Google is pushing for the endoskeleton to cost $50. It will come only with Wi-Fi and no cellular connection. Users could then build up the phone how they like with various modules, like a camera, high-speed processor, speakers, and more.
"We want not just to create something that's custom, and not even just something that's unique, but actually something that's expressive so that people can use this as a canvas to tell a story," Eremenko said. "So that you can set your phone down at dinner on the table next to you, and it becomes a topic of conversation for the first fifteen minutes of dinner."
There will be three sizes of endoskeleton: mini, medium, and jumbo. They will have an aluminum frame, networking circuitry, and a back-up battery. Each endoskeleton will have several module connectors -- for example, the medium frame will have room for 10 connectors.
These lockable modules can be swapped out and switched around without having to shut off the phone. They will also be small -- only 4mm thick -- so a complete phone would measure 9.7mm in thickness. For comparison, the iPhone 5S is 7.6mm thick and Samsung's Galaxy S5 is 8.1mm.
Related storiesIt's official: Google Barge moving to StocktonIf Google Barge is coming to Stockton, that's news to StocktonAppeals court orders YouTube to take down anti-Islamic filmGoogle denies bidding on WhatsAppWhy bother to text your girl when BroApp can do it for you? "A big challenge on this project was that a cell phone is one of the most integrated things that's made today, and we're trying to separate it into modular pieces," Project Ara's lead mechanical engineer Ara Knaian told Time. "And so the challenge was how to fit everything in an efficient way, so that people could have the ability at home to add and remove modules and have a lot of flexibility about what modules they put in, but not to have too much added weight or too much added cost by doing that."
For the Project Ara initiative, Google has partnered with NK Labs to do the electrical, mechanical, and software engineering and with 3D Systems to make a high-speed 3D printer to mass produce the Ara endoskeletons.
As for other cutting-edge ATAP projects, the group is also working on Project Tango, which aims to give smartphones the ability to do realistic 3D mapping and create virtual experiences as the phone's owner moves through the real world.
Topics: Smartphones, Google Tags: NK Labs, Project Ara, endoskeleton, modular smartphone, Motorola, Paul Eremenko, 3D Systems, customizable smartphone, modules, Google
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