Google expects Project Ara phone to cost $50, plans on kiosks for after purchase additions
Earlier on Wednesday, we told you about the the first Ara Developers Conference that will take place between April 15 and April 16 in Mountain View, California. Project Ara is the modular phone that was originally a project being handled by Motorola, but was kept by Google as part of the Motorola purchase by Lenovo. The conference will be held the same month that Google releases the Ara Module Developers’ Kit (MDK).
Now, some more information about Google's desires for Project Ara have come out. For example, Google wants the entry level unit priced no higher than $50. For that price, buyers would get a touchscreen, Wi-Fi radio, and the circuitry to run both. Google plans on opening kiosks where Ara owners can purchase additional parts to snap in to their phone, allowing an Ara owner to go from low-end, to mid-range and perhaps even high-end model, with a few key component additions.
Paul Eremenko, from Google's ATAP (Advanced Technology and Projects) group says that a functioning prototype of the Ara phone is weeks away. A version ready for launch is expected in the first quarter of 2015.
source: TIME via AndroidCentral
"The question was basically, could we do for hardware what Android and other platforms have done for software? Which means lower the barrier to entry to such a degree that you could have tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of developers as opposed to just five or six big [manufacturers] that could participate in the hardware space."-Paul Eremenko, Google
Paul Eremenko, from Google's ATAP (Advanced Technology and Projects) group says that a functioning prototype of the Ara phone is weeks away. A version ready for launch is expected in the first quarter of 2015.
source: TIME via AndroidCentral
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