14 DAY TRIAL // Project Ara represents one of Google’s most daring initiatives. The search giant aims to develop an open hardware platform for creating modular smartphones, users will get to build one themselves according to their needs.
This week the Project Ara Developer Conference took place in Mountain View. And during the event, Google took the opportunity to unveil the Spiral 2 handset, the first Project Ara smartphone that will make it into retail (as seen at Slash Gear).
Spiral 2 is the first to launch under the Project Ara banner
It’s called the Spiral 2, but sadly the phone comes with lower specs than the current flagship on the market. However, Google is expected to greatly improve upon that.
Anyway, the Spiral 2 base model takes advantage of 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, dual application processor including a Marvell PXA 1928 processor plus an NVIDIA Tegra K1 processor.
The handset also boasts light and proximity sensors, a 5MP rear camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G modem with Band 2 antenna, Band 5 antenna, microUSB port, battery and speaker.
For the time being, the Spiral 2 is in beta state, so it doesn't take advantage of the complete firmware that helps hardware to run. On top of that, it has a skimpy battery life, which is 20-30% lower than what you currently see on the market.
With the upcoming Spiral 3, Google wants to improve battery state and add 4G LTE support on top too. It also wants to slip in a so-called inductive system that allows contactless data connections between modules.
The Spiral 2 is outfitted by 11 working modules, but Google says we should expect that number to reach 20-30 units by late 2015 including a more advanced camera.
Spiral 2 will go on sale as an experiment
The Spiral 2 will make a debut in Puerto Rico later this year, as the country has been chosen as some kind of test market, before Google is sure it can make a mass release.
