Smartphones News

News: Google Trips Is Like Yelp, TripAdvisor, & Your Itinerary All Rolled into One (Download Inside)

According to sources, Google has been working on a travel app for some time, and now it has a name: Google Trips. Google Trips aims to be the all-in-one place to go for travel information about your trip. It hasn't been officially announced, but from the leaks that have come out so far, think of it like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and your itinerary in one.

News: How to Use BlackBerry's Video Calling on Android & iOS

BlackBerry announced in April that they included a beta of their video messaging service in BBM for Android and BBM for iOS for users in the United States and Canada. Well, it's finally spread to other parts of the world. Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region all have access to BBM video calls.

News: There's a Flaw in Waze That Lets Hackers Spy on Your Movements—Here's How to Fix It

It's a given that if you're driving, you or someone you know has Waze as a go-to on their smartphone. The Google-owned crowdsourced navigation app is one of the best for avoiding traffic, roadblocks, and even cops.

News: Your First Look at the HoloLens Development Edition

We received our HoloLens Development Edition from Microsoft, and well, we're pretty giddy. But before we set everything up, we wanted to give you all a look at just what you get for $3,000. Let's get the plastic off and pull this baby out. And what do we have here? A fabric-laden orb of sorts. Alright, alright, enough of the box. Unzip the casing you get to the real deal. There's a hole, let's see what's under it. Waiting for us was the instruction manual, a cleaning cloth, charging cable and...

News: Oculus Releases Minecraft for the Samsung Gear VR

The team behind Minecraft, the popular open-world game beloved for its freedom to create and build, has teamed up with Oculus to release an official edition that takes you even further into the block-based world using a Samsung Gear VR headset. While the Oculus Rift version itself is still forthcoming, Gear VR users can play right now.

News: 10 Ways iOS Beats Android

I've been an Android user almost as long as the operating system has existed, so when I received my first iPhone in April, I felt like I was in a foreign land. Sure, it runs most of the apps I'm used to, and the phone itself feels about the same in my hand as any similarly-sized device, but everything else is just different.

News: 10 Things Android Users Hate About iPhones

I'm an Android user. Over the course of the past seven years, I've owned ten different smartphones—all of them powered by Android. This isn't due to some blind trust in Google or some unfounded hate for Apple, either, because I've always made sure to get my hands on each iPhone iteration along the way to see what it had to offer.

News: Watch This Woman Freak the Hell Out in Horror VR

Virtual reality and horror were meant for each other. You'll get all the positive aspects of experiencing a terrifying situation such as excitement and an adrenaline rush, without any of the real-life consequences, like being ripped to shreds by a herd of flesh-eating monsters.

News: You Can Now Host a 50-Person Group Call on Facebook Messenger

Facebook just added another feature to Messenger as part of its quest to have their service become an all-encompassing communications app. This feature lets you make free group calls using Messenger's VoIP service, and you can chat with up to 50 people at once.

News: What We Know About Magic Leap's Amazing Tech So Far

Virtual reality headsets are all the rage these days, and among the menagerie of tech companies gunning for the top spot, there's one mysterious startup that is ahead of the game—Magic Leap—and you can tell just by watching their latest demo video of their product in action.

News: The Future of Gaming Is Robots Blasting Through Your Living Room Walls

Developers across the U.S. and Canada have started getting their augmented reality headset packages from Microsoft, and so far, everyone's raving about one gaming experience that shatters all doubts of just what the HoloLens can do... RoboRaid.

News: Facebook Will Have AR Integrated with Oculus in 10 Years

Facebook announced at its F8 Developer's Conference on April 12th that, in addition to the VR-ready Oculus Rift we have today, it plans to bring Augmented Reality (AR) into the fold of their social machine.

News: VR in the OR—Watch Live Surgery on April 14th in 360 Degrees

If you've ever wanted to be right in the thick of an operating room, you're about to get your chance. On Thursday, April 14th, you'll be able to watch a VR live stream of a tumor removal surgery. With their 360-degree camera, you'll be able to see the entire operating table and its surroundings.

