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Google's build-your-own smartphones expected to debut at MWC
Google's Project Ara modular smartphones, which can be assembled by clipping together different components, are expected to make their consumer debut at Mobile World Congress
The days of upgrading your phone may be coming to an end as Google is tipped to unveil working versions of its Project Ara buildable smartphones at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in March.
Google first launched Project Ara, the codename for the customisable hardware phone system in February last year. The platform allows users to clip different components, or modules, together to create a smartphone with a camera, RAM, GPU and display of choice, meaning new modules can be purchased for an upgrade or replacement, rather than buying an entirely new device. Each of the modules are said to cost between $50 (£33) - $100.
Working phones and 50 modules will be on display at MWC in Barcelona, which kicks off on March 2, according to Phone Arena.
Toshiba announced it was partnering with chipmaker Einfochips to produce the chips for the handset last week. It also said it had designed two versions of the new phone - the Spiral One and Spiral Two.
The Spiral Two, which is expected to go on sale in Puerto Rico later this year, features modest specifications and functions. Its screen resolution is 720 x 1280, its camera is 5MP and its battery life's is expected to be up to 30 per cent less than an average smartphone's.
Project Ara's first official developers' conference was held earlier this year, where project director Paul Eremenko revealed the trial, saying: “we have a variety of unanswered questions, and the only way to get answers is to get actual data.”
“Consumers actually crave choice, but when presented with choice, they seize up - and when they make a choice, they frequently have remorse about making the wrong one,” he said.
“Ara is full of choices. We have to carefully curate and manage the experience. We have a variety of hypothesis, but we need to test them in the field.”
Google has said its aim for the project is to design a phone for the use of six billion people, and will eventually sell a starter kit of materials for users to build their own.
Project Ara is housed within Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) lab, the group which the search engine's space and motion platform Project Tango recently graduated from into the main business.