Project Ara
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Ara smartphones with individual modules separated.
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| Also known as | Ara |
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| Developer | Google (formerly with Motorola through the Advanced Technology and Projects group) |
| Manufacturer | Google (individual modules and smartphone) |
| Product family | Yes |
| Type | Modular smartphone |
| Release date | Suspended |
| Introductory price | ~US$100 |
| Operating system | Android |
| Website | Official website |
Project Ara was a modular smartphone project under development by Google. The project was originally headed by the Advanced Technology and Projects team within Motorola Mobility while it was a Google subsidiary. Google retained the ATAP group when selling Motorola to Lenovo, and it was placed under the stewardship of the Android development staff; Ara was later split off as an independent operation.
Under its original design, Project Ara was intended to consist of hardware modules providing common smartphone components, such as processors, displays, batteries, and cameras, as well as modules providing more specialized components, and "frames" that these modules were to be attached to. This design would allow a device to be upgraded over time with new capabilities and upgraded specifications without requiring the purchase of an entire new device, providing a longer lifecycle for the device and potentially reducing electronic waste. However, by 2016, the concept had been revised, resulting in a base phone with non-upgradable core components, and modules providing supplemental features.
Google planned to launch a new developer version of Ara in the fourth quarter of 2016, with a target bill of materials cost of $50 for a basic phone, leading into a planned consumer launch in 2017. However, on September 2, 2016, Reuters reported that two non-disclosed sources leaked that the Alphabet's manufacture of frames had been cancelled, and may be licensed to third parties; and that a spokesman declined to comment on the rumours.
Google stated that Project Ara was being designed to be utilized by "6 billion people": 1 billion current smartphone users, and 5 billion feature phone users Google intended to sell a starter kit where the bill of materials is US$50 and includes a frame, display, battery, low-end CPU and WiFi.
Google intended Project Ara to lower the entry barrier for phone hardware manufacturers so there could be "hundreds of thousands of developers" instead of the existing oligarchy of phone manufacturers. Google planned to provide an open development process for modules, and would not have required manufacturers to pay a license fee.
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