News: AR Puzzle Game PuzzlAR Makes Jump from Smartphone to Magic Leap One
Augmented reality jigsaw puzzle game PuzzlAR: World Tour, formerly only available on mobile devices, has been given a major upgrade via a new version for the Magic Leap One.
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How To: Get Data Directly from a Paper Table into an Excel File on Your Phone with This Neat Feature
Creating a digital spreadsheet by hand can certainly be tedious, especially if you're copying a printed paper table word for word, number for number. Instead of typing information that's already there, however, use Microsoft Excel on Android or iOS to snap a photo of that printed chart and import it directly into your digital one.
News: Meta Rises from the Ashes Under New Ownership, Along with a New CEO
Almost half a year after we broke the story about the demise of Meta Company, there's good news for fans of the augmented reality startup — a rebirth is at hand.
News: Google's ARCore Updates Bring Scene Viewer for AR on Web & Search, Improvements to Image Recognition & Ambient Lighting
After announcing at Google I/O 2019 that augmented reality content would come to Search, Google revealed how it would make that happen with the latest round of updates to ARCore.
News: Magic Leap Reveals First of Developer Grant Winners & Promises More Recipients Amid Developer Complaints
Ten days after Magic Leap declared that it had selected the winners of its Independent Creators Program, the company has officially released an almost full list of grant recipients.
News: Snap's Vice President of Content Is Ghost, as App Continues to Shed Users
In a move sure to stir up even more speculation about the future of Snap Inc., the company's vice president of content, Nick Bell, is leaving the company after five years.
News: Niantic's Ingress Roots Get a Reboot with the Real World Platform
Ingress, the godfather of location based-AR games developed by Pokémon GO creator Niantic Labs, is getting a new lease on life via Ingress Prime, a reboot of the game built on the Niantic Real World Platform.
News: The iPhone 7 Just Became the Spiritual Successor to the iPhone SE
After announcing the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max, one thing was noticeably absent from Apple's Sept. 12 event — the iPhone SE 2, the long-awaited upgrade to 2016's niche yet popular 4-inch model. Not only does Apple have no apparent plans for an update, it has also officially dropped the SE from its online store. Looking for a small iPhone that packs a punch? You might have to try the iPhone 7.
News: Snap Shows Us the Future of AR Smartglasses Through New Styles of Spectacles 2 Camera Glasses
While they don't do augmented reality just yet, the latest styles of Snapchat's Spectacles 2 camera glasses serve as a peek into the future of how mainstream AR wearables may look.
How To: Play 'Final Fantasy Awakening' on Your iPhone Before Its Official Release
Despite numerous reports announcing its stateside arrival, "Final Fantasy Awakening" has yet to show up in the iOS App Store, much to the chagrin of millions of fans in the U.S. Unfortunately, the game seems to be stuck in soft-launch limbo, with no word as to when it'll land stateside. With a little hack, however, you can give this immersive game a try right now.
News: Unity, Unreal Engine & Mozilla Partner with Magic Leap as SDK Rolls Out to Developers
Following the surprise release of Magic Leap's SDK on Monday, March 19, Unity, Unreal Engine, and Mozilla followed up by announcing official partnerships with the company.
Rumor Roundup: Everything You Need to Know About the Sony Xperia XZ2
The Sony Xperia XZ Premium brought 4K HDR to a Sony flagship along with some competitive internals, while the Xz1 brought some powerful specs in a more midrange, traditional form factor. While it only makes sense to be excited about what's coming next, Sony has yet to show us the XZ2. For now, we need to stick to the rumor mill. Thankfully, the rumor mill is a fun place to be.
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.
News: Magic Leap Adds Master of 'The Matrix' Bullet Time Effect to Secretive Product Team
After announcing another massive round of funding to the tune of $502 million, Magic Leap is adding another powerful weapon to its creative arsenal: John Gaeta, the man who helped develop the iconic Bullet Time effect for The Matrix series of films.
