How To: Join in the First-Ever Virtual Pokémon GO Fest
With the global COVID-19 pandemic preventing Pokémon GO players from venturing into the real world, developer Niantic has adapted the game for trainers to play in a socially-distanced manner.
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How To: Not on Facebook? Here Are 4 'Avatar' Alternatives for Creating Your Digital Doppelganger
With Avatar, Facebook's personalized stickers for use on its social and messaging platforms, those who aren't on Facebook or have otherwise dumped the social network may feel left out.
How To: Enable Bedtime Mode on Your Android Device
Apple added a Bedtime Mode to its Screen Time tool for curbing smartphone distractions. Google's version of Screen Time, called Digital Wellbeing, actually predates Apple's, but a recent update is finally bringing in Bedtime Mode.
How To: The 4 Best Password Managers for iPhone
Using a strong password is critical to the security of your online accounts. However, according to Dashlane, US users hold an average of 130 different accounts. Memorizing strong passwords for that many accounts is impractical. Fortunately, password managers solve the problem.
How To: Download Your TikTok Data & Activity Report to See What's Been Collected About You
If you're concerned about your privacy, TikTok might not be the app for you. Its shady practices with user data have been the subject of concern, criticism, and even legal action by the US government. Then again, it's just so addicting. If, like me, you're not going to stop using TikTok anytime soon, you should at least know how to view the personal data it has collected on you.
News: Wilder vs. Fury Boxing Rematch Will Feature an AR Experience & Sponsorship via a UFC Legend
As augmented reality continues its collision course with mainstream adoption, the technology will now have a role in one of the most anticipated boxing matches of the year.
How To: Unroll a Twitter Thread for Easier Reading
While tweetstorms were a part of Twitter since the beginning, threads, which makes tweetstorms more viable, didn't show up until late-2017. Still, threading multiple tweets at once to create long-form stories, opinions, tirades, and other lengthy Twitter posts, can be hard to digest. However, you can make reading them easier with just a single message.
News: Pinterest Adds AR Makeup Try-On Feature to Its Mobile Lens Tool
It's time to make some more room at the augmented reality cosmetics counter. This week, social media giant Pinterest unveiled "Try On," a virtual make-up visualization tool running on its Lens visual search tool.
News: Snap Unveils Gucci Edition of Spectacles 3, Film Shot via Spectacles 3 by 'Kids' Director Harmony Korine
After several iterations of the product, Snap is focused on making sure the world knows that its smartglasses can be fashionable.
How To: Enable HomeKit Secure Video on Your Logitech Circle 2 Cameras
In iOS 13, Apple introduced HomeKit Secure Video, which allows smart home devices with cameras to give iPhone users a private and secure way to store recorded videos. Plus, it has benefits such as object detection and activity notifications. Logitech is the first to add support for HomeKit Secure Video with its Circle 2 cameras, and all it takes is a quick firmware update to get started.
How To: Move All Your iPhone's Camera Controls to the Bottom for Easier Access
If reaching up to access Camera controls like the flash, HDR, and timer wasn't bad enough, it's gotten a lot more tedious on recent iPhones like the X, XS, and 11 series thanks to their tall displays. If you have a jailbroken iPhone, however, you can easily fix this issue using a free tweak.
Hands-On: Sotheby's Curate App for Magic Leap Lets You Reimagine Your Home & Office in the Most Realistic Fashion via AR
It might sound odd to call interior decorating exciting, especially if you're not a professional within that industry. But that's exactly what it is when combined with augmented reality.
How To: Get the Pixel 4's Leaked Camera App on Older Pixels
XDA recently reported on a leaked version of the upcoming Pixel 4's camera app. By testing the app, they were able to find upcoming Pixel 4 features like a new Night Sight mode that can photograph stars. Well that leaked version has leaked itself, so now you can install it on your own Pixel phone.
News: Apple Releases iOS 12.4 for iPhone with Migration Tool, Apple News+ Improvements & More
While the eyes and ears of the iPhone world are singularly fixated on iOS 13 and its suite of over 200 new features, Apple was actively piloting iOS 12.4 in tandem with the big iPhone update, in preparation for the release Apple Card. Today, Apple has finally seeded iOS 12.4 stable, 116 days after its first beta version, and there's still no concrete evidence that Apple Card itself will show its face.
