1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

News Google outs Project Ara smartphone plans

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 27 Feb 2014.

  1. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

    Joined:
    4 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    17,085
    Likes Received:
    6,635
  2. damien c

    damien c Mad FPS Gamer

    Joined:
    31 Aug 2010
    Posts:
    3,004
    Likes Received:
    255
    Interesting.
     
  3. Guinevere

    Guinevere Mega Mom

    Joined:
    8 May 2010
    Posts:
    2,484
    Likes Received:
    176
    I see these devices being a great success in the 'dev board / arduino / raspberry pi' space.

    And when they take off there, you'll see tech heads using them as their primary phones. Taking them beyond the projects they'll build around them :)

    Will they ever be mainstream enough to compete with the iOS/Android/Windows?

    Would be nice to see. It would be great if there was an option in the marketplace for people to build and tweak their own device. Power to the people!
     
  4. GuilleAcoustic

    GuilleAcoustic Ook ? Ook !

    Joined:
    26 Nov 2010
    Posts:
    3,277
    Likes Received:
    72
    Interesting. Glad they kept this patent. Hope it will hit shelves.
     
  5. gosh

    gosh Minimodder

    Joined:
    20 Oct 2009
    Posts:
    183
    Likes Received:
    4
    can't see how this will ever compete on the phone side - parcelling components in little blocks must significantly increase the space they use plus probably affect latency or cause power problems.

    hugely interested in this from a home/portable device front though, build a nice lil media server/android & emulations games device to spec which is upgradable if needed - remains to be seen if price will be competitive though
     
  6. Dave Lister

    Dave Lister Minimodder

    Joined:
    1 Sep 2009
    Posts:
    880
    Likes Received:
    12
    I'll certainly get one if it's done right. It did look prettier in the original phoneblocks video than it does in that picture though :(
     
  7. mi1ez

    mi1ez Modder

    Joined:
    11 Jun 2009
    Posts:
    1,615
    Likes Received:
    101
    Can't wait to see what comes of this... Even if it's no better than a regular phone and the updated hardware modules never arrive, I love the design!
     
  8. raxonb

    raxonb Minimodder

    Joined:
    5 May 2009
    Posts:
    247
    Likes Received:
    7
    If it all works out we can have a new sister magazine - Custom Phone. Imagine somewhere down the line a review of a water cooled quad tegra SLI configuration!!

    On a serious note though if they are doing this with phones then surely this can be applied to tablets too?
     
  9. .//TuNdRa

    .//TuNdRa Resident Bulldozer Guru

    Joined:
    12 Feb 2011
    Posts:
    4,046
    Likes Received:
    109
    I vaguely remember that Phonebloks (An independent company who partnered with Google for Project Ara) wanted to produce three different form-factors of base; a smaller 4.3"-ish version, a 5" phone, and a Larger "Tablet Sized" one, although I can't, for the life of me, find the information, so I could just be making this up.

    I wouldn't be surprised that if the phone takes off; a Tablet version will follow. The design is fairly clever, and so long as the base is simple enough that it's possible to run things at higher clock speeds without leakage; it'd be possible to just keep upgrading parts on the same base without caring about if it works or not.
     

Share This Page