Smartphones Features
News: Apple & Snapchat Use AR to Let You Travel on the New York Subway System via Apple Pay
Many years ago, when I first traveled to Tokyo, Japan, I was amazed by the contactless IC card turnstiles embedded in the county's subway system.
Apple AR: PuzzlAR Dazzles with Interface & Gameplay Designed for AR
Last week, I tried out StackAR, a puzzle app updated to support ARKit where the AR features felt mostly unnecessary.
How To: Unlock Snapchat's New Green Screen Filter to Create TikTok-Style Videos Using Any Background You Want
TikTok is all the rage right now, and its green screen effect is one of the more popular augmented reality tricks creators use to boost their viewership numbers. Now Snapchat has leveled the playing field by making it easier to access its own green screen effect.
How To: Adjust volume levels on a Motorola Droid phone with the AudioManager app
In this video tutorial, we learn how to change the audio levels on a Motorola Droid Google Android cell phone. Whether you own a Google Android smartphone or are merely curious to see how they work, you're sure to enjoy this brief how-to. For detailed, step-by-step instructions, take a look.
News: Facebook's AR/VR Chief Andrew Bosworth Tapped as New CTO
If the importance of augmented reality and VR hardware to Facebook's future wasn't already clear enough, a shake-up in the executive ranks at the company has made it as clear as smartglasses lenses.
News: USA Today App Treats Fans with Oscars-Inspired AR Costume Showcase Featuring Black Panther, Mary Poppins, & More
The Oscars are fast approaching, which means that all the most talked about films are getting a second dose of heavy promotion in hopes of winning an Academy Award.
News: Sony Developing Longer-Lasting Smartphone Battery
Sony Corp. is working on new battery technology that the company says would have a 40% longer life than a lithium-ion battery of the same size. Sony is planning to have the higher-capacity batteries on the market around 2020.
News: ReplayAR Anchors Your Photos in Real-World Locations So You Can View Them in AR Later
Imagine sitting on your patio, scrolling through your phone's photos, reminiscing about the past. Now imagine being able to see those photos floating in the air, at the exact vantage point from where they were taken a year ago.
News: Google Releases Glass Enterprise Edition 2, Includes Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1Upgrade
As the tech world patiently waits for the advent of mainstream consumer smartglasses, Google is content to stick to the business world (for now).
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.
News: Apple Surpasses 13 Million ARKit Downloads Within Six Months, Report Says
A report from app data firm Sensor Tower reveals that more than 13 million ARKit apps have been installed on iPhones and iPads within the first six months since the toolkit launched with iOS 11.
News: This Snap Spectacles Game Lets You Grow a Digital Pet in Augmented Reality
While the rest of Big Tech is still moving relatively slowly on augmented reality smartglasses, Snap continues to supercharge its own experimental AR wearable called Spectacles.
News: Snapchat, Google & Verizon Highlight Humanity's Impact on the Environment with AR for Earth Day
It's Earth Day, which means that nonprofits, individuals, and brands are making a concerted effort to raise awareness of environmental issues and how to change behaviors to reverse impacts of pollution, deforestation, and suburban sprawl, among others.
News: Facebook Outage Takes Down the Metaverse, Oculus Quest & Ray-Ban Smartglasses Users Impacted
On Monday, the social media giant Facebook suffered a massive outage that, as of this writing, is still in effect.
News: Watch a Demo of Leap Motion's Mobile Hand Tracking in New Video
Leap Motion, an augmented and virtual reality control system, has proven to be a force of nature when it comes to pushing hand-tracking tech forward. Now they've released a video showcasing their "Blocks" demo, which is already integrated into the reference headset kit designed by Qualcomm for VR companies "to take and sell their own branded devices with."
How To: Root and install a custom Hero ROM on a T-Mobile MyTouch 3G
Interested in loading a custom Hero ROM onto your MyTouch 3G Google Android smartphone? You'll need to root it first. Happily, it's a very easy process. And this three-part hacker's how-to will teach you everything you'll need to know. Learn how to root and install a Hero ROM on your MyTouch 3G or HTC Magic with this video rooting walkthrough.
