When Ransom Olds developed the modern assembly line (a little history lesson to liven up your day), it sparked a revolution of process that we still employ. Ford went on to perfect it, and since the early 20th century, cars and much more have been produced in a near-seamless fashion, all thanks to a change in manufacturing.

I don't know why, but Google's Project Ara has me excited in a way I haven't felt about technology in a long time.

No, scratch that, I do know why. The up-swell in my gut and tingling in my toes must have been what industrialists felt when the first four-wheelers started rolling out off assembly lines; this could change the way we do things forever.

For me, Project Ara isn't so much about the hardware, though there is magic in mixing and matching your phone parts, than it is about revolutionizing the way we produce and access means of communication.

Modern machines

In discussing Project Ara with someone whose opinion on tech I trust, he played advocate for the pre-fab phone, "Why not just buy something that has all the pieces right there [points to his iPhone], and that works?"

His point was fair and it's not like Project Ara and other modular gadgets will do away with integrated, self-contained smartphones forever. That'll never happen.

But the fact that we are so close to having choice, real choice, when it comes to what parts constitute the things that live in our pockets is undeniable. And undeniably exciting.

Google isn't the first or only company working on modular phones, but it's certainly the most prominent. The Advanced Technology and Projects group spearheading the project is quite serious about making modular phones work, and addressed many of the questions surrounding the tech in a recent Time profile.

For the questions it couldn't answer, like how do all the parts keep from scattering when someone drops their Ara on the train, ATAP assured that it's at least considering all the variables real life, not just lab tests, throws a phone's way.

Democracy, now

Still, innumerable question marks remain as to how this will all work, including making the components on a large scale and at a reasonable price. Google is working with a 3D printing firm to develop a system to crank out customized Ara parts, but developing and producing are two very different things.

Perhaps even more pressing, as a Fierce Wireless column from October 2013 addressed, is whether people want modular phones to begin with. Consumers were taken with the Moto X's Moto Maker, but then they were only picking out case colors and accents. Do consumers, not just enthusiasts, actually want to take the time and take on the stress of choosing their phone's nuts and bolts?

I can't answer that question, but I think once Google has a working model, it should sway many minds either way.

At the heart of Ara is the issue that has influenced some major moves lately; how to reach the next billion-plus internet users. Just as Facebook spent a ridiculous amount of money to acquire WhatsApp, Google seems to be going whole-hog on a solution to reach people it hasn't already with cellular technology.

What's more, Ara is about opening hardware in the same way Android has opened software - put it in the hands of the many as opposed to the grip of a few.

The assembly line of Industrial tycoons was about wresting control and turning greater profits for those in charge. Google will be far from a passive and non-profiting owner of Project Ara, but if it can bring more choice to consumers and more opportunity to get in the game to developers who want to make phone components, I say more power to you.

Power play

Of course, it can't be ignored that Project Ara phones would only further expand Google's reach, slipping its fingers into corners of the world still untouched by the technology prevalent in developed countries.

Gaining more Android, Gmail, Google Now, Google+, Google-whatever users would only stand to benefit Mountain View and its advertising partners.

The company thrives on hyping new tech may be years away from public release. Whether it's genuine good-will and enthusiasm or a way to keep antsy investors satiated or both, the fact that a company as big as Google dares put its name and money on the line bodes well for the modular phone future.

There's much bemoaning the lack of "wow" in today's smartphones, but from where I stand, a new kind of wow is right around the corner.

Can Google succeed where other modular phone makers have failed? It stands a better chance than most, though the hurdles are undeniable. Pieces are waiting to be fit, but Google has fit squarer pegs into rounder holes before.

• Our Google Glass review is ready for your eyes right now

There was a time when BlackBerry was the phone maker of choice for those who wanted the best security the market could offer. Work in Washington or run a multinational corporation? Then have we got the QWERTY phone for you.

It's no secret BlackBerry is no longer what it once was, yet even as the Canadian company's fortunes continue to fall, a new host of firms have begun making "secure phones" to take Waterloo's place.

And these companies are already making smartphone security tighter than it's ever been before.

Boeing and GeeksPhone, two very different contenders that are offering strikingly similar products, are leading this ultra-secure charge. They even have similar names; GeeksPhone introduced the Blackphone in January, while its main rival is the Boeing Black.

Devices like these were once reserved for the rich and powerful, but now the conversation about security is louder than ever and consumers are bit by bit gaining super-secure smartphone access.

Security as a selling point

One need only look at Apple, arguably the industry's most prominent trendsetter, taking advanced security mainstream by adding a fingerprint sensor to the iPhone 5S. It's not exactly perfect, but it shows that smartphone security that goes beyond a simple passcode is a common concern.

