is working with open-source development organization naro to develop a special edition of Android for the oject Ara customizable smartphone.
’s yet unreleased oject Ara is a build-your-own smartphone that allows users to mix match features. The $50 configurable smartphone will come with an empty phone frame screen, users can snap on or take out modular parts from the rear of the hset to add or remove features.
The smartphone, which will ship early next year, has already sparked the development of go-like modules that can be attached. has talked about detachable antenna camera modules, but developers are also considering modules for wireless networking, gaming, storage thermometers.
A special edition of Android had to be created for the unique customizable design of oject Ara, said Grey, CEO of naro.
rk is being done around plug–play recognition of modules so Android can “underst the concept of devices that can come in go away,” Grey said.
“If you add more battery, Android has to [recognize] a new battery, update the icon now you have more life,” Grey said. “Some interesting changes to Android will be needed to score this functionality.”
Android can already plug play SD cards. But Grey said additional OS functionality is needed for storage, cameras other modules that are typically inside smartphones, but can now be externally added to oject Ara.
A lot of work is also being done on Unio transport drivers, which connect modules components in oject Ara. Unio protocol drivers in Android will function much like the B protocol, where modules will be recognized based on different driver “classes,” such as those for networking, sensor, imaging, input others.
Some attachable parts may not be recognized by Android. For those parts, separate drivers need to be developed by module makers through emulators. “That will be need to be done in a secure system so the device can’t do damage to the system,” Grey said.
already offers a module developers kit (MDK) for oject Ara platform through which developers can take advantage of the Unio hardware protocol stack.
Grey couldn’t share any more information on release dates for the OS, citing a confidentiality agreement with . He did not say whether the version of Android would be based on the latest release, which supports 64-bit ARM processors. naro is working on Android with ’s Advanced Technology ojects (ATA unit, which is leading the development of oject Ara.
However, more details about the Android edition may be shared at the second oject Ara developer conference scheduled for the end of November, which is when also plans to release an updated version of the MDK.
But the ultimate goal—like all naro projects—is to make improvements additional functionality in the version “part of mainline Android,” Grey said.
naro has developed versions of Android for smartphones tablets. It also releases versions of nux for ARM servers.
“’re not rewriting the operating system or anything like that,” Grey said.
oject Ara is a very disruptive concept, it turns around conventional thinking on how to build phones, Grey said.
“You don’t have to go through an expensive repair process,” Grey said.
