Smartphones Features
Spotify 101: How to Improve Sound Quality for Streaming & Downloaded Music
Spotify's massive song catalog can be streamed in decent quality on iPhone or Android without any tinkering. But if you're an audiophile, you've probably noticed that the sound quality can fluctuate from time to time.
News: Why Projector Phones Still Aren't Ready for Prime Time After Almost a Decade
For almost a decade, projector phones have tried to entice consumers with their convenience as media machines. While these devices are alluring, they've never really taken off with mainstream success. The latest effort, Moviphone, sounds tempting if you watch a lot of films and TV on your smartphone, but is it good enough to be your daily driver?
How To: Change FPS in Filmic Pro to Shoot & Play Frame Rates from Standard Cinematic to Super Slow-Mo
The days of bad smartphone videos are long gone. Your iPhone or Android phone is a capable video recorder, even offering different frame rate options in the native camera settings. Filmic Pro makes things a little simpler, however, and adds additional controls you wouldn't find on your device alone.
How To: Root a Samsung Epic 4G Google Android smartphone
In this clip, you'll learn how to gain root access on a Samsung Epic 4G mobile phone. Whether you're the proud owner of a Sprint Samsung Epic 4G Google Android smartphone or are merely considering picking one up, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including a complete demonstration of the rooting process and detailed, step-by-step instructions, and to get started rooting and running custom ROMs on your own Samsung Epic cell phone, take a look.
News: This Is the Best Swype Alternative for iPhone & Android
We regret to inform you the former king of third-party keyboards, Swype, has officially retired on both Android and iOS. A few weeks ago, we noticed Swype's mysterious disappearance from the iOS App Store but had hoped it was just pulled temporarily, not gone forever. Unfortunately, Swype is no more, but there's something that's ready to take its place for you on your phone.
HoloLens Dev 101: How to Get Started with Unity's New Video Player
The release of Unity 5.6 brought with it several great enhancements. One of those enhancements is the new Video Player component. This addition allows for adding videos to your scenes quickly and with plenty of flexibility. Whether you are looking to simply add a video to a plane, or get creative and build a world layered with videos on 3D objects, Unity 5.6 has your back.
How To: Scan Your Surroundings with Google Maps Live View to Calibrate Your Location
Google Maps Live View is already one of the more useful examples of augmented reality on smartphones that is available to the average consumer today.
News: US Army Outfits Soldiers with Augmented Reality Headsets
Modern warfare takes on a more literal translation with the advent of new augmented reality displays revealed recently by the US Army to improve soldiers' situational awareness on the battlefield.
How To: Fast scroll on your Android
This video in the Electronics category will show you how to fast scroll on your Android. Let’s assume you have a lot of contacts and out of them you want to find one in a hurry and you have only one hand free. Instead of scrolling down the entire contact list with your thumb, you can press the scroll thumb called the fast scroll feature, jump down to the letter of your choice and then find it in that. When you are travelling in a new place, bring up the maps, choose ‘my location’ and you will...
How To: Find your Blackberry Messenger PIN
One of the coolest features on a Blackberry is BBM or Blackberry Messenger. BBM allows you to talk to anyone with a Blackberry, anywhere in the world, absolutely free! You can send messages back and forth and you phone will even keep a record of the conversation in case you need to reference something later.
Apple AR: Occipital's ARKit App Offers Room Scanning on Par with Tango for iPhones
In off-record discussions with AR experts, the consensus on ARKit is that it takes a software approach to the depth-sensors available on Tango devices. As a result, the toolkit has shortcomings, such as detecting walls and vertical surfaces.
How To: Share Albums in Google Photos
There's a feature in Google's Photos app for Android, iOS, and the web that lets you create shared albums with your friends and family. It's really a useful feature that makes it fun and easy to collaborate on an album with a person or persons of your choosing.
How To: Reset a Blackberry and erase all information
Before you sell your Blackberry on eBay you may want to erase all personal data on the device. This video will show you exactly how to reset your Blackberry and erase all personal information.
