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GOOGLE HAS SAID it plans to have its first smartphone from its Project Ara initiative available for the public to buy next year.
At the first developer conference for Project Ara – which began yesterday in Mountain View, California – Google told its audience that the first Project Ara phone will go on sale in January 2015.
There will also be an update for Android in December, which will prepare the operating system for Project Ara phones and the first model will be sold for $50.
The first phone will be the “grey phone,” a deliberate choice since Google wants to encourage people to customise it. From there, users can add a number of modules to the frame such as WiFi, camera, battery and sensors.
The makers say the frame that will hold the modular components together will last for five to six years. The components will stay attached to the frame via electro-permanent magnets.
Project Ara was originally started by Motorola, before part of it was sold off to Lenovo for $2.91 billion, a year ago and teamed up with Phonebloks to help further develop the project in October.
After the sale to Lenovo, Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) division merged with Google and continued working on the smartphone project.
Google will be holding two more developer conferences for Project Ara in July and September.
OK,
Review of an Bórd Pleanála and DCC voting on the minimum size for a habitable shoebox.
Could somebody tell Noonan that the country needs homes, not housing.
What’s worse Paul, the new updated shoeboxes they are going to build will cost circa €45k each.
Noonan doesn’t care Paul he has a gold caret pension no matter what….
@Paul – this is the new ‘stack and pack’ communist Agenda 21 compliant housing.
€45.5k per house? This won’t happen.
It’s not as simple as 45k each, the 500m will build a few, these get sold for a profit which in turn builds more. They can also use it to or leverage more money.
Yes, with current minimum standards and regulations; I’m very curious if this is achievable.
Leverage above 2 to 1 in a depressed economy is risky enough, the figures don’t add up. Can’t be throwing half a billion of our cash around willy nilly. Starting to look like a feeding frenzy around here.
homes not dog boxes.What sort of a house could be built for 45.000 euros. are there any of these fools proposing such dog boxes.With their big pensions and expenses.GET A GRIP.What about all the houses been held by NAMA give these to the county and city councils for houseing.Some have been idle for years.or is it all money and to hell with the homeless
I can only imagine the state of these when they’re finished, at 45k a piece I know I wouldn’t want to be living in one. That being said I suppose its better than a park bench if you have no other option/motivation.
Is the Irish government investment arm giving loans to irish developers! With some US cover fund of course, but is that the gist of it? Why can’t they borrow off the banks that we bailed out.
Irish banks have lent too much to Irish developers in general already. The money they have to lend can go to for small business and personal loads and home loans and some for some mortgages.
If you read the report produced by the ISIF you will see that the money is going mostly towards the construction of 3 and 4 bed units, which are the units that are badly needed to get families out shoe box apartments and flats all across the country. This is good news
Well said David. The usual suspects in here bemoaning and belittling any good news with nothing tangible to offer themselves except finger pointing. We need more homes in the right locations. The demand is there.
A link to the report would help! I just hope they’re 3 bed apartments rather than more suburban low rise sprawl into our agriculturally productive countryside.
We have way more 3 bed houses than we need in this country. They are under used is the problem. In order to free them up we need smaller properties as options for singles, couples without kids and property for the elderly.
Vast housing estates close to the major employment,schools etc. are occupied by 1 to 2 people. There should be incentives to get them in more suitable housing within these estates.
My mother lives in a 5 bed house on her own. She doesn’t want to leave the area and her neighbours are all in a similar situation.
I would cautiously welcome such news – but it comes way too late – initiatives like this were badly needed when the ordure first hit the airconditioning.
45k per house paying staff an ave wage of 19k per year is 36k per year on the staff. That leaves 9k left for materials or the build. I’m probably missing something here? The sale of these houses would need to be over 100k each to generate a return of 1.1b. I’m sure it will be more. The cost of the shoeboxes I meant.
have your say