Google and Lenovo team up for Project Tango smartphone launching this summer

[Wireless News]

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/41Zsd5fsxCH1EU8P3IT0Dg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3NfbGVnbztmaT1maWxsO2g9ODY7cT03NTt3PT EzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/homerun/digital_trends_973/e9fe84dc0f82f4619b6794b9453153da (http://news.yahoo.com/google-lenovo-team-project-tango-043951891.html)We heard earlier this week about Google and Lenovo having an announcement in store about Project Tango, and it’s finally here: Lenovo is launching a phone this summer featuring the new, innovative 3D location technology, designed to bring new indoor tracking and augmented reality capabilities to the world-right from your smartphone. Lenovo announced the new partnership this week at CES, offering up the new 3D imaging technology in a new phone to launch in the U.S. this summer. Lenovo doesn’t have every detail figured out yet, but the phone will cost less than $500, and include around a 6-inch display. -Qualcomm will be developing the chips that power the technologies necessary for Project Tango to function, and being a Google-backed device, it will likely run some flavor of Android for the rest of what you’d expect a new smartphone. Related: How Project Tango brings 3D imaging to smartphones “We locked arms with Google to bring out a consumer device based on Tango,” noted Lenovo Vice President Jeff Meredith at the announcement. While Lenovo figures out the hardware and distribution, Google has all kinds of ideas in store with Project Tango. Whether it’s helping robots find their way around a home, or bringing larger-than-life experiences through augmented reality, Project Tango uses cameras on the back of a device in order to visualize, map, and remember the spaces you visit. it uses depth and imagery to realize where it is, and then allows you to interact with the space using Project Tango-enabled apps.-It’s expected to be extremely accurate and extremely fast at mapping spaces for interactivity. The technology exclusively uses imagery and mapping to figure out where you are, all without additional sensors such as a GPS. This allows just about anything you’d expect in mapping or augmented reality, with things as simple as a game of Jenga played virtually from a real table, to helping robots find their way around a warehouse to locate and move goods. To help enable all of capabilities Project Tango will offer, Google and Lenovo are also building an App Incubator to reward developers who find innovative ways to use the new Project Tango technology. Developer kits are already available-and winners of the App Incubator will have their apps featured in Lenovo’s new Project Tango-powered smartphone. Google and Lenovo note that apps will be key with the new device to ensure users get the most out of the upcoming device. Also watch: Varia Vision Is Garmin's Google Glass For Cyclists Please enable Javascript to watch this video



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