Market Reality: AR Competition Heats Up as Microsoft, Google, & Samsung Make Money Moves
Some of the big guns developing augmented reality technology fired shots at their competitors with announcements and leaked plans this week.
Development Hinges Search Results
News: Google Working on AR Walking Navigation Mode for Maps
At Google's I/O developer conference keynote on Tuesday, ARCore may have been absent, but Google did preview a potentially trailblazing augmented reality feature for Google Maps.
News: Kinect Graduates from Gaming to Enterprise with Project Kinect for Azure
Microsoft's Monday keynote introduced the fourth generation of the company's Kinect sensor during Build 2018 in Seattle.
News: Renault Uses Shazam AR to Harness the Latest Star Wars Movie Hype
French automaker Renault is tapping into the promotional machine for Solo: A Star Wars Movie by deploying an AR experience through Shazam that's triggered via synergistic advertising.
News: Facebook Camera Can Now Change Your World into an AR Paint Canvas
For social media platforms like Facebook, augmented reality represents a whole new art form with which users can express themselves online. Now, Facebook is giving those users a new brush.
News: PhotoBloom AR Brings Your Framed Photos to Life as Augmented Reality Videos
Taking photos that are actually printed and hung on a real wall, versus being shot and shared via a social wall, is a seemingly lost art, but PhotoBloom AR wants to change that with augmented reality.
News: Social VR Startup vTime Lands $7.6M to Launch Augmented Reality Version Later This Year
One of the earliest players in the social virtual reality space, vTime, has just landed $7.6 million in new funding, which the company says is partially earmarked for developing and releasing an augmented reality version of its platform later this year.
How To: Play Netmarble's Firstborn Kingdom Come on Your iPhone Right Now
Netmarble has released a new MMORTS game called Firstborn: Kingdom Come to go up against competing games like Lords Mobile. Unfortunately, the game seems to be stuck in development as a soft launch in select countries, limiting its exposure to gamers worldwide. But don't let this hiccup deter you — we've found a simple workaround to play the game on your iPhone right now.
News: IBM's Visual Censor Patent Is the AR Nightmare 'Black Mirror' Warned Us About
In the latest example of life imitating art, IBM has applied for a patent for a video censoring system that looks a lot like the "Arkangel" child monitoring system from the latest collection of modern sci-fi fables from Black Mirror on Netflix.
News: Google Backs Yet Another AR Cloud Platform via Ubiquity6's $10.5M Funding Round
Google's AI investment arm, Gradient Ventures, has joined a $10.5 million round of funding for Ubiquity6 and its platform for shared augmented reality experiences, just weeks after Google's GV fund backed a competing AR cloud platform.
News: Apple's Education-Focused iPad Event Pushes Augmented Reality Further into the Classroom
At Apple's education event in Chicago on Tuesday, augmented reality stood at the head of the class among the tech giant's new offerings for the classroom.
Apple AR: PGA Tour AR App Lets You Follow Golfers Live on Your Coffee Table
If you're a golf fan who can't attend the Arnold Palmer Invitational in person, you can still follow the next stop on the apparent Tiger Woods comeback tour in augmented reality with an iPhone or iPad.
News: Leap Motion Hit with Patent Infringement Lawsuit from Same Company Suing Meta
Patent holder Genedics, LLC has filed a legal complaint alleging that hand-tracking startup Leap Motion is infringing on its intellectual property.
News: Cisco & Accenture Lead $17.2 Million Investment Round in Upskill's Enterprise AR Suite
Enterprise augmented reality software provider Upskill has raised $17.2 million in its latest round of funding, led by new investors Cisco and Accenture.
How To: You Can Play Assassin's Creed Rebellion on Your iPhone Right Now — Here's How
Assassin's Creed Rebellion is a welcome addition to the popular gaming franchise, garnering great reviews so far. Unfortunately, the game has been stuck in soft-launch limbo for almost a year, with no firm release date in sight. With a little legwork, however, you can try the game out for yourself right now.
How To: Play MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2018 on Your iPhone Right Now
Spring training has begun in earnest, and to mark MLB's soft debut, GLU has soft-launched a followup to the smash hit MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2017 in Canada. While MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2018 is still technically unavailable outside of Canada, you can actually play this game right now through a simple hack.
How To: Play WWE Universe on Your iPhone Right Now
With Wrestlemania 34 right around the corner, WWE has partnered with GLU to soft-launch WWE Universe. While the game is currently only available in New Zealand, there's a simple loophole that you can exploit to download the game right now and play as your favorite WWE wrestler.
How To: Tamagotchi Is Coming Back — Here's How to Play on Your iPhone Before Everyone Else
It's been a long time coming, but Tamagotchi has finally ditched its iconic toy egg and arrived as a mobile game. The new iteration is called My Tamagotchi Forever, and though it's currently only available in Canada, you can actually download the game anywhere and care for your very own virtual pet right now.
News: Thanks to Project Treble, the Galaxy S9 Should Actually Get Fast Updates
Oreo, the latest and greatest Android OS, lets you enjoy a ton of new features such as app shortcuts and an improved keyboard. But thanks to a feature that's required of all phones that ship with Android Oreo out of the box, your S9 may be the first Galaxy phone to finally receive timely software updates.
