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GOOGLE’S PLAN TO TURN PHONES INTO LEGOS PROJECT ARA

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Project Ara
 Project Ara is not, technically, a phone. It's not even that accurate to call it a project. It's more like a mission. The end goal for ATAP is to hand off a viable product and stewardship of a hardware eco system. Google is working with open-source development organization Linaro to develop a special edition of Android for the Project Ara customizable smartphone.
Project Ara

Google’s yet unreleased Project Ara is a build-your-own smartphone that allows users to mix and match features. The $50 configurable smartphone will come 
with an empty phone frame and screen, and users can snap on or take out modular parts from the rear of the handset to add or remove features.
The smartphone, which will ship early next year, has already sparked the development of Lego-like modules that can be attached. Google has talked 
about detachable antenna and camera modules, but developers are also considering modules for wireless  networking, gaming, storage and thermometers.
Paul Eremenko, head of Project Ara
Google already offers a module developers kit (MDK) for Project Ara platform through which developers can take advantage of the UniPro hardware and protocol stack.
Grey couldn’t share any more information on release dates for the OS, citing a confidentiality agreement with Google. He did not say whether the version of Android would
be based on the latest L release, which supports 64-bit ARM processors. Linaro is working on Android with  Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) unit, which is leading the development of Project Ara.

However, more details about the Android edition may be shared at the second Project Ara developer conference scheduled for the end of November, which is when Google
also plans to release an updated version of the MDK.
Google’s Project Ara modular smartphone will take the smartphone universe by storm next

Why Project Ara Sounds Awesome
  Google’s Project Ara modular smartphone has always been an interesting idea for the future of smartphones, although it
never really seemed like a commercial product would be available anytime soon. However, Google’s ATAP division is moving quite fast and the first module developers will soonbe able to devise their own modular smartphone concepts. In anticipation of the first Project Ara developers conference that takes place next week  Google has  released the MDK – short for Module Developer Kit – that describes the project in great detail.
year and developers have already been given a glimpse at what such devices will have to offer. Module makers will be able to build a variety of smartphone components for Project Ara phones, with a new concept showing what a modular smartphone may bring to mobile
gaming. Imagined by The Aether Technician, Flippypad is a game controller concept that snaps into one of the Project Ara’s modules on the back to offer gamers a better way to interact with their mobile games.

In other words, Project Ara seems to be more real than ever. The available documentation goes into great detail, describing what devs have to know about Project Ara in order to create their own smart blocks.
Google also shows the various potential designs of Project Ara, both when it comes to size, but also to module placement. A recent video has also shared more details about what future Project Ara configurations will have to offer, as it was likely looking at a page of the MDK. What’s not immediately clear is how developers will actually build these modules and make them available to consumers.
The MDK can be downloaded by anyone interested in potentially developing modules for Ara, and the documentation should further be updated in the future. “This is a very early version but our goals are to give the developer community an opportunity to provide feedback and input, and to help us ensure that the final MDK – anticipated at the end of 2014 – is elegant, flexible, and complete,  Google       ATAP’s Paul Eremenko, head of Project Ara, wrote on Google+.
Google’s Project Ara modular smartphone is more than just a dream for a distant future, as the company plans to show off its first working prototype in the near future. In fact,  Google  plans to start selling a commercial version of the device as soon as next year, Time reports. As it promised in a new Project Ara video, Google revealed that the first Ara developer conference will take place during April 15-16 at Silicon Valley’s Computer History Museum. “A year or so from now, it hopes o have a product on the market,” the publication says.
Despite likely being a costly research project, Project Ara won’t be an expensive smartphone. In fact, the most basic Project Ara device will apparently retail for $50. For that price, the device will have just Wi-Fi connectivity, with users expected to further expand its capabilities with future module purchases. That way, users won’t have to settle for cheap smartphones that can’t be improved and instead opt for an Ara starter kit that can evolve in time, and which could be turned into a high-end device as more modules are added.The central piece of the device will consist of the endoskeleton that’s going to be Google-branded and come in three sizes, for mini handsets, “mainstream” devices and even phablets. The bigger the endoskeleton, the more modules it’ll be able to house, with the medium version having space for 10 modules.

Google plans to offer buyers complete freedom when customizing their devices, departing from the design of current smartphones. “Though basic technical issues are sometimes a factor — an antenna can’t just go anywhere on a phone’s body, for instance — the general idea is to design the phone so that you can swap modules in and out at will,” the publication writes. “If you never take photos with your phone but worry about running out of power, for instance, you might choose to do without a camera module, freeing up room for a second battery.”
The modules will be hot swappable, meaning that users will be able to change them without powering off the device – that’s assuming the battery module isn’t removed.
“Another part of the phone-picking process could involve suggestions based on an automated examination of your Facebook or Google+ activity. If your updates show that you’re a frequent traveler, for example, you might be advised to go for a big battery and a wireless carrier with service in the destinations you frequent. Someone whose photos get lots of positive feedback from friends could be pointed towards a serious camera module; if those photos tend to be taken at dusk, it might be a camera with good low-light performance.”

VIA- TIME, MOTOROLA
SOURCE: theverge,. bgr , 
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