Dev Report: Microsoft Unleashes Trio of Updates & Meta 2 Supports SteamVR
It has been an interesting few days in developer news. The Microsoft blog has been busy with information relative to the augmented reality space. Meta 2 has also announced an interesting development this week. Here is a collection of various tidbits that have been collecting up.
Today's Top News: Lyft Is Going to Keep the Dude in the Car
Ride-sharing firm Lyft says it will continue to rely on drivers in the near and long term even as it replaces them with driverless cars, Taggart Matthiesen, Lyft's director of product, said during a Podcast with Recode.
Market Reality: Greycroft, Zell Lurie Invest in Gaming, While Vuzix and Ubimax Pursue Businesses
Augmented reality can be used to fascinate and entertain, but it can be applied in the workplace. While companies on the entertainment end received their votes of confidence via funding, two companies working with enterprises demonstrated their worth by teaming up to pursue customers.
News: Holographic Smartphone Is Coming, but We're Not Sure You Should Get It
So it's 2017 and there are no flying cars and teleportation devices around, but there might be holographic smartphones sometime soon. As cool as that sounds, should we trust a holographic smartphone from a company that has never made smartphones before?
Help Wanted: GM's Cruise Seeks Lead Engineer for 3D Maps as Driverless Plans Take Shape
Cruise Automation is actively seeking to recruit a lead engineer to head its development efforts of 3D maps with expertise in city environments, signaling the GM driverless unit's move towards a mobility-as-a-service business model.
Brief Reality: Meta, HoloLens, Wikitude Among Auggie Winners
With so many companies announcing news or demonstrating technologies at the Augmented World Expo 2017, it can be a challenge to see it all. In fact, we are still unpacking some of our in-depth on-site coverage. So, this edition of Brief Reality is focused on the news we did not cover last week.
News: Google Lens Will Turn Your Phone's Camera into a Smart AI Assistant
Google Assistant will be getting an AI makeover with the addition of Google Lens. This new feature is basically a set of vision-based computing capabilities within the Assistant.
Brief Reality: Industries Take a Peek at the Future of Augmented Reality
This week's Brief Reality is led by a pair of stories with an eye to the future of the augmented reality industry, first in terms of standards for the industry, then with regards to its future applications in the automotive realm. Finally, one company looks to boost its future sales with an executive hire.
Market Reality: Fastdata.io, Ultrahaptics Secure Funding for Contributions to AR
This week in Market Reality, we see two companies capitalizing on technologies that contribute to augmented reality platforms. In addition, industry mainstays Vuzix and DAQRI have business news of their own to report.
News: NFL Audibles to Augmented Reality for Fan Experience
Beginning in November, National Football League (NFL) fans visiting New York's Times Square can come as close as any civilian can to stepping onto a professional football field. All for less than the price of a pair of cleats.
News: 'Environmentally Responsible' Apple Shreds Old iPhones & Macs
Apple seems to want the public to perceive it as an environmentally-conscious entity, as evidenced by the company's recently published Environmental Responsibility Report. But as it turns out, they may be hindering recyclers from salvaging old iPhones and Macs by ordering the devices to be shredded instead.
News: Sony Unveils the Xperia XZ Premium with 4K HDR Display, 19 MP Camera & Snapdragon 835
Sony hit MWC 2017 in full gallop, announcing four different additions to its Xperia lineup on Monday, February 27, 2017: the XZ Premium, XZs, XA1, and XA1 Ultra.
News: Google Pixel Speaker Sound Distorted, Popping, or Staticky? Here's How to Fix It
The brand new Pixel and Pixel XL, Google's first direct attempts at taking on the iPhone, haven't rolled out exactly how Google would have liked. The devices have already had more than their fair share of issues, starting with the camera, and now extending to the built-in speaker. The camera issues were marked as "solved" by Google, but the lens flare is still very much there, just not as prominent.
News: The World's First $4 Android Phone Is Here... Maybe
A little-known company in India is making waves after announcing that it will sell an Android 5.1 Lollipop smartphone for less than $4 (or, more precisely, 251 rupees). The Freedom 251, from Ringing Bells, sounds almost too good to be true. Is that because it is?
