Qualcomm Announces Google Tango support to its Snapdragon 820 SoC

Lenovo unveiled the first consumer Tango-enabled smartphone, the PHAB2 Pro. At the time of launch, it was quite confusing as to why the manufacturer didn’t go for the high-end Snapdragon 820 version instead of Snapdragon 625. For this, Qualcomm reveals that it has made specific tweaks to make the SD625 work perfectly with Tango. The company has now made the same tweaks for its current flagship Snapdragon 820 as well.

Qualcomm promises that the same will be the case for future generations of the 600 and 800 chipsets series. This will be opening the scope of more and more devices to make their way into the world of augmented reality. Following the required optimizations, the chips can crunch data from the five sensors and three cameras, all working at the same time.

The Lenovo Phab2 Pro comes with a regular camera, the second camera with fisheye lens, a depth sensing camera, a gyroscope and an accelerometer. Qualcomm boasts that, in fact, all its Snapdragon 600 and 800 processors are perfect for Tango. In particular, these two series of chips have an integrated global high-frequency clock, which can be used to accurately time stamp sensor data. Snapdragon 600 and 800 series processors also include an integrated global high-frequency clock, which performs highly accurate.

Tango does not require a specialized co-processor, and as such an OEM can build an AR-ready phone by adding a depth sensor and motion tracking camera. Qualcomm is hoping that the technology becomes a standard feature. The company also shared a video that demonstrates the capabilities of its processors running on Tango-enabled smartphone. The video shows how one could use the AR capabilities of the smartphone to see how the new furniture could look like without having to move the existing ones. Google also unveiled a Project Tango smartphone earlier. It uses the Intel’s RealSense technology to scan in 3D and that too in real time.

The Project powered Lenovo PHAB2 Pro is priced at $499 (which roughly translates to 33,500 INR). The device will be available in select markets starting September. We have no confirmation on the availability and pricing of the smartphone here in India, but we expect it will be launching around the same time more or less. Stay tuned for more information about the device as well as updates on Project Tango.

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