It sounds like Project Ara, the ambitious modular smartphone concept birthed in Google's ATAP division, is finally dead. A report from Reuters says that Google has "suspended" Project Ara in an effort to "streamline the company's hardware efforts."

Project Ara never seemed like a particularly viable product, and after the announcement in 2013, progress came slowly. The device was delayed past its 2015 commercialization deadline when plans for a Puerto Rican "food truck" pilot launch fell through. Earlier this year, the device was delayed again to 2017, and the Ara team announced that Ara would pivot from fully modular to having a fixed CPU, GPU, antennas, sensors, battery, and display. After that announcement, Ara was watered down so much it barely had a reason to exist.

If you were really hoping for a modular smartphone, not all hope is lost. Reuters says that while "Google will not be releasing the phone itself," licensing the technology to third parties is an option. Will anyone dare to pick up the modular smartphone torch when even Google has failed, though?

The quote about "streamlining the company's hardware efforts" points to Google's new hardware division as being behind the change in strategy. The division, with former Motorola President Rick Osterloh at the helm, has been tasked with combining Google's hardware efforts into a single portfolio.