Weekend Wrap-Up: Google's Project Ara Slated for Jan. 2015; Yahoo & Microsoft Want to Take Over iOS Search

Happy Easter Sunday, and thanks for tuning in for another edition of the Weekend Wrap-Up. We’ve collected the top stories from the past week in tech and put together summaries in two different formats: video, assembled by our own Landon Robinson; and text, put together by your’s truly.

Ready to get started? Let’s go.

Google Shooting for Jan. 2015 Release of Project Ara Smartphone

We’ve been building our own computers for decades, but until Google’s Project Ara was announced, doing the same with our smartphones seemed like a pipe dream at best. But not only is Project Ara very real, Google is hoping that it’ll arrive sooner rather than later. The company is aiming for a January 2015 launch with an entry-level price of $50. Interestingly enough, Google’s Android operating system doesn’t support dynamic hardware just yet. Expect that to change in the next few months once the Project Ara launch draws near.

Yahoo and Microsoft Would Love to Steal iOS Search from Google

It’s no big secret that Google and Apple haven’t seen eye to eye for a while, but one area where the companies continue to remain frenemies is iOS Search. Google pays a hefty sum to be the default search option for iOS, but it appears that both Yahoo and Microsoft are targeting that spot for their respective search engines. Given Apple’s relationship with Google, would the company be willing to switch default search options for the right price? We’ll see.

Sony Has Sold 7 Million PlayStation 4 Consoles So Far

How well is Sony’s PlayStation 4 selling right now? Well, we haven’t heard much from the folks who claimed consoles were dead. That’s to be expected. But the PS4 is selling so well that it’s actually surprising Sony. The company’s projections weren’t quite as high as the total we’re seeing after six months, with the PS4 selling 7 million units since its November 2013 launch. The console is beating out the Xbox One by a few million consoles and the Wii U by a lot.

Meanwhile, the Xbox One Has Some Numbers to Share, Sort Of…

Microsoft has shipped 5  million Xbox Ones so far. But let’s just get this straight first. “Shipped” does not mean “sold” in the way that everyone understands the word “sold.” Sony sold 7 million PS4s. That means the company sold 7 million systems to customers. Microsoft shipped 5 million Xbox Ones. That means Microsoft shipped 5 million Xbox One units to retailers, and those units could either be sitting on the shelves or sitting in a customer’s living room. The fact that Microsoft is sharing the “shipped” numbers means that it’s likely not comfortable sharing the “sold” number. And if you see any other site claiming that Microsoft “sold” 5 million Xbox Ones, take it with a grain of salt.