back to article Modular phone Ara to finally launch

A modular phone that will let you snap on and pull off different components as you wish will finally launch this fall, Google has announced. The Ara project was originally announced in October 2013 and was part of the acquired Motorola Mobility business. Since then it has become part of Google's Advanced Technology and …

  1. Herbert Meyer
    Facepalm

    Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny

    I remember the PC with the "open" ISA bus architecture.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The baseplate

    What does it look like ? What size is it ?

  3. jzl

    Hobbyists

    This is a phone for people who are really into phones. Which is 2% of the market. And 83% of The Register's readership.

    1. Havin_it
      Boffin

      Re: Hobbyists

      If you can just get one more upvote you'll be almost bang-on in your percentage :)

      10 / (10 + 2) = 0.833(repeating)

    2. Mage Silver badge
      Boffin

      Re: Hobbyists

      Is it much more than a modern version of Nokia's snap-on covers? If not it's pointless.

      Options for a modular phone:

      flat camera or one with big zoom lens

      Swap radio 2g/3g/4g module for new bands or different market or new standard

      Swap GPS module

      Swap WiFi module

      battery for compact phone or big one for long life

      Easy replace screen

      Clip on qwerty cover

      eInk back or cover

      Interfaces such as GPIB, parallel, serial, firewire, PS/2, wired ethernet without bottlenect of USB or Bluetooth or SDIO

      SD card slot

      joypad controller

      IR remote controller and reader to learn controls

      barcode scanner (cameras only work well with certain codes)

      ISO card reader

      etc

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Hobbyists

        "Is it much more than a modern version of Nokia's snap-on covers? If not it's pointless."

        Why?

  4. S4qFBxkFFg
    FAIL

    I may be wrong, but it seems that the devs have just about given up on the modularity thing. The following are NOT modules:

    Screen (one of the best things about "old" Ara was that a cracked screen could be popped off and replaced)

    CPU/RAM/GPU - If one of these items could do with an upgrade, you can't without getting a new (mostly) phone. Why? Because fuck you, apparently.

    "Sensors" - Again, Ara-hyping blurbs kept mentioning the ability to add various esoteric sensors as one of its selling points. Minor issue, but if you want to start picking up Galileo/Beidou signals in a few years - new "phone" time!

    This could have been good and useful, but now appears to be a pathetic shadow of its potential.

    1. Charles 9

      Well, due to the ARM architecture and the fact the bootstrap needs to know what's there, I suspect modular memory and baseline hardware like the screen are a bridge too far since each new module would change the bootstrap, and ARM hardware isn't (at this time) well-geared for dynamic internal hardware.

      1. Charles 9

        To those who are downvoting: show a way you can do with with an ARM architecture (such that you can swap out eveything INCLUDING the CPU, GPU, memory, and screen, and STILL maintain much-needed power efficiency. Oh, AND not break existing compatibility, which last I checked on ARM relies on initramfs which in this case is closely tied to the hardware which on an ARM-based system is usually on fixed, non-standardized memory map?

  5. Christian Berger

    There are severe technical limitations

    First of all, all "high bandwidth" components like the CPU and RAM won't be replacable easily, those would have to be in a single module as external connectors would increase the capacitive load which would drain the battery rather quickly.

    Then there is a "magic triangle" of connectors. You can make them cheap, small or durable, but not all three at the same time. So you'll either have modules that are huge, expensive or will have connectors that break quickly rendering the module unusable. You can work around this a bit by having low pincount interfaces which are generally cheaper, but this cannot be done for every component.

    At best you could hope for a small "basic" device with the screen built in, you could slide into a larger part with extra components like batteries, SDRs or a clamshell keyboard. Maybe that part could also hold the GSM/UMTS/LTE parts since those could be done via a simple low pincount interface.

    1. short

      Re: There are severe technical limitations

      The linked website shows the connectors, which look like 20 pins, and probably mate with gold pads on the plugin, so should be easy enough to manufacture. It looks like they'll wipe a bit as the plugin docks, so should stay working for a while.

      Software wise, it says "Powering this simplicity is Greybus, a new bit of software deep in the Android stack. Greybus supports instantaneous connections, power efficiency and data-transfer rates of up to 11.9 Gbps "

      So I'm a bit surprised - that's not USB-anything, I'm guessing some kind of MIPI-alike fast serial bus. However, if it's not something you can easily buy silicon for (or microcontrollers with), it's going to hamper the small volume products. Hopefully, there are other lesser buses on that connector. Heck, a few of I2C, SPI, USB(2), and UART would allow most things you (I) might want to glom onto a nice big display and cheap fast CPU to carry around.

