Google’s new smartphone project could be a game changer when it launches in 2015
Project Ara is the latest innovation from Google, who plan to move in to the smartphone market with this modular device that consists of a basic endoskeleton and plenty of pieces that are exchangeable and interchangeable, meaning users can customise their phone.
Paul Ermenko, head of Project Ara, showed off the design yesterday, but according to PC World, it wasn’t the greatest start: “We did crack the screen, and the phone doesn’t quite boot”. However, as a concept, it’s hugely interesting.
Project Ara plans to target those people who don’t yet have a smartphone, all 5 billion of them, giving them a device that’s not expensive to buy or to develop, and allows them to buy parts, from the casing to the camera and processor, that they can choose themselves.
Not being aimed at the users who buy high end devices means that they have a market share all to themselves, if all goes to plan, and offering upgrades and extras from an “ecosystem” of people building modules means they can ensure purchases down the line too.
The main difference, and perhaps an attractive point for other users, is that they plan for the life of these phones to be much longer than your average smartphone. So instead of two years (what most people tend to get out of their device), they’re looking at five or six years before you need to replace the handset, which may put the big name developers on alert.
Hat-tip to Mashable
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