Android's Best Phone of Next Year (2015) Poll

[FoxKat]

Really interesting point. It will shake things up, but in many respects will breathe new life into a market that is quickly becoming commoditized.

You come out with a new phone, and you KNOW it can only capture a percentage of a small segment of the market. If this thing takes off, someone like Sony can dominate the camera market (which would yield substantial economies of scale). While someone like Samsung could dominate memory and processors.

And ultimately this may just be Google's way of pushing everyone to a la carte/customizable phones.

Plus, we know cross-compatibility will be virtually non-existent, so when you want to upgrade a component you're going to end up upgrading all of them.

Well, I would hope that cross-compatibility isn't an issue. In fact, I would expect that the project will dictate compatibility among all devices just by the very nature of the design.

As for Samsung, well they're the display king, IMHO, so Motorola for the radios, Samsung for the memory, Sony for the camera, IKD, lots of other options. Still, it's very exciting. The first model should be called the "Transformer Turbo"!

 

[Ollie]

Really interesting point. It will shake things up, but in many respects will breathe new life into a market that is quickly becoming commoditized.

You come out with a new phone, and you KNOW it can only capture a percentage of a small segment of the market. If this thing takes off, someone like Sony can dominate the camera market (which would yield substantial economies of scale). While someone like Samsung could dominate memory and processors.

And ultimately this may just be Google's way of pushing everyone to a la carte/customizable phones.

Plus, we know cross-compatibility will be virtually non-existent, so when you want to upgrade a component you're going to end up upgrading all of them.

You will be able to upgrade just one module. They are shooting for a manufacturing cost of $50-$100 for the initial model.

FAQ Project Ara

 

[Ollie]

It sounds like the only thing that isn't replaceable is the radio which is built into the base.

 

[FoxKat]

I want this SOOO bad. Imagine being able to take your favorite phone right now, and just pull out the part(s) you don't like and replace with what you wanted... Turbo, minus (as yet unidentified) 21MP camera, plus Sony 21MP camera. Minus 3GB, plus 4GB. Minus Snapdragon 805, plus Snapdragon 810... This would be awesome.

 

[Ollie]

I'm buying one just for kicks. Hopefully they will have some great skins to go with them.

 

[kodiak799]

Well, I would hope that cross-compatibility isn't an issue. In fact, I would expect that the project will dictate compatibility among all devices just by the very nature of the design.

Just look at computers. Cross-compatibility is hardly ubiquitous. You likely can't just upgrade to any DD4 ram, if at all. I would fully expect camera upgrades to generally force upgrades in CPU and ram. Radios? Fuhgeddaboudit (lol, actually a word in Chrome spell check).

And if you're Sammie, I'm sure your new killer camera component will unfortunately only be compatible with other Sammie components (newer ones, at that). I think it's obvious that even building the whole phone currently is significantly challenging to get all the hardware and software to function flawlessly together.

 

[Ollie]

To be an Ara project partner you have to conform to a set of guidlines. That won't be an issue for hardware vendors that want to participate. You can replace the radio without replacing the exoskeleton.

 

[kodiak799]

To be an Ara project partner you have to conform to a set of guidlines. That won't be an issue for hardware vendors that want to participate. You can replace the radio without replacing the exoskeleton.

I get that. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is replacing the radio will almost certainly entail replacing the CPU, ram and possibly other modules. And your choices will likely be a relatively small subset of the universe of CPU and ram options. We're talking "fragmentation" on steroids.

Being compatible with the exoskeleton isn't remotely the same as being compatible with thousands of conceivable combinations of other modules. That's not remotely feasible.

 

[Jeffrey]

Well, I would hope that cross-compatibility isn't an issue. In fact, I would expect that the project will dictate compatibility among all devices just by the very nature of the design.
Turbo"!

To be an Ara project partner you have to conform to a set of guidlines. That won't be an issue for hardware vendors that want to participate. You can replace the radio without replacing the exoskeleton.

I find the concept intriguing. When you mix and match components, there will be issues.
If I replace component A with B and an issue arises, who will troubleshoot this?
I can see us getting very busy here at DF and that's the big plus.

 

[Ollie]

I get that. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is replacing the radio will almost certainly entail replacing the CPU, ram and possibly other modules. And your choices will likely be a relatively small subset of the universe of CPU and ram options. We're talking "fragmentation" on steroids.

Being compatible with the exoskeleton isn't remotely the same as being compatible with thousands of conceivable combinations of other modules. That's not remotely feasible.

I'm not seeing any issues since you can't be a vendor if your hardware doesn't jive with everyone else's hardware. These modules will also be hot swappable as well. I'm more curious as to how that will work.

I can only see 3 options for hardware. 1. Stock low end modules for the real world that can't afford our first world phone prices. 2. Mid range modules for carriers to lock you into a two year contract with. And 3. High end modules for people that have more money to play with than most.

If that is the route they are taking then you would be best off to offer 3 exoskeletons as well since the exoskeletons will do most of the heavy lifting.

 

[Jeffrey]

I'm not seeing any issues since you can't be a vendor if your hardware doesn't jive with everyone else's hardware. These modules will also be hot swappable as well. I'm more curious as to how that will work.

You can jive, but that doesn't mean it will work. Let's face it, we have devices that are 100% designed and manufactured by top providers and we still face issues.

 

[cereal killer]

The guy that was developing phonebloks is on this project. You will be able to upgrade to more RAM , camera etc down the road. The handset will be like a car. Want new or better tires? BAM! want a high flow intake? BOOM!! Right on down the line. The radios I'm assuming will be the only piece that you can't swap out without having to reconfigure the whole handset (which only stands to reason). Other than that all the pieces/blocks are hot swappable.

 

[cr6]

Great input guys! I'm really looking forward to seeing the end result. Exciting times in the tech world!

S5 tap'n

 

[94lt1]

Kewl. I could hop up my phone like my vehicles... I'm in

 

[kodiak799]

Other than that all the pieces/blocks are hot swappable.

Having that as the goal and what is realistically achievable are likely two very different things. The secondary question is if Google can, and would, stop Sammie from manufacturing components that only play nice with other Sammie components. Google doesn't sell them because it doesn't fit their standards, but not sure there would be anything to stop Sammie from offering them directly and thru the carriers.