Instead, development will shift to ARCore, a wider platform where apps and web interfaces will be involved and not a whole bunch of sensors.
The post Google’s Tango AR program ending in March with a total of two phones appeared first on Pocketnow.
B&H sells unlocked ZTE Axon 7 mini, Lenovo Phab 2 Pro and Moto Z at ultra-low prices
The Tango-enabled Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, diminutive ZTE Axon 7 Mini and OG Moto Z are quite old, but they're still compelling at these new all-time low prices.
The post B&H sells unlocked ZTE Axon 7 mini, Lenovo Phab 2 Pro and Moto Z at ultra-low prices appeared first on Pocketnow.
Lenovo gives ‘sneak peek’ at IFA 2017 ‘product launch’, no new devices in sight
We still have no idea what exactly is Lenovo planning to unveil at IFA 2017, apart from an "old" Smart Assistant and Windows Holographic VR headset.
The post Lenovo gives ‘sneak peek’ at IFA 2017 ‘product launch’, no new devices in sight appeared first on Pocketnow.
Lenovo has no Android Nougat upgrade planned for Tango-enabled Phab 2 Pro
We've seen proof of lousy software support before, but Lenovo takes things to the next level by leaving the Phab 2 Pro on Marshmallow for good.
The post Lenovo has no Android Nougat upgrade planned for Tango-enabled Phab 2 Pro appeared first on Pocketnow.
Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, Sony Xperia XA Ultra and others discounted during Amazon’s unlocked days
Amazon offers big savings on a number of unlocked phones for a limited time, with the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, Sony Xperia XA and XA Ultra front and center.
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Augmented Reality museum tours are now a thing with Google Tango
Augmented Reality technology has come to life in a combined effort between Google and Lenovo. It’s result: the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro (check out our review). However, the real challenge is putting all this technology to good use, and apparently, education is high up the priority list for the Detroit Institute of Arts, which has built Lumin, in partnership with GuidiGO.
Lumin is “a mobile tour that uses Tango capabilities to add AR interactivity and information to further enrich your visit” at the museum, according to the official Google Blog wording. Visitors will be able to explore Ancient Egypt, Babylonia, and Mesopotamia, in a very different way; all they have to do is ask for a Lenovo Phab 2 Pro phone (powered by Tango) at the front desk, in order to take their experience to the next level.
Google promises that Tango will reach more museums around the world, and promises uses and benefits which will allow users to experience more: “see more, hear more and learn more” is the tagline, and we can’t wait to find out more about the future of Tango and AR.
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Mainland Europe getting Lenovo Phab 2 Pro at €499
Project Tango makes its move across the old continent as Lenovo has made the Phab 2 Pro available in at least five European markets for €499 or $537.
The device, which also has legs in the United States, launched with 35 Tango apps, apps that use the Phab 2 Pro’s depth sensors and camera to great effect within augmented reality environments.
The device is coming soon to the UK.
FranceGermanyItalyNetherlandsSpain
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Lenovo Phab 2 Pro Video Review: More than just Tango?
It’s a huge phone.
Lenovo is partnering with Google, using the Phab 2 Pro as a showcase platform for some exciting new Augmented Reality technology. Google’s Tango system allows developers to add artificial elements to the real world for gaming, or to better interact with objects in space to track movement or measure distances, all while the phone can track and remember its own location in a room in real time. It’s like holding a piece of the future.
This is a bleeding edge feature, but does the rest of this hardware hold up under normal use. A 6.4″ display is an odd screen size to be found in North America. The mid-range chipset is capable, and we’re happy to see plenty of storage, but a $499.99 price tag is pretty far outside this being an impulse purchase. Buying this beast of a gadget, does it fulfill the role of being a daily driver phone, or should Lenovo’s option here be considered another companion device to a proper “normal” smartphone.
Lenovo Phab 2 Pro Video Review: More than just Tango?
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Motorola to follow up Phab 2 Pro with Moto Z Tango Moto Mod
Motorola will “likely” release a Google Tango Moto Mod to allow for at least some of the Moto Z device series to execute augmented reality functions, the company’s CEO said.
Aymar de Lencquesaing addressed the press from company headquarters in Chicago today to announce the news. The modular accessory would follow the release of the Phab 2 Pro phablet, made by Motorola’s parent company, Lenovo.
