Project Ara is the codename for an initiative by Google that
aims to develop an open hardware platform for creating highly modular
smartphones. The platform will include a structural frame that holds smartphone
modules of the owner's choice, such as a display, keyboard or an extra battery.
It would allow users to swap out malfunctioning modules or upgrade individual
modules as innovations emerge, providing longer lifetime cycles for the
handset, and potentially reducing electronic waste. The project was originally
headed by the Advanced Technologies and Projects team within Motorola Mobility
while it was a subsidiary of Google. Although Google had sold Motorola to
Lenovo, it is retaining the project team who will work under the direction of
the Android division.
Since modules are interchangeable, a
user has the freedom to design exactly the phone they want and continue to
customize the phone over time by replacing modules. Ara’s success is predicated
on a rich, vibrant, and diverse ecosystem of modules from developers. Users
would be able to select modules from an online marketplace using a configurator
that facilitates user choice and curates the configuration process to ensure
that the selection of modules provides the expected system-level functionality.
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