After getting announced way back in October 2013, it’s finally almost time for Project Ara to begin landing in the hands of people that don’t work for Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group.

Google is notifying developers that it's accepting requests for an early version of the Project Ara hardware. Interested devs can apply for a unit between now and this Thursday, July 17. If your request is approved, Google says that your Project Ara board will be shipped starting in late July.

If you’re unable to get together a convincing application by this Thursday at 11:59 p.m. PDT, you won't be out of luck. Google will be accepting a second round of applications between July 18 and August 17.

So how will Google decide if you’re one of the lucky folks to get the first round of Project Ara hardware? The company explains that it’ll prioritize applications based on the strength of your concept and your technical experience. To help out your odds of getting accepted, Google says that you should get a technical lead that’s experienced with embedded boards to apply.

Project Ara isn’t expected to be made available to us regular folk until January 2015, so developers will have plenty of time to get acquainted with the Ara. While it’s kind of a bummer that we still have a bit of a wait before we get to start swapping modules, it’s great to see that Ara is continuing to progress and is ready to begin hitting the desks of developers.

Are you still interested in Project Ara?

Via Engadget, Google+, Project Ara