Google is killing off Project Tango by March 2018

Google has always been unafraid to experiment on new, out-there ideas but the company isn’t afraid to kill off ideas when it looks like it isn’t working. The latest one to hit the chopping block is the company’s augmented reality program called Project Tango. It’s getting killed off pretty soon, too. According to the company, it’ll be killing off the program by March next year. This is going to be bad news for early adopters who bought phones like the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro and ASUS ZenFone AR but the idea isn’t fully dead.

The tech giant is concentrating on the software side of AR with ARcore, which seems to be a trend in the industry. Apple itself has ARkit, a software solution that managed to turn iOS into the biggest AR platform out there. ARcore will also be able to work on different devices without the need for expensive hardware so if Google develops this idea further, we might see it across Android. The latest implementation can be seen in AR Stickers available on the Pixel devices.

Source: GSMArena

Samsung works with Google to bring AR tech to its smartphones

Samsung’s newest partnership with Google dispels certain fears that the South Korean company might be taking steps away from Google’s mobile platform. The companies have just announced that Samsung will be bringing Google’s ARCore framework to its future smartphones. ARCore, for those in the know, was previously called Project Tango, which made use of special sensors to make augmented reality apps work on smartphones (like the ASUS ZenFone AR). The framework, though, is focusing on bringing AR to all devices and not just those with specialized equipment. The platform focuses on motion tracking, light estimation, and environmental understanding. Samsung’s newest devices the Galaxy S8, S8 Plus, and Note8, all support ARCore. But this agreement means Samsung is looking to inject the platform into more of its future devices.

Source: Android Authority