“Augmented reality on a phone is a technology that’s likely to stick,” he said. “Of course we’ll follow, or lead, the market in this area.”
The post Motorola to follow up Phab 2 Pro with Moto Z Tango Moto Mod appeared first on Pocketnow.
The iPhone Economy and Answering YOUR tech questions! | #PNWeekly 227
We’re taking a look at the iPhone index of economy health, augmenting our reality with the Phab Pro 2, and answering YOUR tech questions! Make sure you’re charged and ready episode 227 of the Pocketnow Weekly!
Watch the live video broadcast from 1:00pm Eastern on November 18th (click here for your local time), or check out the high-quality audio version right here.
For folks watching live, you can comment and ask questions by using the #PNWeekly hashtag on Twitter during the broadcast. For folks watching later, you can shoot your listener emails to podcast [AT] pocketnow [DOT] com for a shot at getting your question read aloud on the air the following week!
Pocketnow Weekly 227
Recording Date
November 18, 2016
Host
Sponsor
This week’s episode of the Pocketnow Weekly Podcast is made possible by:
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The iPhone Economic Policy Index
The MIT Technology Review speculates on what it would mean for Apple to produce an All-American iPhone? Complicating things is Trump’s trade policy with China, Apple’s biggest de facto manufacturing partner, as residents could see a $1,000 base model iPhone. Those same Chinese complain about the lack of support from the company once their iPhone 6s gets borked.
But as iPhone 7 might not be living up to demand, we may see these fiscal impacts surface in the iPhone 8 as KGI again predicts a trio of devices for release next year.
News
41:42 | Qualcomm shrinks Snapdragon 835 to 10nm thanks to Samsung manufacturing
45:23 | Andromeda lives! But we won’t get it for at least a year…
49:52 | OnePlus 3T sells for $439. Refresh or rehash?
55:20 | Deutsche Telekom might not try to sell T-Mobile in light of Trump presidency
56:58 | Crowd designed Eve V laptop on Indiegogo November 21
Viewer Mail and #PNWEEKLY Hashtag Questions!
(01:03:17)
We’ve got a FULL slate of viewer questions and emails to chew through! Thanks to everyone who sent in a query!
•
See you next week!
The post The iPhone Economy and Answering YOUR tech questions! | #PNWeekly 227 appeared first on Pocketnow.
Lenovo Phab 2 Pro with Google Tango: Augmented Reality is Rad
There’s a reason this phone is so big. There are a crazy number of cameras and sensors on the back which radically improve the phone’s ability to track objects in space and overlay features to the camera view.
Motion tracking in virtual reality is all the rage right now, but that still requires sensors and beacons to be installed in areas where you’ll be using it. VR becomes a pretty solitary experience, as you’re keeping your head and face covered. Though it’s early days for augmented reality, we can already see a lot of potential for collaborative services and games. True AR could impact nearly every app and service we currently use on our mobile devices.
It’s like holding the future, or interacting with some kind of crazy Terminator vision. Here’s our first dive into the wonders of Augmented Reality using Google’s Tango on the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro!
Lenovo Phab 2 Pro with Google Tango: Augmented Reality is Rad
The post Lenovo Phab 2 Pro with Google Tango: Augmented Reality is Rad appeared first on Pocketnow.
Lenovo-branded phones are apparently no more, long live the Moto family
It's only fair to share...
Lenovo has never had much of an own-brand presence in the challenging but highly lucrative (for some) global smartphone landscape, which is why the PC-first manufacturer acquired erstwhile mobile industry leader Motorola a couple of years back.
It’s probably time to admit now that’s failed to put the Chinese tech giant on the Samsung and Apple-controlled map, after yet another quarter of disappointing sales and sliding proceeds. With executive patience quickly running out, it looks like a new round of production and marketing cost reductions is in store, alongside a predictable streamlining of a far too vast, redundant and unnecessary device portfolio.
Get ready to bid adieu to Vibes, K-series Lenovo-labeled handhelds and basically anything that doesn’t greet you with “Hello Moto” on startup. This time for real, at least according to a seemingly well-connected Asian publication.
