Project Ara: Google piecing together modular phone

SAN FRANCISCO:  

Google on Friday showed off a modular Android-powered smartphone on track to hit the market next year. Word that ‘Project Ara’ was moving ahead and not shelved, came on the final day of Google’s annual developers conference in the Silicon Valley city of Mountain View. Developers interested in creating applications for the devices will get access to early versions of Ara, which provides a frame in which modules such as cameras, speakers and sensors can be re-arranged by users like game pieces so as to customise handsets. Google said a consumer version of Ara should be available next year. Pricing of Ara, however, has yet to be revealed, but Google last year referred to an entry-level model with a production cost of $50.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2016.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.