News: AR Cloud Startup Ubiquity6 Turns Up Volume on Audio AR Through Acquisition of Wavy
Among a crowded field of AR cloud companies aiming to power the future of augmented reality by creating a world of persistent holographic content that lives in a cloud, accessible across devices and accounts, Ubiquity6 is hoping it has found a way to differentiate its platform.
How To: Cancel Your MyFitnessPal Premium Subscription on Android & iOS
In 2015, MyFitnessPal launched its premium service, an ad-free subscription for $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year which provides food analysis, deeper nutrient tools, more goal options, and exclusive content. After giving MyFitnessPal Premium a shot on your iPhone or Android phone, those perks may be unnecessary to your end goal, but you'll find that canceling your paid membership isn't very easy.
News: Pokémon GO Maker Niantic Looks to Smartglasses Future with Investment in AR Display Maker DigiLens
The company behind augmented reality's first real gaming hit, Pokémon GO, is quietly making moves toward supporting the rapidly growing smartglasses space that may one day move its content away from smartphones and tablets and onto AR lenses positioned on your face.
News: Microsoft's HoloLens Morphs Paris Museum Model of Mont-Saint-Michel into Masterpiece of AR
Amid the opulent and historic confines of Paris, Microsoft is now hosting an exhibit at a local museum that brings a historic map of a Normandy tourist destination to life in augmented reality.
News: Cord-Cutting Just Got Cheaper — AT&T's $15/Month WatchTV Service Is Coming Next Week
After a district judge approved the $85 billion merger between AT&T and Time Warner, we knew AT&T would be quick to reap the rewards of capturing Time Warner's media properties. Today, we get our first look at this with two cellular plans from AT&T. What makes these plans unique is they include a new cord-cutting service called WatchTV.
News: Unity Unveils Project MARS for Simplified AR Development & Facial AR for Easy Mocap
On Tuesday, at the Unite Berlin developers conference, Unity unveiled new tools designed specifically for augmented reality that could literally raise the technology to the next level.
News: Magic Leap Finally Delivered a Live, Public Demonstration of the Magic Leap One, Here's What Happened
On Wednesday, June 6, the people at Magic Leap finally (FINALLY) decided to give the public a dedicated, slow, feature-by-feature walkthrough of the Magic Leap One: Creator Edition. How was it? About as good as it gets without actually getting to see what images look like through the device when wearing it.
News: BBC Brings Ancient Artifacts into Your Living Room with Augmented Reality App for iOS & Android
According to Indiana Jones, certain things belong in museums, but, thanks to augmented reality, you can now see some of the ancient treasures of the world in your own home via the Civilisations AR app from the BBC.
News: ZTE Tempo Go Brings Google's New Version of Android to Most US Carriers
When Google first announced Android Oreo (Go edition), many believed these devices would be focused more on developing countries. However, thanks to ZTE, we'll be getting Android Go stateside, so US customers on even the tightest of budgets can still enjoy the convenience of a smartphone.
News: Here Are Some of the Cool New Home Screen Features on the Galaxy S9
While millions eagerly await the arrival of the Galaxy S9 and all the new features it has to offer, we can actually get a glimpse of its capabilities right now — if we know where to look. The S9's home screen, in particular, is one such area that has new features we can preview now.
Apple Photos 101: How to Hide Images & Videos from Your iPhone's Camera Roll
While it may not be an obvious feature, Apple actually built a way into iOS that lets you hide specific pictures and videos in the Photos app that you want to keep on the down-low, for your eyes only. If you show off your photos a lot or stream slideshows to your TV, this is a great way to keep less appealing content private.
News: GDC Survey Says Developers Are Bullish on HoloLens, Slow to Mobile AR Versus VR
A new survey of game developers paints a somewhat less than rosy future for augmented reality gaming, but there's still some hope for its long-term prospects.
News: Merge Locks & Loads 6DoF Blaster for Mobile AR Shooting Games
On Monday, toy maker Merge virtually blasted its way into CES 2018 with a new tech-meets-toys innovation in the form of an augmented reality gun controller for use with smartphone-powered first-person shooter apps.
