Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has reportedly put its modular smartphone ambitions on hold. Its Project Ara, which is aimed at creating a smartphone with swappable parts, has allegedly been pulled. The development is in stark contradiction with the company's proclamation during its annual developer conference in May that it would be able to offer modular phones to developers by the end of this year.

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According to CNet, the modular phone concept was originally unveiled in 2013 by Google-owned Motorola. The project was managed by Advanced Technology and Projects group. Google retained the project even after selling Motorola to Lenovo.

However, the project failed to meet its milestones. The company scrapped its pilot program, scheduled to be held in Puerto Rico. There are speculations that the modular technology failed to perform satisfactorily during demonstrations.

Despite various roadblocks, Google reaffirmed its faith in the project during its I/O conference in May this year. During the conference, Google said a developer version of the modular smartphone would be released in fall. The company said it would release it to the general public in 2017.

According to Reuters, Google's Project Ara was aimed at designing a phone with customizable modules for components such as batteries and cameras. While the plan has been shelved, Google may still license the technology to third parties. Google is looking to consolidate its hardware development programs under the lead of former Motorola president Rick Osterloh.

Project Ara would have been Google's first self-created phone.