Smartphones Features
News: Snap's Acquisition of 3D Mapping Startup Signals Move to Build AR Cloud
The concept of Metaverse, otherwise referred to as AR cloud, where a digital twin of the real world filled with virtual content anchored persistently for all to see, has been a sci-fi dream of futurists for years and an aim for most tech companies who are serious about AR.
Roundup: The 5 Best Capacitive Gloves for Using Your Smartphone in the Cold
For some of us, winter puts the brakes on apps like Pokémon GO since smartphone screens usually only respond to bare fingers. Nobody wants to be that guy who caught frostbite chasing a Sneasel. When you use normal gloves, the display's sensor simple doesn't activate, so that doesn't help any. Fortunately, several options for touchscreen-friendly capacitive gloves are on the market to help you through this last blast of winter.
Hands-On: Spotify Premium on Magic Leap One Is Futuristic, But Not Quite the iPod of AR
Back when I worked in the music industry, I never imagined there would be a day that I'd be able to sit in a room surrounded by virtual album covers while listening to beats, but that day is really here.
News: Lenovo Expands Mirage AR Headset Beyond Star Wars with Marvel's Dimension of Heroes
Move over, Star Wars. You're not the only Disney property that can play in the Lenovo Mirage AR headset anymore.
News: Magic Lines Works to Restore Mobility to Parkinson's and Dementia Patients Through AR on Magic Leap & HoloLens
Parkinson's disease, a condition that can impair movement and coordination, affects over 10 million people worldwide. And with around 60,000 Americans being diagnosed every year, we're on track to see almost one million Parkinson's afflicted Americans by 2020.
How To: Disable Instagram's Creepy Activity Status Feature
Instagram updated its iOS and Android apps recently with an "Activity Status" indicator. This status allows your friends to see when you are currently active and when you were last active on Instagram. The problem is, Instagram was pretty quiet about this update, so many of you have it enabled without realizing it. Fortunately, it's simple to turn off.
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.
Have You Seen This?: Synesthesia Adds Trippy Sound Visualization to the HoloLens
If anyone has every told you that they see music they listen to, they have synesthesia. It's a fascinating neurological phenomenon where people experience crossed responses to stimuli, and no one knows exactly how common this is. A rough estimate claims that one in every 5,000 to 100,000 people is a synesthete, but it could be far more common or rare. Nobody really knows.
Apple AR: Real World Objects Disappear Thanks to Textures and ARKit
When we think of augmented reality, we usually think of it as adding things to our reality. A new demo has shown that using Apple's ARKit, we can not only add to reality but subtract from reality as well.
News: Former Meta Exec Launches DreamGlass AR Headset, Shipping at End of June for $399
Just a year after facing trade secret theft allegations from his former employer, ex-Meta Company employee Kevin Zhong and his new company are ready to ship the product that triggered the lawsuit.
News: Siemens Adds Augmented Reality Visualization to Its 3D Industrial Design Software
It's no secret that the enterprise sector is hot for augmented reality, but the move into the enterprise AR software market by one of the biggest names in industrial engineering announces the technology's arrival loud and clear.
News: Scandy Gives Tango Owners a Taste of 3D Scanning
Mobile 3D scanning company Scandy has released a new app for devices on Google's Tango mobile AR platform that gives users the advanced 3D scanning capabilities.
News: Intel Opens AR Portal to Smithsonian's Burning Man Exhibit via Snapchat
Burning Man 2018 is underway, but Intel and the Smithsonian American Art Museum are giving those not in attendance the ability to view the art from the event through Snapchat.
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.
News: Doctors Use 3D Holograms on the HoloLens to Aid in Collarbone Repair During Surgery
Late last year, two surgeons from the Instituto de Ortopedia e Traumatologia de Jaraguá do Sul in Brazil started using a combination of 3D printing and the Microsoft HoloLens to help plan spinal surgeries. And now, with the rest of their team, they've successfully performed a surgical procedure on their first international patient using their 3D impression planning and augmented reality process.
How To: Listen to FM radio on your Motorola Q cell phone
Access your favorite FM radio station with your Motorola Q! This tutorial also shows you how to load your favorite music onto your cell phone, and then choose segments to turn into ringtones, which you can personalize further by assigning them to individual callers.
How To: Find a Friend's TikTok in Seconds & Share Your Own with TikCodes
Like other popular social media apps, TikTok features a tagging system — dubbed TikCode — to follow people in your immediate vicinity. Instead of searching for their username, you can scan their TikCode, and TikTok will launch their page immediately. Of course, you have a TikCode of your own, so you can share yours with others in the same way.
News: Golfshot Mobile App Chips in AR Mode for Measuring Shots on the Course
Although some look to golf for some quick off-the-grid time, the scenic hills and blue skies of your local putting green are not immune from the ever-expanding reach of augmented reality. A new update to the Golfshot mobile app brings new AR features to iPhones and iPads designed to help golfers determine shot distances during course play.
News: Snapchat Showcases Its Creative Chops at Cannes Lion with Marker Tracking & Landmarker AR Lens
One of the most prestigious annual events for the advertising industry, the Cannes Lions is the ideal backdrop for Snapchat to show the brands and agencies in attendance what it's got.
News: NBA Update Delivers Live Games & Player Comparison Stats in Magic Leap App
It's a magical time of year for basketball fans, with the NCAA Tournament in full swing and NBA frontrunners in the midst of their push to clinch spots in the playoffs.
News: Artists Transform Brooklyn Light Installation into Instagram AR Filter That Doubles as Dimensional Portal
What if you went to an art installation at one of the coolest venues in New York that you could then take with you anywhere in the world?
