Smartphones News

News: Lyft Now Offering a Commuter Ride-Sharing Option Called 'Shuttle'

Lyft is experimenting with commuter ride sharing by debuting a new "Shuttle" option, which offers pickups and drop-offs along select routes, much like a metro bus would do. The company is trying out the new option in San Francisco and Chicago, but if all goes well, we might all be ordering a pickup soon through Lyft's new Line ride share option.

News: Snapchat Has Made This App Explode

Bitmoji has experienced explosive success this year thanks to Snapchat. The app allows users to create their own personal emoji and send responses to other friends, and even though it's only two and a half years old, this customizable emoji app is growing at an impressive pace.

News: Apple Expected to Fall Behind Android in App Sales This Year

For a long time, Apple has kept the upper hand on Android as far as app revenue is concerned. However, this tradition looks likely to change this year, as Android's app sales are expected to surpass Apple's.

News: This App Notifies You Every Time a Trump Tweet 'Triggers' Your Stocks

Every time Donald Trump tweets about a stock you own, Trigger Finance, or just Trigger—the app founded on the "if this, then that" rule to track and invest in the stock market—alerts you with a notification for real-time analysis of financial data.

News: Augmented Reality Can Make Good-for-You Food Look More Attractive, Making It Easier to Eat Well

Augmented reality seems to be the talk of the town lately, with everything from glasses to furniture stores prepping to implement exciting, new AR technology. Well now, it looks like even our food is getting a makeover for the augmented reality future.

News: The Most Exciting Events Coming Up at Augmented World Expo 2017 in May

Coming up at the end of May is the world's largest conference and expo dedicated to all things augmented and virtual reality, the Augmented World Expo, more commonly known just as AWE. And this year, a few of us from NextReality are going to be there.

News: ASUS Rumored to Turn AR & VR Departments into Independent Startup

ASUS is gearing up to move its augmented and virtual reality departments into an independent startup named Glamorfy, according to a recent report from tech news site Fudzilla.

News: Step Right Up, Your Dunkin' Donuts Coffee Is Now Ready to Go with Waze's New Order Ahead Option

Oh, Waze—you know, that Google-owned traffic navigation app that tempts drivers into stopping at local food joints like Dunkin' Donuts and Taco Bell? Well, now you can even order a large iced coffee through the app before you even arrive at a fast food hotspot.

Fitness Lovers Alert: Get Ready for the New Adidas Workout App 'All Day', Out in Beta Today

Adidas' new app All Day isn't going to be your average fitness app. Oh no, the company had the "versatile athlete" in mind when it came to creating the well-rounded program that not only encompasses fitness, but also provides nutrition plans, encourages a balanced mindset, and makes sure you get an adequate amount of rest.

News: Facebook Copies Snapchat Again by Putting Augmented Reality Camera Filters in the Main Facebook App

Facebook is aware that Snapchat is killing the social media game amongst the youths, which makes sense, because in 2017, video is king in social media currency. Facebook has continually shown that Mark Zuckerberg and crew seem to think the best strategy to keep up is to simply copy them.

News: 'Create Magic in Seconds' with Lightform's New Computer Made to Project Augmented Reality

Lightform might just be the thing to have at your next party. The San Francisco-based company just created the first computer ever able to connect to a projector and instantly scan 3D scenes to mix reality with projected light.

News: Shopping for a New Couch? Amazon Wants You to See It in Your Home (While You're Still in the Store)

Amazon has been toying with the idea of opening physical retail stores for some time now, even opening old-fashioned bookstores in select locations and teasing cashier-less convenience stores. But the online retailer has some new ideas in the works, including implementing virtual and augmented reality into retail home stores.

News: Latest Facebook Messenger Update Adds Live Location Sharing

Facebook Messenger has now incorporated a live location sharing feature, one week after Google Maps revealed its own real-time location tool. On Monday, the social media giant announced the new feature, which will allow users to share their live whereabouts with friends at the press of a button.

