One of the biggest challenges behind Google's modular Project Ara
phone platform has been getting processors to play nicely with the
technology. How do you let someone swap out the very heart of their
device as easily as they would a memory card?
By creating a CPU for that
very purpose, that's how. Rockchip has started work
on a system-on-chip with modular tech built-in; your phone won't need
any bridge chips or other special tricks to let you switch processors on
a whim. You won't see the hardware in action until a Rockchip-based Ara
prototype arrives in early 2015. However, the plans show that Google's
vision of a completely upgradable handset is both feasible and
potentially inexpensive.
Don't be surprised if some of the earliest Ara
phones (or rather, their parts) easily fit within your budget.
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