Google's Project Ara phone would have modules, like cameras or lighters, that could be slotted into a metal frame and held in place by magnets. Source:Supplied
谷歌的天坛座项目手机
GOOGLE is planning a “modular” smartphone that consumers can configure with different features, executives said.
谷歌决策人员称，谷歌正计划研发一款“模块化”智能机，使消费者可自定不同配置。
Google envisions hardware modules, such as a camera or blood-sugar monitor, that would be available in an “app store,” like its own Google Play store for software applications.
就像谷歌现有的Google Play商店可以提供软件应用一样，谷歌预见“应用商店”中将可提供硬件模块（例如相机或血糖监测仪）。
The modules would fit into a metal “endoskeleton” designed for the phone, which Google calls Project Ara. Flat rectangular “modules” can be slotted into this frame, where they will be held in place by magnets, designers said.
这些模块将组装在为该款代号“天坛座”的手机设计的金属“内骨架”中。
“The existing way of making smartphones is mature. But there are new ways of making phones,” said Kaigham Gabriel, deputy director of Google’s advanced technology and projects group, which developed the concept for the phone. Mr Gabriel spoke in an interview at the first Project Ara developer conference earlier this week.
研发这一手机概念的谷歌先进技术和项目组的副主管Kaigham Gabriel说：“现有智能机制造技术已经很成熟。但还有其他方式可以制造手机。Gabriel是在本周初举行的第一次天坛座计划开发者会议访谈中说的这番话。
Each module would perform a particular task. One may be a battery for the phone, while another may house a wireless antenna, or a camera. Google controls the design of the endoskeleton, while outside developers will design the modules.
手机的每个模块可以执行一种特定的任务。某个模块可能是手机的电池，另一个模块可能安放无线天线或相机。谷歌负责内骨架的设计，外部开发者则设计各个模块。
Google is hoping to harness the creativity of thousands of developers to build a large ecosystem of hardware modules. Google plans to start with an entry-level phone with basic functions that would cost roughly $US50 to make.
谷歌希望配合成千上万名开发者的创造力，共同创建一个大型的硬件模块生态系统。谷歌计划从一款仅具有基本功能的入门级手机开始，制造成本大概是50美元。
Google didn’t say how much it plans to charge for the phone.
谷歌没有透露该手机售价将是多少。
Google also is planning an online marketplace where consumers buy additional modules, depending on what they want their phone to do.
谷歌还计划建立一个网上商店，消费者在这里可以根据自己的要求买到附加模块。
“We want it to be like an app store,” Mr Gabriel said. “You may want a blood-sugar monitor and a cigarette lighter on your phone. Why should you not have that?”
Gabriel说，“我们希望它和应用商店一样，你可能希望在手机上装一个血糖监测仪和一个打火机。那为什么不装上呢？”
Software-based app stores, such as Apple’s App Store and Google Play, are rich profit sources because they typically take about 30 per cent of the money spent on apps.
基于软件的应用商店，例如苹果的App Store和Google Play，都是巨大的利润来源，因为他们通常会按照应用价格收费30%。
Rajeev Chand, head of research at Rutberg & Co, an investment bank focused on the wireless and digital-media industries, said Project Ara could let smartphone users upgrade their gadgets more cheaply and more often, rather than replacing the entire device every 18 months, as many do now.
专注于无线和数字媒体行业的投资银行RutBerg & Co的研发组主管Rajeev Chand说，天坛座计划将使智能手机用户可以更经济、更经常地升级零部件，而不是像很多人现在这样每18个月更换一次整机。
For Project Ara to succeed, large hardware makers need to embrace the platform and make their own modules, while wireless network carriers also need to get on board, Mr Chand added.
Chand补充说，天坛座要成功，需要大型硬件制造商拥护这一平台并制造自己的模块，另外，无线网络运营商也需要参与进来。
There’s also the question of whether many consumers will want to spend time customising their phones with complex new components, Mr Chand said.
Chand说，另外对于众多消费者是否愿意花费时间用复杂的新部件定制自己的手机，这也是一个问题。
“There may not be a consumer market for this,” he added.
他补充道：“这种消费者市场可能不会出现”。
The phone’s creators are working on an app to help users select modules.
这款手机的研发者正开发于一款应用，用于帮助用户选择模块。
They also are considering using eye tracking and heart-rate sensors to check if users are overwhelmed by the choices, said Paul Eremenko, the head of Project Ara. If stress levels rise, the configurator app will whittle down the choices to a more manageable selection, he explained.
天坛座计划主管Paul Eremenko说，他们还在考虑使用眼球跟踪和心率感应器检查用户是否在众多选择面前无所适从。
“The smartphone ecosystem is in early stages of its development, like the car in the early 1900s when you could have any colour you wanted as long as it was black,” Mr Eremenko explained. “Today, about 25 per cent of the value of automobiles is in the customisation. We want to do that with smartphones.”
“这款智能手机的生态系统还处于发展的早期阶段，就像1900年代的汽车一样，除了黑色你别无选择，”Eremenko解释说，“而现在，汽车的价值有25%来自于定制。我们希望在智能机上也能做到这样。”
