Android 10 has some super cool gestures that let you navigate your device with intuitive swipes. But did you know this headlining feature is not enabled by default? To get the most out of Android 10, you'll have to turn on gesture navigation.
The Pixel's "Flip to Shhh" feature may not be groundbreaking, but it is useful. Third-party apps are copying it for other phones because it's so convenient. But it's not enabled by default and it's fairly hidden in the settings. So to take full advantage of your Pixel's feature set, you should learn how to use Flip to Shhh.
While the tech industry is hot in pursuit of mainstream smartglasses for consumers, another early maker of enterprise-focused AR hardware has apparently met its end.
If you've ever used the Find My iPhone and Find My Friends apps in iOS 12 and below, you may be surprised to hear that those apps have joined forces in iOS 13. Now, instead of two separate apps, they're combined into one convenient package. But what does that mean for you and your privacy and security?
Apple slowly rolled out its new credit card, Apple Card, throughout August, but announced on Aug. 20 that it's now available to all qualified users in the US. Here's the problem: it's not totally obvious how to apply. Without any notification, directions, or clear settings, how do you even fill out an Apple Card application? Luckily for you, we're here to show exactly how to find it.
The Google Assistant is available almost everywhere. It powers smart speakers like the Google Home, it's built into Android phones, and it can even be installed on iPhones and iPads. So when Google adds a feature like the ability to send reminders to other people's Assistants, it's far reaching.
With so much of our personal data floating around the web, it's nearly impossible to get away from spam calls, texts, and emails. Unfortunately, this isn't just limited to the online world — filling in your contact information in a raffle ticket with the hope of winning that shiny new car in the mall, for instance, can often result in getting swamped with spam texts containing sketchy loan offers.
Despite the recent gut punch of staff layoffs, Canada-based smartglasses startup North and its Focals are likely to be in the game for a while longer.
Making a purchase through PayPal is great because you have the option to pay using your account balance, a bank account, debit card, credit card, rewards balance, or even PayPal's own credit product. You need to pick one to be your preferred payment method for each in-stores and online but, unfortunately, changing these preferences can get a bit tricky on your iPhone or Android phone.
Since iCloud's introduction in 2011, you get only 5 GB of complimentary cloud storage with your Apple account. With iPhone backups, app data, iCloud Drive files, and even emails (if you have a Mac, Me, or iCloud email address), you'll quickly run out of space to back up photos and videos. Fortunately, Google offers 15 GB of free storage, making it easy to upload your Camera Roll for safekeeping.
In the realm of internet security, it's becoming clear that augmented reality is not immune to the increasing wave data breaches plaguing users.
One of the best features on Pixel phones is the new call screening. Any call received on your Pixel device can now be answered by your Google Assistant, allowing you avoid spam calls, wrong numbers, or even exes. But what many don't know is that you can listen to the caller during the screening process.
Although the Clock app in iOS has undergone some design changes over the years, you still can't set more than one timer on your iPhone. Oddly enough, Apple's own HomePod speaker added this feature, mimicking the timer on Amazon's popular Echo smart speakers. Fortunately, through Apple's Shortcuts app, there's a clever hack to set multiple timers — without using a third-party timer app.
Apple released iOS 12.1.3 public beta 2 for iPhones on Wednesday, Dec. 19. Yes, that's confusing, since there was no first beta for iOS 12.1.3, but it indicates that it's the actual successor to iOS 12.1.2 public beta 1. Apple dropped iOS 12.1.2 unexpectedly to fix major issues but did not include everything in the beta, so we're picking up right where we left off.
When wearables startup North officially unveiled its Focals smartglasses in October, the stylish frames strongly resembled, in form and function, Intel's canceled Vaunt smartglasses.
The New York Times has made a habit of publishing augmented reality stories throughout 2018, and now the media giant's magazine is getting into the act, too.
Magic Leap has been promising to launch a developer conference for years, and now the company is finally making good on that promise. On Wednesday, Magic Leap sent out the official announcement for its first L.E.A.P. conference, which will be held in Los Angeles in October.
With Android Pie, Google added a genuinely useful feature for Pixels called App Suggestions, which uses AI to predict the apps you might want to use next. These show up at the top of your app drawer and in the new dock in the revamped multitasking UI for quick access. But here's the trouble: Muscle memory is a thing.
One of iOS 12's biggest attractions is Group FaceTime, which would allow up to 32 people to video chat together at the same time. It's quite the pitch, and many iOS users are excited to see in action. Unfortunately, Apple has confirmed that Group FaceTime won't be included with iOS 12 when it launches, leaving everyone to chat one-on-one just a little bit longer.
