Takes Two to Tango: Google, Lenovo to Release World's First AR Smartphone

Tech Company Lenovo and Google's Project Tango have joined forces to create the world's first commercially available Android device, capable of enabling augmented reality (AR) experiences using sensors and software to virtually map out your surroundings.

The smartphone PHAB2 Pro, powered by Google's Tango technology has been unveiled by Lenovo at a recent tech conference in San Francisco. It costs US$499 and will be on sale from September 2016.

​For classroom students, it could mean they can place true-to-scale virtual dinosaurs in their classroom, gamers could play virtual dominoes on their kitchen table or fight back swarms of aliens, and virtual animal lovers could raise a digital pet thanks to the powers of the new AR Tango Tech.

​According to Lenovo, "The PHAB2 Pro offers unprecedented experiences on a smartphone that will continually learn and improve.

"Put simply, we wanted to take what was an amazing concept and transform it into a commercially viable mobile device," said Jeff Meredith, vice president and general manager of Android and Chrome Computing, Lenovo.

"From the moment we saw Tango, we knew it could become pervasive, just like GPS. However, to truly make the PHAB2 Pro a game-changer, we developed it at an affordable price for mainstream consumers," Meredith said. 

For homeowners, an app called Lowe's Vision can use the Tango technology to map rooms and offices to design and visualize what appliances and décor will look like and fit together in a room.

​However, while next generation smartphones along with all its AR capabilities and technologies are hailed as a "game changer," there are concerns over privacy controls.

"Tango could raise fresh concerns about privacy if controls aren't stringent enough to prevent the on-the-fly maps from being shared with unauthorized apps or heisted by hackers," warn Edgemedianetwork.