Google is cutting the cost of its Project Tango depth-sensing tablets in half

Despite Project Tango’s cloudy future, Google continues to push the 3D depth-sensing tech to developers. The latest pitch is a 50 percent discount off its pricey $512 tablet development kit.

The deal, effective “in the coming weeks,” Google said, follows the company’s $20,000 contest that tasked developers with creating “unique augmented reality (AR) experiences” for Tango devices. The winning submissions require a Project Tango device to work, but you can get a taste of the ideas here (and here).

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Google told us it doesn’t have a set duration for the discount, but the company apparently has “a limited, but sizable number of promotional codes. We haven’t finalized the exact number yet,” a spokesperson told us.

So, if you’ve considered buying a Tango development kit recently, your best bet is to wait until Google releases the discount codes.

Project Tango’s future remains unclear: Google originally aimed to launch a “consumer-scale” Project Tango device with LG in 2015. Then in January, the company spun Tango out of its Advanced Technology and Projects group without sharing much information on the initiative’s next steps.

When asked if the discount was designed to get rid of developer units ahead of a new release, a spokesperson replied, “This is very much to get kits in the hands of developers and shore up the ecosystem. We still don’t have a timetable on consumer-ready units.”

Google said it will drop the discount codes here by the end of the month.