This week, we're beginning to see the wide ranging impacts of some of the early iterations of augmented reality hardware and software.
It doesn't matter how cool or groundbreaking a particular technology is, if it doesn't offer the promise of big returns on investments, you'll have trouble drawing interest from both Silicon Valley and Wall Street. That's why we're increasingly seeing existing augmented reality players doing everything they can to focus in on revenue generation, which was the message coming from Snap Inc. this week.
Part of the Star Wars: Jedi Challenges experience that was once exclusive to users of Lenovo's Mirage AR headset is now available to anyone with an ARKit-compatible iOS device.
Apple's latest iPhone operating system is notorious for its frequent bugs and glitches. The latest iteration, iOS 11.3, is no exception, as users are experiencing not only 3D Touch issues but missing screenshot previews as well.
The business of enabling the development of augmented reality experiences appears to be as lucrative as AR app development itself.
With the news that Cambridge Analytica obtained over 50 million Facebook users' information without their consent, there are no doubt many of us considering that terrifying yet alluring endgame — deleting Facebook. While difficult to figure out, deleting your Facebook account is actually a quick affair. You just need to know where to look.
The new Android 9.0 Pie update is bringing a feature that stock Android has been lacking — screenshot editing. OEM skins like Samsung's TouchWiz have had this for years, and Apple added it to iOS just recently. But now that it's in stock Android, it'll be included with every phone going forward — trouble is, most people will have to wait for the update. Thankfully, you can get this feature right now on any phone.
Netflix currently lets parents block content based on maturity rating, but it isn't a perfect system. Not all titles rated PG-13 are equal, for instance. That's why it's good news that Netflix is adding more controls for parents, by allowing account holders to bar individual movies and TV shows they deem inappropriate.
The fourth beta for iOS 11.3 was released by Apple to developers and public beta testers on Monday, March 5. The update comes just under two weeks after the company released beta 3 on Feb. 20, which mostly added bug and stability patches. It appears that beta 4 is much of the same, but we'll learn more as we sink our teeth into it.
This week, two companies preparing the most anticipated augmented reality devices for consumers were the subject of reports regarding strategic moves to put them in better positions to move those products forward.
What many thought was inevitable, based on recent hints, has been revealed to be in the planning stages: Snapchat is working on smartglasses. The surprising information came out on March 2 in a report that also claims Snap Inc. is planning to release version two of its Spectacles product in the third quarter of 2018.
Among the revelations uncovered during the December unveiling of the Magic Leap One: Creator Edition was the fact that the Lightwear augmented reality headset would be tethered to a wearable computer called the Lightpack.
The internet is chock-full of fun and interesting content, but there's only so much time in the day for consuming it. That's when saving webpages for later comes in handy. If you don't want your bookmarks and favorites folders to clutter up fast, consider using the "Reading List" feature built right in Safari on your iPhone.
After closing its 2017 financial books on a high note, Snap, Inc. is planning to ride the momentum of its augmented reality products into the new year. That's the main takeaway following the company's 2017 earnings conference call, which was held on Tuesday.
Longtime Next Reality readers may remember my Wish List for Microsoft early last year. It was a post in which I put my head together with a number of other community developers to create a list of features that would make Windows Mixed Reality and HoloLens better for developers. It would seem that one of the most sought-after features is finally here ... well, sort of.
For the unaware, RED is a company that specializes in high-end cameras and other recording devices. RED's cameras are used to shoot some of Hollywood's biggest films and TV shows. Their modular designs make them ideal for the user who does a lot of mixing and matching — and has a wallet to back their work up (their WEAPON 8K VV starts at $79,500).
Apple released the fourth beta for iOS 11.2.5 on Tuesday, Dec. 9, to developers and then public beta testers. It comes only one day after the official release of iOS 11.2.2, which addressed the Spectre portion of the chip flaw security risks reported last week.
While Google has a water-resistant phone in the Pixel 2, its CES booth was anything but. According to Tech Crunch, Google had to shut down its two-level outdoor booth once it began to rain at the Las Vegas trade show. Even though Las Vegas is the driest city in the country, Mother Nature always has her idea of fun.
From media insiders to the halls of politics, news travels fast on Twitter, making it one of the most powerful social media channels for disseminating or collecting information. Now, for better or for worse, you can immerse yourself in the data firehose of Twitter in augmented reality.
Drama seems to follow red smartphones. The internet nearly blew a gasket when Apple released a red iPhone 7 with a white front, and now OnePlus is taking some heat. The new Lava Red 5T comes with black bezels, not repeating Apple's mistake, so why are people mad at the Shenzhen-based company? Because Lava Red is only available in China.