And given the events of the past year or so - what with the NSA and other governments' spy agencies apparently checking your phone, hacking into your webcam and reading your diary - it's not hard to understand why the stakes seem higher than ever.

Just compare the language we used to describe the company Trustonic's efforts to make phones more secure back in 2012 with how the Blackphone was described this week.

Back then we wanted phones to be "as secure as your bank," now they need to compare to Fort Knox itself.

But can these new secure phones really help protect your personal info and private data from prying eyes?

The Boeing Black

In the black corner, we've got the Boeing Black. With a name like that and an introductory video with music like something out of a 007 flick, you've got to assume that this thing means business. And you'd be right - it will literally self-destruct if you try to tamper with it.

The Boeing Black is not winning any contests when it comes to specs, with a 4.3-inch 960 x 540 display and a 1.2GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor. But what it lacks there it makes up for in security.

That's what we've been led to believe, at least. We can't really know, since Boeing wants its secure phone to be so secure that no one actually knows how secure it is.

Boeing has been working on the Black for three years, the aerospace company told Reuters, and it's already offering the phone to select government agencies and contractors.

The Black runs a custom version of Android that Boeing told The Wall Street Journal it built from scratch. And it has dual SIMs, though Boeing won't say who manufactures the phone or what carriers it's compatible with.

It can even connect with biometric sensors and satellites, and attachments give it extra battery and even solar charging.

The company hasn't outright stated that the Boeing Black won't become widely available, but there's also no word of a commercial release date or pricing. Perhaps these questions aren't ready to be answered (which seems likely), or perhaps it's all part of the plan - shroud the Black in mystery, leaving would-be identity thieves and other nefarious types in the lurch.

Unfortunately, this also means consumers are left with a phone that may be harder to find than an America's Most Wanted suspect.

Playing iPhone creator Steve Jobs in a film doesn't qualify you to design actual smartphones yourself, but don't tell that to Ashton Kutcher and Lenovo.

The actor who "Punk'd" people in the early oughts teamed up with the tech company in 2013, and now he's helping it design a line of smartphones that will come out later in 2014, Lenovo has announced.

Lenovo Chief Marketing Officer David Roman dropped this unlikely news on Re/code, telling the site that Kutcher is actually the real deal.

"I know on one level, it sounds corny, but it is real," Roman said. "He not only sees himself as an engineer, but he is an engineer. If he sees a problem, he wants to solve it."

If you say so

Kutcher signed on as a product engineer with Lenovo in 2013, appearing in ads and helping the company develop and promote its Yoga Tablet line.

When it comes to the new Lenovo phones Kutcher will have a heavy hand in designing the user experience, Roman said.

The actor who played Kelso on That '70s Show may not have any design credentials, but in fact he has been involved in the tech world for a number of years, having invested in start-ups like Foursquare, Airbnb and Uber and co-founder the venture capital group A-Grade.

He even gave a rousing speech about social media and tech investments at CTIA 2013.

Does that mean he can help design a decent smartphone to follow up Lenovo's Vibe Z? For that we'll just have to wait and see.

• At least Kutcher isn't designing the iPhone 6 (as far as we know)

The new HTC One is the next big anticipated phone of 2014, and the price of the handset might have just been leaked online.

Mobile Fun is pricing the phone at £579.99 (around $968, AU$1080), however the validity of this pricing is unfounded beyond the claims of the site itself.

A spokesperson from Mobile Fun told TechRadar that the price had been confirmed by one of the site's suppliers who will be shipping the phone the moment it goes on sale.

Less than a month to go

Given the lack of any other source information, we'll remain cautious about this one for now.

The HTC One went on sale for about £500 when it launched last year, so this price is a little higher than expected although not ludicrous enough to be totally unbelievable.

Not long to go now, anyway. The new HTC One will be revealed on March 25.

• Everything else you need to know about the new HTC One right now

Not long ago, we reported that a number of iPhone 5S users were complaining of a "fade" issue with the iPhone 5S Touch ID scanner, causing it to forget your fingerprints over time.

Now a source "familiar with Apple's development plans" has said that the company is preparing to release a software update that could fix the problem.

The source, speaking to Appleinsider, said that Apple is aware of the problem experienced by early adopters of the 5S, and will release a free software update "relatively soon".

Give it the finger

It's unclear whether this will be part of iOS 7.1, which is expected to arrive mid-March, or its own standalone update.

Users who have experienced "fade" have temporary fixed the problem by reconfiguring their prints, however it's only taken weeks for the problem to appear again.

Touch ID: genuinely useful or a passing gimmick?

Sometimes we wonder if we had too much cheese before bedtime and we're dreaming of mad stuff such as Nokias running Android or Samsung making a smartwatch that isn't hideous and rubbish. But no! These aren't fromage-fuelled flights of fancy: they're real!