Nova Launcher 101: How to Unlock the Hidden 'Labs' Menu for Experimental Features
TeslaCoil's Nova Launcher is one of the best home screen apps on the Play Store. It's about as fast as it gets, and it's always among the first to add the latest Android features. However, it looks like Nova Launcher isn't showing users all of the customization options available — apparently, there's a secret menu, and it's pretty simple to unlock.
News: Swarovski & Other Retailers Try Using Augmented Reality to Lure Holiday Shoppers to Stores
Nowadays, with the convenience of online shopping, brick-and-mortar retailers and malls have to work harder to draw shoppers to stores. This year, many of them are turning to augmented reality for assistance.
Dev Report: Find & Use 3D Objects Faster with Google's Poly API & the Unity Editor
With Google's release of Poly API on Thursday, the search giant has found a way to simplify the workflow for AR creators by enabling the ability to integrate its 3D object search engine Poly directly into an application.
News: Meet the Honor 7X — Huawei's New Premium Budget Phone
Huawei has been on a roll recently. They just became the second largest smartphone manufacturer in September, passing Apple and trailing only Samsung. Shortly after, they announced their new Kirin 970 flagship SoC to rival the Snapdragon 835, then followed that up by announcing the Mate 10 and 10 Pro. Well apparently, Huawei isn't done with announcements just yet.
Market Reality: Apple Presents Bright Future for AR, While Snap Shows Reality of Glum Present
We may have to wait a few years before they arrive, but reports of Apple's headset taking shape in Cupertino gives the tech world hope that its white knight for consumer AR is on its way.
Kodi 101: How to Add Your Own Movies, Music & Pictures to the Media Library
Over the years, Kodi (formerly XBMC) has become one of the most popular media players. It provides all the essential functionality needed for any home theater setup while remaining open source and free. However, Kodi is not limited to just your living room. With the Kodi app for iOS or Android, you get a streaming media player that can act as a video player, music player, picture gallery, and so much more.
How To: Watch Apple's iPhone 8 Event on Apple TV, iPhone, Android, Mac, or PC
The iPhone 8 is just about here. If you're anything like me, you can hardly contain your excitement. Apple has been keeping its 10th-anniversary device — whether you call it the iPhone X, iPhone Edition, or iPhone 8 — as secret as possible, but this past year we've seen a waterfall of leaks. Now that all of the rumors are out of the way, we're finally going to see what's actually in store for Apple's newest iPhone.
How To: Find the Normal Photos for Your Portrait Mode Images in iOS 11
Whenever you would use "Portrait Mode" in iOS 10 on your iPhone 7 Plus, the camera would save both a regular and depth effect version. If you were low on space, you could always opt to save the depth effect version only, but this setting is now gone in iOS 11. While at first it seems like only the depth effect version is saved now, the normal version is still there, whether you like it or not — it's just hiding.
News: College Student Creates 'Scroll,' a Ring That Lets You Control Your AR Experience
Forget what you know about controlling augmented reality experiences. "Scroll" lets you interact with augmented reality using a much more subtle approach: A ring.
News: No Wallet, No Problem! Now Pay for Parking with Your Phone in NYC
Paying for street parking in New York City just got so much easier. Instead of searching for loose change or hoping you didn't forget your wallet, you can use a device you always have with you: your phone.
News: Microsoft's 'Seeing AI' App Helps the Visually Impaired Through Narration
When the iPhone first came out, using them seemed like an impossibility to the visually impaired. Luckily, the iPhone now provides a multitude of resources to make sure that the visually impaired have accessibility to the phone.
News: Untreatable 'Super Gonorrhea' Spreading Like Wildfire — Luckily, It May Have a New Opponent
In the race to outsmart "untreatable" antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, one of the three new treatments on the track is about to enter Phase 3 clinical trials. Hopefully, it'll be widely accessible sooner rather than later, for the 78 million people who are diagnosed with gonorrhea each year.
News: Waymo Taps Avis to Manage Its Driverless Fleet
Today it was revealed that Avis Budget Group will now support and maintain Waymo's driverless car fleet in Phoenix, the company's first public trial of self-driving cars. This is an unprecedented partnership in the autonomous vehicle field and conveys the steps driverless companies are taking to make their vehicles more accessible to the public.