News: Smartglasses Startup North Secures $40 Million in New Funding, Report Says
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.
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Android for Hackers: How to Backdoor Windows 10 & Livestream the Desktop (Without RDP)
The Windows 10 desktop and microphone can be livestreamed without using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) software and without opening any ports on the target computer. A hacker with low user privileges can monitor and exfiltrate a target's every move and private conversation in real time no matter where they are. Hackers are watching and listening, and there are few ways to protect yourself.
News: Home Decor App Houzz Expands Augmented Reality Catalog to Include Virtual Floor Tile
Apps that can display virtual furniture in the home are one of the most popular applications of mobile AR today, but Houzz has decided to raise the stakes with its latest update.
News: The Future of Augmented Reality — What to Expect This Year & in 2020
The year in augmented reality 2019 started with the kind of doom and gloom that usually signals the end of something. Driven in large part by the story we broke in January about the fall of Meta, along with similar flameouts by ODG and Blippar, the virtual shrapnel of AR ventures that took a wrong turn has already marred the landscape of 2019.
News: Christian Dior Fashion Fans Can Now Try on Sunglasses & Headbands via Augmented Reality on Instagram
Fashion brand Christian Dior is using augmented reality as a carrot to drive up their follower counts on Instagram.
News: Facebook Acquires Visual Search Startup GrokStyle
The recent pitfalls and media fallout hitting Facebook hasn't stopped the social media giant from looking to the future.
News: ODG's Remaining Inventory & Physical Assets Become Available to Purchase via Auction
While the story of augmented reality headset maker Osterhout Design Group has come to an end, the epilogue of its demise continues.
News: BAE Systems Uses HoloLens to Create AR Command Interfaces Straight Out of 'Minority Report' for British Royal Navy
The interactive displays of the future as visualized in Steven Spielberg's science fiction classic Minority Report, as well as the augmented reality interfaces used by millionaire playboy Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, are now closer to becoming reality in the military realm.
News: Former Leap Motion Exec Returns to Filmmaking with 'Merger' VR Film Depicting AR Workspace
Last month, Leap Motion's vice president of design and global creative director, Keiichi Matsuda (a member of the NR30), suddenly left the company. Just days later, a story leaked that revealed that Leap Motion had twice failed to lock in a potential deal with Apple.
News: Unreal Engine 4.21 Adds Support for Magic Leap's Lumin OS & Windows Mixed Reality Apps
Epic Games released Unreal Engine 4.21, bringing a number of new features, bug fixes, and improvements for augmented reality development, including deeper support for Magic Leap One and the addition of support for the Windows Mixed Reality platform and headsets.
News: Snapchat AR Lenses Jump from Mobile to Desktop with Snap Camera App
For the entirety of its existence, Snapchat has lived on mobile, but in its quest to lead the augmented reality industry, the company is now bringing those mobile AR experiences to desktops.
News: iOS 12.1 Public Beta 5 for iPhone Released to Software Testers
Just hours after the release of dev beta 5 on Monday, Oct. 22, Apple released iOS 12.1 public beta 5 to software testers. The update came just one week after the company seeded the fourth 12.1 beta to developers and public testers alike, continuing the weekly update schedule established over the past few releases.
News: Apple Just Released iOS 12.1 Developer Beta 4 to Testers
Just six days after the release of dev beta 3, developers now have their hands on the fourth iOS 12.1 beta. While Apple has recently followed a lengthy and inconsistent release schedule with its beta software, the company seems to want to keep testers happy with 12.1 — beta 4 might have come less than the standard seven days after beta 3, but at least it's here quickly.
News: Apple Just Released iOS 12.1 Beta 3 to Developers
Apple pushed out its newest beta, iOS 12.1 beta 3, to registered developers on Tuesday, Oct. 9, right at 11 a.m. PDT. The new update does not appear to offer any new features or changes, rather it seems to be simply a routine upgrade. Developers should expect simple bug fixes and security patches, instead of the feature-ridden update seen last week.
News: The Weather Channel Uses Broadcast AR to Warn Residents in the Path of Hurricane Florence
If you've gone anywhere near a television in the US in the last 48 hours, you've probably seen some of the reports of Hurricane Florence and its devastating wind and rain making its way toward the Carolina coast.
News: Old Meets New as App Transforms Vinyl Records into Augmented Reality Sculptures
Despite the rise of music streaming, the experience of immersing oneself in the artwork and lyrics of old school albums is alive again, as sales of vinyl records and CDs have outpaced digital downloads for the first time since 2011. Now, the latest album from Amsterdam-based Necessary Explosion evolves this experience through augmented reality.
News: World of Warcraft Lens on Snapchat Lets You Transform into Orc or Elf & Do Battle in Augmented Reality
To promote Battle of Azeroth, the latest expansion for the World of Warcraft franchise, Blizzard Entertainment has conjured a Shoppable AR Lens that is now available in Snapchat's app carousel.
Gallery: A Close-Up Look at the Magic Leap One's Optics
For the curious, here are a number of close-up shots of the Magic Leap One's optics and the magnetic attachment that can be swapped out for a version with lenses matching your glasses prescription in the near future.
How To: Get Fortnite for Android on Your Galaxy S7, S8, S9, or Note 8 Right Now
Time to play — Fortnite is now officially available on Android. However, the game won't be available across the Android ecosystem right away. Fortnite Battle Royale launches on Samsung devices first. That means if you have a Galaxy S7, S8, S9, Note 8, Tab 3, or Tab 4, you can download the game right now.
