The prototype of Project Ara. 
modules, modules and more modules.
After learning that the modular phone project Ara Google will reach consumers in 2017, CNET in Spanish sat with key project managers for details. There we learn, for example , that one of the current priorities is to work with developers and partners to create the greatest possible number of modules for cell.
therefore, it makes sense that Google makes available to third parties its first kit development at year end, including, executives said, the basis of modular phone plus camera modules, horn, a secondary electronic ink display, memory and front camera – all but a rear camera. The idea, he explained, is to encourage developers to design modules with features that can not get on any phone today.
In conversation with the head of Ara, Richard Wooldridge, creative director Blaise Bertrand and engineer manager Rafael Camargo, executives did much emphasis on the importance of seeing Ara as a platform on which you can create all kinds of modules with all kinds of functions.
the possibilities, they said, are almost endless and the advantage for the consumer is to not have to wait the typical cycles of 24 months for the latest innovations. The promise of Ara is that with the purchase of a separate module, the user can configure your phone to your taste and with the latest technology.
Wooldridge is in charge of a new unit within Google called Project Ara. For a month, Ara, like Project Tango, has been separated from the incubator special projects Google, called ATAP, and is now a business unit that has to prove that it is viable through profitability. Wooldridge reports to the head of the hardware division of Google, Rick Osterloh, who worked at Motorola.
The current goal of the team is to ensure that there is useful and relevant to consumers modules when the phone arrives the market next year. While Google expects partners and developers to generate all kinds of modules, the company will maintain control of what they call the telephone base and launch the first phone of 2017 under its own brand. Unlike the first prototypes, the base, which currently has six spaces for six different modules, contains all the processing power of the phone. Google plans to release in the future development of the base, also for third parties to make their own versions.
One of the prototypes Ara Google executives showed him CNET in Spanish in the session.
Gabriel sama / CNET
“One of the things we discovered in our tests is that users do not want to worry about the basic functions of the phone,” Wooldridge said. “In fact, in many cases people did not know what a processor”. Therefore, the focus is on creating modules and functions than a traditional smartphone can not do; unexpected or particularly useful for a group or niche of people things (as would an accessory to measure glucose levels).
The goal, in short, is to offer things that your current phone does not improve which does have and give consumers the ability to upgrade faster.
a huge advantage, executives say, is that under Ara, these functions may get to market much faster, since it is not necessary develop and manufacture a totally new phone to take them to the consumer. (Unlike current prototypes running Android Marshmallow, the company expects the kit for developers and phone for consumers work with Android N).
The managers Ara see an interesting in collaborating with partners and brands that otherwise would not have a direct input to mobile devices such as fashion brands or companies health sector opportunity. Thus, these brands can access different consumers to their common base.
The most important thing is that the consumer will have the last word on how to set up your phone, and partners and developers can answer very specific needs. For example, a module could be a lamp with very bright light for someone working at night, or a specific music lover could add two modules speakers to your phone. Among the rarest they have considered or that have proposed them several who are not electronic but mechanical, as one pepper spray to defend themselves and one makeup.
Rafael Camargo, engineer in charge of Ara, with the prototype of the modular phone in hand.
Gabriel Sama / CNET
“Even in my lab I have a configuration that has nothing to do with a phone, and can not make calls,” says Camargo.
there will also be the ability to customize the phone with what Ara style called modules, which include indoor and accessories colors and different materials, such as wood. “As humans change,” Camargo said, “so as part of the value proposition will be an opportunity to personalize your phone.” Camargo expect, for example, see modules that perform the functions developed by other projects Google, as Daydream (virtual reality) and Tango (3D mapping).
Project Ara include a certification process to ensure that third-party products have the quality that Google expects and work properly on the phone to ensure optimal user experience
Among the ideas the team is offering an online tool to set the phone -. Moto type Maker – and shop modules, such as apps. Ara also include an app to manage modules, which can be controlled with voice commands (Camargo showed in the presentation of Google I / O how you can detach a module using OK Google). The executives also expect the phone and modules sold in stores and operators, even in installments. Another idea is to create a market where people can exchange their modules.
At this time, managers of Ara are working to ensure that the consumer model is more aesthetic, more curved contours, and especially thinner (the current prototype is twice as thick as a phone typical logo).
as for price, the incoming packet (base with premium components and a camera module) cost more or less the cost of a flagship phone. Executives also imagine sell some various configurations (horn, secondary display and extra battery, for example) to see which ones matter most to consumers. Since the type of modules range is very wide – from mechanical modules for storage or perform simple functions, to much more sophisticated and more expensive materials – the price range, executives say, will also be very large. Refused to give specific prices.
“The key here,” says Camargo, “is to build a platform, not a device.”
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