The Project Tango
Last February, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) unveiled Project Tango to advance 3-D technology and provided a sign-up for a smartphone that would allow developers to create and test new programs. Now, the company has released an uber-powerful tablet to advance its aims.
“The goal of Project Tango is to give mobile devices a human-scale understanding of space and motion,” Google said on its website for the new tablet. “Project Tango devices contain customized hardware and software designed to track the full 3D motion of the device, while simultaneously creating a map of the environment.”
The specs
The specs are nothing short of impressive. The tablet includes the new Nvidia Tegra K1 processor, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 1080p display. It runs Android 4.4 out of the box and offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, and 4G LTE connectivity. The tablet has two cameras inserted at a special 13-degree angle for 3D mapping, and a depth sensor on the back. Google even went so far as to add Micro HDMI and USB 3.0 ports making it the most powerful tablet on the market. It is, however, not on the market but will produced in limited quantities for developers who have gone through the application process.
Project Tango promises uses for the gamer, shopper curious to see how a couch would look in their home without leaving said home, and a potential windfall of applications to aid the disabled.
3-D devices for the future
3-D devices are viewed as the future or in the words of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a “platform of tomorrow.” Facebook shelled out around $2 billion earlier this year to purchase virtual-reality goggles maker Oculus VR Inc. A company doesn’t splash the cash like that unless it’s sure that it has something consumers want.
The applications that Project Tango hopes for are only limited by the imagination of developers and now those developers have the perfect development tool with today’s announcement.
Google’s Advanced Technologies and Projects (ATAP) that is responsible for Project Tango will be happy to upgrade developers from a phone that was a bit clunky, to a tablet built for the future as Tango builds on its eighteen month existence.
