Market Reality: NASA AR Launches, Smartglasses Showdown, Vuzix Secret Lab, Magic Leap Turns the Corner
The beginning of autumn has delivered a number of new augmented reality developments, and we're on top of it.
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How To: Protect Your iPhones & iPads by Installing Apple's Emergency 14.8 iOS Security Update
With all of the hype around the new iPhone 13 series and new iPad and iPad mini unveiled this week, it would be easy to overlook a very critical update for the device you already have in your pocket.
News: Apple Adds Pro Features to iPad & Revived iPad Mini, Upgrades Display for Apple Watch Series 7
During its annual autumn keynote address, Apple didn't move heaven and earth. Instead, the company pushed the envelope ever so slightly forward for its marquee consumer devices.
News: Facebook's Oculus Quest Turned into Augmented Reality Guitar Hero Experience via This Developer App
The augmented reality passthrough abilities of Facebook's Oculus Quest were only fully opened to independent developers recently.
Market Reality: TikTok Enters AR Battle, Facebook Crypto Mystery, Candyman in AR, Avon Immersive, Snap Spectacles Evolve
The year leading into fall is turning out to be packed with a flurry of augmented reality activity. Most notably, TikTok is adding another major weapon to its AR arsenal. Also on deck are the powers of Hollywood horror in the form of an innovative approach to AR marketing that uses sounds.
News: This Snap Spectacles Game Lets You Grow a Digital Pet in Augmented Reality
While the rest of Big Tech is still moving relatively slowly on augmented reality smartglasses, Snap continues to supercharge its own experimental AR wearable called Spectacles.
News: Is Facebook Trolling the Winklevoss Twins with Its New AR Smartglasses Project Code-Named Gemini?
The initiative known as Project Aria has been the focus of curiosity around Facebook's augmented reality plans ever since Mark Zuckerberg revealed the device around this time last year.
News: DigiLens Looks to Plastic Waveguides as Alternative to Glass for AR Smartglasses Displays
When it comes to the future of AR smartglasses, DigiLens has one word for you. Just one word. Are you listening? Plastics.
News: Create Your Own Holograms at Home with the Volu iPhone App
With the release of Object Capture this fall, Apple is giving everyone with a Mac and a camera the means to create their own 3D objects.
Market Reality: Facebook & Harry Potter AR, MLB AR App, Doritos AR Ads, NFT Holographic Future, & Google Meet AR Filters
Brands are increasingly adopting augmented reality to promote their products and services, and they have multiple paths for bringing AR experience to their audiences.
News: How to Watch Japan's Viral 3D Cat Live, and How It All Started in China & South Korea
The most viral internet cat of the moment is a virtual kitty trapped in a billboard in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, Japan.
News: Facebook Puts a Spell on Portal Devices & Mobile Apps with Harry Potter AR Experience
Augmented reality technology is often likened to magic powers, so it is fitting that a new AR experience featuring the Harry Potter franchise uses the newest AR tricks from Facebook and its Spark AR platform.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.7 Beta 4, Fixes Battery Health Issue on iPhone 11 Line
Apple released the fourth beta for iOS 14.7 today, Tuesday, June 29. The update comes 15 days after iOS 14.7 beta 3, and restores battery service messages that may have disappeared after reboot on some iPhone 11 models.
News: Apple Pushes ARKit Closer to the AR Cloud with Location Anchors, Expands Face Tracking Support
While Apple introduced new AR features for iOS 15 and Object Capture for Reality Kit 2 during the WWDC 2021 keynote, updates for ARKit were curiously absent in the official presentation.
Market Reality: Facebook Debuts Shared AR for Video Chat, Magic Leap Teams with AMD, & Lego Takes AR to the Theme Park
It's (virtual) developer conference season, and this week was Facebook's turn with F8 Refresh. Like Google and Snap, Facebook had some new AR capabilities to show off.
News: Could These 26 Features Show Up in iOS 15's Upcoming Beta? We Really Hope So
When Tim Cook, Craig Federighi, and other core Apple leaders take the stage for WWDC 2021 on June 7, we'll hear a lot about exciting new things to come. We're likely to see what's in store for watchOS 8 and macOS 12, but more importantly, we'll get a glimpse at what iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 will be like.
News: Microsoft's Alex Kipman Confirms HoloLens Consumer AR Smartglasses Being Developed & Describes How It Can Happen
The story of the HoloLens has been a mix of work and play. But while many developers have devoted time to creating gaming and entertainment apps for the HoloLens 1, with the HoloLens 2, Microsoft has been encouraging everyone to focus more on the enterprise side of things.
News: Rovio Reinvents Angry Birds as Web-Based AR Tower Defense Game for Burger King Campaign
Angry Birds, one of the first franchises to find success in mobile gaming, continues to shoot its shot at new life in augmented reality gaming.
News: Japan-Based Developer Unleashes Giant AR Gundam Robot on the Public via HoloLens 2
The future of the HoloLens 2, according to Microsoft, is all about enterprise use cases. But that doesn't mean some of the more creative-minded HoloLens developers won't bend the top-tier augmented reality device to their own designs. The latest example of this trend comes from Japan.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.6 Public Beta 2 for iPhone
Apple seeded public testers the second iOS 14.6 beta today, Friday, April 30. The update (build number 18F5055b) comes three hours after Apple released the second 14.6 developer beta, four days after the launch of iOS 14.5, which introduced over 60 new features and changes to iPhone, and eight days after the first 14.6 beta hit developers' iPhones.
News: Google Signals Smartglasses Ramp Up via Job Postings for Waveguides & Other AR Disciplines
For better or for worse, Google started the race towards smartglasses for everyday use with Google Glass before scrapping the Explorer Edition and pivoting towards enterprise customers.
