News: Google & Red Bull TV Premier 'The Last Ascent' with Synced AR Experience That Puts Nature in Your Home
In recent weeks, Google managed to capitalize on the hype surrounding the Star Wars streaming series The Mandalorian with an AR app that was not only exclusive to Android but also available only for 5G-equipped devices.
How To: How Autoplay Works for Apple Music on iOS & Android
No matter how expertly crafted a playlist is or how long your favorite album runs, they all come to an end eventually. And nothing quite kills the vibe like your DJ suddenly running out of steam. But a feature in Apple Music for iOS and Android will continue playing songs after an album or playlist is over, choosing tracks that fit perfectly with what you were just listening to.
How To: Check This Setting if You Don't Want Your Friends to See What You're Listening to on Apple Music
You shouldn't care what other people think, but sometimes, it's unavoidable. Take your music tastes, for instance. Sure, you might want your friends to think you only listen to the coolest songs, but we all have our guilty pleasures. If you're uncomfortable with your peers seeing your listening history in Apple Music, know there's something you can do about it — on iOS or Android.
News: Snap Simplifies Lens Studio with 'No-Code AR' Tools & New Templates, Invests $3.5 Million in AR Development
At the opening of its virtual Lens Fest, taking place Dec. 8-10 and open to the public, Snap is furthering its facilitation of AR development with new tools for Lens Studio version 3.3 and a planned investment into its AR creator community.
News: Next Reality's 2020 Holiday Gift Guide: Augmented Reality Hardware, Gaming, Wearables & More
We're still awaiting the arrival of consumer-grade AR smartglasses from the likes of Apple and Facebook. But that doesn't mean there aren't AR products out there to try this holiday season.
News: Snap Showcases Storytelling Power of Spectacles 3 Wearable with Film by LA Artist Lauren Halsey
The latest generation of Spectacles aren't AR smartglasses per se, but Snap is intent on demonstrating that the wearables are capable of storytelling powered by augmented reality.
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News: How You Can Put Street Art Legend KAWS & Even That Mysterious Alien Utah Monolith in Your Own Home via AR
Sure, you could leave a random monolith in Utah and get some notoriety for your street art. Or, you can let others put your art anywhere they'd like with augmented reality so they can appreciate it where they are.
How To: Set Custom Wallpapers for Individual WhatsApp Chats So That Each Thread Has Its Own Look
One of WhatsApp's best features is being able to change the default wallpaper for all chats. There's no reason to stick to the default WhatsApp backgrounds when you can be texting over an image of literally anything. In a newer WhatsApp update, you can go a step beyond that by setting custom wallpapers for individual chats, personalizing every text thread you have.
How To: Separate Vocals & Instrument Tracks from Your Favorite Songs — Right from Your Phone
Adobe Audition, Audacity, and other audio editing software have tools to isolate vocals and instruments in regular songs so that you can get an instrumental track for karaoke, vocals for an a capella version, or solo drums, bass, keys, etc. that you can use to learn the song yourself. The software is mostly for desktop computers, and it doesn't always do a good job, but that's where Moises comes in.
News: Next Reality Snap Spectacles 3 Holiday Giveaway!
Next Reality is where we help you literally 'see' into the future of augmented reality, and to help with that mission we're offering three free pairs of Snap Spectacles 3 to three lucky readers who sign up for the Next Reality daily AR email newsletter.
How To: Pick Different Chat Wallpapers for WhatsApp's Light & Dark Modes for Even More Control Over Your Theme
If you're like me, you enjoy using your phone's dark theme at night and light theme during the day. When switching from dark to light and vice versa, many of the UI elements in supported apps adjust accordingly, but you have no control over what does and doesn't change. WhatsApp, on the other hand, does give you some granular control by letting you pick a chat wallpaper for each theme.
News: Varjo Follows in Apple's Footsteps with LiDAR Depth Tracking in XR-3 Headset
Apple no longer has an exclusive province to LiDAR for the purposes of augmented reality. This week, headset maker Varjo unveiled its new VR-3 and XR-3 headsets, the latter of which includes LiDAR sensors and stereo RGB cameras to enable depth sensing and inside-out tracking of real-world environments for "pass-through" mixed reality experiences.