News: Microsoft Emerges from the Trenches with More Details Behind the Army Edition of HoloLens 2
When we got our first look at US Army soldiers testing Microsoft's modified HoloLens 2 last year, it still looked very much like the commercial edition, with some additional sensors attached.
News: Renault Uses Shazam AR to Harness the Latest Star Wars Movie Hype
French automaker Renault is tapping into the promotional machine for Solo: A Star Wars Movie by deploying an AR experience through Shazam that's triggered via synergistic advertising.
News: This Is How Big Business, Cities & Native American Tribes Are Leveraging the Power of AR via DAQRI Headsets
While the mainstream consumer market waits for cool augmented glasses to arrive from Magic Leap, or maybe even Snap Inc. (Spectacles 2.0??), AR headset maker DAQRI and its business customers are finding new, money-saving and time-saving use cases for the technology today.
News: Tech Toothbrush from Samsung Incubator Graduate Uses AR to Help Kids Improve Brushing Habits
Kitten Planet, a spin-off company that grew up in Samsung's C-Lab incubator, has developed a connected toothbrush that teaches and motivates children to brush their teeth better via augmented reality while tracking their performance.
How To: It's Surprisingly Simple to Stop YouTube from Saving Your Search History
Sure, your search history can be useful, but more often than not, it's a paper trail of privacy infringement. It's perfectly reasonable not to want to see a complete list of your YouTube queries every single time you search for a new video. Luckily, blocking YouTube from saving your search history takes only a few taps.
News: China's Vivo Unveils Time-of-Flight 3D Sensor That Rivals iPhone X's TrueDepth Camera
The spirit of Google's Tango augmented reality platform lives on at Vivo, a China-based company that has developed its own 3D sensor for mobile devices.
News: Microsoft Mixed Reality Developer Shows Off the Full Power of Hand Tracking & Occlusion via the HoloLens 2
The experience of actually using the HoloLens 2 can be difficult to describe to anyone who hasn't had a chance to directly interact with the device in person and be blown away by its immersive capabilities.
How To: Install a custom ROM on an HTC Hero Google Android smartphone
Unlock your Hero's hidden potential by running a custom ROM on it! Loading custom ROMs lets you do fun things with your Hero like overclocking it, and even turning it into a wireless hotspot with WiFI tethering. For all of the details, and to learn how to put a custom ROM on your own HTC Hero, take a look.
How To: Skip Intros on YouTube in Just a Couple Taps
Binging on YouTube these days can be just as fulfilling as Netflix or Hulu, but sometimes you just need to skim through a video. Whether you want to skip over a long-winded intro or you want to show your friend the best part in the middle, YouTube has a great gesture for you.
How To: Get Cheaper Uber Rides with Promo Codes & Coupons
Uber is one of the best ways to get around, but nobody said it was cheap. What's even more infuriating is when you have a bad experience with a ride. Sure, you can get a refund, but then you need to figure out where to enter in the promo code for the coupon that Uber sends your way.
News: Blippar Brings App-Free Augmented Reality to Web Display Ads
Mobile augmented reality developer Blippar has escalated the augmented reality advertising arms race, introducing a new rich media ad format that enables augmented reality experiences without a dedicated app.
News: Burberry Teams with Google Search to Let You Browse High Fashion in Augmented Reality
Just days ago, Georgio Armani canceled his live show in Milan and opted to stream it instead due to coronavirus concerns. Now, at the start of Paris Fashion Week — shadowed by similar worries — Burberry has launched an augmented reality tool that lets you view the latest high fashion from the comfort of your home.
News: Marina Abramovic's Volumetric Art Piece Heads for Christie's Auction Block After Debut in Magic Leap
Some people believe that art makes artists immortal, and now one of the best known performance artists on the planet is working on taking that immortality into the realm of augmented reality.
News: Snapchat Takes a Trip to the Amusement Park with AR for Disney, Universal, & Six Flags
As if riding roller coasters and meeting your favorite childhood cartoon characters weren't amusing enough, Snapchat is amping up the fun with augmented reality at the world's leading amusements parks in the this summer.
News: Apple $45 Million Corning Investment Shores Up iPhone Display Supply, Opens Up Investment AR Innovation
After awarding $410 million to the company that supplies it with VCSELs and LiDAR sensors, Apple has made another strategic investment into a company that may contribute to future augmented reality hardware innovations.
How To: Install Frash on an iPhone 4 or iPad and view Flash media on your device
One of the biggest problems with the iPhone 4, iPad, and iPod Touches is that they don't have any native support for Flash, which is the language of choice for much online media. Fortunately, there's an App for that now too called Frash that will allow you to run Flash on your iDevice. This video will show you how to get it, install it, and start really experiencing the web on your iDevice.
News: YouCam Unleashes Halloween Makeup Try-On Filters Sourced from Social Media Users
It takes confidence and guts to pull off attractive and yet adequately frightening Halloween makeup as an adult.
News: Zoom Unveils Immersive Feature That Puts Multiple People in a Single Virtual Room
The era of virtual meetings has been evolving every few months, with augmented reality filters leading the charge in changing the way we interact when chatting via video streams.
How To: Update the firmware on the Nokia N900
In this tutorial, we learn how to update the firmware on the Nokia N900. To start, go to your app manager on your phone and make sure the battery is fully charged. Next, click on the "updates" button and wait for your phone to load and search for updates. When it's finished, the updates for the phone will appear. Click on them to download and install them to your phone. You will have the option to backup your data, you can do this if you choose, but you don't have to. When finished, your phon...