Learn about phones, the reader must know the Motorola Project Ara, is a modular mobile phone plans. Lenovo’s purchase of Motorola, Google took over the program and recently released the first commercially available prototypes-Spiral2. You know, when intelligent machines have just emerged early, the modular cell phone concept has been proposed. Until Spiral2 release, modular mass market mobile phone really is in another big step on the road.

Compared with the highly integrated one-piece phone, modular phone has some advantages. First, low prices. Spiral2 released by Google as an example, its minimum price is only $ 50, compared to most of the country cheap thousand dollars cheaper. Cell phones that come with replaceable modules easy repair. If a part is damaged on the phone, users need to go to the convenience store to purchase a module can be replaced, which save time and save maintenance costs, further reducing costs. In addition, you can replace the module also has a certain degree of protection of the environment, and reduce electronic waste.

Of course, modular phone’s biggest advantages is its playability. It should be said that modular phone meets the requirements of DIY, bring more personalized choices for people. According to Google News, Spiral2 modules are basically now support hot-pluggable. If you like taking pictures, you can install the camera module. If you like to listen to music, you can decode module installed. With the advancement of technology, you can even install on the phone body control module, thermal imaging module, night vision modules, and so on to allow cell phones to function in more scenarios. Above, you can find custom, and does not have to like the integrated phone that, pay the extra expense in order to use these features, we can say this is hitting a user pain points and let everyone be the designer of the phone functions.

However, modular phone looks beautiful, but it also has disadvantages that cannot be resolved for the time being. First is the optimization problem. Given Google’s technical standards, mobile modules were designed and manufactured by the manufacturers themselves, system optimization is not as good as Samsung, millet, separately optimized for particular hardware ROM at all. Next comes at the expense of product design. Although Google says users can design by sublimation print pattern on the module, but compared with the highly integrated design such as the iPhone,Galaxy series mobile phones, it looks like this beauty to be inferior. In addition, because the spacing between the modules, destined to highly integrated mobile phone compares favourably both in size and in quality, with today’s mainstream mobile phone development runs counter to the direction of light.

Modular mobile phone what is the case in the future? I think modular phone wants to succeed in a short time is difficult, recent exit of Google Glass could Google modular mobile phone future outcomes. The reason, I think, for now, modular mobile phone user base is mobile phone enthusiasts, but it’s still just a small number of people. Relative to the average consumer, only they are interested to toss about trying new things. Google determines the appearance of a modular mobile phone, homogeneity problems caused for ordinary users to considerably reduce the selective, want to know the difference is the popular choice. Even if the future can be formed through 3D printing technology differentiation, that is what material to use, how many raw materials are still difficult to grasp, which will ultimately lead to cell phone costs are rising, and contrary to the principle of modular low prices. Therefore I think that for most consumers, highly integrated design phone is still the best choice.

So Google has invested a lot of manpower, and aren’t just capricious that it? I think not, behind ProjectAra, we can see that Google is trying to establish the field of Android hardware standards. Just like Microsoft, by software benefits to required hardware manufacturers to design bias Google hardware of its own interests, to regain control of the absolute right to speak in Android fields.

Modular mobile phone can bring great convenience to people’s lives, but to be successful, you have to overcome some problems. For the final inspection of the product is the market. Now Spiral2 upcoming, how is its future, let us wait for slowly.

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