We’re not sure if Lenovo is already giving up on Tango-powered Phab Pros also, or perhaps moving prospective sequels under the Moto branding umbrella, but both domestically and internationally, expect narrowed focus on Gs, Zs and Ms going forward.
Apparently, “Lenovo’s overseas smartphone performance has been better than China’s”, despite a solid home debut a few years ago, which makes insisting on Motorolas worldwide a relatively safe advertising bet all of a sudden. Let’s see if this one pays off in the long haul.
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It's only fair to share...
Hot Takes on the Huawei Mate 9 and more… after dark | #PNWeekly 225
It’s nighttime in America and it’s Friday to boot. We should be out on the streets painting the town red. But instead, we’re sitting down, cracking a few cans open and talking with our best mates about a new Mate.
As Huawei takes over the scene for the week with a couple of luminescent phones, Evan Blass and Alcatel remind us that Windows can be a fun platform if it tried. Will it try? We may come up with an answer or we may just pass onto the unrelenting carrier wars, flip phones for modernity, Kickstarters, Indiegogos and a kick in the pants for us to go go GO!
It’s the weekend and this is episode 225 of the Pocketnow Weekly.
Watch the live video broadcast from 11:00pm Eastern on November 4th (click here for your local time), or check out the high-quality audio version right here.
For folks watching live, you can comment and ask questions by using the #PNWeekly hashtag on Twitter during the broadcast. For folks watching later, you can shoot your listener emails to podcast [AT] pocketnow [DOT] com for a shot at getting your question read aloud on the air the following week!
Pocketnow Weekly 225
Recording Date
November 4, 2016
Host
Sponsor
This week’s episode of the Pocketnow Weekly Podcast is made possible by:
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How’s it goin’, Mate?
(00:02:55)
Following on from the Huawei P9, the Mate 9 makes its debut in Munich, Germany. Our Juan Carlos Bagnell was there to handle the Leica-endorsed, dual-camera goods — particularly with that fancy schmancy €1,400 Porsche Design version — while Jaime Rivera and Adam Z. Lein put some light onto the Huawei Fit tracker.
News
26:26 | This Windows phone is more than just a concept
32:09 | The Alcatel Idol 4s with Windows 10: where it’s at and where it won’t be
35:37 | Where’s Microsoft at with Windows 10 Mobile?
42:44 | Lenovo Phab 2 Pro finally makes it to the dance floor
51:52 | ZTE flips a phone here, Samsung flips a phone there
57:59 | Apple dongles dangle for a discount as a jungle protests
1:05:37 | Blood on the water between T-Mo and Verizon
1:14:39 | We completely speculate that Foxconn and Sharp are moving to the US
1:19:07 | Maybe Xiaomi is coming here, too?
1:23:08 | Crowdfunding Corner: 360° video-recording glasses and an eye-tracking VR headset
1:33:35 | Mobile beats desktop internet usage for first time ever
Nightcap
Yep. That’s a Southwest Airlines attendant. Dressed as a Galaxy Note 7.
The post Hot Takes on the Huawei Mate 9 and more… after dark | #PNWeekly 225 appeared first on Pocketnow.
Lenovo Phab 2 Pro launches with 35 Tango apps
It’s November 1, the anointed date of reckoning for the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro. It’s the first smartphone developed in tandem with Google under the Project Tango banner to support Android’s first augmented reality apps.
The $500 phone, which is on sale today and ships within seven business days, will be supported with 35 Tango apps starting today. They include games like Crayola Color Blaster by Legacy Games, Hot Wheels Track Builder and Ghostly Mansion. More practical apps for homemakers include Wayfair View and iStaging while educational apps also get a showing here with Solar Simulator.
The phone is available direct from Lenovo. We aren’t sure when Lowe’s hardware stores will get the Phab 2 Pro.
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Lenovo Phab 2 available today at $200, Tango-enabled Phab 2 Pro on November 1
If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding. And in the case of Lenovo, its latest phablets for western markets are just starting to get dished out.We begin with the Lenovo Phab 2. It’s simply a large phone and it acts as a media hotbed for the average consumer with Dolby Atmos audio included. The 6.4-inch screen is only rated at 720p resolution, though, making for only 229 pixels per inch. The quad-core MediaTek MT8735 runs the show with 3GB of RAM ...
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