The first Tango smartphone, Lenovo PHAB 2 Pro gets official

Google introed Project Tango in May 2014, which allowed devices to map the world around them in 3D. In 2014, the company released Project Tango tablet for developer with Tegra K1 processor. At Google's I/O 2014, the search giant teamed up with LG to build a consumer ready Project Tango tablet, which was scheduled to release in 2015. However that didn't happen. Fast forward 2016, Google collaborated with Lenovo for the first Project Tango smartphone and was slated for release later this year.

Now at Lenovo's Tech World Event 2016, the first consumer ready Tango smartphone dubbed PHAB 2 Pro have been officially announced.

The PHAB 2 Pro comes with room-scanning technology, that allows the phone to map the space around the user in real time, which can be used to create 3D maps for indoor locations. The phone comes with three sensors on the back – a standard RGB camera (16-megapixel) that captures color details, a depth-sensing camera and a motion-tracking camera that can recognize space, motion, area. Using the tri-camera setup, the phone is capable of sensing empty spaces in 3D and offer cutting edge smartphone AR experience to interact with the surrounding.

For instance, using AR apps, students can place true-to-scale virtual dinosaurs in their classrooms and enhance the learning through AR data that appears while they walk around the creatures. AR gaming experience let you play virtual dominos on your table or a raise a digital pet in your bedroom.

As for the specs, the Android-Marshmallow powered Lenovo PHAB 2 Pro features a huge 6.4-inch Quad HD (2560 x 1440 pixels) IPS 2.5D curved glass display and is powered by octa-core Snapdragon 652 processor paired with Adreno 510 GPU and 4GB RAM. The phone comes with 64GB inbuilt storage, which can be expanded via microSD card (up to 128GB). For photography, there's 16MP rear camera with PDAF and 8MP front camera. Connectivity duties are handled by 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2 and GPS. It is fueled by 4050mAh battery, and has a fingerprint scanner at the back.

The Tango based Lenovo PHAB 2 Pro is priced at $499 (Rs. 33,500) and will be available globally starting September. In the U.S it will be available from Best Buy.