Everybody’s favorite modular phone project, Google’s Ara, is about to get little bit more interesting. Recently, the company quietly announced that it would be launching a hardware store for developers to sell their own Ara components. It’ll be a little bit like the Play Store, except with hot-swappable hardware instead of apps.
This app store for hardware idea isn’t new. Just last month, littleBits opened the bitLab so that hardware makers could design, build, and sell their own bits. The developer-made bits snap together just like regular bits and work within the whole littleBits ecosystem.
It remains to be seen exactly how Google will manufacture their developer-made hardware. LittleBits, for one, handles manufacturing for the developers—and keeps 90 percent of the revenue from selling the bits. But since it won’t be until next year when Google finally releases Ara, the company has plenty of time to ponder the specifics. [PC World]
