Skip to main content

Google’s modular Project Ara smartphone close to completion, will hit Puerto Rico first

During Google’s second Project Ara Module Developers Conference, project lead Paul Eremenko announced that the build-your-own handset is this much closer to completion. He also told the crowd to expect a soft launch later this year in the United States’ most well-known commonwealth: Puerto Rico.

A much-improved third prototype

According to Google, work on Spiral 2, Ara’s second official prototype, took place since July of last year. However, the next iteration, Spiral 3, will one-up it in several different areas. For one, by way of Engadget, Eremenko said we can expect Spiral 3 to “match or exceed the functionality of a state-of-the-art smartphone today.” By that, he means the new prototype will have 20-30 third-party modules available for developers to play around with.

Recommended Videos

In addition, you should expect Spiral 3’s battery to last you through the end of the day. The latest prototype will also support high-end camera modules and 4G LTE connectivity, which is quite the step up from Spiral 2’s 3G connectivity.

The biggest change to Spiral 3 is one that you won’t see: The electro-permanent magnets that hold the modules in place are now sent to the endoskeleton. This move was made in order for companies to have more room to work with when it comes to putting in as much functionality into their modules as possible.

Speaking of modules, Eremenko revealed that, while you’ll be able to customize your own Ara device through the Ara Marketplace and Ara Configurator apps, custom designs won’t be made through 3D printing. According to Eremenko, such a process wouldn’t be as fast as Google would like it to be. In its place is what Google calls “dye sublimation,” a process that lets El Goog design polycarbonate shells with high-resolution imagery in a fraction of the time it takes for 3D printing to do the same.

Google hopes to move to the Spiral 3 design sometime during the second quarter of 2015.

Project Ara lanzará en Puerto Rico

If you didn’t realize it yet, the above heading is in Spanish. That’s because Eremenko revealed Project Ara will launch a pilot program in Puerto Rico through partnerships with carriers OpenMobile and Claro later this year.

About 20 to 30 Ara modules sprawling 10 different categories should be ready to go by the time the pilot program launches. As a way for Google to have people try out Ara before plunking down the cash for it, “food-truck” style stores will presumably go through main spots in Puerto Rico to allow people to test one out first.

As reported by the Verge, Google is launching this pilot program as a way to gauge what works with consumers and what doesn’t work, with the goal being to continually improve on the hardware. Moreover, Google wants to gauge how consumers will balance this new paradox of choice for something like the Ara.

“We have to carefully curate and manage the way that choice is presented so as not to overwhelm the consumer,” said Eremenko.

Williams Pelegrin
Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…
Will my Apple Watch get watchOS 26? Here’s every supported model
We've got the full list of watchOS 26 supported devices - find out if you're getting the new Apple Watch update
watchOS 26 on a trio of Apple Watches

Apple announced watchOS 26 at WWDC 2025, and the new Watch update comes with a fresh new look and plenty of features. Apple has ensured there are plenty of watchOS 26 supported devices, so if you have a relatively new Watch you should get the update this year.

And no, you haven't missed a volley of updates since watchOS 11 in 2024. Apple has skipped a bunch of numbers, so instead of giving us watchOS 12 in 2025, we got watchOS 26 alongside iOS 26, macOS 26, iPadOS 26, tvOS 26 and visionOS 26.

Read more
8 key things you need to know from Apple’s WWDC 2025 event
From a fresh look and updated names, to new features, more intelligence and live translation
iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and macOS 26 shown on devices.

The WWDC 2025 keynote ran for just over an hour and a half. For those of you who don't fancy sitting through the whole presentation, we've pulled out the key things you need to know from the latest Apple event.

1. Welcome to the 26 club

Read more
WWDC 2025: Apple announces iOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26 and more
Major updates to iOS, macOS, watchOS, iPadOS, tvOS and visionOS
WWDC 2025 logo

Apple kicked off WWDC 2025 with its keynote presentation at its annual World Wide Developer's conference, and it was a bumper affair.

We were treated to a raft of updates across all of the firm's software platforms, as we were introduced to iOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, macOS 26, tvOS 26 and visionOS 26.

Read more