News: Ghostbusters World Might Be the Killer App for Google's ARCore Platform
As part of its ARCore release announcement, Google also revealed a forthcoming app that's sure to excite those who celebrate '80s pop culture.
News: Apple Highlights Augmented Reality's Role in Its Future with Dedicated Page on Its Website
Apple CEO Tim Cook's most recent tech prophecy is that "AR will change everything." And now, that includes Apple's own website.
News: This iPhone App Gives You Virtual Prizes for Turning Your Curse Words into Objects in AR
If you love to hear yourself talk, you can now enjoy seeing your words materialize in augmented reality with an ARKit-compatible iPhone or iPad.
News: Sketchfab Launches Professional 3D Model Store for AR & VR Content Creators
After hosting millions of free 3D models online, Sketchfab is betting that augmented reality and virtual reality developers and creators will be willing to pay for premium 3D content.
News: Microsoft Gives Us a Peek at the Reality Room Created for Employees to Experiment with AR & VR
One of the most overlooked components of talking about augmented reality and virtual reality is getting people to actually use the hardware and software associated with these platforms.
News: This AR Headset Surpasses the Field of View of HoloLens, but You Still Won't Wear It in Public
Digital imaging company OmniVision Technologies and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI) entered the CES fray this week with a new reference design for an augmented reality headset capable of 60 degrees field of view (FoV).
News: Augmented Reality Mirror Patent from Amazon Can Turn Fitting Rooms into Exotic Locales
In its continued pursuit to elevate retail technology, Amazon has been awarded a patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office for a digital mirror that lets customers virtually try on clothes with different backgrounds.
News: See & Feel a Supercar in Augmented Reality with Ultrahaptics on the Meta 2
With today's augmented reality experiences, we can see and hear virtual content, but Ultrahaptics wants you to be able to feel those experiences, too.
Market Reality: The 10 Biggest AR Investments of 2017
As the calendar year (and, for many companies, the fiscal year) comes to a close, it appears 2017 may stand as the new high-water mark for investment in augmented and virtual reality technology.
News: Apple's iPhone X Animojis Are Now Invading Your Favorite TV Shows
Just a day after the release of the iPhone X, the music-meets-comedy pastime known as Animoji Karaoke quickly emerged as one of the popular (albeit frivolous) features used to justify spending $1,000 for Apple's newest smartphone.
News: From Immersive Comics to Interactive Music, Here's What You Can Expect to Do with Magic Leap One
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.
Firefox Mobile 101: How to Turn Websites into Apps on Your Home Screen with the New Quantum Browser
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.
News: Airbnb Thinks an Augmented Reality Feature Will Make Your Next Stay Less Awkward
Just as the modern travel experience has improved thanks to the internet, Airbnb wants to make your stay in a stranger's home easier by way of augmented and virtual reality.
News: Disney Has Figured Out How to Make AR Content React to Real-World Obstacles
Researchers at Disney have demonstrated the ability to render virtual characters in augmented reality that are able interact autonomously with its surrounding physical environment.
News: Niantic Preparing Huge Update to Pokémon Go Predecessor Ingress
These days, location-based augmented reality gaming pioneer Niantic is best known as the developer behind Pokémon Go, but the uber-popular mobile game was not its first foray into the AR gaming genre.
News: Facebook's New Messenger Kids Aims to Lock in Young AR Users, Give Parents More Control
Next to millennials, one of the groups most coveted by brand marketers is "Generation Z," the consumers of tomorrow who were born between 1996 and 2010. On Monday, Facebook established a beachhead with that demographic in the realm of augmented reality by launching Facebook Messenger Kids.
Apple AR: Apple Acquires AR Hardware Maker to Jumpstart Its Own Headset Aspirations
Just days after we found out that Apple is working on its own augmented reality headset, we now learn that the company is accelerating its AR headset efforts with the acquisition of Montreal-based hardware maker Vrvana.
News: HoloPlayer One Achieves Holograms Sans Glasses Within Reasonable Price Range
A Brooklyn-based startup has launched a glasses-free holographic display for less than the cost of an iPhone 8 Plus.
News: Renault Trucks Tests HoloLens to Visualize Quality Control in Engine Assembly Operations
French manufacturer Renault Trucks is looking to the HoloLens to improve quality control processes with its engine assembly operations.
Market Reality: In the Race for Consumer Smartglasses, the Future Is Coming into Focus
The next frontier for AR hardware is the consumer headset, and tech companies of varying size and tenure are working hard to strike the right mix between comfort, cool factor, and cost. How these companies handle the hype and flow of information vary wildly.
News: Niantic & Warner Bros. Bringing Every Harry Potter Fan's Dream to Life with AR Game Based on Franchise
Ever since the planet went crazy trying to find augmented reality creatures in Pokémon GO, we've been waiting for the next virtual object game capable of delivering a similar hit. And now, we might finally have one coming, direct from the magical world of Harry Potter.