Project Ara: Google phone coming in 2017

Google's madcap Project Ara smartphone is on its way, with the Lego-like modular handset expected to go on sale next year.

The details were released at the tech giant's annual I/O conference in California. A developer's edition using a 5.3ins display will be available to those who wish to create modules this autumn and consumers will get the first production offerings at some point in 2017.

Project Ara was first presented at Google's 2014 I/O event, notes Wired, and represents one of the company's most ambitious ideas: to produce a consumer smartphone made up of easily interchangeable parts to increase its lifespan and reduce waste.

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"Ara is either the future of the phone - a forever-lasting, totally personal device - or an impossible pipe dream," adds the site.

The project got off to a shaky start, with failed demos and no official word for some time. However, it is now on the verge of being a reality – around 30 Google members of staff are using one.

Nevertheless, as The Verge points out, the brief for the first generation has shrunk and many major hardware features won't be interchangeable. Big parts such as the CPU, display and battery will remain fixed to the chassis and it could be some years before they become truly interchangeable.

At launch, Ara will come with six interchangeable slots. Secondary hardware such as cameras and speaker systems will feature as some of the headline bricks.

There's still "a number of intriguing possibilities", though. Google has some big names on side to develop modules, including Sony, Samsung and Toshiba, who could be working on standard additional hardware.

The likes of projectors, fitness trackers and torch modules might not be far away with the first generation and even modules designed purely for cosmetic reasons could be on the cards. Third parties need to develop intriguing additions in order to sell the "radically different" smartphone to consumers, The Verge argues.

Alphr is less convinced and reckons that Ara, while "still neat", is not radical enough to be more than "a niche distraction".

The locked-down items, such as the display and the GPU, are the problem, it says. Until these parts open up, the usual smartphone upgrade cycle will continue and the Ara will be little different to this year's LG G5.