Start-up ties up with Google, will provide power to the maiden Project Ara launch

So Google has gone and done it again. In keeping with its tradition of thinking up things that no one has thought of before, Google is all set to launch the First Project Ara phone. Called the Spiral 2, this phone was announced last month and will be unveiled later this year.

Catchy name, right? Well so is the Spiral. Coming from Project Ara which is what Google named its attempt to create a modular smartphone, this phone is likely to become a trendsetter in the future. It comes with swappable components, which as the project’s design head Gadi Amit says will allow users to be the designer of their own phones. Imagine being able to employ different Cameras, speakers, etc on a single device. Cool, right?

One of the major problems that Google faced with this phone was its battery capacity since a small module can hold only that many cells and Spiral 2 was expected to have a battery capacity about 20%-30% less than its counterparts in the same range. However, SolidEnergy, a MIT start-up found in 2012 seems to be offering the perfect solution to this.

SolidEnergy Battery

The Company which has been hard at work has managed to find a replacement for the graphite anodes which are currently employed in smartphone batteries by using an ultra-thin metal anode that can raise the energy density of the battery up to 1,200Whr per liter as compared to less than 600Whr per liter for graphite. Speaking English, it should reduce the battery size by half or double its capacity.

Based on this, SolidEnergy is all set to provide batteries for the Spiral Series and is likely to take the electric car market by storm in the near future.

The phone will be pilot-tested in Puerto Rico later this year, with 20 to 30 available modules that include cameras, speakers, extra batteries, a compass and a heart-rate monitor. Get ready Puertan Ricans!

via phonebloks, Image credit: The Verge