Ara - $50 fully customizable smartphone by Google

Although Google has sold out Motorola to Lenovo, it still remains in the mobile hardware business. This fact is confirmed in an interview to Times, where Google has revealed that it is taking its Ara modular smartphone platform increasingly seriously. It is also stated its aims to sell a simple version of the phone for as little as $50.

The Time feature has taken a deep dive into Google's modular smartphone, revealing some interesting details along the way. It seems the works on the concept is already underway, which follows on from R&D by Phonebloks and Motorola, remains at Google because it kept hold of the Advanced Technology and Projects group when it sold Motorola to Lenovo.

Google has very ambitious plans for it. In the feature it is shown that its current plan is to create a "grayphone": a barebones, customizable exoskeleton that initially comes with little more than a screen, a frame and a WiFi radio. The devices would only cost $50 and will be "designed to be sold at convenience stores". From there, users would be able to customize their device however they wanted.

The most interesting part is the upgrade options. It is revealed that an on-board app will allow users to tweak soft design elements, and as per Google's Paul Eremenko users could go to special kiosks to upgrade the physical components. These kiosks will be designed to fit into shipping containers which will be sent around the world, and will contain parts and tools so users can tweak their devices.

It all sounds wildly quirky, because with this concept  an user can customize their device hardware up to 80%. Indeed, Eremenko says there's a way to go before Google reaches the $50 price point, and it's still unclear if there's huge demand for phones like this. But as Time points out that Eremenko wants the project to be "great, not profitable," so perhaps it doesn't matter. As history shows Google always likes to give users the choice. Its whole Android system is a great example to this fact, where users, hardware manufacturers and carriers can fully customize the UI as per their choice.  The seriousness of the project is shown by the fact that Google is even holding an Ara developers conference this spring.