So instead of letting you build your own future-proof phone, the new Ara is about giving you a phone with mix-and-match features you can't get anywhere else. The bigger module slot can hold two 1 x 2 modules, or a single larger 2 x 2 one. When the Project Ara Developer Edition ships this fall, it will come with four modules to start: a speaker, a camera, an E-Ink display (like the one you'd find on an Amazon Kindle e-reader) and an expanded memory module. Those might not sound all that exciting, but they're all things that even high-end smartphones don't necessarily do well. If you don't like the single, easily muffled speaker on your Samsung Galaxy or wish your iPhone had more storage space, you're generally out of luck.
"[Phone manufacturers] say, here, you have 3 millimeters to make a speaker, and you're stuck with your sound quality," says Kevin Hague, a VP with Harman Audio, Harman is working with Google to prove that a dedicated speaker module might be one of many reasons to buy an Ara phone, The Project Ara team has already modularized the battery technology, Pull out the second battery, and it keeps working, And with Ara, you're not limited to just one: you'll be able to turn Ara into a boom box with multiple speakers and multiple batteries snapped into the phone's six module slots, With even the standard integrated battery, Camargo says we should expect a full day of battery life from classic case with glass screen protector for apple iphone 7 plus and apple iphone 8 plus - navy blue the consumer version of Ara, and he estimates that adding a single modular battery should boost that by roughly 45 percent..
But cameras, batteries and speakers are just the low-hanging fruit: the Ara team believes its platform will open the floodgates for third-party hardware developers to build all sorts of products that never would have made it into smartphones before -- from a wireless car key fob (Camargo says he has a working prototype) to a one-use pepper spray dispenser. BACtrack, a company specializing in alcohol breathalyzers, is also on board. "We know that people are going to build crazy stuff, and that's OK," says Blaise Bertrand, ATAP's head of creative and marketing chief. "In fact, we're looking forward to this."Medicine could be a particularly interesting market, where people are willing to pay for technology that might improve their lives, but only a small percentage of people have any given need.
"The glucometer example: I'm lucky, I don't need it, so I don't care about that module, But if you're a diabetic, it's probably essential in your life," says Camargo, "Nobody's going to build a phone with that integrated."When I think about awesome technology that not everyone needs, some of Google's other ATAP projects also come to mind, like the Project Tango depth-sensing camera or the Project Soli gesture-sensing radar, Camargo won't say yes or no, but suggests Ara could help, "You see all these technologies that are very applicable to mobile but have a hard time making it into the next flagship phone because it's a high risk, You're selling 80 million of that thing, and you don't want to make a mistake [..] I expect them all to see modules."In other words, instead of trying to figure out how to build the world's classic case with glass screen protector for apple iphone 7 plus and apple iphone 8 plus - navy blue best phone camera that fits into a phone that people can actually afford, camera makers could focus on building the world's best phone camera, period -- and sell it for a premium to boot..
The prototype Ara camera module. Imagine swapping it out for one with a wider-angle lens, or upgrading it entirely in a few years. While a lot of the details aren't sorted out yet -- like how much modules will cost -- Google seems serious about building out Ara. As of last month, the Ara team is no longer part of the ATAP skunkworks; it now reports directly to Rick Osterloh, the head of Google's new hardware division and a recent transplant from Motorola. "We can get all the resources and funding we need to make it a business," says Richard Wooldridge, a leader on the Ara project.