No news about it whatsoever during Google IO.
It's a shame, I was hyped about it and have been waiting for it to come out to upgrade from my Moto G 1st gen.
They dropped the prototype
>>54646599
and they're still trying to fix it.
I think it's a shame. Hot switching modules is the most useless thing ever. You aren't going to switch modules while it's on very often. And semi-permanent electro-magnets are stupid as well, there are so many other easier ways to make modules stay.
They should have just made it non-hot switchable and some sort of mechnical lock to lock them in place. That would have made things so much easier.
The option for customization is what I like most. Shame it got dropped.
>>54646702
Why not lock it down like an AND cpu with a little pop out switch or lever on the side?
>>54646970
I'm just saying they probably wanted to make it "cool" with the electromagnets and hot switching but it just seems too impractical for all the troubles.
I wish WE could decide what we want to have on/in our phones
I don't need a fucking 3828192222532116600 megapixel tripple camera on my phone
I just want a good looking phone with a good screen, nice sound quality and decent battery life
>>54647116
That's the appeal (at least for me) for module phones like Ara.
What appeals to me about a modular design like this is you don't have to throw the whole fucking thing out when you want to upgrade. Thinking about how many phones people have dumped into landfills makes me sad.
>>54646599
Ara/Arya's dead, Google glass is dead, gchat is dead and all other things that were horrendously made by Google that you don't care to remember are also probably dead. The developers who tried to make 'em are also probably, now they've got moot. Hopefully he'll make something that too will be dead!
>>54646599
They're apparently having great difficulties right where everyone knew they would, at getting the modular portion of the thing to be as modular as they said. As it stands, their prototypes can only take certain upgrades in certain "slots" as they've been calling them. They can't stick the Battery across the bottom and have it boot, or cram the WiFi module into where the camera sits. Which the camera, apparently, is the easiest thing to modularize so far, according to them. But it's non-critical, so that's trivial at best.
They've been throwing around how to "approach consumer disappointment" by bringing out a "spined" modular phone, where everything has a set spot on a "spine" it connects to, but you can swap the 2400mah battery for a 3200mah cell, or the 16mp F2.2 module for an OIS 20mp 4k F1.8 module or a 16mp 3x Optical Zoom module. But things like the WiFi and Modem and such may or may not be modular, depending on what deals they can work out with chip manufacturers. They may have to release a device that is "locked" with a certain chipset, size, and spine, and you slot in a different camera, battery, USB connector (would only effect the physical connector, data rate and charging rate would be locked), and accessory spot for MicroSD storage, GLONASS, 600mah "jump start" battery, 4 physical and programmable buttons, or similar.
>>54647187
I'm of the opinion that landfilled phones usually have broken glass and aren't worth fixing anyway.
And that's something that Ara probably couldn't do either.
I would say wait for the hardware Google I/O in September. If they don't talk about it there then yes it's dead.
>>54647020
>lock it in with the magnets
>put a case on the back
???
>>54647850
Exactly, so much easier options but they chose the more complex "cool" ways like electromagnets and hot switching.
>>54647116
Why hasn't anyone made an e-ink phone yet
>>54648020
#yolo
>>54646599
It's not like it would have sold well anyway, people barely upgrade real computers anymore, let alone toys.
>>54647975
Refresh rate is a BIG issue. Also people don't want to go back to black and white.
>>54648363
e-ink is also available in color baka.
Pebble time is a color e-ink display.
>drop your phone
>its explodes into pieces
>>54647975
Power concerns.
e-Ink uses a SHITLOAD of power as a general screen, each update is 40-50x more costly than a LCD refresh.
e-ink is good on some products becuase it never really needs to update and once updated it doesn't use any more power.
A UI at 60hz though, goddamn the power usage would be through the roof...
>>54648813
That can be easily fixed with a protective case
>>54648813
>drop phone
>not designed to explode into pieces
>can't put back together
>drop phone
>designed to explode into pieces
>slap pieces back together, no damage done
It's like you never used a Nokia
>>54647526
With Ara you'd just switch out the screen. Broken screen modules would cover the landfills instead, sure, but it'd be less of a problem than entire phones.
Any advancements that might come out of it's development will be useful in other products, but the phone itself is useless and will probably not end up in production.
>>54647116
>knowing what you want
>using device for long time instead of buying new one
Do you even capitalism?
>>54646599
It was ahead of its time. Maybe if they started the project 10 years later it might have worked. For the time being there is no way the Ara concept can lead to a high value product that competes in the same space as Apple, Samsung and China.
