The new version contains many hardware and software upgrades that will be explained at the next Ara Developers conference to be held on February 14.
The new developers kit is an international development effort, created in collaboration with many companies such as NK Labs, LeafLabs, New Deal Design, Metamorph Software, X5 Systems, Toshiba, Mixel, Quanta, Opersys, Linux Solutions, Linaro, BayLibre, NewOldBits, Oxford Systems, Foxconn and IDT Systems.
It brings all the improvements of the Spiral 2 prototype, such as the Toshiba custom chip.
The Ara team has developed a new contactless connection system between modules and endoskeleton to save space, cost and to improve durability. The team also introduced a new software protocol called “Greybus”, which handles the communications between the endoskeleton and the modules. The Ara users will manage the functions of the modules with the Ara Manager app that will be introduced in future updates. This app will provide users all the detailed information on the modules attached to their device and will allow to swap them when they want.
This MDK provides an overview of the new Ara Module Marketplace, an e-commerce portal that enables a two-sided market between module developers and consumers. Google will help module manufacturers with the sale, the payment processing and will verify that the modules are safe and that they respect all the technical specifications. A third party logistic provider will manage the storage, shipping and all trade issues.
