Lenovo smartphone tackles home remodeling as a market

Lenovo will sell an advanced smartphone this September with depth and motion tracking cameras that could make remodeling a home much easier for consumers.

The $499 phone, called the Phab2 Pro, highlights the challenge Android smartphone makers have in differentiating their products from rivals using Google’s Android operating system as well as Apple’s popular iPhones.

Lenovo’s new device uses technology from Google called Tango that allows users to map out and measure areas of their home using the phone’s cameras.

[...] users can see a 3D version of their room on their phone’s screen and place virtual furniture to see how it looks.

During the event, Lenovo executives also talked about the possibility of even more futuristic phones, including ones that could one day wrap around a user's wrist like a bracelet.

Analysts say the splashy announcement could help Lenovo attract more consumers in the U.S. to their smartphones, where it has a relatively small share of the market.

Lenovo is billing this phone as a “flagship” device and has been working with Google on building the device since January 2015.

Besides home remodels, Tango technology could be put into other uses, helping the blind navigate their way through an area through Tango’s 3D mapping technology, or helping guide robots to deliver items in the future, analysts said.

Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs, said he believes devices like the Phab2 Pro will make it easier for customers to visualize their remodeling efforts.