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Google's Unicorn: Is Project Ara closer than we think?
Posted on 5/22/16 at 4:04 pm
Posted on 5/22/16 at 4:04 pm
Been wondering WTF Google was doing and had thought perhaps they buried this for awhile. But it appears Project Ara is closer than we-and definitely I-realized.
What is Project Ara? It's a modular smartphone. It breaks them into smaller, interchangeable pieces that allow for hyper customization based on user preference, cost, size, tech specs, or even the type of activity.
Want to take great photos? Change out the lenses on the camera section. Running low on battery or find longer or power use is important to you? Change out to a better battery. Want a better display? Just upgrade. All of these pieces of the phone are interchangeable and work together.
I've been an iPhone owner since 2008 or 2009 and ever since I heard about Ara, I've thought it had the chance to really upend the smartphone segment. This product will allow lower income users to buy a base model and then upgrade as they go, over time, until hey have a high end version of their phone.
Crack your screen? Don't buy a new phone...change it out. Want to go bigger with your battery but can't afford it? Well hey...do you have some nice upgrade lenses? Let's talk trade!
The possibilities with this type of modular customization of a smartphone are really interesting in my opinion...and the end game for Google is getting lower income users into the Android world more quickly than their iPhone counterparts and an "upgrade as you go," option versus all or nothing luxe brand choices.
LINK
LINK
What is Project Ara? It's a modular smartphone. It breaks them into smaller, interchangeable pieces that allow for hyper customization based on user preference, cost, size, tech specs, or even the type of activity.
Want to take great photos? Change out the lenses on the camera section. Running low on battery or find longer or power use is important to you? Change out to a better battery. Want a better display? Just upgrade. All of these pieces of the phone are interchangeable and work together.
I've been an iPhone owner since 2008 or 2009 and ever since I heard about Ara, I've thought it had the chance to really upend the smartphone segment. This product will allow lower income users to buy a base model and then upgrade as they go, over time, until hey have a high end version of their phone.
Crack your screen? Don't buy a new phone...change it out. Want to go bigger with your battery but can't afford it? Well hey...do you have some nice upgrade lenses? Let's talk trade!
The possibilities with this type of modular customization of a smartphone are really interesting in my opinion...and the end game for Google is getting lower income users into the Android world more quickly than their iPhone counterparts and an "upgrade as you go," option versus all or nothing luxe brand choices.
LINK
LINK
This post was edited on 5/22/16 at 4:05 pm
5
Posted on 5/22/16 at 5:07 pm to GFunk
WANT
The last smartphone you'll ever buy...hopefully
The last smartphone you'll ever buy...hopefully
Posted on 5/22/16 at 5:33 pm to GFunk
I didn't hear anything out of I/O about it. Did I miss it? If not I think it's 5 years out.
Posted on 5/22/16 at 5:51 pm to OleWarSkuleAlum
No the developer models will be out this year and the consumer model next year. This is what was said during their presentation at I/O.
Posted on 5/23/16 at 10:49 am to GFunk
Meanwhile in Cupertino, Apple doesn't think my headphone jack is important and wants me to be some new proprietary accessory so my $125 pair of headphones will work. And forget about expandable memory. I need to pay an extra $200 for a phone. That $12 micro SD card is just not as more better. 
FWIW, I've had an iPhone since 3G.
FWIW, I've had an iPhone since 3G.
Posted on 5/23/16 at 11:20 am to elprez00
Come to the dark side
Posted on 5/23/16 at 11:47 am to GFunk
quote:
The possibilities with this type of modular customization of a smartphone are really interesting in my opinion
I'm not saying there's not a market for it, but lowering the cost/difficulty of DIY screen and dead battery replacement would be the bulk of the mainstream interest in something like this.
How have phone motherboards advanced over time? I know with PCs whenever I'd look into upgrading rather than replacing an old PC it wasn't worth it because the motherboard/bus technology was too old to support the latest CPU/GPU/RAM chips.
Posted on 5/23/16 at 2:42 pm to juice4lsu
quote:
The last smartphone you'll ever buy...hopefully
Nope. The CPU, GPU, cell radios, and RAM are all baked into the exoskeleton of the phone and are not modular. At least in the first model they are trying to ship.
Posted on 5/23/16 at 2:46 pm to elprez00
quote:
Meanwhile in Cupertino, Apple doesn't think my headphone jack is important and wants me to be some new proprietary accessory so my $125 pair of headphones will work.