Apple released the fourth public beta for iOS 12 to public beta testers on Tuesday, July 31, just one day after the company seeded the fifth developer beta to eligible users. Both releases are surprising, as Apple had appeared to stick to a two-week release schedule for the iOS 12 beta season, and these updates both came one day earlier than expected.
One of the more compelling human interest stories of the summer has been the plight of the Thai Wild Boars soccer team, who were trapped in a cave for weeks.
It's no secret that Android has a messaging problem. iPhone users can turn to iMessage as a one-stop shop for all their messaging needs — features like read receipts and the ability to text from a computer have been standard with Apple products for quite some time. Android has no such solution, but Google's looking to fix that with a huge update to the Android Messages app.
FaceTime has been around since iOS 4, and year after year, things stayed pretty much the same aside from a few small changes. In iOS 6, calls over cellular networks were finally possible, and audio-only calls were officially supported starting in iOS 7. But the one feature most everyone has wanted since FaceTime was a thing — group video calls — didn't show up until iOS 12.1 for iPhone.
The default Camera app got a few more tricks up its sleeves when iOS 11 was released, and the best addition by far was the inclusion of a built-in QR code reader since that meant no more third-party apps just for QR code scanning. However, Apple's built-in QR code scanner did have a vulnerability at one point that would let hackers direct you to a compromised website without you even noticing it.
The guy who recreated Super Mario Bros. as a first-person obstacle course is back with an augmented reality take on another classic game.
Two weeks ago, Samsung took the wraps off their much-anticipated Galaxy S9 flagship. Preorders opened on March 2 with official retail availability scheduled for March 16. As usual, several of the US carriers have begun shipping the devices ahead of schedule. Last week, Sprint began shipping out devices to a few lucky customers. Today, T-Mobile appears to be joining the party.
To take a screenshot on most phones, you'd use the power + volume down button combo. For a brief moment, you could even use Google Now on Tap to take screenshots without those hardware buttons, but Google Assistant eventually removed the functionality. Now, easier screenshots are back with Android 9.0 Pie.
Samsung has had a rich screenshot editor in TouchWiz for years, and Apple even added a similar feature to iOS 11. Until now, stock Android has lagged behind in this area, but that's finally fixed in Android 9.0 Pie.
Soon, kids young and old aspiring to imitate Iron Man will only need to learn how to duplicate Tony Stark's snarky wit, because Hasbro will now supply the augmented reality helmet.
Samsung has kept us busy with their Android 8.0 Oreo beta testing program for the Galaxy S8, and most recently, the Galaxy Note 8. As the beta continues to receive new updates, stability has improved continuously, and new features keep on creeping in for both devices.
Apple released iOS 11.2 beta 3 on Monday to developers, with only a handful of changes over Beta 2. Still, it's always recommended you upgrade to the newest version of iOS, so if you are running any of the previous 11.2 betas, make sure to update.
After multiple leaked references in Samsung apps, the Oreo Beta Program for the Galaxy S8 and S8+ is official. Yesterday, we posted a full changelog from users that obtained the beta a day early. The update brings many new features from Oreo to the S8, including notification channels and autofill API support. If you're quick, you can enroll your Galaxy S8 in the beta today.
The fifth developer beta for iOS 11.1 was released on Oct. 24, and the official iOS 11.1 update was pushed out to iPhones everywhere on Oct. 31. However, that isn't stopping Apple from seeding developers with the iOS 11.2 beta already.
There's no denying that there are some seriously useful new features in iOS 11 for iPhone. But there's also no denying that Apple got a few things wrong with the latest iOS update, as well as left a few important features out.
On Oct. 19-20, the MOC Exhibition Center in Munich, Germany will play host to the Augmented World Expo (AWE) Europe 2017.
When you take a screenshot on your iPhone in iOS 11, a thumbnail preview appears in the corner for a few seconds. Tapping on it will give you immediate editing and sharing tools, but not everyone digs the convenience.
If you've received a spam message in Signal Private Messenger, you know that anyone can contact you as long as they have your linked phone number. But when it comes to the people you're actually trying to have a private conversation with, how do you know it's really them?
The more impressive demonstrations of the capabilities of augmented reality add another dimension to what we see in the real world.
Group messages are great when you want to talk to multiple people at the same time. However, things can get disorderly real fast in the Messages app, especially if the same person is in multiple group conversations. That's where custom group names come in, which helps you make sense of all those disorganized threads with multiple names/numbers attached.
The Force is strong with Lenovo, who is working with Disney and Lucasfilm to deliver an augmented reality headset and lightsaber handle for the forthcoming Star Wars: Jedi Challenges game.