Just days after we found out that Apple is working on its own augmented reality headset, we now learn that the company is accelerating its AR headset efforts with the acquisition of Montreal-based hardware maker Vrvana.
After recently being in the news for collecting PII (personally identifiable information) for analytics and after-sales support, OnePlus has another security problem. An individual going by the name Elliot Alderson discovered an app in OnePlus devices that can enable root access with one command.
The would-be role of Snap Inc. as the first step toward mainstreaming wearable tech in the form of glasses has stalled, and now we have proof. In the company's third quarter financial results report, released on Tuesday, Snap Inc. revealed that it will lose nearly $40 million due to unsold Spectacles, the camera glasses first sold at kiosks throughout the US.
While unveiling various other gadgets, Google announced the Pixel Buds at their October 4th event in San Francisco. These wireless earbud-style headphones are particularly interesting thanks to their ability to offer real-time language translation via Google Translate when paired with a Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL.
If preorder delays are any indication, the iPhone X certainly has some buzz. But does the X have the quality to support that buzz in the long run? After all, a $1,000 (or more) iPhone feels more like an investment than a smartphone purchase. The question on any prospective buyer's mind should be, "Is this thing worth it?"
It's not rare to see an advertisement in tech directly call out the competition. Whether it's the famous Mac vs. PC ads from back in the day or the Pixel burning the iPhone 7's lack of a headphone jack, rivalries in these commercials are certainly commonplace. Samsung's new ad campaign takes a more subtle approach to this "throwdown" advertising, but the message is still clear — Samsung wants you to know its AMOLED displays are better than Google's and LG's POLED.
The iPhone X is almost within reach. In fact, you can preorder right now. We know you've been itching to get your hands on Apple's newest iPhone, but before you give up over $1,000 of your hard-earned money, make sure your iPhone X knowledge is up-to-snuff.
Leaks are seemingly inevitable for smartphone makers these days. The OnePlus 5T, the successor to the OnePlus 5, is no exception to this rule. Last week, we witnessed leaked photos showing off the 5T's rumored "edge-to-edge" display. Today, leaks on OppoMart's 5T preorder page give us specs in addition to images.
Out of the box, when you shoot a photo on your iPhone using the stock Camera app, it will either shoot a normal or HDR photo. That's because Apple's high-dynamic-range setting is set to automatic by default. However, there's a button in the app so you can turn HDR on or off manually. While this HDR toggle persists in iOS 11 on the iPhone 7 models and older, it's not visible on the iPhone 8 or 8 Plus.
ARKit is a marketer's dream. By providing tools for creating augmented reality experiences on mobile devices, AR apps can now be deployed easily alongside just about any campaign. As expected, we now have ARKit apps pushing wares ranging from automobiles to tequila.
Lowe's Home Improvement has been an early adopter of augmented and virtual reality in their business practices, so it was a bit of surprise that their name was absent from the ranks of companies launching ARKit apps last week.
The release of iOS 11 and ARKit is probably the biggest event for mobile developers since the advent of the App Store.
The Franklin Institute is rolling out the augmented reality carpet for the arrival of the Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor exhibit, which will open on Sept. 30 in Philadelphia.
On the surface, iOS 10.2 might look the same as iOS 10.3, but there's one big difference between the two versions: iOS 10.2 can now be jailbroken! Jailbreaking your iPhone means gaining access to thousands of tweaks and mods which greatly enhance the iOS experience, so this is great news for the power users out there.
Augmented reality developer Blippar has created a new visual positioning service based on computer vision that is two times more accurate than GPS in urban locales.
Apple has sprung a massive AR following since the announcement of their ARKit, with users waiting to see what exactly the tech giant will do next.
While many have their own strong opinions on Apple and their products, few have complaints about the way they embrace accessibility. Apple typically finds ways to make products functional to all customers, regardless of their situation. This philosophy can be seen in Apple's partnership with Cochlear, as the two develop a new cochlear implant sound processor for iPhone.
There's good news for iOS 11 beta testers — Apple just dropped the fourth version of the iOS 11 developer beta today. That means the newest iOS 11 public beta 3 will be released in a day or two.
With mobile developers near and far primed to implement augmented reality into their iOS apps with Apple's ARKit, uSens offers them a new tool for markerless location tracking.
After laying off 40% of its staff this month to cut costs, SoundCloud appears to be struggling to stay afloat. While blog posts from the company have assured fans that the music platform is not in danger of shutting down, some people aren't so sure this is the truth. Internet Archive — a non-profit dedicated to preserving websites and services — announced today that they will be conducting a partial backup of SoundCloud to safeguard the site's content in case of closure.
