After more than a year waiting, Google's Project Ara modular phone will finally be released this year.
According to a report by GSM Arena, the modular phone will first be introduced to Puerto Rico later this year. Dubbed as Spiral 2, the phone will be Project Ara's first prototype since its inception earlier last year.
Spiral 2 will reportedly be available commercially in the South American country with local carriers partnering with Google.
As mentioned in previous reports, the modular handset will support modules which can be swapped, allowing the user to replace certain parts whenever he wants to. The modules are slid to the phone's base and held by magnets. In the report, the modular phone's 'endoskeleton' will be priced at only $50.
In the report by Dezeen, the parts which can be swapped include the display, the speaker grille which contains the receiver, light and proximity sensors, the camera, battery, processor and others.
Google will reportedly allow users to replace a dying battery with a new one while the Spiral 2 phone remains powered on. In the report, the search engine giant will aim to increase that duration for better convenience.
"Conceptually it's the first time a major electronic object, your phone, will not only be designed but also manufactured, if you wish, by the end user", said Gadi Amit, the project leader for Project Ara told Dezeen in an interview.
In the report, Spiral 2 will come with two optional chips, Marvell PXA1928 or Tegra K1, a 5MP camera, and microUSB port.
Currently, there are 11 modules which are available for Spiral 2, as mentioned in the GSM Arena report. However, Google aims to partner with more suppliers and build a list of over 30 modules.
Project Ara is based on the Phonebloks concept by Dutch designer Dave Hakkens, which was later on adopted by Motorola when it was still a part of Google. After the California-based company sold Motorola to Lenovo, Google retained the project and continued its development.
"This is a very relaxed approach to technology. This is not about fetishising electronics, it's very common sense. If you want to do more you can do more, if you want to do less, you can", says Amit.