News: Looking Glass Responds to Sony's Holographic Display with Consumer-Friendly Looking Glass Portrait
In response to Sony unveiling its own holographic display back in October, Looking Glass Factory CEO Shawn Frayne quickly penned a letter welcoming the electronics mainstay to the field, with a post-script teasing the reveal of their own for December of 2020.
News: Universal Studios Japan Powers Up Mario Kart Ride at Super Nintendo World with AR Headsets
Next year, fans of Mario Kart will be able to experience the game in real life with the assistance of augmented reality.
News: Dreamworks Delivers A Furry AR Selfie Lens on Snapchat for Release of 'The Croods: A New Age'
The movie theater business is hurting due to the pandemic, but that hurdle is actually the perfect set of circumstances for movie studios to lean hard into augmented reality marketing.
News: Snapchat's Spotlight Confirms That the TikTok, Instagram Social Media War Is On — And AR Is the Next Battlefront
In the realm of social media, all roads lead to one destination: cracking the code of continuous partial attention dopamine hits. We learned this back in the days of Vine, before Twitter foolishly killed it. And I pointed my lens at the emerging trend back in 2016 when I highlighted Musical.ly for Mashable, just before it was snapped up by China's Bytedance for $1 billion and merged into what is now TikTok.
Opinion: Why Facebook Forcing Instagram AR Filters into a Unified Platform Is Bad for Our Smartglasses Future
Quietly, while the rest of the world was engaged in pandemic and political concerns, a few weeks ago Facebook casually upgraded its Spark AR platform with what it calls Unified Effect Publishing.
News: Google Gifts 5G Android Smartphones with 'The Mandalorian' AR App
With the new season of The Mandalorian underway, Google has launched a new AR app that enables some Star Wars fans to connect with virtual characters in between new episodes.
News: HBO Rolls Out 'His Dark Materials' AR Experience To Bring Characters to the Real World
In this year of everything going virtual and remote, it makes even more sense now that Hollywood is leaning heavily on augmented reality. In this case, it's HBO using AR to promote its highly-acclaimed original programming.
News: Nintendo Crafts AR Content for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
The Animal Crossing series has been a big hit for Nintendo, so in a bid to enhance the experience even more for users, the game is getting the augmented reality treatment.
News: Snoop Dogg's Cali Red Wine Pours Another Glass of AR via 8th Wall's WebAR
When Treasury Wine Estates released 19 Crimes Snoop Cali Red this summer, named for its new partner in wine, rapper Snoop Dogg, it already came with the brand's signature AR-enhanced label.
How To: Pre-Register for a Plex Account Through the New Google Pay App
Not only has Google released a completely new Google Pay app for US users on both iPhone and Android, but the've also minted a new mobile banking service. Called Plex, it provides online bank accounts at one of 11 partner banks and credit unions, with no minimum balance requirements, overdraft charges, or monthly fees.
News: Amazon's New Augmented Reality App Highlights Dog Reality Stars from Prime Video Series 'The Pack'
Amazon has joined the ranks of film and TV studios using the power of augmented reality to engage fans looking to go behind passive screen viewing.
News: Manscaped's Brand Hype Grows into Augmented Reality via Snapchat Lens
If you're a man and subscribe to podcasts or YouTube channels that cater to masculine interests, then you've almost certainly encountered sponsorships from Manscaped. And that means I don't have to explain what the company is selling you (for the uninitiated, it's a company dedicated to helping you trim your body hair—most notably, your nether regions, in addition to other areas).
News: China Wireless Giant Oppo Debuts Mainstream-Friendly Smartphone-Tethered AR Smartglasses & Cloud App
One of China's largest smartphone makers, Oppo, just took the wraps off its new design for augmented reality smartglasses called AR Glass 2021.
