Project Ara Will Not Make It To Market

[DroidModderX]

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The least surprising news of the day has to be the news that Google has halted production of Project Ara modular phones. The project has apparently been suspended. The device has had a cult following who cheered the project and sat on pins and needles waiting for the device's release. After prepping a soft roll out of the device in Puerto Rico in 2015 which was cancelled abruptly and without explanation, countless promotional images, demo videos, and changing up the project to include the screen and SoC in the phone core it looks like the whole project will be scrapped as Google focuses on unifying it's hardware business.

According to reports from Reuters the tech behind ARA may still eventually be pushed by Google even though they will not be making the hardware. Maybe an OEM will step up finish the project and get this thing released after all.

Dan Makoski founder of Project Ara had this to say:

It’s disappointing to the teams who have worked so hard to make it real, disheartening to the developers hoping to bring their innovations to life, and frustrating to the fans across the world who were so eager to have Ara in their hands. [...] I’m personally saddened at the lack of courage to take it across the finish line, but I know and respect Rick Osterloh. He was one of the few executives who encouraged me when I first pitched the idea, and trust that he has good reasons to postpone. [...] Modularity is not a fad – it will endure as long as human beings value their creativity over their role of being passive consumers.

via Reuters

 

[creaky]

Sad. This was the innovation I was looking forward to.

 

[akhenax]

That is unfortunate. Oh well, on to the next "best" thing...

 

[kodiak799]

I think I predicted this back when this kicked off.