Lenovo Tech World 2016. Lenovo TAB 2 Pro (Tango)

Lenovo is still at the beginning of 2016 showed the first experience in conjunction with Google’s project (Project Tango), but until recently all limited engineering samples. In Tech World 16 finally presented the first finished product to work with Tango.

From Project Tango to Tango

For the first time Google and Lenovo will jointly demonstrate achievements within the Tango Project is still at the CES 2016 and then was a separate presentation at the MWC 2016, which showed the Lenovo tablet features “museum guide”. You could walk through the halls of the museum with a clipboard in his hands and examine the picture, get more information about them, as well as to use the device to navigate through the building (indoor-navigation). However, then the whole idea with Project Tango remained not fully understood. And then, finally, on the Lenovo Tech World 16 companies have shown the first commercial device with the support of Tango (no longer «Project» in the title).

What is it and why do we need?

If it is very short and summarizing, the Tango from Google – a platform that uses the “computer vision” and allows you to create with the help of interfaces, applications, and other things with elements of augmented reality. Explain briefly what it is, in fact, very difficult. It would be better to tell the examples.

The most obvious, perhaps, an example – an application for the layout of the apartment or house. You pick up your smartphone with the Tango, launch the app and then point the camera at the apartment site in which you want in the future, something to place. The application has a data base with different furniture: chairs, beds, carpets, home appliances and so on. Choose the desired object and put it on your phone where he will have to stand in the apartment. That is, you see flat land, where the future will be, for example, a washing machine, and the screen of the smartphone in your hands the same apartment area displayed with the already established “stiralka”. This allows you to assess how, where and what to have – really comfortable.

Alternative use of the same “opera” – calculation of the size of different objects. If you need to measure the amount of a certain box in the house, you can circle it in a special annex (on a smartphone) and get volume. The same with the height, width and other measurements.

Another obvious example – app for kids, in which you can look at the dinosaurs.

You run a program on your smartphone with the Tango, at the same time being, let’s say, in his apartment. Smartphone cameras and the system has already read the surface, so you can just pull certain dinosaur floor apartment, conditionally. After this, the object remains in the memory of the smartphone in this position, you can walk around the apartment, pointing the camera at him, and, in fact, see the three-dimensional model of a dinosaur, studying it from different angles on your smartphone. Near the first dinosaur can put the second, third and so on. Each dinosaur models can be displayed in a certain scale, increasing up to the originals, for example.

The Tango is based on a system of “computer vision”. Smartphone or tablet determines its location in space, making it a three-dimensional model, and then work with it and the objects within it. Digitize Space using the camera, thanks to the gyro, accelerometer and other sensors smartphone accurately positions itself in the created space and allows you to work with him.

While Tango technology looks promising and promising, but no more. Augmented Reality fired the minds of engineers and designers many years ago, but all ended with concepts or failed commercially viable projects, even giants such as Nokia in the prime of life. It seems that Google wants to promote the idea to a whole new level, this has the resources, partners, and everything else, apparently. It remains to find the idea of a truly sought-after scenarios use Tango, and it is small.

Lenovo PHAB 2 Pro

In cooperation with Google, Lenovo introduced the first and only “PHABLET” for c Tango – Lenovo PHAB 2 Pro.

Characteristics

Materials used: metal, Gorilla Glass 4 Glass
Operating System: Android 6
Network: GSM / EDGE, UMTS / HSDPA, LTE (DualSIM)
Screen: IPS, diagonal 6.4 “, Resolution 2560×1440 pixels, 459-ppi
Platform: Qualcomm Snapdragon 652
Processor: quad, 64-bit, the Cortex-A53 at a frequency of 1.4 GHz quad-core, 64-bit, Cortex-A72 at a frequency of 1.8 GHz
Graphics: Adreno 510
RAM: 4 GB
Memory storage: 64 GB
Slot for memory card: yes, microSD (up to 256GB)
Main Camera: 16 MP, autofocus
Front camera: 8 megapixel, f / 2.2
Additional cameras for use with Tango
Interfaces: Wi-Fi Dual-Band, Bluetooth 4.1 (LE), microUSB connector (USB-OTG) for charging / synchronization, 3.5 mm headset / headphone jack, FM-radio
Navigation: GPS (support A-GPS), GLONASS
Optional: support the Tango technology, fingerprint reader, accelerometer, light sensor, proximity sensor
Battery: 4050 mAh
Dimensions: 179.8 x 88.6 x 10.7 mm
Weight: 259 grams

Lenovo PHAB 2 Pro – is a great smartphone or tablet compact (as you prefer) with a screen diagonal of 6.4 ”. Compare it to the dimensions of smartphones does not make sense, it is large and heavy device itself, PHABLET as it is.

From a design standpoint I do not know what to say. Housing made of metal and glass, the assembly is excellent, the front panel with a 2.5D effect, there are several colors to choose from. Confused by the number of the camera module on the back side, but they are required to work with the Tango technology.

If you are still interested in the dimensions – that’s a size comparison Lenovo PHAB 2 Pro with Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (also in cover):

The characteristics of the new PHABLET much more interesting models of the first generation. In fact, this “iron” flagships of the end of last and first half this year, except for the platform.

In addition to Lenovo PHAB the Pro 2, the company introduced at the Tech World 16 two PHABLET – PHAB 2 Plus and PHAB 2. In the first screen FullHD-resolution 3/32 GB of memory, two 13 megapixel cameras and from the MediaTek platform, design and materials of this the apparatus repeats the flagship PHAB 2 Pro. Second, PhAB 2 – the simplest and most accessible version with HD-TV, 3/32 GB of memory, a 13 MP main camera and plastic housing.

For a company Google Tango Project – another interesting initiative. It is not known whether it will be successful, but like Google to establish and maintain such projects, watch how they develop, and only then make a decision about the cost worth it or not.

For Lenovo relationship with Google under the Tango – a chance to be among the first to get into a new market (if it occurs) and become pioneers in the creation of devices in the new Tango platform. If the whole idea will be commercially successful, it can only be glad for Lenovo. Prospects in this area definitely has.