How To: Use Facebook Messenger's Hidden 'Vanish Mode' for Disappearing Messages Whenever You Want
Saving a chat's history is useful for finding valuable information later on or just reliving a favorite conversation from the past. Sometimes, however, it's good to delete chat threads, and it's even better to have them auto-delete right after you see new messages. While some apps have had disappearing messages for some time (e.g. Snapchat), Facebook Messenger now has it too with "Vanish Mode."
News: True Crime Reality TV Comes to Augmented Reality for Apple iPhone via CrimeDoor
The true crime genre has long been popular on television and more recently on podcasts with shows like Serial.
News: He Needed Smartglasses, So He Made a Pair — And You Can, Too
Last year this guy made his own smartwatch from scratch, so in 2020, naturally, he decided to give making smartglasses a try. And it worked!
News: Cadillac Shows Off Augmented Reality in 2021 Escalade
What was edge automobile technology just a few years ago is now clearly mainstream, as Cadillac just demonstrated via its new 2021 Escalade.
News: What Snap's Voca.ai Acquisition Could Mean for Snapchat & Spectacles — Virtual Voice Assistants Meet Augmented Reality
What does it mean when a software company obsessively focused on innovating the way we use our mobile devices to see and communicate with the world adds virtual voice agents? Possibly e-commerce magic, with a powerful layer of augmented reality.
How To: Quickly View Every Link You've Ever Opened on Your Instagram Account
Instagram isn't as link-friendly as other social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Still, when you do find and open a link, whether it's for a petition or a product, you may want to find it again later. That's why Instagram keeps track of every link you've ever opened. That way, if you ever need to revisit a webpage, you don't have to find the original post or account from last time.
How To: See What Traffic Is Usually Like Between Any 2 Addresses
If you're in the market for a new house, how do you know what your commute would be like if current traffic is unseasonably low? Or if you're considering a new job across town and want to weigh the pay raise against the extra time stuck in a gridlock, how do you measure the discrepancy? Google Maps can help.
How To: Send & Receive Disappearing Messages in Your WhatsApp Conversations to Keep Chats Clutter-Free
Sometimes, keeping every message comes in handy. Maybe you want to relive fun conversations from months or years ago, or perhaps you need to recall a piece of data such as an address, name, or link. However, not all chats need to stick around forever. Whether you're concerned about privacy or just keeping your threads clutter-free, WhatsApp's "disappearing messages" may be what you're looking for.
How To: Child-Proof Your Logitech Harmony Remote
They say you're supposed to keep your kids away from screens until they're at least three years old. They say a lot of stuff, but then real life happens and your toddler watches a little TV while you're working from home during a pandemic.
How To: Need More Time on a Work Assignment or School Project? Corrupt Your Files to Extend Your Deadline Without Question
You have an assignment due, whether it's homework for school or a project for work, but you've only got a few hours left. There's no way you're going to finish in time and do a good job, and you don't want to turn in anything incomplete or half-assed. While it may seem you're out of luck, there's a simple way to buy yourself more time.
How To: The Best Way to Avoid the New AR Mapping Tasks in Pokémon GO
Niantic recently added a new Field Research task type called AR Mapping that challenges players to capture video footage of PokéStop landmarks and upload them. In return, players receive rewards in the form of in-game items.
How To: What the New AR Mapping Task in Pokémon GO Means for the Future of Augmented Reality Gaming
This week, developer Niantic began rolling out a new feature called AR Mapping to Pokémon GO that has bigger implications on the realism of augmented reality in mobile gaming and beyond.
How To: Get Daily Reminders to Stop Using Instagram So Damn Much
Instagram is addicting — and that's done on purpose. To stop your Instagram habits, your smartphone likely has a built-in feature to curb the daily usage of a particular app, like Apple's Screen Time for iOS and Google's Digital Wellbeing for Android. But you don't need to mess with those complicated settings when Instagram itself can help you get some of your life back.
How To: Use Google Assistant to Quickly Post to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat & TikTok
When it comes to posting to social media from your smartphone, the process is typically the same. Find the app. Open the app. Tap the app's version of the compose button.
How To: Ditch the Blue Arrow & Get a Custom Navigation Icon in Google Maps
For the most part, new features for Google Maps, such as Live View augmented reality walking navigation, come to Android first.