What are your opinions on the new iteration of Project Ara? Is true smartphone modularity an unobtainable pipe dream?
Maybe not a pipedream but it seems like new phones are so cheap in the first place that the project lost its luster. Why would you need an upgradeable phone when so many carriers are practically giving phones away now a days? It would have been more sensible if phones prices had skyrocketed and a new phone was $1500.
>>54724884
It's not upgradeable in the since of cpu,gpu,ram etc
It just has module space which I am hyped for
>>54724986
What if I told you the CPU/GPU/RAM is upgradable, you just have to buy a new frame
Now that the cpu, battery, screen + other essential parts are an integrated part of the endo and no longer interchangeable, the purpose is defeated. The phone is no longer "eternal," and the remaining spaces are pretty much useless unless you want to attach a bunch of arbitrary sensors like a glucometer or a fingerprint sensor.
Although I can understand why they did it. I guess some parts might not play nice with each other if it were left up to choice of the average customer.
>>54725003
That defeats the entire purpose of ARA. The original idea was; Keep the frame forever, upgrade the modules as needed.
>>54725003
>What if I told you your PC was upgradable, you just have to buy everything prebuilt at once? Don't worry though, you can still change out the hard drive!
Sign me up for a pre-order.
>>54724811
>tfw I actually like this idea more than the original
I hope it will influence big OEMs and bring expandability back to the flagship arena, then there's one less thing I can meme about in PDA threads
>>54725040
I guess they realized that separating CPU/GPU/RAM isn't viable, and putting it in the frame is the best option
Having the screen and battery in the frame is pretty stupid though
have to buy a new high priced frame every time you want to upgrade. into the trash it goes.
>Uses electropermanent magnets to hold components in place
>Create prankware which releases all the magnets at inopportune times
non removable anything but a few removable modules... isn't this just the lg g5?
>MODULAR PHONES
>SOLAR ROADWAYS
Why are normalfags so gullible?
>>54724811
The modules are just glorified USB on the go accessories now.
>>54725101
Cause they like to vote for people like sanders
It's based on the premise that the architecture doesn't change as quickly as the components, which is only rarely the case, such as CMOS sensors a few years ago, recently emerged technologies etc. Mostly though, it's blatantly false, and the ara skeleton would need to be swapped out as often as the components.
The second issue is the fact that anyone who has read the wikipedia article on the history of cell phones (or is over 20 years old) knows that cell phones become less and less modular over time, not the other way around. We don't even have modular laptops despite the technology being established, diverse and cheap. Modern phones don't even have removable batteries, yet we are to believe that the phones of the future have removable CPUs and cameras? Come on.
The third issue is the assumption that it's even technologically or practically feasible. The CPU, the GPU, the memory etc are such tiny components in a phone that it would be insanity to make them all separate modules, so clearly there must be some kind of limit on the level of modularity. But even there it starts to kind of defeat the purpose of the whole phone. If I discover that I need more memory but not more CPU but have to upgrade both anyway, what was the point of having a modular phone in the first place? And this is all assuming that it's even even possible to make a modular phone with comparable performance to size ratio to a monolithic phone which is quite an assumption.
I think before we start jumping on the modular smartphone bandwagon we should ask ourselves why we even have smartphones in the first place. They will probably be obsolete before viable modular smartphones hit the market.
>>54725230
>he second issue is the fact that anyone who has read the wikipedia article on the history of cell phones (or is over 20 years old) knows that cell phones become less and less modular over time, not the other way around. We don't even have modular laptops despite the technology being established, diverse and cheap. Modern phones don't even have removable batteries, yet we are to believe that the phones of the future have removable CPUs and cameras? Come on.
It's not just cell phones and laptops. Look at how the automobile has evolved over the last 100 years. Has it gotten more or less modular?
This all derives from a fundamental misunderstanding of what the average user wants, and if the average user doesn't want it, it won't get off the ground because economies of scale.
>no removable screen, SoC, or battery
DOA
O
A
Yeah, pretty much. Modularity almost always means an increase in size, and size is one of the more important things for a phone.
It's why you don't see custom-built laptops, for instance.
>>54725101
SOLAR FREAKIN THORIUM ROADWAYS!!121!!
>>54725631
3D PRINTED SOLAR FREAKIN THORIUM ROADWAYS!
I wanted a removable display. I was really looking forward to dropping my phone and replacing the screen immediately for like $30.
Now that'll never happen.
Also they got rid of the electropermanent magnets. Project Ara isn't even remotely similar to what it started off as.
>drop phone 2 feet
>all the modules fall out
>>54724811
>What are your opinions on the new iteration of Project Ara?
Told you so. The display could be replaceable, given different displays with the exact same panel size and interface. That's not exactly common. The SoC was never going to be something you could change, the RAM was a very, very weak maybe.
Seriously though, how is Google planning to pitch this thing to people? What are the modules? So far, the ideas I've heard are things that nobody will ever care about.
>Camera
Flagships already do a great job
>DAC
Nobody will care about this
>Speakers
Will the tiny module body really improve over what the flagships have now?
>Battery
Come on, now
>Glucometer
....what
>Air quality monitor
seriously?
>breathalyzer
wew
>>54724811
It's only unobtainable because people don't like too much freedom of choice. Project Ara is an example of what could have been.
>>54725065
They admitted in an interview that people just don't care about upgrading core elements like the SoC, RAM, or GPU and want it to "just werk™". In order to get it publicly available faster, they decided to ditch modularity for these components.