How To: Download the Real Wordle Game on Your Phone for Years of Free Offline Gameplay
The hottest word game right now is Wordle, a simple game that gives you six chances to guess the five-letter word of the day. I've already shown how you can add the real Wordle app — not a fake clone — to your iPhone or Android phone's home screen. But there's also a way to save Wordle for offline gameplay for years to come.
How To: Get Back Your Watch List for HBO Max — Before or After Upgrading from HBO Now or HBO Go
As of May 27, HBO Max is taking over your HBO Now or HBO Go account. If you have your devices set up to auto-install new app updates, you should pause it right now if your HBO app hasn't been updated yet. There's one thing you'll want to do before you make the leap. However, you're not out of luck if you already upgraded.
News: How Virtual & Mixed Reality Trick Your Brain
Our brains do a magnificent amount of work to process visual stimuli, but they aren't difficult to fool. Optical illusions can trick our minds into believing what we're seeing is real, even if it's not—and virtual and mixed reality technologies take advantage of this little loophole in our brain to help us accept the unreal.
How To: Reduce Eye Strain When Using Smartphones
The smartphone has become one of the basic reasons for sore eyes. If you are addicted to your beloved smartphone, there is a fair possibility that your eyes will be paying off its expensive price. If you use your smartphone, tablet, laptop or any other similar gadget consistently, you may experience tired, dried, itchy eyes and also severe headache. Your vision can also become blurred by the time, which it means it is affecting your eyesight. However, you can lower down your eye strain by mak...
News: This Atari 3D Sneaker NFT Auction Is Using Snapchat to Let You Try Before You Buy on the Blockchain
When you're talking about collectibles, in 2021 it's heresy not to include the world of sneakerheads. Nowadays, a single, limited batch of newly designed sneakers from Nike can quickly sell out and then go on to be resold for many thousands more than they were purchased for at launch.
News: The Future of Augmented Reality & Blockchain Technology
If there is a major blind spot in the AR space in 2019, it's the impact that blockchain technology will eventually have on the software distributed in AR clouds.
How To: Follow Businesses on Google Maps to Stay Updated on Events & News for Your Favorite Spots
When you need to know how to get somewhere, Google Maps is the app to beat, but the king of navigation doesn't want to stop there. Google aims to make its navigation app for more than just directions, as made clear by its recent feature that lets you follow businesses in the app. Combining timely news and events posted by local businesses with real-time transit seems like the perfect match.
How To: Lock OneDrive Files with Your Fingerprint or Face ID
If you're concerned about someone accessing your OneDrive files, you may want to upgrade your protection by enabling fingerprint or Face ID unlocking. Your sensitive information deserves to be protected, and now you can do so easily. Worry no longer — if you need to let someone else use your phone, with a password-protected OneDrive, sneaky file grabbers will be out of luck.
News: Jack in the Box Partners with Paramount to Promote 'Sonic the Hedgehog' Movie with Snapchat AR
There might not be a better brand partnership for the speedy Sonic the Hedgehog character than a fast-food restaurant. For that matter, augmented reality is also the ideal technology for promoting a movie that features an animated talking rodent living life in the real world.
News: Apple's Third Generation of Animoji Adds Memoji Customization & Stickers to Messages
Apple is giving iPhone owners even more options to express themselves via Animojis with a wide range of customization options for their personal Memojis.
How To: Use Incognito Mode in Google Maps to Keep Your Search & Location History Private
Google just recently added an incognito mode feature to Google Maps for iPhone and Android. With that, you can now use Maps in private at any time, which means you can browse and search with peace of mind.
Kodi 101: How to Change the Default Skin for a Fresh New Theme
When you first use Kodi, it can be intimidating. The main menu has numerous options for the various types of media Kodi can play back, and the settings menu has a broad array of tools to customize Kodi to your needs. After poking around in theses menus, you might realize that you don't like the default look. But whether it's the color, font, layout, or just the general theme, Kodi skins can change it all.
News: ThirdEye Gen X2 Smartglasses Take Aim at Military Applications with AR-Enhanced Weapons Sight
Following on the heels of the announcement that ThirdEye's Gen X2 MR glasses began shipping in September, ThirdEye has revealed it has developed an app that helps soldiers aim their weapons during battle situations.
