Eager to check out Google's Ara modular smartphone? If you live in Puerto Rico, you're in luck. At its second Project Ara Developers Conference on Wednesday, Google announced plans to begin selling the customizable smartphone in Puerto Rico as part of a pilot program later this year. The Web giant also unveiled Spiral 2, the latest Ara prototype, which can make 3G phone calls, according to a report from Mashable.
Project Ara is Google's moonshot effort to create a modular smartphone with the goal of "delivering mobile Internet to the next 5 billion people." The idea is that you'll get a so-called "endoskeleton" — the phone's structural frame — and then be able to snap in different "modules" for added functionality and features.
The modules can be easily inserted and removed at any time, even when the device is on, and have replaceable covers or "shells," which you can also customize with photos or images you like.
In a new YouTube video Wednesday, Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group, which is developing the phone, showed how you can easily pop different modules on and off the device — things like cameras, speakers, chips, even a new screen if your old one cracks. Project Ara leader Paul Eremenko said Google has 11 prototype modules, but the goal is to have 20 to 30 by the time it goes on sale, Mashable reported.
An even more advanced version of the device — dubbed Spiral 3 — is expected later this year with features like 4G LTE and better antennas. When it goes on sale in Puerto Rico later this year, Ara will be available through two local carriers — OpenMobile and Claro — and the cost will vary depending on which modules you choose. A global launch is expected to follow, but there's no word yet on timing.
For a close look at Ara, check out the video below
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