Few months ago before selling Motorola to Lenovo, engineers at Google and Motorola together revealed that they are working on conceptual highly modular smartphone – Project Ara. But even after selling the Motorola for $2.9 billion earlier this year, Google kept the Project Ara under its wings.
Project Ara is all about creating a modular smartphone under $50 which allows users to swap the parts and allows to upgrade the specific parts independently. Now Phonebloks, the company really behind the idea of a modular phone who worked closely earlier with Motorola has posted a new video of Google’s office showing off the team working behind the Project Ara.
In the video, an early prototype of the device’s main module, the Endo (endoskeleton), into which all modules are inserted is showed. The modules are slotted on the Endo by using electropermanent magnets, and can be even maintained and controlled without a continuous supply of electrical energy.
“Some of the people won’t have used a smartphone before,” says team leader Eric Gunther about the challenges the team faces, “so we’re trying to make the interface as simple and spatially intuitive as we can.”
The video also invites the developers to attend the Ara Developer Conference, which will take place on 15-16th April. It’s going to be an online conference and Google promises to release another Ara video after the conference.
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