Xtorting

As easy as turning on and off mute. There will be a UI app that allows hotswapping modules while Android is still on. This is a new feature being added into Android in 2015. Replacing modules would be as easy as buying a game off of Steam, or ordering from Amazon. There is no official Google Store that is known to be selling these modules, so everything is going to be done through an online store for now.

In my opinion, I believe this phones endoskeleton (motherboard) is designed to live up to 5+ years. I'm currently searching various interviews where Paul Eremenko (project lead) explains this in more detail. Please look back on this in a few minutes for an update.

No, its a general AMA about Project Ara. I've been following Project Ara from the start and have been collecting every known bit of information related to the project. Take a look at our wiki, this AMA is not just a circlejerk with some rumors.

I've watched countless hours of Ara presentations and lectures on youtube, plus many articles which I link to in this AMA and in the /r/ProjectARA AMA. I believe if any redditor outside of Google ATAP is able to run an AMA about Ara, it's me.

Everything I detail can be backed up by presentations, lectures, articles, and other posts related to Project Ara. Information I'm detailing is credible.

Modules can communicate with one another, so I don't see why not. Project Tango cameras would be a cool module. If a developers wants to, they can build it.

Note: the market pilot version is still not developed and I do not have an Ara phone quite yet.

That being said, Google has drop tested the previous prototype (Spiral 1) and found that the modules did fall off after a high enough fall. So I believe they extended the magnets within Spiral 2 to allow a tighter bond. Plus each modules slide into place by their edges, allowing the modules to rest inside the ribs of the endoskeleton (motherboard). So modules wouldn't pop or explode our of the frame, but slide out.

There's no Google case, at least not yet for Project Ara. Modules will use an app to lock/unlock these magnets, which will allow them to be hotswapped anytime.

ELI5: Current smartphones are consoles. Locked up hardware that expire every 2-4 years. Project Ara is a custom built PC that is designed to expire within 5-7 years. With as much price, performance, and cost variances as the PC hardware market.

Watch this, it's my favorite Project Ara interview