Google’s modular Ara phone will be held together with electropermanent magnets

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q1JzJadgHY]

Ahead of the first Ara Development Conference on 15 & 16 April, Google has released a teaser video showing a few glimpses into the project to create a phone with swappable modules, allowing customers to configure a phone to order and update individual components at a later date … 

I may not be personally persuaded of the benefits of a modular phone, but I have to admit Google has come up with a very cool feature: there will be no casing holding the modules together – instead, the phone will use electropermanent magnets to lock components into an open skeleton. A momentary electrical charge will switch the magnets on or off, with an app controlling their locking and unlocking.

Google plans three different models of the Ara, from a 6-module Mini to a 9-module phablet. We can expect to learn more on the 15th.

Via Engadget