Hacking macOS: How to Perform Privilege Escalation, Part 1 (File Permissions Abuse)
In most macOS hacks, a non-root terminal is used to create a backdoor into the device. A lot of damage can be done as a low-privileged user, but it has its limitations. Think twice before granting a file permission to execute — an attacker might be able to convert your harmless scripts into persistent root backdoors.
News: Snapchat Adds Speech-Activated Lenses to Its Augmented Reality Capabilities
Snapchat users are used to raising their eyebrows or opening their mouths to activate augmented reality face effects. Now, they get to use their voices as well.
News: Apple Adds Former DAQRI Designer to the Team, Bolstering AR Smartglasses Rumors
Apple continues to build its augmented reality hardware and software team in stealth mode. The latest addition comes via the hiring of a former DAQRI user experience designer and VR app developer.
News: Snapchat Preparing to Upgrade Camera with Visual Search for Amazon, Report Says
A peek inside the code of the Snapchat app has revealed that the company is expanding the search capabilities of its augmented reality camera to include visual search that may link to items within Amazon's massive online store.
News: Challenge Serena Williams in Augmented Reality Tennis via Snapchat's Interactive 3D Bitmoji
With the opening round of Wimbledon, one of professional tennis's four major tournaments, beginning on Monday, Snapchat is serving up an augmented reality tennis mini-game.
News: Google Takes Developers Back to School with ARCore Classes on Coursera
With a new version of its ARCore in the wild and more than 30 devices now supporting it, Google is helping beginners get up to speed with augmented reality.
ARKit 101: How to Launch Your Own Augmented Reality Rocket into the Real World Skies
Have you been noticing SpaceX and its launches lately? Ever imagined how it would feel to launch your own rocket into the sky? Well, imagine no longer!
How To: Force-Close Running Apps on the iPhone X in iOS 12 (It's Easier Than Before)
When the iPhone X was first introduced, it came with an odd way to force-close apps. While all other iPhone continued to use a two-step gesture in iOS 11, iPhone X users were stuck with an annoying three-step gesture that was seen last in iOS versions from at least six years ago. Thankfully, iOS 12 has changed this and makes force-closing apps as simple as it should be.
News: Google Reportedly Taps iPhone Manufacturer to Build the Pixel 3
We are still months away from Google unveiling the new Pixel 3 and 3 XL. As rumors continue to trickle in revealing more about what it will look like and its specs, we've learned an important aspect — who is actually manufacturing them.
How To: Enable the New Multitasking Swipe Gestures in Android 9.0 Pie
While Android 9.0 Pie introduced some significant changes to the core operating system, the feature most people will be talking about is the native gesture controls. By default, these gestures are disabled — but for those of us wanting to try to the future of Android, here's how to enable the new controls.
Hacking macOS: How to Configure a Backdoor on Anyone's MacBook
The conversation of which operating system is most secure, macOS vs. Windows, is an ongoing debate. Most will say macOS is more secure, but I'd like to weigh in by showing how to backdoor a MacBook in less than two minutes and maintain a persistent shell using tools already built into macOS.
How To: Install Android 9.0 Pie Beta on Your Essential Phone
Earlier this year, we got our first taste of Android Pie in the form of Developer Preview 1. As with all past Android previews, DP1 was limited to Google devices — but at Google I/O 2018, Google announced that Developer Preview 2 would be accessible to other devices, including the Essential PH-1.
News: 12 Important Privacy & Security Features Google Added to Android 9.0 Pie
We know Android 9.0 will have the formal designation of Pie, following Google's age-old tradition of naming their OS after items you'd normally find on a dessert menu. And thanks to a slew of new features that centers around your overall security, P could also stand for Privacy.
News: Mozilla Wants to Make Firefox Reality Your Web Browser for Augmented & Virtual Reality Headsets
Before Google Chrome entered the scene and subsequently dominated the market, Firefox trailed only Internet Explorer as the most popular web browser. Now, Mozilla has its sights set on a new opportunity to revive its browser for immersive experiences.
News: Magic Leap Teases Cross-Platform Augmented Reality Experiences with iOS Developer Job Posting
Why would Magic Leap, a company preparing to launch its first augmented reality headset this year, need a developer for iPhone and iPad apps? It's not as crazy as it sounds.
News: NY Times Brings Readers Closer to Bowie's Freaky Costumes in Augmented Reality
Continuing with its new paradigm of using augmented reality to cover the news, The New York Times has published a feature story that takes a peek into the late David Bowie's eclectic wardrobe of on-stage outfits.
News: Makers of Ghostbusters World Scare Up Sneak Peek of Gameplay Footage
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.
How To: Unlock Custom Outfits & Other Rare Items in Fortnite Battle Royale
While playing Fortnite Battle Royale, you may have noticed a few players wearing different outfits or using fancy dance moves. These are cosmetic items that can only be obtained by unlocking them. However, unlocking items in Fortnite is a little different than many free-to-play games.
Apple AR: This App Uses the iPhone X's TrueDepth Camera to Conjure 3D Illusions
A Swedish digital artist has developed an app for the iPhone X that creates mind-bending 3D illusions that correlate to the user's point of view.
News: Amazon AR View Video Reveals Android Version of Augmented Reality Shopping Feature
If the end of every year is focused on new iPhones, then February, which coincides with Mobile World Congress, is often when we get new Android news, and this month is no different.
News: Samsung Makes Multitasking Easier on the Galaxy S9
Multitasking on a smartphone has never been better, but it still has some ways to go to compete with a desktop experience. Samsung hopes to change that with a new multitasking view on the Galaxy S9, which allows the user to open notifications in a new, smaller window on top of the app they are currently using.