Check Out The Latest Images Of Project Ara’s New Spiral 2 Prototype

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Check Out The Latest Images Of Project Ara’s New Spiral 2 Prototype

Today was Google’s developer conference over at Mountain View and with that came the latest news about Project Ara and their newest modular smartphone prototype, the Spiral 2. We have already covered some news about the device today like its most recent spec offering. We also advised about how modules will be activated, deactivate and controlled by the Ara Manager app and also how devices will be purchased using a Moto Maker like interface. Not forgetting that the pilot launch for Ara will be in of all place, Puerto Rico.

So it is time to go back over what really has been offered in the latest prototype shown today. Firstly, in the original Spiral prototype, magnets were in place on the modules which were allowed the modules to stick to the endoskeleton. in this latest incarnation, it now seems that these magnets have been repositioned on the endoskeleton itself. We also heard this morning that the battery in the newest prototypes will be able to be swapped while the device is on. To follow up on this, it does seem that this is a time sensitive matter with only a thirty-second window in place. Eremenko does hope that this will be increased in the future though to offer users closer to a minute or two.

Well, these are all just words and what people no doubt want to see is the actual device. Well, thanks to the folks over at Engadget who managed to get a hands-on with the device, we can bring those images to you and you in the gallery below. According to the hands-on by Engadget, the modules were built rather well and in spite of easy inserting/removing, did not feel too weak or brittle. It is also worth noting that the modules seemed to be quite lightweight and this seems an intentional move by Google allowing users to maybe carry multiple batteries or additional modules went out-and-about. In case you are wondering the prototype in the images below reportedly includes a receiver module, a WiFi/Bluetooth module, a 3G cellular modem, a speaker module and a display module (which interestingly includes integrated power and volume buttons. There is also a camera module, as well as a USB charger, a Marvell processor module and finally the battery module. Check out the images for yourself and follow the source link to check out a few more. Let us know what you think of the new look prototype?