>>54725856
>multimeter
>hygrometer
>thermometer
>mass spectrometer
>geiger-müller tube
>spectroscope
>oscilloscope
>CAT scanner
Basically, it's a tricorder.
>>54724884
>Why would you need an upgradeable phone when so many carriers are practically giving phones away now a days?
only in the US and a few countries and they have shit options or locked down stupid ass firmware and bloatware that will never get upgraded in the future
>>54726219
It'll be the first phone with a glucometer which means it will sell like hotcakes for americans
>>54726168
watch them come back during a Saturday morning news report that google will be creating an "enthusiast" ara phone that lets you mod everything
>they sell it expensive
>it comes in little micro machines parts
>older kids who had chibi fetishes eat this shit up
face it, it will happen
>>54725230
>The CPU, the GPU, the memory etc are such tiny components in a phone that it would be insanity to make them all separate modules
I agree with you there, but they still could have put the CPU, GPU, and memory into one module, which would let you choose various spec levels and/or upgrade the processing power while keeping the frame.
and unfortunately you're also right that the ordinary person wants a no-user-serviceable-parts-inside piece of consumer electronics that's uncustomizable beyond the wallpaper and ringtone and is simply thrown out and replaced when broken or obsolescent. So many nice things that we'll never have because normies want convenience uber alles, damn everything else.
>>54724811
I want Google to stick to their guns and not abandon it like every other cool project they start.
>>54727504
Regardless of whether or not the end product is actually good?
>>54724811
Can it make me a sandwich?
>>54725041
B-But you can upgrade the keyboard and mouse.
M-muh modular
>>54727616
yes, let them actually finish something for once.
>>54726414
What is a chibi?
>>54724811
They should stop fantasizing about bullshit and work on improving what they already have.
About 20% of the time when I try to open the camera app on my new Nexus 5x and switch to video mode, the app crashes.
If I were in a wreck, assaulted, dealing with a crazy cop, or simply wanted to get a video of my dog doing something cute, I'd be completely fucked. My old Canon pocket camera I could pull out of my pocket, slide the hardware switch to "video" and turn it on in one continuous motion. With a phone I have to do like three motions, looking at the phone for two of them, and then wait a bit.
what is the point of this anymore?
Phone technology is already so far ahead of user demand that 99.9% of users cannot even maximally use 2014 phones.
There are 5gb phones coming out this year, and like the guy above said, the carriers practically give them away every year to two years in most plans.
It would have to be cheap as hell to be competitive.
>>54725143
As if anyone still in the race is a better option.
>>54724811
I think the original vision was appealing, but I estimate the first release will appeal to neither tech enthusiasts nor the general public. With a high price and limited marketplace for tiles, I see it falling by the wayside as ultra cheap lightweight cloud-based phones emerge.
Personally speaking, the components most practical for swappability are the screen, camera, and battery. As long as those are revealed as components, I may bite.
There also needs to be a tile to usb interface so one can add the camera tile to a pc, charge an extra battery tile away from the phone, or quickly transfer data to/from an external storage chip.
Even in your image it looks like the ara is pretty fat and they are trying their hardest to downplay it.
>>54724811
It is not a modular device, please do not call it that. A modular device would allow you to change every component in the device. Project Ara is what's called "semi-modular".
>>54724811
AMD, ARM and others just announced CCIX. Shit's about to get fucking real.
>>54728873
You're right, but
>>/pol/
Absolutely disappointing. Sensors, antenna I'm fine with it built-in. Even SoC is a maybe. But non-replaceable screen is a deal-breaker.
And really, what's worse is Google's basically saying "to everyone that was eagerly waiting for Ara: go **** yourself".
Buying Ara is simply supporting Google's indifferent attitude towards its consumers.
**** Ara.
Why do you guys love tile based phones but not tile based GUI?
the only impediment to modular phone being reality is manufacturers making its schematics/specs open and components somewhat universal.
and we wouldn't need this ugly gimmick.
>>54725095
Kek
about as realistic as my chances whitney so
>>54724811
worthless. literally the only thing going for it is a sd card block.
Its a pc phone
at least you can get modules with warts on to match the camera warts phones have these days so the thing will sit flat
>>54726414
Google doesn't care about enthusiasts. This is exactly why this shit will flop - normies are afraid to do anything with their phones but enthusiasts don't have anything worth upgrading anymore.
>>54726168
A shame that the public will quickly turn around and argue the opposite once they realise. Hopefully Google will keep working on it.
>>54725716
>drop smartphone 2 feet
>screen breaks
stop shitposting
As long as I can get it without a fingerprint stealer, it has my vote.
>puts on 2nd tinfoil hat
Not bad.
>swap one of those big blocks with APS-C sensor and big frame where you can mount canikon lenses
perfect mirrorless
i also have some hope they'll make some kind of keyboard module for it, would be great. Is display modular as well? Can i insert smaller display to make space for keyboard block fixed on front?
On ARM? With the current device-tree state of SoCs? Yes, honestly. The CPU and RAM being modular, that was always going to be really hard. A backup battery of a few minutes being in the frame makes sense to be able to hotswap battery packs: if that's what they meant then that's fine.
But the screen (and with it, the screen controller, which sjpuldve been in the same module) being built in - the most commonly broken thing on a phone! - is utterly inexcusable and indicative of abject project failure.
Which is a huge shame. I hoped they'd dare to do something truly disruptive. Maybe we'll have to wait for RISC-V SoCs, and the post-Android world...
>ctrl + f "ara ara"
>0 results
I'm disappointed
