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Motorola
hot swapping

Google's modular phone will allow you to swap hardware while it's running

The device, which will be released early next year, will allow users to swap modules while it’s still running.

GOOGLE’S PLAN TO create a cheap smartphone that can be built from the ground up has already started with Project Ara, but now you will be able to swap parts while the phone is still running.

The project director for Arak, Paul Eremenko explained how anyone using a Project Ara phone will be able to swap any modules, such as WiFi, camera, and sensors, without turning it off.

The only two modules you won’t be able to swap out without turning the phone off are the CPU and the display.

This is made possible by using a modified version of Android L, the next update of Google’s OS, which is being developed in collaboration with Linaro, a non-profit engineering organisation which mainly works on free and open-source software.

Project Ara is a modular smartphone that is put together using blocks, held together using electro-permanent magnets, which represent certain hardware features like the battery, camera and other sensors.

It was originally started by Motorola more than a year ago and teamed up with Phonebloks to help further develop the project.

When part of Motorola was sold off to Lenovo for $2.91 billion, the company’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) division merged with Google and continued working on the project.

The first fully functional prototype will be shown off at the second Ara developer conference in December, with the launch taking place in early 2015.

Read: Netflix is going to be releasing its first original movie next year… >

Read: Put off by the price of a GoPro? Soon you will be able to get one on the cheap >

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