How To: Watch the 2015 Super Bowl XLIX Live Stream Online from Anywhere
2015 is quickly shaping up to be the year of the cord cutter, with various media companies finally warming up to the concept of offering live streaming content. In the wake of Dish Network announcing a streaming cable service called Sling TV and Sony unveiling a similar platform in PlayStation Vue, NBC has decided to stream the Super Bowl and all of its festivities online. Before we get to all of the many ways you can stream Super Bowl 49 between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks ...
How To: Upgrade Your Work-from-Home Setup with These Accessory Deals
Working from home is going to be a reality for more people than ever. With Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announcing that his employees will be working remotely for an extended period of time (and even permanently, in some cases), the workforce is rapidly changing. More companies are certain to follow suit.
News: Pokémon GO Gaining More Realistic AR & 3D Mapping from Niantic Real World Platform
In 2018, Niantic unveiled its in-development augmented reality cloud platform for smartphones, the Niantic Real World Platform. A demo showed Pikachu and Eevee cavorting in a courtyard, darting in front of and behind potted plants and people's legs as they walked through the scene. This would be the future of Pokémon GO.
Market Reality: A Hidden ODG & Magic Leap Connection, Epic Games Launches Fund, & Investors Back Mojo Vision & Scope AR
While Magic Leap turned heads at the Game Developers Conference with AR experiences at the Unity and Unreal Engine booths, news broke that the company was the winning bidder for ODG's patents.
News: Pokémon GO's New Ability to Track Steps in Background Is First Step Forward for Niantic's AR Cloud Platform
Niantic's most successful app, Pokémon GO, has become the first app to integrate the company's Real World Platform, the developer's AR cloud technology that enables multiplayer AR, persistent content, and occlusion with physical objects.
Market Reality: Rony Abovitz Perches Atop NR30 AR Hardware Leaders as Angry Birds & Thyng Jump on Magic Leap Bandwagon
This week, Next Reality published profiles on the leaders in augmented reality hardware industry, with Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz topping the list. So, it should be no surprise that two app makers want to align themselves with Magic Leap's flagship product.
News: Apple Just Released iOS 12 Beta 12 for iPhone to Developers, Fixes Software Update Bug
Right before the Labor Day weekend, Apple issued iOS 12 developer beta 12, which comes four days after dev beta 11 and public beta 9, and just one day after announcing the Sept. 12 event. This update primarily fixes a bug where you would be continuously prompted to install a new iOS update even when none existed.
News: The Latest Rumors & Leaks on the Nokia 8 Pro
Earlier this year, Nokia released the Nokia 8 Sirrocco overseas. The new device served as an upgrade to the 2017 model with a minor specs bump and a more modern design. However, HMD isn't done with the 8 series. A rumored Pro version is coming later this year that brings innovations the iconic brand is known for.
News: The New Nokia 6.1 Is a Solid Upgrade to One of Last Year's Most Durable Budget Phones
HMD (the company currently making Nokia-branded phones) only released one flagship device last year, with the rest of the phones falling in the mid-range and entry-level tiers. However, at Mobile World Congress 2018, HMD announced their ambition to become a top five smartphone maker in 3–5 years. Meeting this goal will require penetration in all markets — especially the United States — and it looks like Nokia will get the ball rolling early this year.
News: CES Wrap-Up — 2018 Event Confirms Race for Consumer AR Smartglasses Will Be Marathon Rather Than Sprint
Coming into this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the common sentiment among observers was that this was expected to be the big year for augmented reality.
Apple AR: With These Holiday Apps, You Can Build Snowmen, Beat Up Elves, or Spin Driedels in AR
No matter what your holiday preference, you're probably aware that Christmas is now just days away. By now, you've already decked your halls with boughs of holly (either physically or virtually), thanks to our last holiday app roundup.
News: Another Security Concern from OnePlus — Backdoor Root App Comes Preinstalled on Millions of Phones
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.