      If it requires ASIC or a power hungry FPGA to use, it's less charming. I've still signed up as a dev, why not?

      1. short

        Re: There are severe technical limitations

        Been rummaging, it's Mipi's (Ex-Nokia's) Unipro -

        https://lwn.net/Articles/648400/

        Which on one hand is good - it's a proper bus and likely to work, has discovery which might mean plugging stuff in actually works.

        On the other hand, it's a pay-for spec, and it's distinctly unfriendly to low volume implementations for bespoke products. Might fit in a moderate FPGA, can't see it fitting in a CPLD. It says you can bridge other protocols (I2C, SPI, etc) over it - if some kind silicon house makes an endpoint that spews those and a bytestream out, like a glorified FTDI FT232H , I think there's more of a chance of 3rd party developers. If not, then modules are going to have to be standalone power leeches or chips that speak Unipro. If this is the start of a common bus for embedded Android products, with discoverability and software that doesn't suck, maybe it's the start of something good. Well, as good as embedded Android can be.

        Or, more likely, it's going to fizzle out in a heap of whining that you can't upgrade the RAM, or they picked the wrong screen, or Apple didn't make it. Sigh.

        1. ecofeco Silver badge

          Re: There are severe technical limitations

          "Or, more likely, it's going to fizzle out in a heap of whining that you can't upgrade the RAM, or they picked the wrong screen, or Apple didn't make it. Sigh."

          Seen this happen with many a product so that we always seem to end up with the least common denominator technology.

      2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
        Joke

        Re: There are severe technical limitations

        "However, if it's not something you can easily buy silicon for (or microcontrollers with), it's going to hamper the small volume products. Hopefully, there are other lesser buses on that connector."

        Maybe each module just needs cheap and simple power connections and then each device would have a WifI, active RFID or bluetooth and it would all work over a micro IoT wireless network. Simples!

  6. bpfh

    What happens if you drop it?

    The main market for new modules won't be for upgrades... it will be for people who drop the damned thing on an underground platform and the modules all fly off in odd directions like a kid with a temper tantrum with a Lego model...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What happens if you drop it?

      So it's choosing between permanent modularity or superglue..

      1. Bob Dole (tm)

        Re: What happens if you drop it?

        >>So it's choosing between permanent modularity or superglue..

        Release the Kragle!

    2. kryptylomese

      Re: What happens if you drop it?

      100% agree, and I would also worry about people swapping modules without you knowing

    3. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: What happens if you drop it?

      Don't drop it. Simples. Or do like most people do and get a cover/case for it.

      In theory, this is the least of your worries. You would simply replace the damaged part.

      1. Bronek Kozicki
        Happy

        Re: What happens if you drop it?

        I am pretty sure there will be large market of covers for these things

  7. Warm Braw

    That video

    Jeans - check

    Surfboard - check

    Guitar - check

    Twenty-somethings - check

    Beards - check

    Gender & sexual diversity - check

    No actual information - check

    They do seem to have found a way to make advertising even more patronising than when a man in a suit simply announced that 8 out of 10 women preferred it.

    1. theOtherJT Silver badge
      Trollface

      Re: That video

      We've graduated from the information age in to the "Post-information" age where truth is irrelevant and facts are for losers. Get with the program. Ignorance is strength!

      1. mathew42
        FAIL

        Re: That video

        One of my favourite products for teaching kids programming is Kano, but visit the website http://kano.me/ and see if you can quickly work out which apps the distribution provides to teach programming.

        Useless website for forwarding to a teacher give them a quick overview of how they could use it in the classroom.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: That video

          Kano.me would be an interesting choice for British institutions as it's rather close to "cane me" :).

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: That video -8 out of 10 women preferred it.

      Preferred it to what?

      I have a very clean mind, thank you.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: That video -8 out of 10 women preferred it.

        9/10 doctors prefer 'Lucky Strike' cigarettes.

        They're toasted for less throat irritation.

  8. bri

    Too complicated

    In theory a fine idea, in practice it means carrying all the small extensions somewhere in a bag (and losing them all the time) or adding a planning phase to the morning routine.

    "Am I going to photo someone, or do I want an hour longer battery life? Or am I going to need speakers for showing that cat and my baby video? But I need the battery... And I shouldn't change things often, or else retention mechanism will wear out" Choices, choices... Kill me.

    I am really not enough of a nerd to like it.

  9. imanidiot Silver badge

    too much bother

    For the average consumer this will be too much of a bother. I predict it'll be a massive flop.

    1. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

      Re: too much bother

      I can't see the average consumer adopting it either because there will inevitably be a price premium over a cheap but 'good enough' phone from other manufacturers.

