly bigger than an iPhone 5 and can be equipped with a display on the front and up to twelve modules at the back. With the exception of the display and a slimmer front module, the modules currently come in three different sizes: the smallest has a surface of 20 x 20 mm and can accommodate one USB port. Then there are modules of the sizes 20 x 40 mm (e.g., digicam, WLAN) and 40 x 40 mm (e.g., CPU & mainboard, battery). The base body also contains data and power lines as well as magnets that hold the modules in place. In the current prototype, the device has to be rebooted when changing a module. In future however, a modification in the Android operating system will make it possible to exchange a module even when the phone is in operation. Ara, which was a secret project, has become a public one under the direction of ATAP since the end of 2013. Since then, prototypes are being released and third party developers are being involved in the designing of the module. The ATAP has divided the Ara development phases into so-called “spirals”, where the current prototype is “spiral 2”. If basic designs and communication chips (WLAN) were integrated in the predecessors spiral 0 and 1, the focus is now on the development of a 3G chip for mobile communication and on the involvement of third party developers like NVIDIA or Toshiba. Not so long ago, the Japanese company has introduced the first functional camera module for Ara via a YouTube video. Attaching modules using magnets, which can be switched on and off, and which functions with the help of electropermanent magnet (EPM), has been improved when compared to the first phase.
The next prototype spiral 3 is supposed to be presented as early as in the second quarter – it will have a 4G/LTE module, a more powerful battery and Android on board. The Ara schedule is tight because the first pilot phase is supposed to start in Puerto Rico by the end of the year – before the worldwide launch. According to Google, the small island state has people who are mobile-data-savvy and a provider market, which can be compared to that in the USA. At the Mobile World Congress at the beginning of March, Google had displayed only one prototype in the backroom, which was still quite far from being ready for the market. It remains to be seen whether a testable smartphone can really be conjured by the end of the year.
Geiger counters and clinical thermometers
Google explains the deeper logic behind Project Ara with ecological reasons and, with a starting price of 50 to 100 US dollars, also aims at developing countries. The real attraction for Google will be the control and sale of modules. The modules will become to Ara what the app market is for Android; there are a number of start-ups like Intersoft, which has announced a Geiger counter module with a “Radiation Sensor” for instance. The target group for this could be small but it shows the possibilities Ara can offer - cameras with optical zoom, powerful GPS for mountaineers, clinical thermometers for doctors or high-grade sound modules. Such individual components may not interest big manufacturers, but smaller developers could find people who are interested in Ara and in buying such modules.
We asked Google’s Android partners such as Samsung, HTC or LG what they think of Ara. The modular smartphone must be like a warning shot for them and except for Motorola, none of the big manufacturers have officially experimented with Ara yet. As expected, none of these manufacturers wanted to comment on this. However, we can say with reasonable certainty that they will be looking at the mobile data market in Puerto Rico at the end of the year.