5G is showing up more and more in the news, as an increasing number of companies jump on the bandwagon. AT&T made a splash earlier this year with their embarrassing "5G Evolution" debacle, and the other three major wireless carriers soon followed suit, detailing their own vague plans for 5G. Today we find another company has joined the fray, just not a cellular one — Apple has officially been approved to test 5G networks.
With the announcement of Google Glass Enterprise Edition last week, a literal behemoth entered the arena of companies serving augmented reality solutions to business customers. While Google Glass, with the backing of Alphabet, has the potential to be a disruptor, the field already has a number of players who have been in the game.
With augmented reality making its way into the mainstream, consumers have been expecting a company bloodbath for a while now, one that will have a ton of casualties. Blippar has been expected to be one of those casualties due to the reported loss of millions of dollars earlier this year. Now, their situation might be made worse as the creators of the Layar app, Raimo van der Klein and Martin Lens-Fitzgerald, are rumored to be asking for their company back.
A new cross-licensing patent deal signed by Nokia and Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi will bring increased collaboration between the two companies. One area of focus in which both Nokia and Xiaomi have already agreed to work together is augmented reality.
Four augmented reality companies made deals this week to grow their businesses. Two companies, TechSee and Car360, completed funding rounds, while DAQRI signed with a production partner and Decalomania landed a prime spot with a top retailer.
While two augmented reality companies were recently recognized for their innovative technologies, other companies have turned to augmented reality to innovate in their respective fields. Over the past week, use cases have ranged from selling snacks and video games to raising awareness for public health issues.
While many analysts predict that the market for augmented and virtual reality will continue to grow over the next five years, now is the time for investors to get in on the ground floor.
Baidu signed a cooperation agreement on June 7, the first day of the CES Asia conference, with multiple companies in the autonomous vehicles industry. The companies listed in the press release include Desay SV, United Automotive Electronics, and Hangsheng Electronics, as well as possibly additional auto manufacturers. Baidu plans to "jointly develop" upcoming intelligent driving production plans.
Anticipation is building for the release of the Essential Phone. Andy Rubin's newest creation is expected to be loaded with features like a rear fingerprint reader, attachable 360-degree camera, and an edge-to-edge display. However, a news release from Sprint has just revealed that it may take more than $700 to get your hands on the Essential Phone. The release revealed that the Essential Phone will be exclusively carried by Sprint, so it might be time to switch your wireless carrier.
For companies wary of the temperature, PTC just made it easier for them to dip their toes in the waters of augmented reality.
After Ford's CEO Mark Fields' three-year tenure failed to keep up with the driverless industry and resulted in a 40% drop in shares since Field's took over in 2014, Ford is going in a new direction. Jim Hackett, who was previously chairman of Ford's self-driving division, has succeeded Fields as the company's new CEO.
UPDATE: It was previously reported that the OnePlus 3T 128 GB in Gunmetal would be discontinued. GSM Arena received an official rebuttal from the company which noted that the phone is not discontinued, but rather, out of stock. Though, it seems like the company has more of a problem keeping track with what its reps report, rather than its phone supply.
Apple likes to play their cards close to the vest, don't they? The iconic company doesn't usually reveal much about their projects until it's time for an official announcement. But sometimes ... They can't stop a leak of information from happening, or they just leak the news themselves like Steve Jobs used to. That brings us to today's news. It appears the tech giant has hired an augmented reality specialist from NASA to join their AR team.
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.
An expert in the driverless market has earmarked Porsche as the company to watch in the automated car race.
Although John Chen of BlackBerry still sees Qualcomm as a partner, the chip maker and telecommunications company has just been given a preliminary order to pay BlackBerry $814,868,350 in royalty overpayments.
The rumor that the iPhone 8 will ship with 3D camera system is not a new one, but a new analysis by Morgan Stanley's Charlie Chan lends credibility to the speculation. Now, it appears more likely than ever that Apple's next iPhone will ship with 3D capabilities, increasing potential for AR and VR integration in the future.
Baidu's self-driving car unit has had a tough week. Today, the company's leading artificial intelligence (AI) expert, Andrew Ng, announced in an optimistic blog post that he would be leaving the Chinese search engine company to pursue AI research on his own.
All you paying Spotify users are about to get another exclusive privilege besides getting out of all those annoying "Ever wonder what it would be like to have Spotify premium?" ads. The Sweden-based company is looking to lower the royalty fees they have to pay to major record labels for their music, by compromising on their policy that all their music be free to paying and nonpaying users. Spotify would for a limited time restrict access on major album releases to their paying subscribers.