      But there may be a big enough market for hobbyists, geeks and nerds if it gives them what they want.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: too much bother

        "I can't see the average consumer adopting it either because there will inevitably be a price premium over a cheap but 'good enough' phone from other manufacturers."

        Especially when your average consumer can pick up a "good enough" smartphone for 25 quid from Amazon or Argos. Most nether know nor care if it's the latest "foodstuff" version of Android or if it can be upgraded.

    2. DropBear

      Re: too much bother

      It might be, but if it does end up (moderately) popular in the end, I predict it will be because some out-of-the-left-field but unexpectedly useful / popular modules(s) that you just can't get on typical phones, and not because of the traditional types of modules currently envisioned.

  10. TeeCee Gold badge
    WTF?

    Hmm.

    IMHO, the best thing to happen to mobile devices since their original inception was touchscreen input being made practical on the original iPhone, allowing a big screen without screwing up usability.

    Or, in other words, this thing really sucks.

    1. short

      Re: Hmm.

      And, IMHO. touchscreens are an abomination, relying on the transparency of fingers.

      Takes all sorts, eh?

      1. short

        Re: Hmm.

        And you do realise there's a full size screen on the side they try to avoid showing you in that dreadful video? I'm not sure where your rant is coming from. That little display on the back is a secondary.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hmm.

      Oh, yes. Because Apple invented the big touch screen on the iPhone.

      Really? The Steve Jobs reality distortion field still bending history even after his death I see.

      The first iPhone had a tiny screen. Like all the other phones at the time.

      And it didn't have the first touch screen...

      1. Charles 9

        Re: Hmm.

        Compared to the phones of the time it was pretty big. Before the iPhone came along, iPhones tended to have small screens with those jog wheels. Plus most phones on the market were feature phones. Finally, the other touch screens were single-touch resistive where the iPhone was the first mass-market phone with multi-touch capacitive, meaning they set the trend for things like two-fingered scroll and touch-to-zoom.

  11. ari

    This is NOT what they promised. This is a base module with everything that makes it a phone, and some slots to add some extra stuff such as a camera or such, and possibly an extra display on the back of the phone... wow, much display, such useful, etc.

    Here's a short rant I wrote on the matter:

    https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-design-requires-breaking-laws-physics-ari-kolbeinsson

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      Yeah, well, I was promised moonbases, flying cars and house robots and world peace and the leisure time to enjoy them.

      That this is even going into production at all in any form is pretty impressive.

      1. Charles 9

        Not really because the most important pieces of modularity we wanted (memory, internal storage, screen) are locked in now. If the phone was more like a PC where it can just be upgraded to keep up with the times and can still be useful for a few extra years, we'd probably be all over it.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    ...many assumed it was going the way of so many other Google projects: into the trash...

    Let's launch it first with some hype about "the future of blah", get a couple thousand users, /then/ we throw it into the trash. As many other Google projects.

  13. Unicornpiss
    Meh

    Unless it really takes off..

    Adopters of this will find very limited availability of modules, and I'd fully expect that this will do about as well as Amazon's attempt at a phone. I expect within a year, users will be left high and dry and any parts you can find will be on ebay.

    One nice thing though is if you crack the screen, it looks like you can just snap on a new one? If you can't, that would show an amazing lack of foresight. I also wonder how expensive the modules will be? I doubt the average smartphone user will be able to afford a drawer full of them. I also wonder if any verification that the add-on hardware is 'authentic' and unadulterated is done.

  14. JeffyPoooh
    Pint

    Ara's future...

    The first widely-sold Ara will quickly be renamed 'Ara 1.0' as soon as they announce 'Ara 2.0' 12 months later. 'Are 2.0' modules will, of course, be perfectly incompatible with 'Ara 1.0' because they have changed the connector.

    An upgraded 16 Mpix camera module will sell for $189.99, and will require an upgraded CPU module that sells for $349.99. This will bring your Ara up to date, at least camera-wise, with regular phones costing about $300.

    Mountain climbing enthusiasts will be frustrated to discover that both the GPS module and the Barometric Altimeter module want to occupy the same Top Left position.

  15. LeoP
    Pirate

    So much pessimism?

    First of all: @jzl - have that missing upvote.

    Yes, there is reason for pessimism - all that "Ara 1.0" stuff is probaly true, as is the price point and availability of modules.

    Initially. Just as the Android Phones of the 1.x and 2.x era were everyone's laughing stock.

    Now just think of "Ara 2.0" developing enough critical mass, that millions of busy hands in Sheng Zhen start producing modules the way they are now producing perfectly usable throw-away phones, most possibly after Mediatek created a Mipi-to-sane component, that is cheap as .. ah .. chips.