News: ReplayAR App Preserves Hollywood's Most Beloved Movie Theater Using Augmented Reality
The pandemic has forced a number of public-facing businesses to either temporarily close or permanently cease operations, with one of the biggest victims of this trend being the movie theater business.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.5 Beta 8 to Developers
Apple released the eighth iOS 14.5 developer beta on Tuesday, April 13. The update (build number 18E5199a) comes six days after Apple's last 14.5 beta update, which Apple pushed out to both developers and public beta testers.
News: Samsung Just Gave Us the First Snapchat AR Smartphone, Sort Of
During this week's unveiling of the new Samsung A Series of smartphones, much of the focus was on the high-end features at a more affordable price as the South Korean tech giant looks to regain its status as the world's top smartphone maker versus Apple's iPhone.
News: Pizza Hut Delivery Now Comes with Slice of '80s Gaming via Pac-Man in AR
What is old is new again. In this case, a classic arcade game gets the augmented reality treatment. In a new promotion playing off its ad campaign featuring actor Craig Robinson (The Office, Hot Tub Time Machine), Pizza Hut has turned its pizza boxes into a virtual Pac-Man game via web-based AR technology.
News: Looking Glass Teams with Reggie Watts to Auction Holographic NFT Art, Paving Way for Popularizing AR Art You Can Hold
The moment many of the crypto savvy insiders in augmented reality and VR have been waiting for is here: we're finally getting our first big auction of NFT art that exists purely as a hologram.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.4.1 for iPhone, Includes New Security Fixes
Apple just released iOS 14.4.1 for iPhone today, Monday, Mar. 8. The event marks 41 days since Apple released a public update for iPhones, with iOS 14.4 back on Jan. 26.
News: Google Adding Stereo Depth Support for Dual Cameras to ARCore Starting with Pixel 4 & 4XL
In response to Apple's implementation of LiDAR sensors in iPad Pro and iPhone 12 Pro models, Google is looking to leverage the dual-camera setups in recent flagship devices as depth-sensing components.
News: Prehistoric Creatures Return to Life via New iPhone AR App from Celebrity Historian David Attenborough
Apparently, we learned nothing from Jurassic Park, as scientists are still working on bringing extinct species back to life. Until that day comes, you can interact with long-lost animals through augmented reality...if you have a newer model iPhone.
How To: 10 New Features & Changes for Your iPhone in iOS 14.4
Outside of iPhone releases, software updates are arguably the most exciting aspects of iOS life. It's like Christmas morning when your iPhone installs an update, as you dive through your device to find all the new features and changes Apple thought to include. With iOS 14.4, there are at least 10 such new additions just waiting for you to explore.
News: Facebook Opens Enrollment for Spark AR Curriculum to Grow AR Creation Community
As Apple, Google, Snap, and Facebook wrestle for positioning to lure developers and creators to build augmented reality experiences for their respective tools, Facebook is looking at a learning approach for its Spark AR platform.
News: Apple AR Smartglasses Concept Shows the Virtual Desktop of the Future
The focus on augmented reality over at Apple is, so far, restricted to the iPhone and the iPad. But if some of the most reliable analysts in the business are to be believed, we'll probably see some kind of AR or VR wearable from the company later this year.
News: Nickelodeon Injects Broadcast AR Fun into Saints vs. Bears NFL Playoff Game
I must admit, upon learning that the NFL was broadcasting the contest between the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears on CBS, Amazon Prime Video, and Nickelodeon, the latter was the only option I wanted, purely for the novelty of the experience.
News: Lenovo Debuts Sleek ThinkReality A3 Smartglasses for Industrial & Office Use
Roughly a year and a half after unveiling the HoloLens-like ThinkReality A6, Lenovo is back with its take on enterprise-grade smartglasses, and the results look impressive. Then again, looks can be deceiving.
News: 8th Wall Powers Netflix AR Experience for George Clooney Film 'The Midnight Sky'
Help me, George Clooney. You're my only hope. If that mash-up of cultural references doesn't make sense, it will momentarily.
News: Next Reality's 2020 Holiday Gift Guide: Augmented Reality Hardware, Gaming, Wearables & More
We're still awaiting the arrival of consumer-grade AR smartglasses from the likes of Apple and Facebook. But that doesn't mean there aren't AR products out there to try this holiday season.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.3 Public Beta 3 for iPhone
Apple released iOS 14.3 public beta 3 today, Wednesday, Dec. 2. The update comes three hours after Apple released 14.3 developer beta 3, and 15 days after Apple released iOS 14.3 beta 2 for developers and public beta testers. The latter introduced a change that bypasses the Shortcuts app when using a custom icon on the home screen.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.3 Developer Beta 3 for iPhone
Apple released iOS 14.3 developer beta 3 today, Wednesday, Dec. 2. The update comes 15 days after Apple released iOS 14.3 beta 2 for developers and public beta testers, which introduced a change that bypasses the Shortcuts app when using a custom icon on the home screen.
News: Varjo Follows in Apple's Footsteps with LiDAR Depth Tracking in XR-3 Headset
Apple no longer has an exclusive province to LiDAR for the purposes of augmented reality. This week, headset maker Varjo unveiled its new VR-3 and XR-3 headsets, the latter of which includes LiDAR sensors and stereo RGB cameras to enable depth sensing and inside-out tracking of real-world environments for "pass-through" mixed reality experiences.
How To: Apple Saves Your Siri & Dictation History — Here's the Easy Way to Delete It
Apple has an excellent reputation for its privacy and security policies. That said, it isn't a perfect reputation. Take Siri, for example. The helpful iOS assistant isn't just communicating with you — Apple saves and listens to a history of your Siri interactions. If you don't want Apple storing your Siri history forever, there's something you can do about it.