The Stagefright exploit, which allowed for malicious code to be embedded in files on your device, is now very real in the form of Metaphor. Developed by software research company NorthBit, Metaphor is their implementation of exploits to the Stagefright library, and when executed, can access and control data on your device.
Getting on the phone for customer service can be extremely frustrating. First you've got to find the correct phone number for your region (good luck trying to get customer service from a sales department), then you have to listen to the annoying automated system to navigate your way to the department you want. More often than not, you'll be stuck with some elevator music while you wait to speak to an actual human.
Do you like to try out the latest electronics before they come out? Do you hate it when you have to send back test products you do get your hands on? Watch this video to learn how you can get companies to send you products to review and let you keep them afterwards.
A cover letter is a document sent with your resume to a prospective employer to indicate your interest in a position at their company. This how to video teaches you how you can write a concise and intelligent cover letter that will impress the company where you are applying.
If you have the DLC Onslaught for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, try following along with this video walkthrough to see how to beat the Valparaiso map on the Onslaught Co-Op Mode. And you're not going to learn just how to beat Valparaiso on Onslaught, but you're going to see how to win on Hardcore Difficulty. It might be a good idea for you to complete Hardcore Difficulty with a full squad of 4 players: 2 Engineers, 1 Assault, and 1 Medic.
In this clip, learn how to make the right phone calls and press the right buttons to "trick" your phone company into giving you a free phone upgrade before you are due. You will also learn how to save money on you phone bill by using a few choice words on the telephone. This trick works for Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T, so not matter who your carrier is you will be golden. This clip is hosted by an ex-employee from a cell phone company, so it is full of insider tips.
Some people are hesitant about changing their resume and editing certain things in or out; they feel it's like cheating. It's not. Changing up your resume is perfectly acceptable as long as you don't lie or make false claims about your history. Tailoring your resume is about putting yourself in a context the company feels will suit them the best.
The deadly Wuhan coronavirus outbreak has not only has claimed lives in China but also has caused disruption around the globe, particularly in the tech industry. To date, the virus has claimed more than 1,000 lives in China, according to the country's officials.
Google pushed a new kind of augmented reality walking navigation to the mainstream last year, and now startup Phiar is hoping users will use its AR app in the same way for driving navigation.
Brace yourselves: Nreal Light clones are coming. Since the China-based startup wowed the crowd at CES 2019 with its consumer-centric smartglasses, a number of followers from Asia have emerged, and all with very similar aesthetics to Nreal Light.
The legal drama surrounding Chinese startup Nreal and Magic Leap continues, and now we finally have an update.
Augmented reality plays a key role in the evolution of adjacent technologies, such as 5G connectivity and brain-control interfaces (BCI), and the business news of the week serves up proof points for both examples.
Facebook and its Oculus subsidiary have been open about their intentions to bring AR wearables into the mainstream for some time now.
Drone mishaps, such as the collision that scratched a military helicopter in New York, are becoming something of an everyday hazard.
This week, Snapchat parent Snap came closer to fulfilling its smartglasses destiny by adding new 3D content capabilities to its third-generation Spectacles. At the same time, the now defunct Meta Company continued its fall from grace, as a judge ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the patent infringement case against the Meta 1 and Meta 2 headsets.
It appears that the floodgates of consumer-grade augmented reality smartglasses from China are now open, with Mad Gaze being the latest company to rush its product through.
Developers and enterprise customers chomping at the bit to get their hands on HoloLens 2 may not have to wait much longer, as Microsoft passed one of the remaining hurdles needed to release their new tech into the wild.
The research team from Nvidia is returning to SIGGRAPH, an annual hotbed of innovation, with two new advancements in augmented reality displays.
Some investors play the short game, placing their bets on industries that show the quickest return on their investment, and, in the augmented reality space, that means the enterprise sector.
While a viable version of consumer-grade smartglasses has yet to find mainstream success, two more contenders emerged this week, as Vuzix confirmed that a leak of a fashion-forward design is legitmate and Vivo introduced tethered smartglasses designed to pair with its new 5G smartphone.
Aircraft manufacturer Airbus is so impressed with the boost in productivity it has gained from Microsoft's HoloLens, the company will begin offering augmented reality software to its customers.
