Hasta La Gadget!

Google’s Project Ara is unique in the sense that it allows users to swap out certain components for another component, so for example if you wanted to upgrade your phone’s camera, you’d just have to swap out the part for something else, as opposed to having to buy an entirely new phone. That being said we’ve seen how Project Ara can also be linked to wearables, but what about gaming?

In a concept cooked up by designer Samuel Herb, it shows how thanks to the modularity of Project Ara that it is possible to create a device for gaming as well. Dubbed Flippypad, it shows how third-party OEMs could create gaming shells or specific gaming modules that could be attached to the device, thus turning it from a smartphone into a handheld gaming console.

The concept also shows how the shell could incorporate features such as shoulder buttons which are pretty rare as far as gaming accessories for mobile phones are concerned. This could open up the door to different types of games that could take advantage of that feature. Unfortunately like we said, this is only a concept at the moment but its designer is hoping that the word will spread which will hopefully be able to grab Google’s attention.

It’s clever and while we’ve yet to see how well modular smartphones will do in real life, we are definitely excited at the possibilities and this is one of them. In the meantime what do you guys think? Do you think this is something Google should explore and take seriously?

Flippypad Concept Shows How Project Ara As A Handheld Gaming Console , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Cellphones, Concepts, Google, project ara,

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Major internet companies like Google and Yahoo have tried convincing users about the safety and security of their information. They’ve adopted encryption methods to ensure that users’ private and personal information remains safe. A new report suggests that Google is trying to make complex encryption tools easier to use, particularly with popular services like Gmail. If the report is correct then Google might be working on PGP or Pretty Good Privacy for Gmail, which would basically be much stronger end-to-end encryption for emails.

PGP is an encryption utility that has almost always proven to be difficult to break into. A person “familiar with the matter” at Google tells VentureBeat that Google has “research underway to improve the usability of PGP with Gmail.” Even if this gives users the best defense for message protection, it will come with a considerable cost in functionality.

Concern for online security rose following the NSA revelations last year. Stronger end-to-end encryption will certainly be appreciated by Gmail users, but it does present a problem for Google’s ad business. PGP protected emails would require keys which only the sender and recipient would have. Ideally Google won’t have access to them, meaning that it won’t be able to scan emails to serve targeted advertisements because the text would be encrypted.

Despite the report, Google hasn’t commented on the possibility of PGP in Gmail, so to be absolutely sure we’ll have to wait on official word from Mountain View.

Google Reportedly Working On Stronger End-To-End Encryption For Gmail , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Web, encryption, gmail, Google,