Stadia is a lot like an Xbox or PS4, except there's no console — the games just stream from Google's servers to your phone, computer, or TV. But Stadia is limited to Pixel phones for right now, and when Google does expand support, it will still only be for select phones. Thankfully, there's a workaround for that if you're rooted.
If you need to know whether you are really a Hufflepuff or a Gryffindor, then it's time to get yourself an augmented reality sorting hat.
Game streaming has never been better. Not only can you watch your favorite Twitch streamer play, but with the new tools being added to YouTube, you can even play along with them. And now, with a solid internet connection, you can stream your Xbox One games to your phone to enjoy console games on the go.
From the first moments of booting up Harry Potter: Wizards Unite to the hours of walking you're bound to experience, one thing is clear — encountering Foundables and defeating their Confoundables is a significant plot point of the AR game. While you receive rewards each time you retrieve a Foundable, the real treasure comes from completing parts of the Registry, called "Families."
In Mario Kart Tour, you will find that sometimes you are just having a hard time passing the person in front of you. As hard as you try, you have been stuck in second place and you're on the last strip of the track with no items at your disposal. Here is where using a technique known as Slipstream comes into play.
Developers in the augmented reality industry got a lot of love this week.
With $100 million in grant funding already available to developers via its MegaGrants program, Epic Games is sweetening the pot with some gear for Magic Leap developers.
Electronic Arts is inviting players of The Sims Freeplay and their friends to visit the homes of their Sims in augmented reality with a new AR mode that supports multiplayer and persistent content using ARKit 2.0.
Late last year, we got a little surprise from Razer. The gaming company released its first smartphone, and as expected, it targeted gamers. Branded as a gaming phone, it started a trend which several other companies followed soon after, including ASUS, Xiaomi, and even Samsung. So as you can imagine, many are excited about its successor.
One could argue that, at least for the moment, software development is more important to the augmented reality experience than hardware. Since a viable augmented reality headset has yet to emerge for the broader, mainstream consumer market, currently, the same devices that make texting and selfies possible are leading the charge to enable easy-to-use AR experiences.
On Wednesday, as expected, Apple unveiled the next generation of iPhones, namely the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max along with the more affordable iPhone XR, each equipped with a TrueDepth sensor.
With every new Android update, hidden features are lurking under the surface. Google hides these options to prevent unnecessary tinkering by average users, leaving them in place for power users to discover. These secrets range from silly to really useful, with the latter opening up new ways to manage your phone.
The hype train that left the station years ago has reached its first stop, and now we finally have access to the Magic Leap One, the device many have claimed would revolutionize the augmented reality space at launch. But is that really true?
While augmented reality experiences can already appear to be magical, particularly to the uninitiated, one developer is doubling down on its mystical potential for the ever-popular Magic: The Gathering card game.
If you're not impressed with the current crop of AR content, and you're worried this may put a damper on the industry's growth, these stories should give you cause for some optimism.
A report from app data firm Sensor Tower reveals that more than 13 million ARKit apps have been installed on iPhones and iPads within the first six months since the toolkit launched with iOS 11.
Given Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's blockbuster movie pedigree and the promotional power that usually accompanies his work, there's a certain predictable symmetry in the news that Rampage, a movie adaptation of the classic arcade game, has now become an augmented reality mobile app.
If you're a console or PC gamer, you may be quick to ignore the mobile version of Fortnite Battle Royale. The lower graphics and the switch to touchscreen controls may be enough reason to dismiss this version of the game. But don't be so quick to judge — there are actually some clear advantages to playing on mobile.
Thanks to its free-to-play strategy, many items in Fortnite Battle Royale require V-Bucks, the in-game currency. You can purchase V-Bucks with real-world money, but many would rather earn V-Bucks instead of getting nickeled and dimed by micro-transactions. While limited, there are a few ways to earn free V-Bucks in the game.
Sony's Ghost Corps, the caretaker of the Ghostbusters franchise, just released some pre-alpha gameplay footage from the upcoming Ghostbusters World location-based AR game to whet the appetites of would-be hunters of the paranormal.
For the past few months, Fortnite has been one of the most-watched games on Twitch, and it's likely to keep a top spot on the live streaming platform once Fortnite Battle Royale becomes available for smartphones. While there are not any live streaming capabilities built directly into Epic's mobile version of the game, you can still live stream Battle Royale gameplay from your iPhone to Twitch.
