Project Ara: #SelfBuilt

Google’s Project Ara allows you to put together your own smartphone

The 'smartphone trend' kickstarted in 1994 when IBM released Simon, the first ever commercial touchscreen personal digital assistant, followed by the release of the Nokia 9000 in 1996, the first of the Communicator series widely regarded as the first smartphone. Almost a decade later, Steve Jobs introduced the world to the first multi-touch screen candybar smartphone, the iPhone. But Google’s latest initiative, Project Ara, plans to take smartphone technology to a whole new level by aiming to create customisable phones — giving users a chance to build their ideal phone.

The recent demise of the archetypal behemoth Nokia has highlighted the sheer force of the form factor in the mobile industry. Phone manufactures have either had to adapt to it or be crushed by it. Even industry giants such as Apple have had to keep up with the tide of new technology — it is now faster, slimmer, more efficient and more powerful than ever before — if it is to have any chance of surviving.



Google’s Project Ara, on the other hand, is taking things one step further into the future by introducing the world to a modular smartphone. The handset will allow you to upgrade it easily by swapping individual components, or modules, in a plug and play style. For example, you can decide on the camera, the processor, the memory and the battery your ideal cellphone requires. Additional components include a separate gaming controller and a detachable keyboard that can be attached to the phone, depending on the user’s needs. There is even talk about a dedicated ‘selfie camera’ to ensure that the device has mass appeal.

With the device set to release in January 2015, the possibilities for improvement are endless. Currently, by the looks of it, the smartphone will not only be bigger but also heavier. With the basic unit, called the ‘gray phone’, priced at $50 (Rs5,000 approximately), and individual modules costing more, the device is also likely to be more expensive than an equivalent pre-made smartphone.



Bringing developers on board is also crucial for such a venture — just take a look at the Nokia N9 and its unpopular MeeGo platform — but since Project Ara is a Google initiative, a betting man would put his money on the phone sporting android, or at least some version of it. This means Project Ara will only have to concentrate on attracting hardware manufacturers as there are plenty of applications already available for users to download.

Companies like Qualcomm, whose Snapdragon processors power more than 1,300 cell phone models globally, could view this as a threat. They will not be happy with competition cutting into their shares, especially the lucrative market for processors. Although a company of Google’s stature is capable of playing hardball with giants like Qualcomm, that will depend entirely on how much Google is willing to put at stake for Project Ara.



As things currently stand, Project Ara’s launch could be the defining moment in cell phone technology or it could very well prove to be a false dawn. Regardless of how it ends up, it has left many of us wondering, whether after seven years, the next big thing in mobile technology is finally here.

Taha Anis is a subeditor at The Express Tribune sports desk. 

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, September 28^th, 2014.