Modular smartphones – myth or reality? News on Project Ara and thoughts on the future of modular mobile devices.
For the first time we heard about Project Ara (at that time Motorola Ara) back in 2013. This is a modular smartphone project that was originally developed by a company Motorola, and then, after the purchase of this company by the search giant, passed to Google.
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Motorola Ara – project of a modular Android smartphone |
Motorola described this project as an open hardware platform for creating modular phones, which was to be for the mobile hardware market what Android was for software. This is not just about an original smartphone, but about a whole ecosystem that anyone can get access to. For manufacturers, this means minimum development time and low financial costs, for users – the ability to assemble a phone of their dreams on the basis of the proposed solution, easily and simply replace a failed unit or improve an obsolete device component without paying for a whole phone.
Open any review of any smartphone and read a dozen or so comments. Most of them always boil down to the fact that this would be the perfect phone, if not for some one 'but'. For example, some potential buyers of Samsung smartphones stop buying an Amoled screen. And many HTC fans are hesitant to purchase HTC One because of the 4MP camera. Music lovers complain that it is almost impossible to find a phone with high-quality sound these days and sadly remember the 'music' phones of the past. And even those who are more or less satisfied with the smartphone will definitely complain that the battery could be bigger.
Project Ara can do away with such problems once and for all by letting each customer order (or even personally assemble) the phone of their dreams. Want to add stereo speakers to your smartphone? Or increase the battery capacity? Add an NFC module or a heart rate sensor? Maybe change the type, size or resolution of the screen? Now everything is in your hands.
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As planned by the developers, such a smartphone will consist of a metal frame and separate modules that will be attached to it using magnets. Moreover, some of them can be replaced on the fly, simply by turning off the desired magnet through a special application on the smartphone.
In the future, frames are planned to be produced in several sizes at once, from 4 to 6.5 inches. There will be no shortage of different modules either – a sufficient number of companies have already announced their support for Project Ara, from NVIDIA and Toshiba to Sennheiser.
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The video above will give a little insight into both the team behind Project Ara and the early smartphone development process.
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In the summer of last year, information appeared about the first processor that will be used in future versions of the platform. It will be developed by Rockchip, and the main distinguishing feature of the processor will be the UniPro protocol, which will allow different mobile components to interact with each other in a standardized way. On the one hand, this will free up most of the processor resources for running applications. On the other hand, it will eliminate the need to install a separate chip in the smartphone, which would ensure the communication of all modules with each other.
Most likely, the Rockchip processor will arrive in time only for the third generation of devices. In the meantime, Project Ara devices run mainly on Marvell and NVIDIA processors.
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Around the same time, there were rumors that Google engineers were working on modular-type screens that could be assembled from several blocks. According to The Wall Street Journal, such displays can be assembled almost as easily as Lego figures, giving them any shape and size. Unfortunately, there is no information about the progress of work on this project, but if something like this really succeeds, then new horizons will open before Project Ara.
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For the first time, a working prototype of a modular smartphone was officially shown to the general public at the Google I / O conference. It should be noted that not everything went smoothly at that time – at the first launch, the smartphone froze while loading the operating system. But given that the first prototype launch took place just a week before the start of Google I / O, this is completely forgivable.
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But in terms of the intensity of passions, the event was not much inferior to the launch of an innovative spacecraft – a one-second countdown, a good start, applause … I am sure that if the presentation were in Russian, it would not have been without the famous 'Let's go!'.
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But the main question is not so much the technical side of such devices as their design. Even if modern smartphones are called 'plastic bricks' and 'black rectangles of the same type', what epithets will Project Ara receive from users? After all, the very concept of a modular smartphone imposes very serious restrictions on its design. Anyway, the design of devices has never been Google's strong point – it is worth remembering the same Google Glass, which looked very specific for a long time. While you look at them in the picture, it's still okay, but not everyone was ready to put on such a thing.
Fortunately, things are not so scary. The modular smartphones will be designed by Gecko Design, which the search giant acquired specifically to work on Project Ara. In the past, Gecko Design has collaborated with both Google and other well-known companies. And they had a hand in the design of devices by Fitbit, Hewlett Packard, Dell, Logitech and others.
Google is generally not shy about bringing in specialists from various fields to work on its project. Designers and engineers from different companies work side-by-side, and, apparently, they see Google's venture not only as an interesting and necessary project, but as a challenge to their abilities. And they really worry about the result.
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Just the other day, the first commercial version of Project Ara was presented at the Project Ara Developers Conference. The smartphone received Spiral 2 and for the first time will be sold only in Puerto Rico, which will allow Google to assess the interest of users in devices of this type.
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Of course, Spiral 2 is nothing more than the first sighting shot, and you shouldn't expect much from it. By itself, this smartphone does not cause much delight yet, although it has more or less decent characteristics: a screen with a resolution of 1280×720, a Marvell PXA1928 or NVIDIA Tegra K1 processor, a 5 MP main camera, Wi-Fi modules and Bluetooth . And so far there are very few replaceable modules for it – at the time of the start of sales there will be only 11 of them, although by the end of the year their number will increase to 30. Another unpleasant moment is a weak battery, due to which, according to forecasts, the device will work 30% less time than the average Android smartphone.
On the other hand, Google is already talking about the development of Spiral 3, which will be devoid of all of the above disadvantages.
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But despite all the controversial points, Spiral 2 already allows you to roughly estimate the original idea behind Project Ara. Android has always been famous for its wide customization capabilities, but if earlier it was only about software, now nothing prevents you from changing the hardware and appearance of the device to your taste.