How To: Create a Station on SoundCloud to Discover New Artists & Songs
In the SoundCloud app, when you find an awesome song, you can build off of it by creating one killer music station that will give you like-minded songs you might not have ever discovered otherwise. And finding cool new songs and artists isn't the only reason to create a SoundCloud station — it's a great opportunity to set the tone of your workday or your party without ever worrying about the music ending.
How To: Find & Use Yelp Deals on Your Phone to Save Money When Dining Out, Shopping & More
Newer businesses, or older businesses looking for more traffic and sales, often offer enticing deals to attract customers. On Yelp, any business has the option to provide a deal to users, which is essentially a Groupon-like coupon. But how do you find these deals in the Yelp app for Android or iOS?
News: Snap Releases Lens Studio 4.0 with 3D Body Mesh & More, Upgrades Scan as Fashion Assistant
Throughout Thursday's virtual Snap Partner Summit, Snapchat's parent company made a profound statement: If you use Snapchat, you're a creator.
News: WayRay's Auto Techno Video Will Make You Want to Add AR to Your Driving Experience
When it comes to marketing, sexy sells, a point that has been lost on most augmented reality hardware makers focused mostly on the geek space. But a new promotional spot from AR-in-the-car accessory maker WayRay indicates that AR companies are beginning to see the virtual sizzle reel light.
News: Holocaust Museum Preserves Memory of Victims & Survivors via Augmented Reality
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but augmented reality is giving the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum the ability to add a few more poignant real words to its exhibits.
News: Facebook's New Messenger Kids Aims to Lock in Young AR Users, Give Parents More Control
Next to millennials, one of the groups most coveted by brand marketers is "Generation Z," the consumers of tomorrow who were born between 1996 and 2010. On Monday, Facebook established a beachhead with that demographic in the realm of augmented reality by launching Facebook Messenger Kids.
How To: Install a custom ROM on a Motorola Droid Google Android smartphone
Learn how to load a custom ROM onto a rooted Motorola Droid Google Android smartphone! Custom ROMs help you to unlock your phone's hidden potential and allow you to, among other things, turn your mobile phone into a 3G wireless modem with free WiFi tethering. For all of the details, and to get started running custom ROMs on your own rooted Droid, watch this three-minute hacker's how-to.
How To: Turn on and use text expansion with the Shortcuts feature in iOS 5
iOS 5 introduces an incredible feature that isn't very well known called "Shortcuts." It allows you to use automatic text expansion for whatever abbreviations you want. This is a great way to type several letters into your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and have them immediately expand into whatever phrase you want. Find out how to configure text expansion in this guide.
News: Former Google Augmented Reality Engineering Lead Takes Over Facebook's Portal Hardware Team
It looks like Facebook really likes Google's augmented reality leadership talent, as the social media giant has hired away another employee from the AR and VR team at Mountain View to lead its team for a product that brings Facebook's AR platform into homes.
How To: Pre-install new iOS 4 to your iPhone or iPod Touch
In this clip, learn how to install OS 4 on your iPhone or iPod Touch before it is released to the public. This is not the final Apple approved version, so you will be missing some small things like wallpapers and iBooks but you should still have plenty to play around with while you wait for its official release!
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: What Is All This Stuff About Augmented Reality? A Primer for the New Enthusiast
We are in a pretty major technology boom at the moment. One that will likely make the industrial revolution look tiny. And one of these technologies that are building up to lead the way is something called augmented reality.
How To: Make an international telephone call
Making international calls have always been tricky and confusing. There's access codes, different digit formats, and unsupportive telephone operators. But in all actuality, making an worldwide phone call is relatively simple, but there are some numbers that you need to know. The access code, country code, city codes, and the telephone number. Once you have this down, you'll have more successful connections abroad.
How To: Remove the password on an iPhone or iPod Touch
Getting through the iPhone's 4-digit passcode may seem almost impossible, but it is actually quite easy. Permanently remove any passcode with this simple trick. But beware: everything else will be lost on the device as well! This will let you unlock someones password on an ipod or iphone touch.