As you're surely aware, your phone can be used against you. Thanks to our cameras and microphones, a clever hacker can obtain access to your device and invade your privacy. But spying isn't limited to just these two sensors — gyroscopes, proximity sensors, QR codes, and even ads can be used to paint a very clear picture about who you are and what you're currently doing.
Our phones have evolved past a simple pocket computer. They have become more like Swiss Army Knives, opening up possibilities that were previously considered Sci-Fi material. Thanks to the recent push into augmented reality, a new world of tools is becoming available to mobile users.
We're all aware that Google collects a notable portion of our data. Thanks to the increasing awareness, Google has added a number of privacy controls to limit data collection. But Google doesn't just collect personal data for no reason — many of your favorite apps will use this info to improve their services and add new features.
A core concept that has resonated through societies of the world over the course the last few hundred years is "knowledge is power." And understanding that concept gives us the drive to push further forward and learn as much as we can on a subject. At the moment, that subject for us at Next Reality is the recently released information about Magic Leap's upcoming Magic Leap One: Creator Edition.
Getting an insider view of the goings-on at Magic Leap is hard to come by, but occasionally, the company lets one of its leaders offer a peek at what's happening at the famously secretive augmented reality startup. One of those opportunities came up a few days ago when Magic Leap's chief futurist and science fiction novelist, Neal Stephenson, sat for an extended interview at the MIT Media Lab.
OnePlus has now officially upgraded both the 5 and 5T to Android 8.1 Oreo. As implied by the version number, this isn't a huge update from Android 8.0 Oreo. However, OnePlus has included a few of their own features as well.
On Friday, audio giant Bose emerged as the latest, and perhaps the most surprising company to announce that it's planning to release augmented reality smartglasses.
Because augmented reality is still so new to so many people, there are a number of would-be experts opining online, often repeating basic facts anyone with a spare 15 minutes can find on their own. That's why it's important to point out when someone delivers what could be considered the ultimate cheat sheet for ramping up your AR IQ if you're unfamiliar with the finer points of the space.
The Galaxy S9 is full of minor improvements and revisions that come together to make it a worthy upgrade over the Galaxy S8. One such improvement is facial recognition, which Samsung has fortified with machine learning and the inclusion of another sensor. The result of these efforts is called Intelligent Scan.
Last year, OnePlus released not one but two excellent flagship devices with the OnePlus 5 and 5T. While the 5T released sooner than expected, it brought some worthwhile upgrades, such as a near bezel-less display and a much-needed camera enhancement. Now, that the OnePlus 6 has arrived, it's time to see what OnePlus has in store for 2018.
Mobile World Congress 2018 is here, and with it, Samsung has officially announced the highly anticipated Galaxy S9 and S9+. While we already knew much about the new phones, Samsung's presentation officially filled us in on what to expect from the S9's cameras, including dual aperture, two cameras, and super slo-mo.
The latest and greatest in Qualcomm's long line of mobile processors, the Snapdragon 845, is now set to touch down along with the Galaxy S9 and S9+. And as gorgeous as Samsung's newest flagships are, the processor that powers them under the hood is just as highly anticipated.
Android users have had access to live wallpapers since the Eclair days, but some newer apps have made this feature even more useful. Now, you have the ability to use GIFs as your wallpaper, and through the marvels of modern technology, you can even set a video as your home screen and lock screen background.
In its goal to push the visual quality of real-time rendering to a new level, Unity is starting the new year off right by releasing a sneak peek at its upcoming interactive rendering improvements via a short, three-minute first-person interactive demo called "Book of the Dead."
Apple has been in hot water ever since the news that the company slows down iPhones with older batteries. The iPhone maker is now in damage control, offering customers a large, $50 discount on battery replacements. The question for you, though, is does your iPhone need a battery replacement in the first place?
It finally happened! In a world of "go big or go home," Magic Leap has finally done something other than tease us with vague promises and rendered video concepts. Although, other than actually showing us what the developer's kit will look like, it seems little more than a slightly different kind of a tease. To demystify this new product, we here at Next Reality decided to put together what we know about the hardware.
The year is 2018. You just received your own Magic Leap One: Creator Edition. What now? Rewinding back to today, we know of one specific app that will be available for Magic Leap's device, along with two others that could be tagged as highly likely. Paired with Magic Leap's own experiments and demonstrations, we can get a sense of what the playground for this new toy will offer.
Technology ages rapidly. We're conditioned to refresh our iPhones every one or two years, and why wouldn't we? New iPhones are fast, and our old ones inevitably slow down, sometimes to an unusable degree. However, it turns out, there's something we can do about that, and it doesn't involve buying a new iPhone at all.
There are over 3 million apps in the Google Play Store, all optimized for the small screen in your hands. While that number sounds staggering, there are still many online tools and websites that require you to use a mobile browser since app development is expensive. However, that's where Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) come into play, a cost-effective way to turn websites into mobile apps.
