Google’s Project Tango has been brewing as a development platform since it was announced in February last 2014, today Google has announced their plans to move Project Tango to the mainstream partnering with hardware manufacturer Lenovo to make the first Project Tango phone.
Project Tango uses high-end sensors and cameras to ‘transform your smartphone into a magic lens that lets you place digital information on your physical world’. The new phone, which is powered by a Qualcomm processor, will release in Summer this year – that’s in the northern hemisphere, so it will be Winter down south – for under $500.
The actual device hasn’t been shown off at this stage, the images above are merely renders being used by Google and Lenovo in the interim.
Google has released a number of devices for developing with Tango, and developers in a number of countries which aren’t Australia can still purchase one from the Google Store. This is however the first consumer level device, though no mention has been made of where the phone will go on-sale.
Google has announced an initiative for software to be featured on the new phone, inviting developers to submit their ideas for gaming and utility apps before February 15th. Apps and games selected will ship pre-installed on the device when it launches.
Johnny Lee, Project Tango Lead, Google said of the launch
With Project Tango, the smartphone becomes a magic window into the physical world by enabling it to perceive space and motion that goes beyond the boundaries of a touch screen. By working with Lenovo, we’ll be able to make Project Tango more accessible to users and developers all over the world to both enjoy and create new experiences that blends the virtual and real world.
There are already several apps designed for Project Tango published in Google Play – which you can see in the Project Tango app focus here.
We’ll be finding out more about Tango as it launches later this year and we’ll be publishing the list of the apps and games being pre-installed on the Tango phone when they’re announced by Google.
I’m sorry what is it (genuinely)?? Can anyone who doesn’t already know what this refers to (which I don’t) actually understand this?
“Project Tango uses high-end sensors and cameras to transform your smartphone into a magic lens that lets you place digital information on your physical world…With Project Tango, the smartphone becomes a magic window into the physical world by enabling it to perceive space and motion that goes beyond the boundaries of a touch screen”.
> for under $500
US dollars. So about $1000 by the time it gets here.