Chinese computer titan Lenovo showcased a series of new smartphones, including a keenly-awaited Tango handset and new Moto Z models that can be transformed into video projectors or powerful speakers.
A market-ready PHAB2 Pro smartphone imbued with Google-created Tango augmented reality technology was given star treatment at a Lenovo Tech World gathering in San Francisco.
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PHAB2 can sense and map its surroundings, enabling holograms to be overlaid on real world settings for anything from game play to figuring out which size sofa would fit in a room.
The big-screen gadget will be available globally in September for USD 499.
“It is a pretty incredible piece of technology for, really, a great price,” said Tango engineering director Johnny Lee.
In what Lenovo chief executive Yang Yuanqing billed as perhaps the most important announcement at the event, Lenovo also unveiled new Moto Z smartphones that can be customized with “mods” — specialized pieces of hardware that snap into place magnetically to give handsets added capabilities.
For example, one mod let a Moto Z project video on walls or ceilings at sizes as large as a 70-inch television screen.
Another mod turned Moto Z handsets into powerful speakers.
“This phone can transform itself,” said Hollywood star and Lenovo spokesman Ashton Kutcher.
“This is actually a full-blown game-changer.”
Lenovo also launched a smartphone mod program for developers, enticing them with a million-dollar prize for a mod that best integrates handsets with services hosted in the Internet cloud.
Moto Z will be available in the United States in coming months through carrier Verizon, with models debuting globally later in the year, according to Lenovo.
Pricing was not disclosed.
Moto Z is made by Motorola, which Lenovo bought from Google in early 2014 in a deal valued at $2.91 billion.
The acquisition was part of a strategy by Lenovo to look beyond personal computers, where it is a market powerhouse, to a future of nearly everything being smart and connected to the Internet, according to Yang.
“Devices will become entry points for diverse content and services,” he said.
Source: financialexpress.com