Continuing to take the steps necessary to reign supreme among the top game engines of the world, with a steady stream of major updates, enhancements, and new features, the team at Unity are keeping the user base in a regular state of surprise. At this rate, it's almost like Christmas every few days.
Did you forget to get a Christmas gift for that niece or nephew who you see once a year? If you're lucky, the Walmart near you may have a Merge Cube in stock. When paired with the 57° North game for the Merge Cube, the mysterious-looking cube offers the possibility of extended sessions of virtual adventure in the palm of your hand. Available for $2.99 through the App Store or Google Play, 57° North is a choose-your-own-adventure game that takes place in augmented reality.
The bandwagon for NFL teams using augmented reality to engage fans isn't exactly full, but it is starting to get a bit crowded.
Last week, I tried out StackAR, a puzzle app updated to support ARKit where the AR features felt mostly unnecessary.
Snapchat is mostly credited as the first AR social network, and, like most social media companies, its revenue model is nested largely within advertising. As such, the company now has a new avenue for branded content.
CEO (and NR50 member) Tim Cook and Apple unveiled the long-awaited lineup of next-generation iPhones today on stage of the Steve Jobs Theater, packed with hardware improvements to facilitate AR experiences from ARKit, which will arrive with the iOS 11 on Sept. 19.
Niantic has gotten themselves into a bit of a mess regarding their hit game Pokémon GO recently. The company hosted a fan fest in Chicago earlier this month that ended up being a complete disaster.
One of the best features in Super Mario Run is a multiplayer race that lets you test your skills against other players. Toad Rally, as it's called, pits you against other players in a battle for Toads. The more Toads you collect, the easier it is to build your kingdom and collect more rewards on your Android or iPhone.
Casey Hudson, the one-time project director for games like Star Wars: The Knights of the Old Republic and the original Mass Effect trilogy, has announced his return to his former home, Bioware as the General Manager. Of course, that also means he is leaving his role at Microsoft Studios as Creative Director, where he was reportedly working on both Xbox One and HoloLens projects.
Pokémon GO has been making the news since it was released last summer. But throughout the past year, the core gameplay has remained mostly the same. We're learning today that is about to change, as Niantic is gearing up to release a major update for the popular AR game.
The producers of FX's animated series Archer have devised a plan to introduce augmented reality hijinks into its eighth and penultimate season with a new app for iOS and Android devices.
During the last few months, WhatsApp's Google Play Store ratings have been tanking—all the way down to an average of 3.4 stars from the instant messenger's usual average of 4.1. Within the last week, though, WhatsApp has received thousands of seemingly fake 5-star reviews that have bumped up the company's overall average to a 4.4.
Throughout the summer and fall of 2016, in the sudden whirlwind that was Pokémon GO, it was hard to go anywhere in public without seeing someone attempting to catch Pokémon. Now, thanks to an upcoming platform called Motive.io, from the Vancouver company of the same name, location-driven application development will soon be accessible to everyone.
Once mixed reality technology is more widely available and realistically priced for consumers, using the tech to create the illusion of a larger space, will likely be a favorite use for mixed reality in places where real-estate is expensive, people tend to live in smaller homes and work in tighter offices.
The US Department of Education has put together a competition called the EdSim Challenge with a $680,000 purse to facilitate next-gen education. The event calls upon augmented and virtual reality, as well as video game developers, to bring immersive simulation concepts to prepare the workforce of the future.
Unless you had a master of visual effects for a parent, you had to imagine the floor was actually lava when playing the classic furniture-hopping game. With a Microsoft HoloLens, however, you don't have to imagine anything.
LARPing, or live action role-playing, can look a little silly because it requires a lot of imagination to suspend reality. But mixed reality technology like the Microsoft HoloLens can change all of that with voice commands and special effects.
A strange thing is happening: there are people, groups of people even, walking the streets day and night staring wide-eyed at their mobile phones and laughing like manic children. What are these people doing? Are they taking pictures? Are they participating in some new social media craze? Is their activity an omen that the zombie apocalypse is upon us?
Want to actually catch 'em all? Pokémon GO has long-teased the opportunity to hunt for Pokémon in the real world through augmented reality, but few have had the opportunity to actually see it in action.
