Project Ara smartphones are ‘like playing with Lego’, one of the project’s leading manufacturing partners has suggested.
According to American handset maker Yezz, a company Google approached to build early Project Ara samples, the modular phone concept is similar to the beloved children’s toy given its wide-arching customisation options.
Still in the early concept and prototyping phases, Project Ara will one day allow users to seamlessly customise their phone’s abilities with the use of easily replaceable modula units.
While key to affordable and easily customisable smartphone development, according to Yezz, Project Ara could also be seen as a game of sorts, with the goal being how well you can build your device to meet your personal needs.
“Now we are developing Project Ara prototypes,” Marion Chaparro, Yezz’s Communication Manager said speaking with TrustedReviews.
She added: “We are developing modules which go inside the phone’s outer skeleton. It’s like a game, a Lego construction game.
“You choose the modules you need and put them right on the slots.”
Building blocks aside, Chaparro has predicted that Project Ara will have an overarching effect on the mobile space, with the modular movement tipped to revolutionise the industry for good.
“In 1996 feature phones were a revelation for people communicating,” she told us. “In the mid 2000s, the arrival of smartphones marked another evolution in that you are connected with your device and other people.
“With Project Ara we are entering into a new era of mobile.”
Expanding on her predictions, Chaparro went on to add: “The idea is that consumers can choose modular components for every feature on their smartphone.
“This is the smartphone that adapts to your needs – from your professional life to your private life and your leisure life and, of course, your budget.”
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While Project Ara remains in its infancy, Google has already confirmed plans to trial the system, and the subsequent handsets, it Puerto Rico by the end of the year.
A wider, general consumer release isn’t expected for a few years yet.