    Think of being able to physically unplug your GPS - let that sink in for a moment.

    Think of being able to unplug everything and attach a 10.000 mAh battery instead.

    IMHO the success of this idea is not to be measured by the $999.99 enthusiast camera module made by Leica, but by the $9.99 gadget module made by Hing-Fang-Ho. Sheng Zhen has forced the big players to actually give us something for our money, why should they not be able to repeat that stunt?

    The pirate icon, because maybe a tiny fraction of that Mipi-to-sane chips might not actually be fully licensed.

    1. Jeffrey Nonken

      Re: So much pessimism?

      "...the Android Phones of the 1.x and 2.x era were everyone's laughing stock."

      They were? Huh. I LIKED my G1. Still miss having that physical keyboard.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So much pessimism?

      Because the pessimism is justified. Assuming it actually reaches market at all, it will quickly sink without a trace. You can't make individual modules in low quantities cheaper than an integrated phone that would be produced in higher quantities. Especially now that you can buy quality Android phones for under $200.

      There are so many Android phones out there you can get pretty much anything you want. If there were rapid improvements in technology to where you might say "boy I sure wish I could upgrade the camera in my two year old phone" then maybe it would have a future, but the improvements are very small year to year these days and have been for several years already.

      It is a fantasy to think someone is going to create say a DSLR camera module for this, if they do it will cost a fortune because they'll be lucky to sell a thousand of them.

      This is the epitome of what Google's dorky PhD engineers would come up with - something only a dorky engineer could ever love or want.

      There will be serious problems with the pieces staying together when dropped, or they'll be difficult to pull apart/put together, or there will be strange errors because the pins don't fit together perfectly. Look at how many people drop their phones and see the battery and/or back cover go flying. Those are a lot easier to make sturdy than something with a bunch of delicate electrical connections between modules!

      Something will go wrong, there will be a lot of bad publicity and initial promises from Google to fix it, and then it will sink from sight. Though again, that's if it ever comes to market at all. The fact it was announced three years ago and it still is at least a year away from reaching the hands of consumers tells me it is more likely than not this gets pushed back further and further until it sinks without a trace when sanity prevails somewhere at Google that this is something with such a tiny potential audience there will never be a thriving market for modules that they promise.

      1. short

        Re: So much pessimism?

        "There are so many Android phones out there you can get pretty much anything you want."

        Nope. There's a list further down that sounds much like my personal wishlist - many of which probably would never hit volume (but I'm a hardware guy and can roll my own if I really want).

        Fore more conventional businesses - how about:

        A trusted data silo with back-side (not through the phone) authentication? Compromised phone (it's Android...) won't pwn the module, which is owned by the company.

        PMR / dPMR module for site PTT

        A 5W speaker to piss people off with on public transport / be useful in loud environments

        A jogwheel. I miss jogwheels. Come to think of it, many UI input devices.

        A little flip-out stand. Ears that stick out when it rings. All sorts of toss that you & I don't want, but other people might.

        No, there's not an android phone for everyone, and there never will be. There are tolerable devices and compromises worth making - but I don't see this as dead in the water. Plenty of things would be better closely coupled to the phone, not hung off BT or OTG.

        .

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: So much pessimism?

          You can think of a list of niche things, but modules for them would never be made unless the phone sold in iPhone, or at least Galaxy S, volumes.

    3. energystar
      Big Brother

      Re: So much pessimism?

      "...being able to physically unplug your GPS.."

      WTF are you 'inciting' about?

      <DBlookup> LeoP ...

    4. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: So much pessimism?

      Well said LeoP. Upvoted.

  16. Scott Broukell

    News just in . . . .

    Man has left hand top corner part of mobile phone thing snatched by oik riding a bike along pavement!

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Geeks...

    Someone above mentioned keeping track of add ons. When I go anywhere for a few days, currently I carry a large laptop, a couple of multimeters, a DSO add on, a development debugger programmer, and a few other odds and ends.

    There must be several million hobbyists and designers by now doing things with Arduino, Pi, general microcontrollers, wireless and [whisper it] IoT. Then there's field engineers and the like.

    The modules I want to see are:

    FLIR - the Cat S60 looks great but is very special purpose and the add on for the iPhone is awkward

    Low light camera, prerably one to which I can attach a C mount lens

    Multimeter - may bulge quite a lot but so what

    DSO - also may bulge a bit but could use SMB connectors

    Logic analyser

    Substantial SSD

    pH meter

    Laser or ultrasonic rangefinder

    OBD-2.

    spectrum analyser

    Large battery to power all of above

    Wireless gadgets would rapidly run out of bandwidth, and I don't know how well USB-C would handle multiple connections, not to mention all those wires. This thing can hold 6 modules, that's enough for a very useful little development lab.

