Asus has confirmed that its newly-launched ZenFone AR smartphone will be a Verizon exclusive in the United States. The announcement was made at the Google I/O developer’s conference. Asus’ ZenFone is the world’s first smartphone to feature both Daydream VR and Tango AR – both developed by Google.
During the launch, both Tango augmented reality and Daydream Virtual Reality features on the ZenFone AR were demonstrated by Johnny Lee, Google’s Tango team chief. The phone will be up for purchase from Verizon this summer.
What are Tango and Daydream VR?
Tango is an augmented reality or AR platform that employs compatible devices to identify the handset owner’s location, related to the objects and places surrounding them. It does so without engaging the GPS mode or any other form of external signals. This feature permits AR app developers to create applications that can include 3D mapping, indoor navigation among many other uses.
Daydream, similar to Tango, is a virtual reality or VR platform that can be built into the Android OS to support VR applications. The Tango platform includes three major abilities in the ZenFone AR smartphone, namely depth perception, motion tracking, and area learning.
For the VR support, the ZenFone AR comes with a high-resolution, high-contrast, and large display, which is perfect for running VR applications using the Daydream View headset.
The smartphone sports a large 5.7-inch WQHD display with 1,440 x 2,560 resolution. The high-quality display presents clear images that are further enhanced by the 3D effect of the screen.
Hardware support for AR and VR applications
To give an ultimate AR and VR experience to users, the Asus handset is equipped with top-of-the-line hardware components.
Regarding processor, the smartphone comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 couple with Adreno 530 GPU. The Snapdragon SoC was specially made for supporting augmented reality operations while the Adreno GPU is responsible for delivering high-quality graphical performance.
The Verizon-exclusive smartphone also features advanced Hi-Res Audio and DTS Virtual Surround Sound.
In support for the rich VR and AR experiences the Asus smartphone will render, the new audio configurations come with DTS virtual surround sound and high-resolution audio.
Availability and pricing
The new ZenFone AR will come with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of onboard storage. The newly-launched smartphone would be a Verizon exclusive and will be available in the United States in 2017. However, Asus is yet to detail the pricing of the smartphone and consumers would be hoping that the company spills the beans soon.
