In the previous section of this series on dynamic user interfaces for HoloLens, we learned about delegates and events. At the same time we used those delegates and events to not only attach our menu system to the users gaze, but also to enable and disable the menu based on certain conditions. Now let's take that knowledge and build on it to make our menu system a bit more comfortable.
If you use the Google Assistant on your Android device, you can easily send a text message to any one of your contacts. But even though that same Assistant is powering the Google Home, you can't use the smart speaker to accomplish the same task — at least, not without some tinkering.
By combining years of web search advancements, natural language processing, and even DeepMind's artificial intelligence, Google Assistant hopes to change the way you interact with your devices. If you're familiar with Google's previous services, Google Assistant is like Google Now, Voice Search, and Now on Tap rolled into one service, with an extra layer of personality added on top. The end result is one central location for all of your Google needs, be it web search, screen search, playing m...
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.
For people that like to get things done, Android's home screen widgets are almost indispensable. Rather than packing your launcher with a bunch of icons, you can utilize widgets to get quick information in a beautiful package or provide one-tap access to a particular functionality within your apps.
One of the hardest, most intimidating parts of making your own Steampunk guns from scratch is the wooden stock of the gun. To be fair, it's probably the hardest part. It requires the most artistry, and is the easiest to mess up.
Afraid to wear black because of your dandruff problem? There are many ways to cure dandruff so don’t give up hope. Try the home remedies and if you need to there is always medicated shampoos for the problem.
In this drumming video series, learn tips and techniques on using electronic drums. Our expert will show you the basic trigger system of the v-drums, how the brain works, how to make your own kit and store it in memory, sound output options, playing electronic drums live, how to practice on v-drums, how to setup the kit, and a few other important tips for musicians new to the electronic drums.
In this do-it-yourself video series, learn how to use a belt sander. This power tool allows you to complete large woodworking projects in minutes instead of hours, saving you the back-breaking effort of smoothing out large areas of rough wood by hand. Our expert will give you easy-to-follow shop safety tips, as well as how to care for and maintain your sander, how to operate the trigger system, and what types of wood to use.
While there's an art to surviving the all-nighter, there's also an art to staying awake throughout the day when you're operating on little to no sleep. In 1964, the record for sleep deprivation was set by 17-year-old Randy Gardner, who stayed awake for an incredible 264 hours and 12 minutes. Now while we're not out to challenge Randy for his title, we can certainly look to him for inspiration in beating back our own fatigue.
Apple's augmented reality teases just keep on coming from the halls of its Cupertino labs. The latest comes in the form of an invitation to Apple's next public-facing event.
I always keep my iPhone's Portrait Orientation Lock on so that my screen doesn't randomly rotate while I'm lying down. However, there are certain apps that I do turn it off for. It's kind of a pain since you have to swipe down the Control Center and toggle the orientation lock — but that ends now. Instead of doing it manually, a new iOS update can automate app orientations for you.
Pushing music from your iPhone to your HomePod or HomePod mini by just moving the devices close to each other is certainly a great party trick. But if Handoff is too easily triggered, you might not think it's worth the wow factor. Thankfully, there's an easy way to stop your iPhone from sharing audio to your HomePod or HomePod mini (and vice versa) if you're finding it happens way too often.
Between sending iMessages, jotting down notes, and crafting emails, you do a lot of typing on your iPhone. No doubt, you've been in the middle of an important task when everything comes to a screeching, obtrusive halt, where a rogue "Undo Typing" pop-up forces you to close it before continuing with your typing. Don't put up with the BS anymore — here's how to stop it.
There's not much to the Messages app for iPhone when it comes to finding the right conversations. It did get some enhanced search capabilities in iOS 13, but beyond that, there's no good way to find the threads you need aside from just scrolling through the main page, which lists newer ones first. However, there is a tweak that gives you the power to group like-minded chats together.
OnePlus phones are easy to root, but that also means they're easy to brick if you get trigger happy with your superuser privileges. If you find yourself in this situation, you'll quickly realize the OnePlus firmware download page doesn't provide files you can flash in Fastboot mode.
One vital part of Android 10's new navigation system is the "QuickStep" gesture. Swipe up from the bottom of your screen, then pause. You'll see your recent apps along with a dock containing a handful of icons for quick access. This dock is provided by the phone's launcher, which means your home screen is now integrated into the multitasking UI. So what happens if you change your home screen app?
Spotify launched an experimental feature in early-2018 called Spotify Voice, a voice assistant that lives right in the app. It lets you speak to quickly find and play your favorite songs, albums, artists, videos, and podcasts on the music streaming service. Although the feature was initially only available on iOS, it's been ported over to Android so that anyone can take advantage of it.
