The illusive Project Tablet was a pretty expensive affair for developers that wanted to try out one of the kits made available by Google for more than $1000.

But that changed this week when the search giant announced during its Google I/O conference that the price for Tango kits has been slashed to $512 (no invite required).

Still, that wasn't enough because few would want to carry around a 7-inch tablet with three cameras attached on it, for which it paid the amount mentioned earlier.

This is probably one of the reasons that made Google try to fit the technology in Project Tango in a smaller chassis. And what company would do that better than one specialized in making smartphone chips.

Google and Qualcomm have just announced they have teamed up for the Project Tango smartphone. This will allow Google to put this technology in Qualcomm's smartphone reference design.

The Project Tango tablet kits that Google is selling now include a slate equipped with a powerful Tegra K1 processor, which is complemented by no less than 4GB of RAM. The tablet features a range of sensors (cameras) that can see the environment around the slate in 3D.
The future is now

The hardware specifications of the Tango phone haven't been unveiled yet, but we do know that it will be equipped with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor.

For those that have no idea what Project Tango devices can do, here is a short recap. These high-end devices combine the camera, gyroscope, and accelerometer to estimate six degree of freedom motion tracking.

This in turn provides developers with the ability to track 3D motion of a device while simultaneously creating a map of the environment.

In case you're wondering what's the use of such a device, then you should know that thanks to this capability applications such as real-world 3D gaming, indoor navigation, and virtual and augmented reality experiences are easier to make and improve.

According to Qualcomm, the Tango phone will be available to developers sometime this summer for a price that will be announced closer to release.