This week was all about Mobile World Congress, or MWC to its friends. It's where the great and the good of the mobile world come to strut their stuff, and that means it's possibly the most important trade show in the tech calendar.

Samsung was all over MWC, and while the Samsung Gear Fit wearable was pretty impressive the big news was the launch of the Galaxy S5. The launch wasn't a surprise, and neither was the phone: surprisingly, it turned out to lack any surprising new features.

It's the iPhone 5S to the Galaxy S4's iPhone 5, a device that "takes the DNA of [its predecessor] and improves on it in most areas," as Gareth Beavis reports. The gimmicks of the S4 are gone; this time "the phone has focused on what users might actually want." It doesn't reinvent the smartphone, but it has "a great camera, strong screen, impressive packaging, a waterproof casing and a blazingly fast engine pumping things along."

Making a splash

This year's trend appears to be waterproofing. The S5 won't be damaged by a dunk, and neither will Sony's rather nifty Xperia Z2. If you're thinking, "hang on! Didn't Sony release a flagship phone just a couple of months ago?" you're right - the Xperia Z1 has barely cut its first tooth.

"And yet here we are at MWC 2014 seeing the Xperia Z2, and it's a much better handset," Gareth says. If you thought the Z1 was pretty good, the Z2 is better still. The camera's better, the performance is fantastic and the screen's lovely.

Sony had another Z2 to show us too, the Xperia Z2 Tablet. Like its similarly named smartphone sibling, the Z2 tablet is a sequel, and once again there's more power, more RAM and a nicer screen. The speakers are better too. It's not going to set the world on fire, but that's because "Sony had already overachieved on that front in 2013." The Z2 is "a really great tablet."

Motorola had some nifty things to show us too. The firm formerly owned by Google had a "tigerish" MWC, Patrick Goss says: we "saw Moto variously hitting out at ugly wearable tech, announcing that a Motowatch was on the way, insisting that leaving Google was a good thing and laughing off questions of Motorola's demise.

Another big name came out swinging at this year's MWC: Nokia, which unveiled its Nokia X range of smartphones. The phones run a forked version of Android, which is interesting when you remember that Nokia's currently being acquired by Microsoft.

The phones are pretty nice, but don't expect to see them in your local smartphone emporium: they're aimed at the same developing market where ultra-cheap Android phones are selling in huge numbers, and the use of Microsoft services such as Outlook, Bing and OneDrive means they might act as an on-ramp for Windows Phone.

Android agitations

"Microsoft could actually benefit from Nokia's experimentation with Android," says Max Slater-Robbins: "all profits… go to Microsoft without having to spend money on building the features Android has and Windows Phone lacks." In a world where "Microsoft's services are its future, having hardware that supports that is no bad thing."

Remember HTC, which used to set the Android agenda? These days it can't even seem to get its product names right. HTC Desire 816, anyone? The name's a shame, because "there's plenty we love about it", says Hugh Langley: it looks nice, the screen's sharp and it has dual Boomsound speakers "for those spontaneous disco emergencies."

Ah, but can it survive in space? We strapped James Rogerson to a space rocket to find out. No, not really - but we did ask him to find out how well smartphones could cope in orbit. The answer, it seems, is not very well: thanks to space monsters, radiation and extreme temperature, space isn't the best place for a smartphone. No, not even a Samsung Galaxy.

• Missed anything from MWC 2014? Read out roundup from the Barcelona show

All Three customers are now on a 4G tariff as the network's roll-out continues across the UK.

You shouldn't be paying any more money for the 4G connection but if you have a 4G-friendly phone and are in one of the 36 towns and cities that Three has hit the 4G 'go' switch on, then you should be browsing at 4G speeds.

Three says there should be 50 cities and over 200 towns rocking its brand of 4G by the end of 2014, with 98% of the UK covered by the end of 2015.

• In the market for a 4G phone? A whole host of them launched at MWC 2014

The phrase that brings dread at the start of a flight: "Please turn off all electronic devices during take-off and landing. Limited use is allowed during the flight."

That wasn't so bad when all you had to do was switch off your Gameboy for a bit (although the lack of saving RUINED Super Mario Land) but nowadays, in our smartphone-addicted times, it's akin to being imprisoned in the 1980s for umpteen hours.

It means flights are dead time, with no communication with the outside world, limited ability to work or play and during take-off and landing you were all but forced to read the in-flight magazine, which is a fate we wouldn't wish on anyone.

There were reasons for this, beyond perhaps the hope that passengers might resort to overpriced alcohol in desperation.

Take-off and landing are the most dangerous parts of a flight. If anything's going to go wrong it's likely to happen during your ascent or descent, so airline staff want you to pay attention to the safety information and not be distracted.