    The CPU and the display don't worry me too much; the 820 is more than adequate to run this kind of stuff and Android N allows multiple windows. In any case the value of the modules will greatly exceed the baseplate. Most instruments don't need lots of memory or all that much compute power.

    As I say, millions of potential customers. If as a result I can lug around a small bag instead of a large briefcase I'm pretty much sold.

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: Geeks...

      Exactly this.

    2. DropBear

      Re: Geeks...

      No offence, but by the time you crammed all that into a single phone, it's the size of a 3.5" HDD, at the absolute very least. I'm not quite sure why that is better than standalone instruments than can potentially be accessed through a traditional smartphone - as long as you're carrying the "large battery" (=external LiPo power brick) anyway, the difference isn't much; the volume is the same, whether you duct-tape it to the phone or not. Not that I wouldn't like to have all that with me - but if it makes the phone the size of a Fluke portable, I have a problem...

  18. BurnT'offering

    Niche opportunity

    How about a detonator module?

    1. DropBear
      Joke

      Re: Niche opportunity

      "...on special discount all throughout this week, if you buy it together with the matching dead-man-switch module!"

  19. Montreal Sean

    Reminds me of my old Handspring Visor Deluxe.

    Never could afford to buy many Springboard modules though.

    1. Charles 9

      Re: Reminds me of my old Handspring Visor Deluxe.

      True, but one I quickly latched onto was a Compact Flash drive. Expanded its potential enormously and provided for a handy backup when I was away from the sync cradle.

      1. energystar
        Pint

        Re: Reminds me of my old Handspring Visor Deluxe.

        Starts to make sense on cities with high coverage. Noting to do with modularity.

  20. d3vy

    Do you think there's an option where the colours of the modules match so it doesn't look shit like in the video?

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      Yeah those colors have GOT to go. They do look like shit.

    2. DropBear

      ...not that I don't agree - but have you ever actually seen an Ara macaw...? Just curious...

  21. energystar
    Trollface

    Cheaper to sell the damn thing complete...

    And then just enable progressive access to the components on a 'tariff' scheme. Better yet, on a 'lease' one. </TrulyJocking>

  22. Barry Rueger

    Not on Your Life

    A whole whack of detachable bits stuck together, bouncing around in your pocket, purse, or in a cubby in the car?

    Good luck with that.

    The ongoing success of products like the Otterbox Defender are proof enough that this tech is not rugged enough for many people.

    At least my Moto is more or less one solid block of stuff, with nothing to shake loose.

    Until I added the Otterbox I was averaging one phone a year.

    I can't see this lasting three months.

  23. Mario Becroft
    Meh

    Cautiously optimistic

    Haven't looked into the implementation, but I like the concept. There is no phone on the market today that has the combination of features I want. Being able to put together a phone that suits my very particular needs sounds fantastic in theory.

    I am worried that in practice this won't really be very modular. After all the SoC and the screen are a large part of a smartphone, and comments seem to imply these are *not* modular. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

  24. FatGerman

    Amazing Video

    It appears to be trying very hard to not show you the product. This will be because although they think the product is cool, it looks like something your two year old made from stickle bricks. And that matters to cool people.

    Also the modules appear to be held in with magnets or little plastic tabs. Hard to tell but I doubt it would last 5 minutes in the back pocket of that woman doing the cross country run.

  25. Robin Bradshaw
    Trollface

    Its android so you might be able to upgrade the hardware but you wont be able to update the OS

  26. Jeroen Braamhaar

    hmmm

    I can't see this as a successful mass market product .. but maybe in specialized/closed markets it might succeed - like a field service engineer's phone/diagnostics link, or issues as corporate phone with approved (ie no camera, no removable storage) modules ... and of course the inevitable hobbyist and tinkerer market

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: hmmm

      And just how many of those do you think there are? 10? 100? 1000?

      The number would close to a million or better. That is only a small market to people with unreasonable expectations.

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It looks like someone taped a Rubik's Cube to an old Nokia. Should do well.

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ah so it's like the desktop pc....

    ...a million combinations and yet 99% sold are all identical and never upgraded.

  29. toughluck

    What will it do?

    to do for hardware what the Android platform has done for software

    It will enable security holes, malware, advertising and OEM crap in hardware? No wonder they want it out so badly.

  30. tiggity Silver badge

    Badger watchers

    Snap in your Infra Red module for improved night-time use.

    And if something goes badly wrong, ensure you have your ear piercing alarm module added.

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