Project Ara Gray Phone release date announced

Google recently announced the Project Ara MDK (Module Developers Kit), and now they’ve said when we can expect the first Project Ara devices to launch.

Paul Eremenko, the head of Project Ara, and has told an audience of around 200 people at Google’s first Project Ara developer conference when they can expect to see the first device.

Google will apparently launch their first Project Ara phone in January of 2015 and it will be curiously named the Gray Phone, he explained the reasoning behind the name.

“It’s called the Gray Phone because it’s meant to be drab gray to get people to customize it”

Google are looking to shake up the smartphone industry with Project Ara with the plan being that you will not need to buy a new device when you want the latest hardware inside your smartphone.

Project Ara is the first step toward Google’s vision of a future where smartphone hardware components can be bought from an app store like Google Play. But Ara is important to other areas of future-forward tech, including its reliance on miniaturised components and 3D printing.

I’m very interested and bordering on excited about the prospect of a modular phone. As well as being able to add and upgrade parts it will also be great for those of us that aren’t so gentle with our tech and tend to spend money on costly repairs.