Google's Project Ara -- a modular smartphone that let users customize their handsets with a range of plugin modules -- has been killed before it even got off the ground. Having started life as a Motorola venture, the first Project Ara smartphone was expected to launch later this year. As recently as May, Google was talking about shipping a developer version of the phone this autumn, but now it seems that this is not going to happen. Described by industry analyst Bob O'Donnell as "a science experiment that failed", Project Ara has been shelved but it's possible that the idea… [Continue Reading]