Project Ara’s Founder Speaks Up On Its Reported Closure

According to an earlier report from Reuters, it was suggested that Google had shelved Project Ara, which for those unfamiliar was their plan to create a modular phone. So far everything had been moving along slowly but steadily, and there were even plans to commercialize it in 2017, but obviously that is no longer happening.

The folks at 9to5Google have since reached out to Dan Makoski, the former head of design at Google ATAP and who is also the founder of Project Ara, to get his thoughts on the matter. According to Makoski, “It’s disappointing to the teams who have worked so hard to make it real, disheartening to the developers hoping to bring their innovations to life, and frustrating to the fans across the world who were so eager to have Ara in their hands.”

He adds, “I’m personally saddened at the lack of courage to take it across the finish line, but I know and respect Rick Osterloh. He was one of the few executives who encouraged me when I first pitched the idea, and trust that he has good reasons to postpone.” Makoski also expressed that modularity is not a fad.

In fact in Reuters’ article, they claimed that Google won’t be letting Project Ara just die out, and could be looking at licensing out its technology to other companies, thus letting the concept of modular smartphones live on.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Google, project ara