I missed where Apple is currently selling a phone without a headphone jack
Posted on 5/23/16 at 2:56 pm to colorchangintiger
This is another Google project which strikes me as something cool, which the average person will have no use for, but which may set the stage for more cool and more practical things to come.
Like the ad for ara. Ok, so I can put in a camera when useful. Maybe add some piece that has an extra speaker. Or add in a health-related thing.
I've already got all that shite on my existing phone. What am I missing.
Like the ad for ara. Ok, so I can put in a camera when useful. Maybe add some piece that has an extra speaker. Or add in a health-related thing.
I've already got all that shite on my existing phone. What am I missing.
Posted on 5/23/16 at 8:34 pm to elprez00
quote:
elprez00
quote:
Meanwhile in Cupertino, Apple doesn't think my headphone jack is importan
Apple sells EarPods for $19. I bought a tiny Bluetooth dongle for my Mardi Gras Float's sound system for $13. Amazon sells the QY7 SoundPEATS for $17.99 and they are the highest rated BT headphones on Amazon, and they're the best fit and most comfortable pair I've ever worn.
In short, you can Hotwire your current headphones to work wirelessly with your iPhone, or just buy a BT pair for actually less than what Apple sells their proprietary pair for.
quote:
wants me to be some new proprietary accessory so my $125 pair of headphones will work.
What dumbass is able to convince you that Bluetooth is proprietary to Apple?
This post was edited on 5/23/16 at 8:35 pm
Posted on 5/24/16 at 7:12 am to GFunk
It's still not smart to get rid of the 3.5mm.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 9:44 am to Hu_Flung_Pu
quote:It will have to be smart one day. It may seem small, but the socket takes up a considerable amount of space inside a phone. It is something that has to be designed around for (IMO) minimal gain, especially considering that there are multiple other ways to connect headphones. The basic tech is over a century old, and the specific size / form factor used today is half a century old... what is it doing in these modern devices? Because it's cheap, it works, and it's ubiquitous. But while it's cheap in price, as I mentioned we are paying for it in space. And more modern tech also works and is nearly as ubiquitous. It's time to put the 3.5mm jack out to pasture.
It's still not smart to get rid of the 3.5mm.
How it's handled will make all the difference, though. If a phone doesn't have a 3.5mm jack, and you're expected to buy an accessory at 1000% markup to be able to use your old headphones, that could leave a bad taste in your mouth. Ideally the phone would come with an adapter.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 10:04 am to Pettifogger
quote:
I've already got all that shite on my existing phone. What am I missing.
What's missing is rapid R&D by multiple companies who are competing to sell you your next camera or screen or speaker upgrade or some other nifty attachment.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 10:17 am to GFunk
I want one device that's scalable from phone to tablet to laptop and back again. Motorola had something like this a couple of years ago but the technology wasn't ready yet.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 10:21 am to Korkstand
The allure for me is that I don't have to worry if my BT headphones have been charged or not. I also believe that the sound from the wired is better than BT. How much space do they need in a phone? Could they not experiment with different size headphone jacks? They changed it up quite a few times with USB.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 10:23 am to ILikeLSUToo
quote:
What's missing is rapid R&D by multiple companies who are competing to sell you your next camera or screen or speaker upgrade or some other nifty attachment.
Yeah, I get that to some extent. I suppose I just look at that ad by Google and see that all they've come up with is moving around things I've already got. Seems like it'll be heavily reliant on third parties to add value to the platform.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 10:26 am to Hu_Flung_Pu
One of the advantages of no audio jack is no longer needing to engineer against interference/static. A lightning adapter would in theory be converting a digital signal to analog outside of the phone. Lightning also provides power if you want to go higher-end on your listening equipment.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 10:28 am to Hu_Flung_Pu
quote:USB to 3.5mm adapter cables exist, but I think the phone has to support it. And obviously any phone that eliminates the 3.5mm jack should support it.
The allure for me is that I don't have to worry if my BT headphones have been charged or not. I also believe that the sound from the wired is better than BT.
quote:How much do they have?
How much space do they need in a phone?
quote:They could, but that would create the same problem that outright eliminating it does.
Could they not experiment with different size headphone jacks?
quote:And people get pissy about it every time. That's the price of progress, I guess.
They changed it up quite a few times with USB.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 10:43 am to ILikeLSUToo
quote:
A lightning adapter would in theory be converting a digital signal to analog outside of the phone.
I must have misunderstood. So they want the lightning adapter to be the audio input?
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