Huawei's sub-brand, Honor, just announced a pair of new smartphones to help close out the year. We knew the midrange Honor 7X was on its way, but what came as a surprise was the announcement of the Honor View 10 and its impending release in the US. Thanks to Honor, US customers will have even more choices in the flagship market with this new device.
As smartphone users, we live in dangerous times. The value of phones continues to rise, making them prime targets for thieves. In 2015, the FCC estimated that one million phones are stolen each year, and with several devices starting to hit the $1,000 mark now, these numbers are sure to rise. But what do you do if you fall victim to phone theft?
With their first attempt at the mobile market, Razer introduced a device that looks at the smartphone differently. Instead of focusing on minimal bezels or an amazing camera, Razer decided to make a phone for gamers. So how could Razer target the growing mobile gaming market, which is projected to generate $40.6 billion in global revenue in 2017? It starts with the IGZO LCD Display.
Just when you thought Google Glass was dead, it turns out there may be a second life for the often ridiculed device that won't relegate it to the staid confines of factories and repair jobs.
After exploiting a vulnerable target, scooping up a victim's credentials is a high priority for hackers, since most people reuse passwords. Those credentials can get hackers deeper into a network or other accounts, but digging through the system by hand to find them is difficult. A missed stored password could mean missing a big opportunity. But the process can largely be automated with LaZagne.
If you're like me, then you're rarely just watching TV. You're probably also simultaneously following reactions on Twitter during a live airing of The Walking Dead. Or perhaps you're checking your fantasy football scores while a real game is in progress. Or you might just have the TV on in the background while you're writing an article about a new augmented reality app.
HTC is heading in a strange direction lately. Instead of releasing just one flagship in the spring season, they released two top-tier phones, with one having last year's specs and both having last year's design. They were also supposed to manufacture both the Pixel 2 and 2 XL, but Google was unimpressed by the HTC-made Pixel 2 XL and looked to LG for the bigger device. Now it seems, HTC isn't finished yet.
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?"
In October of 2017, Mathy Vanhoef released "Key Reinstallation Attacks: Forcing Nonce Reuse in WPA2." This paper demonstrates a way to decrypt traffic on practically any WPA2 network, the most commonly used form of wireless security (seeing as all other forms of Wi-Fi encryption have already been broken). Practically all of the network-connected devices we use will need to be updated in some way in order to protect against this vulnerability, each of them in a different way.
When it comes to technology, there are no bigger names than Google and Apple. They're the two most valuable companies in the world, and they've swapped places a few times over the last year, so they're truly neck-and-neck. But let's put business aside for a moment — which of these companies makes the better flagship phone?
Null Byte users have often requested video content, but the question has always been what format would best serve our community. This week, we partnered with Null Space Labs, a hackerspace in Los Angeles, to test the waters by hosting a series of talks on ethical hacking for students in Pasadena Computer Science Club. We invited students and Null Byte writers to deliver talks on Wi-Fi hacking, MITM attacks, and rogue devices like the USB Rubber Ducky.
The new iPhone X will be released on Friday, Nov. 3, in Apple Stores located in over 55 countries and territories. For those of you who would rather skip the in-stores lines that will start building well before the 8 a.m. local time openings, you can preorder the iPhone X on Friday, Oct. 27, starting at 12:01 a.m. PDT.
When Apple announced their ARKit platform in June, they immediately staked the claim to the largest augmented reality hardware platform, with millions of iPhones and iPads compatible with iOS 11 becoming AR devices this fall.
For about a million Americans each year, a joint replacement brings relief from pain and restored mobility. But, 5–10% of those people have to endure another surgery within seven years, and most of those are due to an infection in their new joint. If doctors could treat infections more effectively, patients could avoid a second surgery, more pain, and another rehabilitation.
The world around us keeps getting smarter. Not only do we have advanced AI services like the Google Assistant, but now we've got the Internet of Things connecting physical objects to the digital world. It's amazing when you think about it, but the real sci-fi stuff starts to happen when these two technologies intersect.
When it comes to applying augmented reality to various business functions, as the saying goes, there's more than one way to skin a cat.
Tossing an old Android smartphone with a decent battery into your hacking kit can let you quickly map hundreds of vulnerable networks in your area just by walking or driving by them. The practice of wardriving uses a Wi-Fi network card and GPS receiver to stealthily discover and record the location and settings of any nearby routers, and your phone allows you to easily discover those with security issues.
Long before Nvidia figured out how to embed neural networks in its graphics processor units (GPUs) for driverless vehicles, it and other chipmakers were already making the same kinds of devices for 3D games and other apps.
As augmented reality becomes more and more integrated into the mainstream, people have been wondering the future of AR is going to look like. Jay Samit has a pretty clear idea.
Forget Waymo, Uber, Tesla, and other other heavily mediatized driverless contenders — German premium carmaker Audi AG has become the first OEM to introduce a Level 3 car sold in retail channels.
A vulnerability in the design of LiDAR components in driverless cars is far worse than anything we've seen yet outside of the CAN bus sphere — with a potentially deadly consequence if exploited.