Samba can be configured to allow any user with write access the ability to create a link to the root filesystem. Once an attacker has this level of access, it's only a matter of time before the system gets owned. Although this configuration isn't that common in the wild, it does happen, and Metasploit has a module to easily exploit this security flaw.
I've been using the Galaxy Note 10+ as my daily driver for a while now. I love it, but as with any phone, it loses its pizzazz after a while. But since it's an Android phone, there's always a way to add fresh features and functionality to the UI.
If you're still working your way through the hundreds of features and changes that iOS 13 brings to your iPhone, you might be a bit surprised to learn that your device is now out of date. While Apple only dropped the big update for iPhones on Thursday, Sept. 19, the company has already released its successor. All iOS 13-compatible iPhones can now update to iOS 13.1, out today, Tuesday, Sept. 24.
Before smartglasses makers can dream of taking smartglasses to mainstream consumers, they must first determine the right mix of form, function, and price that will drive customers to buy into what they're hoping to sell.
When it comes to the business of augmented reality, companies that aren't already introducing new products or apps are focused on producing the AR technology of the future. But in the realm of real products and apps, Magic Leap continues to show off what its headset can do, this time via a new app that transports users to the ocean's depths.
Though many were hoping for it, a notification indicator around the Galaxy S10's front camera punch hole never came to fruition. Since then, we've been finding other uses for the camera cutout, from turning it into a circular battery meter to using creative wallpapers. Thankfully, there's now an app that will give you LED-style alerts with a ring around your S10's camera.
Unless you're one of the world's top golfers, there's a good chance you are not stepping onto the fairways of Pebble Beach Golf Links this weekend.
In about 27% of all car crashes, someone was using their cell phone. You may think texting is the big problem here, but many fail to realize that even the smallest smartphone interaction could spell disaster. Thankfully, Google Maps has rolled out an overdue feature that'll help ensure a safer drive.
When driving, you can get directions hands-free by asking Siri. You can also make general map searches, show a location's details, call a query's phone number, and view traffic details. However, Siri defaults to Apple Maps for all those. If you prefer Google Maps, Waze, or another third-party navigation app, the map-based Siri commands won't work. But that doesn't mean you can't still use Siri.
This week, inside sources divulged details of how Apple nearly acquired Leap Motion, twice. Otherwise, companies offering or working on augmented reality technology had more successes than failures to talk about.
Pick up any iPhone with a Home button, and you'll notice something peculiar when compared to your iPhone with Face ID. If you press the Side button (aka Sleep/Wake) on the Home button model, it sleeps immediately. When you press the Side button your Face ID model, it lags a bit or a whole lot. What's going on here, and can it be fixed?
What you see when you open the Play Store is completely dependent on your country settings. Search results and top charts are specific to each region and there are lots of popular apps and games that simply won't show up unless your Play Store country matches up.
On August 1, Google Play started requiring new app submissions to target at least Android 8.0 Oreo's API. Then, as of November 1, all updates to existing apps were required target the same API. While at first glance, this change may mean little to you, it will have a profound impact on Android. Now, your favorite apps will be getting better.
Extra hardware buttons have become a trend with smartphones lately. Often, these are unmodifiable buttons designed to launch a voice assistant. That isn't the case with the BlackBerry KEY2. Making a return from the KEYone is the Convenience Key, which also received an upgrade.
While numerous startups are competing to convert the AR Cloud from a pie-in-the-sky to a reality, Wikitude is thinking smaller with the latest edition of its augmented reality SDK.
There are some nasty iOS bugs out there, many determined to crash the Messages app. For example, in February 2018, we saw a Telugu character render the iPhone messaging app totally useless. While that bug has been fixed, the nightmare continues in a new bug, aptly dubbed the "Black Dot."
Earlier this year, with the Developer Preview, we got a tantalizing glimpse of Google's upcoming Android 9.0 Pie and a whole slew of new features that comes along with it, such as iPhone X-like gestures and improved security features, to name a few. With its announcement at Google I/O, Android Pie just got a lot more accessible.
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.
For some of you, whether or not to delete Facebook is a daily struggle. One reason you might not have pulled the trigger on your Facebook account yet could be because of Messenger, which provides millions of people with different devices an easy way to communicate with each other. But here's a secret you might not know: you don't need to have a Facebook account to use Facebook's popular chat app.
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.
With only one profitable quarter in the last two years, LG's mobile division is undergoing a shakeup. With a fresh set of executives, LG has delayed the expected launch of the upcoming G7 and instead decided to start the year with yet another variant of the V30.
For some of us, mornings are difficult. But if you can manage to start your morning right, you can trigger a chain reaction that leads to a more productive day. Fortunately, our phones have the tools to help us get off to a good start.