Lenovo Unveils Smartphone Based on Google's 'Project Tango' -- Update
June 09 2016 - 4:24PM
Dow Jones News
By Don Clark
SAN FRANCISCO -- Lenovo Group Ltd. unveiled the first smartphone
based on Google's Project Tango, a technology designed to measure
and map surrounding objects and spaces.
The Chinese company also announced an initiative to deliver a
new line of modular smartphones, stemming from its 2014 purchase of
Motorola Mobility. Lenovo unveiled new Moto Z handsets that will
feature interchangeable snap-on modules, starting with an extra
speaker, a projector for presentations and an expanded internal
battery.
Lenovo said it hoped to spur other companies to offer many new
"Moto Mods," as the company calls them.
Lenovo, which has been battling market-share losses and other
problems in the smartphone business, is hoping the new models will
stand out in a crowded field of products that look and work largely
the same.
"We don't think that is good enough anymore," said Yang
Yuanqing, Lenovo's chief executive, referring to me-too offerings
in a keynote address at a large technology showcase here. He said
the new products announced Thursday "have created a new era for the
smartphone and Lenovo."
Google disclosed the Tango effort in early 2014, and its
relationship with Lenovo was disclosed in January. The technology
uses arrays of cameras, sensors and software to create
three-dimensional models of indoor spaces and track the user's
motions through them.
The companies described a set of augmented reality experiences
that range from games -- superimposing animated objects on video
images seen on a smartphone screen -- to measuring objects in
stores and seeing how they fit in a simulated room in the home.
"It turns your phone into virtual measuring tape," said Johnny
Lee, Google's project lead on the effort, citing the benefits of
avoiding purchasing goods that don't fit as planned. "That can be a
very expensive mistake."
One early partner is home improvement retailer Lowe's Cos.,
which has developed an app that uses Tango and lets users see how
products like appliances, counter tops and tile will look in a room
before bringing them home. The company said Thursday it will carry
the Phab2 Pro in its stores during the holiday season.
Google has described other benefits such as showing smartphone
users simulated footsteps to direct them to stores in a mall or to
store shelves where items might be found.
Lenovo's Phab2 Pro has four cameras, including one designed to
help perceive depth, as well as motion-tracking technology. It will
be available in September for $499 on an unlocked basis without
carrier subsidies.
The new Moto Z and Moto Mods efforts were explained onstage by
actor Ashton Kutcher, who has been helping the company design
products since 2013. He said that conventional approaches to
hardware development can saddle phones with technology features
that not all users want, adding unnecessarily to the price.
Moto Z, which comes in a model with a shatter-resistant screen,
first will be available in the summer over Verizon Communications
Inc.'s U.S. network. It will later be available on an unlocked
basis. Pricing wasn't immediately disclosed.
Any excitement the new products generate would be welcome to
Lenovo, which recently reported that smartphone shipments fell 13%
in the fiscal year ended in March. The company last month
acknowledged that it underestimated the difficulty of integrating
the Motorola Mobility business that Lenovo purchased for $2.91
billion from Google.
Write to Don Clark at don.clark@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 09, 2016 16:09 ET (20:09 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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