You can create your smartphone using the Ara Configurator application. The phone itself will consist of three layers – an endoskeleton (frame), modules and their outer shell. First, you will need to specify the desired components (over time, support for third-party stores will appear in the application), then the program will check them for compatibility and demonstrate the appearance of the resulting smartphone. Finally, using additional tools such as the Shell Maker API, it will be possible to create a unique design for the model shell. For example, putting your own photos on it. Or simply by coloring it to your taste.
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In the future, the developers plan to add a special recommendation service to the application, which, based on your preferences and behavior on social networks, will help you to assemble the smartphone that suits you best. For example, it will suggest the most suitable camera module for you or tell you about the availability of additional sensors that will be useful to avid travelers.
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Let me remind you once again that Spiral 2 is just the very first example of a smartphone on a modular platform. This is nothing more than an early and very careful sketch of the modular phone that Google is dreaming of. If we were talking about games or software, then it would be called the first alpha version, in which only a small part of what was planned is implemented. This device is unlikely to be a commercial success – and Google doesn't count on it.
If we forget for a minute about the existence of Project Ara as such and try to evaluate Spiral 2 by itself, then everything will rest, first of all, on the price of the device. Which has not yet been announced. It is clear that this offer is in any case a niche one, but with a low price (and prospects for slightly improving the smartphone later) it will have some audience. Well, branded covers would not interfere with it – after all, the appearance of the device is quite specific, and when, how and in which countries the service for customizing the appearance of the module shell will work is not yet clear.
It's hard to say what Project Ara will become in a couple of years, as this project still has a long way to go. And if Google's reasoning about an open ecosystem is not just nice words, then we can still have a lot of interesting things.
So, over time, it will probably be possible to select not only physical components, but also the OS for a modular smartphone. Although Google is unlikely to be very enthusiastic about this, as now it is not very enthusiastic about the proprietary shells of the manufacturers on Android. But he will hardly be openly indignant either. Any Firefox OS for Android – all one is not rivals, but iOS to install there and so no one will give.
Moreover, such projects already exist. For example, ARP from Vsenn. This company rightly believes that changing the firmware or reinstalling the OS should not lead to a loss of warranty for the device itself. Just like installing Windows or Linux does not void your laptop warranty. Having bought a smartphone, the user has every right to independently decide on which version of the OS to work in it.
Now representatives of the company are actively communicating with the community to find out which specific firmware and operating systems are of the greatest interest to users. At the moment support has already been announced Sailfish OS, Firefox OS and Ubuntu. There will also be custom Android firmwares like CyanogenMod – the main thing is to work stably and not lag.
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I wouldn't be surprised if, over time, modular smartphones become the same familiar standard as clothes made in a textile factory. Even though it is quite difficult to believe it now. Of course, designer smartphones will remain, but they will cost significantly more – purchasing them, the buyer will pay not so much for the hardware as for the brand and unique design.
And there is nothing wrong with that. At the dawn of the first manufactories, it was believed that any sane person should order clothes from a tailor. And the very idea that clothes may not be sewn for a specific person, but be made in advance according to some standard size, looked just wild. It seemed who would wear this semi-finished product? And in our time this is already the norm, and although tailors have not gone anywhere, the vast majority of people are quite satisfied with ready-made clothes.
In addition, do not forget that Project Ara is far from the only project of modular mobile devices. From time to time, various manufacturers report plans to create their own modular smartphone. It is far from the fact that something worthwhile will immediately come out of their venture, but the very interest in this direction is very indicative.
An example is the Puzzlephone smartphone, which is being developed by the Finnish company Circular Devices. Unlike the Google device, in this smartphone, the modules do not change one by one, but immediately in blocks. The upper replaceable unit contains the processor and the camera module. The lower one contains the battery and some additional sensors. Other items such as speakers or a screen are built into the body of the smartphone and cannot be replaced.
On the one hand, from the user's point of view, such a division does not seem very logical. For example, why should I change the processor if I want to install a better camera on my smartphone? And why should I buy a module with a whole bunch of different sensors if all I want is to replace the battery? And the price of such blocks is unlikely to be low, which finally kills the idea of free customization of the device.
On the other hand, you need to understand that few manufacturers have Google capabilities. And if the search giant can afford to invest in some revolutionary, but extremely difficult from a technical point of view, projects, the rest will prefer to modernize existing solutions rather than develop new ones from scratch. Moreover, this approach allows you to keep a more or less familiar design of the device, without frightening buyers with the 'tiled' design of Project Ara, which is a cross between Lego bricks and the branded interface Windows Phone.
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Another example of a modular mobile device is the Crossfire Pro tablet, which is being developed by Entegra Technologies. True, it is focused primarily on corporate users working in production and the military who need a laptop to work 'in the field'.
It will be possible to connect various peripheral devices to the tablet (keyboard, joystick for controlling drones), additional sensors (magnetic card reader, NFC module, a unit with biometric sensors) and other components (for example, a carrying handle or additional mounts). It will even be possible to replace the entire computing unit if necessary.
The operating system can also be selected to your taste – it can be Android, Windows or Linux.
Like Puzzlephone, this device bears little resemblance to the Google project. But this is another example of modular devices, which are growing every day.
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How do you feel about the idea of modular smartphones? Did you like Spiral 2? What should Google do to make you decide to buy a similar device for yourself? For the first time I caught myself thinking that in a year or two, when a more mature version of such a device appears on sale, I could well consider it for purchase as a new smartphone. By that time, it will just become clear how seriously Google takes this idea, how many component modules there will be and how stable it will all work. The design is, of course, peculiar. But I cannot say that it is very repulsive. Other devices looked strange even without any modular system, but nevertheless they found their buyers.
