This image provided by Google shows people looking at a view of the solar system using technology Google calls "Project Tango." Tango uses software and sensors to track motions and size up the contours of rooms, which can empower a smartphone to map building interiors. That's a crucial building block of a promising new frontier in "augmented reality," or the digital projection of lifelike images and data into a real-life environment. (Courtesy of Google via AP) A new smartphone from Lenovo will be clever enough to grasp your physical surroundings—the room's size, the location of doors and windows and the presence of other people. This will potentially transform how we interact with e-commerce, education and gaming.
Today's smartphones track location through GPS and cell towers, but that does little more than tell apps where you are. Tapping Google's Project Tango, the new Phab2 Pro phone will use software and sensors to track motions and map building interiors. That's a crucial step in the promising new frontier in "augmented reality."
Lenovo says the phone will sell for $500 when it begins shipping in August. The device is expected to be on store shelves by mid-September, in advance of Apple's anticipated release of the iPhone 7.
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