Here's everything you need to know about its progress.

Second, the prototypes developed by Google and its partners have been evolving as well. The latest prototype currently announced – the Spiral 2 – includes a 3G modem and an ASIC processor (as compared with FPGA processors found in most smartphones) along with 11 different prototype modules. According to Venturebeat, the next iteration (“Spiral 3”) is in development, which is expected to include 4G capabilities and support for up to 30 different modules.

• Toshiba has announced two separate camera modules with 2.1MP and 8MP resolution, respectively. In addition, the company is working on a media bar module that would work with the latter camera module and include audio codecs and a speaker.

Finally, some of Project Ara’s partners have:

• SolidEnergy, a startup battery company, has been developing a next-gen battery using Li Metal anodes that is expected to be able to roughly double, the energy capacity of a battery. Part of the reason that this may be a particularly good fit for Project Ara is that this allows for a much smaller battery and correspondingly much more room for other modules. It is unknown, however, when the technology will be commercially viable.

• Rockchip, a manufacturer of SoCs, has been developing a new mobile SoC to function as the general-purpose backbone for the frame. The UniPro processor is expected to be a part of the Spiral 3 prototype.