Project Ara component swapping gets demoed
Google's Project Ara has gotten a lot of attention recently with the announcement of the developer conference due on April 15-16. Happily, at the LAUNCH tech conference one of the Project Ara team members spent a juicy 25 minutes to talk about the modular phone concept. He even went on and demonstrated how swapping components works.
Referred to as Google Ara in the video below, the modular phone will come in three sizes at launch: a mini (about 4"), medium (below 5") and larger (think phablets). We already know that Google wants to keep Ara as cheap as possible. A recent report suggests the endoskeleton to which all modules attach will cost no more than $50.
In the video, the Ara member said that the base of the entire modular phone should run about $15 per unit. It doesn't do anything else than bridging the rest of the components so they can work together.
Google will launch its official Ara store for different modules, but is also keen to have other developers and retailers offer some as well. Check out the 25-minute Project Ara bit from the video below (jump to the 5:00 minute mark).