News: Oculus Is Collecting a Scary Amount of Data for Facebook

The highly anticipated VR headset hasn't been on the market long, but there's an issue that has some consumers, and even government officials, concerned about the Oculus Rift. You probably guessed the issue surrounds privacy and the extensive, not-so-secret way that it's collecting your personal data. The privacy concerns came about as various customers and media outlets took notice of the rather lengthy Terms and Services that pop up once you strap yourself into the Rift headset.

News: This Is the Easiest Way to Try Out HTC's Vive Right Now

If you've been debating on whether or not HTC's new virtual reality headset, the Vive, is worth the $800 price tag, then you'll be able to find out for yourself soon enough.

News: This Is the Crazy Set Up Magic Leap Uses to Study Your Face

Magic Leap has some seriously awesome tech behind their augmented reality vision, and has made it a point to add a ton of adrenaline into the industry with a revolutionary focus on 3D layering. Today, they gave the public another glance at how they go about it. The image above displays the complete setup that Magic Leap uses to accurately capture someone's entire facial structure. The associated caption to this image reads: "This is where we study the 22 bones & 43 muscles of the face & head."

It's Finally Here: Reddit Releases Official Apps

Reddit announced this morning, April 7th, that it has finally released an official mobile app. You can get it on Android and iOS.

News: Facebook Is Going All in on Live Video Streaming on Your Phone

It looks like Facebook is adding a "Live" tab to the navigation bar for its Android app, and the feature has already been turned on for at least one user. A screenshot uploaded by Niko Steele shows the new feature, which lets you search for and watch live video directly on the Facebook app. Right now, you need to already be friends with a person who is streaming or be following a page or personality to receive a notification that live video has started. Some pages will post about an upcoming ...

News: Verizon Takes Greed to New Levels with an Additional $20 Upgrade Fee

Wireless contracts and phone-buying programs continue to become more and more confusing. As if you didn't have enough to worry about with regards to the rising costs of services and the elimination of contracts with mobile providers, Verizon Wireless will soon institute a new charge that puts the grub in "money-grubbing." Sadly, this isn't one of those April's Fools pranks that are running rampant on the web today. Starting next week, the largest mobile phone provider in the United States wil...

News: LG's New Wireless Charger Is Three Times Faster Than Other Wireless Chargers

Innotek, an LG subsidiary, announced today (link is in Korean) that it has developed a 15-watt wireless charging module that can recharge a battery three times faster than other wireless chargers available on the market.

News: Finally, a Tangle-Less USB Cord You Can Store in Your Wallet

Computer cables tangle and get in the way, but Mobile Accessory Project hopes to solve that with CONNEX, a flat cable shaped like a credit card which expands up to 1.5 feet.

News: Nintendo's First Mobile Game Is Really, Really Bad

Nintendo rolls out its first smartphone-specific game in the U.S. on March 21st, and the main protagonist is... you. Well, your Mii, and it's not a game, but a social app.

News: The Oculus Rift Is Finally Out—Here Are Its Biggest Downsides

The Oculus Rift is finally shipping to customers in more than 20 countries, and we're getting a good idea of how the device holds up from the initial reviews. You'll see some common threads throughout: along with an impressive virtual reality experience, the device is very comfortable with a solid design.

News: Microsoft HoloLens Makes Virtual Teleportation a Reality

Logan's Run is one of my favorite movies of all time. The dialog is cheesy, the set design and special effects are wonky, and the main villain looks like he was conceived and built by an eighth grader in shop class—oh, and his name is Box.

News: Oculus Demos Minecraft for Gear VR, Complete with a Side of Nausea

Since its purchase by Microsoft in 2014, Minecraft has regularly been pushed to new platforms such as Windows 10, Wii U, and Fire TV. In that spirit, Microsoft-owned Mojang has been developing virtual- and augmented-reality versions of the blocky sandbox game.

