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Asus Unveils ZenFone AR With Google's Daydream and Tango Support, Coming In Q2 (venturebeat.com)

Krystalo quotes a report from VentureBeat: Probably the most-leaked device at CES 2017 so far has been the Asus ZenFone AR, through no fault of the Taiwanese company. Partner Qualcomm revealed much of the details in a blog post touting the use of its Snapdragon 821 chipset, and infamous leaker Evan Blass (evleaks) added front and back press renders of the phone. The key part that was missing was a release timeframe, which we now have: Q2 2017. The ZenFone AR stands out as the first smartphone that will support both of Google's Daydream and Tango platforms, and is only the second to support the latter (Lenovo's Phab 2 Pro was the first). Daydream is a virtual reality (VR) platform built into Android 7.0 Nougat and above. Tango is an augmented reality (AR) platform that detects users' positions relative to places and objects around them without using GPS or other external signals.

24 comments

  1. Re:SCO got screwed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    SCO was rumored to have kicked kittens, and they said unkind things about Gene Roddenberry. It's no wonder people around here don't root for them.

  2. Re:SCO got screwed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They were also the creative force behind Jar-Jar Binks.

  3. Re:SCO got screwed by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    In other news, perhaps we were too hasty in condemning Pol Pot. He was only trying to make Pnom Penh a sustainable city.

  4. Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does it have a headphone jack?

    1. Re: Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes.

  5. ring by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    can it make phone calls?

    1. Re: ring by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who cares?

  6. U.S. Carriers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    New to Android... what U.S. carriers can the Zenfone work on? T-Mobile and AT&T?

  7. Looks good, but no 4K? by naasking · · Score: 1

    Looks like decent specs, and ASUS phones are always reasonably priced. I'm surprised they didn't go full 4K resolution on the screen though, given it's supposed to be an "augmented reality" device.

    1. Re:Looks good, but no 4K? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only bad thing is that it's made by a shitty company like ASUS. All of their products are low quality and fail often.

    2. Re:Looks good, but no 4K? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mom failed at keeping her crotch closed and birthed a braindead pile of rock

    3. Re:Looks good, but no 4K? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Such salty tears. Didn't mean to trigger you, bro.

  8. ZenFone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Had a ZenFone. Had really nice hardware but it was waaaaaaaaaaay too bloated. It was showing ads in the pull down menu and all kinds of other nonsense.

    I would buy the hardware again if (and only if) there was an open source, strip down Android OS.

  9. Re:SCO got screwed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ..and Rey.

  10. Zen this. by Narcocide · · Score: 1

    AMD releases a new line of high-end CPUs called "Zen." ASUS releases multiple new product lines all called "Zen[Something]," relying on various Intel and Qualcomm CPUs. Seriously, fuck you guys.

  11. Does it comes with a glasshole? by fubarrr · · Score: 1

    >Asus states the phone “was developed in close cooperation with Google to deliver the best user experience” using both AR and VR technologies.

    Will it come with a glasshole?

    1. Re:Does it comes with a glasshole? by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      I suspect not. Google Glass was about contextual computing and (to some extent) computer vision, but not AR or VR.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  12. Water cooled smartphone by fubarrr · · Score: 1

    >The ZenFone AR also has a vapor cooling system to prevent overheating, a common issue when powering AR and VR experiences.

    Vapourware needs vapour cooling

  13. Re:SCO got screwed CAPTCHA: doubting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't see a link to make money from fakenews.

  14. Re: SCO got screwed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and holy n1gger shit

  15. Tango mapping? by Rei · · Score: 1

    AR is neat, but I'd really love to use the 3d scanning technique as... well, a 3d scanner, to be able to use my phone to to create 3d models of my environment that I can subsequently load into Blender and the like. Does Tango support this, or is the 3d data only available internally? And when it comes to AR, the ability to insert my own models into the environment would be key to me, not just whatever Google or some app developer happened to think of. For example, if I design a greenhouse, I'd like to be able to put that on my phone tied to GPS coordinates to that I could walk around outside/inside it as if it were already built; that would be amazing for getting a sense of it.

    So dang much potential for what can come when you have 3d environment mapping embedded in phones. Imagine what photo/video sharing transforms into when it becomes 3d environment sharing and they're seamlessly merged into each other. You map the world as it really is/was, rather than just pictures of it.

    Hmm... I really should check to see if my company's phone budget will provide me a new phone this year.... ;)

    --
    For the love of Crom, am I the only one here who wants to keep the U.S. technologically competitive?
  16. Re: SCO got screwed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I heard that SCO watched and laughed while Glenn Beck raped and murdered a young girl in 1990.

  17. Kudos for Definitions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hi BeauHD,

    Thanks for giving brief descriptions of Daydream and Tango. I had no idea what they were, and their names are totally nondescript.

    Thanks again!