Market Reality: Air Force Gets Immersive, Crypto's AR Future, Inside Amazon's Echo Frames, & Metaverse Goes Mainstream
The march to the mainstreaming of augmented reality can sometimes seem slow, but this week things picked up in earnest.
How To: Recover & read someone else's deleted text messages
This video shows you how to recover and read someone else's text messages with a SIM card. It's called a SIM reader professional. It reads the information on the SIM card. You can either buy one or rent it. This device can give you information that has been deleted from the user's phone such as phone numbers, phone calls, contacts, text messages and MMS messages. Then you can block numbers and control who is calling your child.
How To: Enable Dark Mode in Facebook's iOS & Android Apps
Dark mode is simply a way of life these days now that both Android and iOS officially support it. Most major apps now use the system-wide setting on Android and iOS, and many had their own dark themes in-app before Google and Apple got with the program. But the social media giant Facebook took forever to implement a night theme, and some of you still may not be able to access it.
How To: Block Instagram Users from Sending You Direct Photo & Video Messages
Instagram recently released their new Instagram Direct messaging feature in their Android and iOS apps, which lets users share private photos and videos directly with individuals or groups of up to 15 users. However, there are no restrictions on who you can send private photos or videos to.
How To: Anonymously View Instagram Stories & Posts Without an Account
Instagram makes it easy to view a public account without that person or business knowing unless, you know, your finger accidentally slips and hits the like button on a post. Aside from that, if you're careful, you can browse anonymously through an account without anyone noticing — only you can't do that with Instagram Stories.
How To: Make an External Antenna for Your Cell Phone
Dr. Kiki, from popSiren, solves the age old cellphone reception question. The Rad Scientist has moved into a cell reception twilight zone. Lucky for her, she's well-versed in antenna-making!
How To: Recover deleted text messages on an iPhone
In this video one of the ultimate iPhone hackers, Jonathan A. Zdziarsk, demonstrates how to use a forensics toolkit to recover deleted text messages on an iPhone. But wait - there's more! Not only can you access text messages, but almost any other data on an iPhone as well. We can't be responsible for what you find though!
Apple's Fix Failed: In-App Purchases Still Free with This Hack
A few days ago, Russian hacker Alexy Borodin found a way to get free in-app purchases on an iPhone or iPad. In-app purchases include things like items and power-ups for iOS games, as well as subscriptions and "premium" memberships for certain apps.
How To: Get Famous People Like Morgan Freeman to Navigate Your Waze Directions
Navigation app Waze occasionally gives you the option to have a celebrity voice provide directions for your trip, like this famous European with a funny voice, or this decidedly less-famous European with a funny voice.
Instagram 101: How to Zoom In & Out in Instagram Stories
Zooming in and out within Instagram Stories is a good way to take your videos to the next level. Whatever a next level is. Sometimes I just run out of words to describe how fun using Instagram is, so for today, I got "next level," which means whatever you want it to mean.
How To: Unlock Your Smartphone on Any U.S. Carrier for Free
A landmark bill finally went into action this week that will allow American cellular customers to unlock their smartphones for free. The process of unlocking may vary between mobile service providers, but you can rest assured that you are now entitled, by law, to carrier-unlock your smartphone.
How To: Root Your Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini Smartphone
While the Samsung Galaxy S3 is the world's best selling smartphone, there a few people that find the device just a bit too large. With a 4.8 inch display and 136.6 x 70.6mm dimensions, the phone can be slightly large for kids—and adults with small fingers. It can even be a hassle to put into your pocket, so that's why Samsung decided to release the Galaxy S III Mini. With a smaller frame, the phone is perfect for those that want all of the Galaxy S III features but want a more compact size. J...
How To: Fix the Glowing Red Border on Your Samsung Galaxy S III's Display
So, you finally got the Jelly Bean update on your Samsung Galaxy S III, but one little problem—you've got some red glow around the edges of your screen now. Is your phone messed up? No, it's just a tiny glitch that some users have been reporting after updating their Galaxy S3s to Android 4.1.1, and there are a few quick ways to get rid of it.
