Google shelves Project Ara

It wasn’t too long ago when Google announced it planned to bring the modular Project Ara smartphone by 2017. Unfortunately, it seems those plans have been scrapped. As a refresher, Project Ara allows users to swap out various parts of a smartphone for times when you need to upgrade or just want to improve a particular feature. A Google spokesperson confirmed to TIME that the initiative isn’t pushing forward as the company wants to consolidate its hardware operations, which include the Nexus line of phones and Chromebook computers. But while Project Ara might not live in its current form. It might still live on in the initiatives from the likes of Lenovo’s Moto Mods and the LG G5. Reuters has reported that Google might be open to working with partners via licensing agreements to bring Project Ara’s technology to the market.

Project Ara pilot tests to be done in Puerto Rico later this year

Google’s modular phone project is making headway with its marketing pilot scheduled for later this year. Google has selected Puerto Rico to be the location for the pilot because of research opportunities in the area. They are just as likely to use feature phones as smartphones and there are different carriers to choose from such as big US carriers to smaller local options. And since it is a US territory, it still has to abide by FCC regulations. Google even released a trailer for the project. Are you as excited as we are for Project Ara?

Source: Android Police

Google’s Project Ara might become cheaper with new processor

Google’s modular phone needed a processor that will play nicely with the concept. The tech giant has found something in the form of a Rockchip processor. The company is developing a system-on-chip with modular tech built-in. This will allow you to switch processors on a whim and makes the possibility of having an inexpensive handset come true. But we’d have to wait until next year when the Project Ara prototypes arrive.

Source: Engadget

Google’s PhoneBloks concept is exciting and it’s never going to work (for the mass market)

By Simon Cohen

When you love tech (sometimes just for tech’s sake), it can be pretty heady stuff to read up on the projects that Google has on the go. Consider this incomplete list, it’s really quite extraordinary:

• Android@home
• Google “X” Robots
• Driverless cars
• Space elevators
• Clean energy
• Extending human lifespan
• Android Wear

You’ve got to hand it to Larry and Sergei. When they dream, they dream big. How cool is it that a couple of guys who came up with a better way to index the web are now in a position to influence the course of human history?

But when you roll the dice on monster concepts, you’ve got to be prepared when some of them don’t pan out. Of the items on the list above, there’s a good chance that all but the space elevator and human lifespan will make it from concept to reality. Even the driverless car–an idea that we were scoffing at less than 6 years ago–is real, and it works and they’re even legal in some places.

What I like about all of these projects is that there is a strong chance that if they work out as planned, they will see mass adoption. A lot of people are going to want the benefits these projects will offer.

But I can’t say the same for Google’s most recent foray into the future: Project Ara.

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