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

Lenovo launches Phab Pro 2, the first AR enabled Tango smartphone

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

San Francisco: Lenovo and Google have released the first Augmented Reality enabled smartphone called the Phab 2 Pro which comes in September for US $499. Using four cameras as well as AR sensors, the device can know its location inside buildings, recognize and measure physical objects as well project animations and on screen to create mixed reality scenarios.

Potentially game changing,Tango devices built in unison by Google and Lenovo elevate what smartphones can do as well as extend their functionality beyond two dimensions. During the demos here, we saw how Tango can generate graphics and characters into reality, how it can measure and help approximate 3D dimensions. Another demo showed how, using an app for Lowe's furniture store, it is possible to virtually redesign a home's interior before even purchasing fixures, rugs or surfaces.

Lenovo and Google team up to create the first Project Tango smartphone

If you know Google’s Project Tango program, you’re in for a treat, a consumer version of the smartphone will be coming courtesy of Lenovo. Project Tango is Google’s device that comes with 3D-sensing technology. It allows for a completely different augmented reality experience than what you get from the current crop of smartphones and tablets. Project Tango makes use of computer vision and motion sensors as well as the accelerometer, gyroscope, and camera most mobile devices come with. This will allow for more immersive games and more accurate digital content overlaid on your surroundings.

Of course, something different like this would need new apps, but there are already some available on the Play Store as Google has been giving developer kits for Project Tango tablets since last year. The two companies are also launching an app incubator for those who want to create more apps for the platform. There are no details yet what the phone will look like and how much it’ll cost. But it should come out in the summer of 2016 and it’ll run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor.

Source: Mashable

The world through the eyes of Google’s Project Tango

Google is embarking on another ambitious smartphone project with Project Tango. The device is capable of mapping the world around the user to give mobile devices a sense of space and motion. TechCrunch got a firsthand demo from Matterport, one of the first companies to get the prototype from Google. The video above shows Matterport’s software integrated into the prototype. TechCrunch says the captures show “both color camera data and a full mesh of 3D data at once.”

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