Gallery: Three Big Ideas in Google's Modular Phone That No One's Talking About

  • Image may contain Cell Phone Electronics Mobile Phone and Phone
    Photos by New Deal Design
    01

    araaaaa

    Project Ara, Google's modular smartphone concept, could reshape the entire mobile landscape. As conceived, modules could be hot-swapped from phone to phone, including different size endoskeletons.
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    Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
    02
    New Deal Design, a San Francisco studio, was responsible for ushering the vision from fantasy to viable product. Here, New Deal founder Gadi Amit shows off sketches, including a hexagonal design inspired by nature.
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    Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
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    New Deal's ultimate vision called for a design where every piece was modular. Here, a sketch showing an idea for how modules will connect to the endoskeleton below.
  • Image may contain Cell Phone Electronics Mobile Phone and Phone
    Photos by New Deal Design
    04

    ARAENDO

    This is the endoskeleton--the impartial bus that holds the pieces together.
  • This image may contain Electronics Computer Hardware Hardware Computer Keyboard Computer Keyboard and Cell Phone
    Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
    05
    A prototype camera module, and another showing off one of the many 3D-printed textures users could potentially customize their handset with.
  • Image may contain Human Person and Text
    Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
    06
    Another sketch for an alternate arrangement.
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    Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
    07
    New Deal ultimately figured out that the endoskeleton had to have an asymmetrical arrangement of modules. Otherwise, the central block gets trapped, with no way to remove it.
  • Image may contain Human Person Cell Phone Electronics Mobile Phone and Phone
    Photos by New Deal Design
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    Hand-Photo1

    It remains to be seen if Ara will deliver on its promise. It’s an audacious undertaking.
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