News: This Device Can Turn Your Smartphone into a 3D Printer

3D printers have been surging in popularity for both professional and personal applications, and now OLO is on the verge of making 3D printing practical wherever you go. Their eponymous 3D printer is battery-powered and uses the light from your smartphone's screen to create 3D objects out of special "daylight" resins.

News: Fly with Superman Thanks to This Integrative Roller Coaster Experience

Six Flags is teaming up with Samsung to make riding a roller coaster a little more thrilling, and quite possibly a little more nauseating as well.

News: How to Get Unlimited YouTube & Google Play Movies on T-Mobile

Google dropped its opposition to T-Mobile's Binge On service due to some favorable policy changes at the magenta carrier. From now on, YouTube and Google Play Movies will happily work with the feature. Binge On rolled out late last year, allowing many customers to receive unlimited video streaming at 480p. That's not a great offer if you care about video quality, but it's nice if you want to save money.

News: Instagram's About to Become as Annoying as Facebook

We're so used to seeing things in particular ways that anything different just doesn't make sense to our brains. Culturally, we like to read things from left to right, and from top to bottom. Change that and our brains struggle to adjust.

News: After Weeks of Controversy, President Obama Finally Speaks Out About Smartphone Privacy

With the DOJ attempting to rip Apple a new one and an Apple attorney firing back, the President offered his opinion on the recent encryption debacle between the FBI and Apple at SXSW, amidst some talk about the direction of today's tech industry.

News: Your Smartphone's Fingerprint Scanner Can Easily Be 'Hacked' with a Printer

Using a fingerprint scanner to keep intruders out of your phone might not be as secure as you think. Two researchers from Michigan State University, Kai Cao and Anil K. Jain, developed a relatively cheap and effective way to beat fingerprint readers, and successfully tested their method on a Samsung Galaxy S6 and Huawei Honor 7.

HoloLens Feature: Voice Input

Like Gesture Input, Voice Input allows you to act on the focus of your Gaze. However, the commands you can use with Voice Input are only limited by your imagination.

HoloLens Feature: Gesture Input

Gesture Input works hand-in-hand with Gaze Input. If you think of Gaze Input like a mouse cursor, Gesture Input is how you "click" in HoloLens—which Microsoft calls "tapping." It's kind of like a touchpad, only in 3D.

HoloLens Feature: Spatial Sound

The HoloLens's visuals are justifiably getting most of the pre-launch hype, but sound plays just as important of a role in creating immersion in your mixed-reality.

HoloLens Feature: Spatial Mapping

Once you've designed some holograms with HoloLens, you'll need to get them to interact with the environment. That's where Spatial Mapping comes in. There are five basic purposes for using HoloLens's Spatial Mapping with your app:

News: Google Will Soon Let You Pay for Things with Your Face

Google has begun the testing phase for its new Hands Free app that lets you pay at participating locations without having to even take your phone out of your pocket.

News: Save Money with These Awesome Freebies from Your Cellular Provider

Cellular carriers like to nickel-and-dime us out of every bit of money they can feasibly justify, so as consumers, we owe it to ourselves to make sure that we're getting our money's worth.

News: This Cable Can Charge Both Androids & iPhones

We've all been there—you're away from home, your phone's battery is quickly nearing zero, and you forgot to bring your charger. "Hey, does anybody have an iPhone charger?" you ask. Crickets. If you could understand cricket-speak, you'd know that they too were saying "Sorry, bud. We're all on Android."

News: With HoloLens Your Gaze Is Your Mouse

HoloLens users will have a handful of ways to interact with the mixed-reality, holographic world. Gaze Input lets the user control a cursor in their field of vision. In other words, it's essentially a mouse that you control by looking around.

News: McDonald's Is Making Happy Meal Boxes That Transform into VR Headsets

Another day, another company hopping on the virtual reality bandwagon. Today, it's fast food behemoth McDonald's, which is testing limited edition Happy Meal boxes that you can turn into a VR headset by punching out a couple holes and tearing along a few perforated seams. The resulting headset is a lot like Google Cardboard, with the lingering scent of fry grease.