News: Android Co-Founder Andy Rubin Gives Us a Sneak Peek into Essential's New Bezel-Less Smartphone

Andy Rubin, the cofounder of Android, departed Google in 2014 to go on and start his own smartphone company, Essential. Rubin first gave us a clue at what he would be working on when he announced in January that he wanted Essential to create a premium smartphone with a bezel-less edge-to-edge display.

News: Samsung's Working on an Ultra-Thin Dual Camera System According to a New Patent

Dual cameras are increasingly popular right now for smartphones, but so far, Samsung has steered clear of all the hype. However, a new patent application shows that Samsung has been working on a dual camera system of their own, featuring tech potentially more advanced than what is currently on the market.

News: The Fake Review Saga Continues—Gmail & Messenger Latest in Google Play's 5-Star Spam

Earlier last week, there were a number of fake five-star WhatsApp reviews to be found on the Google Play Store. Now, Gmail, Chrome, Messenger, and Firefox are all the latest victims to be saturated in five-star spam that wrongly refers to the word "game" in reference to non-game apps.

News: Bob Iger Says AR, Not VR, Is the Way of the Future for Disney Parks

Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger has out and out rejected Virtual Reality (VR) as a component of any Disney Theme park. While Knott's Berry Farm, why-hasn't-this-chain-shut-down-yet Sea World (seriously, RIP Tillikum), and Six Flags have all invested in VR to help spice up their parks in this theme park depression period, Iger has "ordered his team not to even think about it." Iger instead is very much onboard the Augmented Reality (AR) train.

News: Google Docs Meets Instagram in Google's Next Social App

When it comes to social media, Google has had it a bit rough. But its next big app in this category is apparently steps away from completion, with a platform that allows small groups of users to edit and organize photos in unison.

News: T-Mobile Helps You Dodge All Those Annoying Phone Scams with New 'Scam Likely' Warnings

T-Mobile just unveiled two new services—Scam ID and Scam Block—which specifically target those pestering robo-calls that reach out to 2.4 million Americans every month.

News: 360world's Windows Mixed Reality Tools Will Help Air Traffic Controllers See in New Ways

360world, a Hungary-based tech company involved in motion control and augmented reality, released information today about their latest products, the CLAIRITY HoloTower and CLAIRITY SmartBinocular. These tools are designed to bring augmented reality into the hands of air traffic controllers, via Windows Mixed Reality, to greatly improve their workflow over tools already in use.

News: Lowe's New Tango-Based App Helps Shoppers Find Products They Need

Lowe's Home Improvement laid another brick in their augmented reality foundation with today's announcement of a new app for Tango-enabled smartphones.

News: DottyAR Lets You View 3D Models on Smartphones & Coming Soon to ODG Smartglasses

While augmented reality is mostly in the minds of consumers in the form of Pokémon GO, AR has been popular behind the scenes, with AR companies marketing it as a tool to help business operations become more efficient. This business-to-business market is the target of the new app DOTTYAR, which "provides 3D visualization tools for augmented reality viewers."

News: New Training Simulation Concept Enables Safe Crane Operation Through HoloLens

A proof of concept for an overhead crane training simulator is in the works. Using Microsoft HoloLens and an industrial-style controller, trainees can pick up holographic loads and transport them throughout a warehouse setting.

News: Archer AR App Deputizes Viewers as Detectives

The producers of FX's animated series Archer have devised a plan to introduce augmented reality hijinks into its eighth and penultimate season with a new app for iOS and Android devices.

News: Detailed 3D Mining Maps & Future Reclamation Views Highlighted in Proof-of-Concept HoloLens App

LOOOK, a Seattle-based mixed reality and development studio, can now peer into the future with their new geotechnical engineering visualization application for Microsoft HoloLens.

News: 'Convert' & Watch Your Old DVDs on Your Smartphone with Vudu

Now you can watch your old copy of Bridget Jones's Diary anywhere, anytime, on your smartphone. It's a dream come true! (Disclaimer: This dream may oddly specific to me.)