There were also concerns that electronic devices might interfere with radio frequencies used by the cockpits navigation and communication equipment or degrade the signal strength of landing systems.

The times they are a-changin'

But things are finally changing, as it turns out that electronics might not be such an issue after all. Some US airlines recently carried out a series of tests which showed that electronic devices don't actually affect a plane's systems and restrictions are being lessened as a result.

What does that mean for passengers? Well first of all you may soon be able to use phones, tablets, e-readers and other handheld devices during take-off and landing.

The UK's Civil Aviation Authority has already allowed BA to make the change and other airlines might soon follow.

This means on British Airways flights you no longer have to turn electronics off before boarding or before the descent, instead simply switching them to aeroplane mode and they can stay on for the duration of the flight.

That applies to any handheld item that has a flight safe mode, though larger devices such as laptops can still only be used when the plane is cruising, which is more to do with keeping the seating area clear in the event of an accident.

The relaxation of restrictions also means less downtime as you'll actually be able to use your phone and tablet during take-off and landing, giving you an average of 30 minutes extra use on every flight.

It's a change which airlines seem to be happy about too. Madhu Unnikrishnan, a media relations manager for Virgin America, told us that "the FAA [previously] restricted the use of personal electronic devices (PED's) during take off and landing, and we complied with the rules. We are pleased that the agency has relaxed the rules to allow the use of PED's from gate to gate."

The fact that people are using personal electronics more and have more freedom to use them has also played into a rethink on in-flight entertainment.

For example Lufthansa has created a service which will stream movies, music and other content straight to passengers phones and tablets, removing the need to have screens built into planes and improving the quality of what you're watching - if you invest in a new smartphone or tablet with a decent screen, of course.

Wi-Fly

Even better, Wi-Fi is now available on some flights. For example BA offers it through its currently rather exclusive and limited OnAir service, keeping passengers connected to their world for the duration of a flight.

Android accounted for 81% of worldwide smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2013 and iOS mopped up most of the rest according to a study by IDC.

With that in mind it could be easy to think that Mozilla's new Firefox OS is doomed to fail; after all, how can it hope to compete with the sales figures of Apple and Google, especially when veterans like BlackBerry and big names like Microsoft's Windows Phone are struggling to make much of a dent in global sales?

But Firefox OS isn't just another smartphone operating system. It's fundamentally different in creation to any of the major players and Mozilla's tactics and aims are somewhat different too.

App freedom

The goal of Firefox OS is primarily to create a truly open ecosystem, one where all apps can run on other operating systems and on almost any hardware. In other words: do away with the walled gardens that we've all become so accustomed to on phones.

Other smartphone platforms require apps to be developed specifically for them, so if a developer wants to put an app on multiple device types then it has to be manually ported each time.

It also means that if a user ever abandons one operating system for another they won't be able to access their apps anymore. They'll have to find and buy them all again and that's if they're even available.

Firefox OS handles apps more like the internet handles web pages. Rather than proprietary tools they're built using open web standards like HTML5 and JavaScript, so they can run on just about any computing device that has access to Firefox, meaning Android phones and PCs alike can make use.

In other words they're platform agnostic and as both Firefox OS and its apps have low hardware requirements you can access them on very affordable devices, designed to make the mobile web more open with minimal barriers to entry so the maximum amount of users can get involved.

It's a lofty goal, but if Firefox OS wasn't so ambitious and so different it would have little hope of attracting any attention at all in the congested smartphone market - although it's worth noting that this project is as much about offering something new to the developing markets as it is trying to break the smartphone stranglehold in the more mature areas.

Firefox OS is also about trust and community development. As a truly open source OS it's very transparent, allowing tech-savvy users to see how their personal data is handled, while both individuals and organisations are free to build on and modify Firefox OS to improve it and make it available for other platforms.

Adaptation

Firefox OS has another trick up its sleeve too and it's called adaptive app search. It's a search screen which is used both to find apps and documents that are already installed on your phone and web apps that you might be interested in, essentially combining a web search with a search of your phone storage.

Simply type a word out and it will bring back all the relevant results from both local and online content. Web apps can then be used immediately or downloaded to your phone and the results will even adapt to your location when relevant, ensuring you always get the best results possible.

This web-facing approach doesn't mean any phone running Firefox OS has no similarities to your Android or iPhone.

It still uses a lock screen, home screen and notifications bar and handsets which run Firefox OS come with a camera complete with style filters, a music player and FM radio.

On top of that there's the obvious suite of software: maps, the Firefox web browser, Firefox Marketplace for apps, an email app and built in integration with Facebook and Twitter to make users coming from other smartphones should feel right at home.