Partners Applaud Augmented-Reality Smartphone From Lenovo And Google
Lenovo and Google debuted the results of their combined efforts in bringing augmented reality to market on Thursday with the announcement of the the Phab2 Pro, an Android device that the companies say will let users have AR experiences on a smartphone for the first time.
It’s the first smartphone to use Tango technology—sensors and software from Google that can map the surroundings, with uses such as visualizing how additions to a room (such as home furnishings) might look.
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Partners who spoke with CRN said they can see the benefits of the technology for their customers, even if partners won’t be directly benefiting from the introduction of the smartphone itself, since Lenovo will be selling the Phab2 Pro directly to consumers starting at $499.
Michael Goldstein, president and CEO of LAN Infotech, a Lenovo partner in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said his firm does make recommendations to customers about smartphones to buy, and is glad to see Lenovo getting first out of the gate with an AR smartphone.
’I think it’s a smart play,’ Goldstein said. ’It’s good to see it coming from Lenovo.’
The Phab2 Pro doesn’t have a headset component, so users won’t actually be able to augment reality in the ’real world,’ as with the under-development Magic Leap, for instance. Instead, the Tango technology will let users visualize augmented reality on the device itself, using sensors for depth perception, which analyze the the shape of the environment and detect surfaces. The technology also uses motion tracking to visualize the smartphone’s location in 3D.
David Felton, founder of Canaan Technology, a Lenovo partner in Norwalk, Conn., said the Tango technology could at some point be useful for some architecture and construction clients that his firm serves. But the form factor would need to be different, he said. The Phab2 Pro, which has a 6.4-inch display, is phablet-sized but still not large enough for their types of needs, Felton said.
’I can see the technology evolving and becoming useful in a tablet, but not in a smartphone,’ he said. For users in construction and architecture, ’they’d need something beefier and rugged, and they’d want something more sizable than a phablet or smartphone.’
Lowe’s is developing one of the first Tango-enabled apps, which will let users visualize products in their homes, and the home improvement retailer is also going to be selling the Phab2 Pro starting in September. The device will be available for sale online by the end of the year, Lenovo said. Best Buy will be carrying the Phab 2 Pro as well, though availability plans weren’t immediately disclosed.
Lenovo announced the Phab2 Pro during its Lenovo Tech World event in San Francisco on Thursday. The company also debuted two other phones—the Phab2 Plus, which boasts two 13-megapixel rear cameras and starts at $299, and the Phab2, which targets affordability with a starting price of $199.