News: Adobe Integrates with HoloLens for Personalized Marketing

At Adobe Summit 2017 this week, Adobe announced they are looking to occupy a new space in the market by combining their analytic capabilities with augmented reality. Teaming up with Microsoft, the company has combined Adobe Sensei software with the HoloLens, reports GeekWire. Together, the tech and software create a new tool for retailers to track their consumers' habits.

News: WhatsApp Receives Thousands of Fake 5-Star Reviews After Months of Ranking Below Average

During the last few months, WhatsApp's Google Play Store ratings have been tanking—all the way down to an average of 3.4 stars from the instant messenger's usual average of 4.1. Within the last week, though, WhatsApp has received thousands of seemingly fake 5-star reviews that have bumped up the company's overall average to a 4.4.

News: This One Chart Lays Out All the AR Companies You NEED to Know About

Super Ventures has published "The AR Landscape," a chart encompassing the major players and startups that are shaping augmented reality. Launched in February as the first incubator and fund focused on augmented reality, Super Ventures outlines companies working augmented reality applications, tools, devices, input/output methods, and components. The AR Landscape lists 312 companies, representing $12.1 billion in funding and $69.6 billion valuation. It runs the gamut from startups and innovato...

News: Google Maps Update Brings Real-Time Location Sharing

Google Maps now allows users to share their location in real time and update their friends and family on their location and estimated time of arrival when making a trip.

News: Snapseed Update Launches Three Amazing New Tools

The newest version of Snapseed features three awesome new tools for you photo-editing enthusiasts. The 2.17 update for the editing app was rolled out on Tuesday, March 21, and its new additions are something to behold.

News: UC Berkeley Team Commands Drone Fleet with HoloLens

User interfaces for computers have evolved over the years, from the introduction of the keyboard and mouse on the personal computer, to touchscreens on mobile devices, to natural voice recognition. However, the same cannot be said for robots or drones—until now.

News: French Art Exhibit 'Mirages & Miracles' Combines Sculptures, Drawings & AR

The conversation around augmented reality has largely been focused on apps and gaming, and how AR can be used as a marketing tool. However, a new exhibit at France's Scène Nationale Albi is using AR for more artistic expression.

News: You Can Now Save Your Live Instagram Videos

Starting today, you'll have the opportunity to save all your live Instagram videos to your phone at the end of each broadcast session. The latest update to the Instagram app now allows you to rewatch already-played broadcasts and gives you the ability to share them later on.

News: Design Your Dream Room with Pottery Barn's New Augmented Reality App

Pottery Barn has teamed up with Google to create 3D Room View, a new mobile app to allow all wannabe interior designers (like me) to pick out the perfect couch, table, or whatever, and then overlay it onto a spot in his or her house.

News: Apple Built Its Augmented Reality Group with Outsiders from Oculus & Microsoft

Apple is combining internal and external talent in an effort to give them in edge in the augmented reality market, though we still don't know what form their foray into alternative realities will actually take.

News: Nokia Mobile Networks Head Leaves, Division Splits in Two in Face of Falling Sales

Nokia, the Finnish telecommunications company, is about to shake things up a bit after its networks sales in the final quarter of last year declined 14% compared to sales in 2015.

News: Vodafone Set to Become India's Biggest Mobile Contender

Vodafone India has merged with telecom company Idea Cellular to become India's largest mobile player this week.

News: Spotify Considers Restricting Big Album Releases to Paying Users Only

All you paying Spotify users are about to get another exclusive privilege besides getting out of all those annoying "Ever wonder what it would be like to have Spotify premium?" ads. The Sweden-based company is looking to lower the royalty fees they have to pay to major record labels for their music, by compromising on their policy that all their music be free to paying and nonpaying users. Spotify would for a limited time restrict access on major album releases to their paying subscribers.

PSA: TrueCaller Is Sharing Your Phone Activity

TrueCaller is sharing your phone activity by revealing the last time your phone was used to contacts. The application used to identify unknown callers launched in 2009 and has faced a wealth of privacy concerns before.