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The first Project Tango phone goes on sale next month
Project Ara is no more, but that doesn't mean Google's weirder smartphone ambitions are all dead and buried. Project Tango -- a push to put 3D mapping in a smartphone -- is still alive and well, thanks to Lenovo. Speaking to CNET, Google's Clay Bavor confirmed that the Phab2 Pro should be coming out next month. The phone promises to track your surroundings and then, augmented reality style, display content that looks like it's right in front of you. With this, you could visualize new furniture in your home, or shoot aliens that appear to be coming out of the walls.
Lenovo's low-cost Phab2 phones are big on augmented reality
The centerpiece of Lenovo's self-branded US phones may be the higher-end, Tango-packing Phab2 Pro, but that doesn't mean there isn't something available for the budget crowd. Lenovo is unveiling two lower-cost models, the Phab2 and Phab2 Plus, that deliver some of the experience for a much lower price. Both pack gigantic 6.4-inch screens (the same size as the Pro) and 13-megapixel rear cameras that deliver augmented reality "special effects" such as virtual backgrounds -- while they won't make you forget that Tango exists, you won't have to give up AR entirely. They also share immersive Dolby Atmos audio and a whopping 4,050mAh battery that can last for over two weeks on standby.
$500 Lenovo Phab2 Pro is the first Google Tango phone
The second generation of Lenovo's Phab phones are here already, headlined by the first-ever Project Tango-equipped smartphone with sensors and cameras that can map its surroundings. The Phab2 Pro (check out our hands-on impressions right here) is special because it fulfills the promise of demos that Google's Advanced Technologies and Products (ATAP) division has been showing us for a few years. The phone's dual cameras create an "eye" that sees its surroundings in 3D with depth perception, while additional sensors monitor location and nearby objects 250,000 times per second.