How To: Add Your iTunes Library to Google Play Music & Stream Songs from Any Device
It's always a pain to make sure you have enough storage on your smartphone. Pictures and videos occupy a lot of space, so your music library has to take a back seat—otherwise, you might see that pesky "Storage Full" notification at any time.
How To: Change the font on your iPhone
Using a simple workaround, one can change the font settings on the iPhone or iPod Touch to an easier to read, slightly larger size. And the best part? No jailbreaking required!
How To: Work Around the Copy/Paste Bug on the Samsung Galaxy S3, Note 2, and Other TouchWiz Devices
If you have a Samsung Galaxy S3 or Galaxy Note 2, you might not have noticed it yet, but there's an annoying little bug that centers around your clipboard. If you tend to do a lot of copy/pasting on your device, you've probably seen it happen—your phone crashes.
How To: Hack the iPhone or iPod Touch
Xeni checks in with the authors of the forthcoming O'Reilly HOWTO book "iPhone Hacks" (David Jurick, Adam and Damien Stolarz) for a demonstration of how to unlock and jailbreak your iPhone or iPod Touch. The authors promise to teach you how to coax more out of these devices: little-known features, performance tweaks, and tips on great web-based apps to install -- video game emulators, IM and VoIP apps, and media players that can handle a wider range of filetypes.
How To: 5 Mario Kart Tour Tricks You Need to Know About
So you can't seem to win in Mario Kart Tour? Whether it's your first game in the Mario Kart series or not, Mario Kart Tour can be challenging, especially when you don't know the tracks. Instead of struggling your way through the cups, try out these five tips to get a leg up.
How To: Sen an anonymous text message
Want to send text messages, but don't want your recipient to know they're from you? You can use a website called AnonText.com, which lets you send anonymized text messages to any cell phone number. Use your computer, or, if you have a smartphone (like an iPhone, Droid HTC Evo), then you can navigate to the website using your phone's browser capabilities.
News: You Don't Need to Be a Hacker to Hack with This Android App
Security awareness seems to be a hot topic these days on the web, with developers making apps and devices that can hack networks and machines with just a few clicks. But these applications aren't only exploiting security flaws in systems and networks, they're being used by amateur and wannabe hackers who want to have a little fun, but don't want to learn how to actually "hack" anything.
How To: See Who's Clogging Up Your Wi-Fi Network with These Free Mobile Apps
Android has released a new application called ezNetScan, which is a free app that scans the wireless network you're connected to and gives you a full log of all of the devices connected to that network. This isn't new for smartphone users, let alone Android users. Fing has been around for a while and does practically the same thing that exNetScan does. It gathers information such as the IP and MAC addresses, device vendors, and ISP location. But while Fing is a great program, it does lack a f...
How To: Enable Dark Mode in Google Maps on iPhone & Android
Dark mode is one of the most requested features these days, but it's even more important with a navigation app. If you're using Google Maps for directions while driving at night, the default white background will shock your eyes and make it harder to see the road in front of you. Thankfully, you can now enable a dark theme to make this whole process a lot safer.
How To: Broadcast a Message to Multiple WhatsApp Contacts Individually at the Same Time
Let's say you want to send out a message to all of your friends. Normally, you'd have to put all of the recipients into one giant group thread to do this. But when people started responding to your message, everyone in the group would get a notification, so your friends would probably be annoyed that you started the group thread in the first place. Luckily, if you're using WhatsApp, this isn't an issue.
How To: Not Getting the Jelly Bean Update Yet? Here's How to Flash Your Samsung Galaxy S III to Android 4.1.1
The newest firmware update for Android, Jelly Bean 4.1.1, has been out for a while now, but not every device has gotten it yet (some never will). One popular device that has recently gotten it is the Samsung Galaxy S III, only they'll be pushing the update out overseas during the next couple weeks, with the UK already seeing Jelly Bean from the cellular provider Three (if you're on Three, see how to update your device here). Unfortunately, stateside users will have to wait a bit longer. There...