How To: 11 New Google Pixel Features You Won't Want to Miss
Google dropped new features for its Pixel lineup of phones, and there's something here for everyone.
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Market Reality: Oculus Quest Fuels AR Apps, Why Spatial Audio Is the Killer App, & Xerox Becomes a Major AR Player
Amid a troubling resurgence in coronavirus cases, led by the new Delta variant, augmented reality is once again moving back into the spotlight as a solution, especially now that the move to return to offices has been stalled.
News: Microsoft Emerges from the Trenches with More Details Behind the Army Edition of HoloLens 2
When we got our first look at US Army soldiers testing Microsoft's modified HoloLens 2 last year, it still looked very much like the commercial edition, with some additional sensors attached.
How To: Generate Live Captions for Any Streaming Video or Audio File Using Chrome's Desktop App
Captions are great for catching every word and important sound in a movie or TV show, but now there's a way in Google Chrome's desktop browser to enjoy captions for any audio file or source. You could ensure you never mishear a comment during an online meeting, and you could even follow along to a song's lyrics on platforms that don't already have in-sync lyrics, such as SoundCloud.
News: Facebook Plans to Enhance Hand Gestures for Future AR Smartglasses with Wristband That Can Read Nerve Signals
While Apple has been rather secretive about its work on AR wearables (despite the abundance of leaks revealing details about their unannounced devices), Facebook has been rather chatty about its plans for smartglasses.
How To: Block Those Annoying Cookie Consent Notices from Appearing on Websites in Safari
As a means to combat annoying and intrusive advertisements in Safari, Apple added native support for content blockers on the iPhone. Instead of being bombarded by notifications, banners, and pop-ups, content blockers prevent them from opening, which can also be said about those annoying cookie consent notices that many websites now have.
How To: Get a System-Wide Audio Equalizer on Your Google Pixel — No Root Needed
Google's version of Android is best described as AOSP with extra features. But while the Pixel's UI is rightfully praised for its simplicity, those "extra features" aren't as numerous as they are on other OEM skins like Samsung's One UI. Case in point, there's no real system-wide audio EQ.
How To: Get Google's Fantastic Caller ID & Spam Blocking on Any Phone
As if telemarketers weren't bad enough, now we have robocalls and spoofed numbers to deal with. Many of us get a least one spam call per day, if not much more than that. Google's Phone app has always been great at managing these calls, but it's been exclusive to their Pixel phones — until recently, that is.
How To: Get Notifications Only for Messages You're Tagged In on Your iPhone
Group chats, particularly ones with many active participants, could bombard your iPhone with hundreds of texts in a single day. It can get overwhelming real quick unless you take precautions to hide all notifications for that conversation. But there's another option now, one that'll make sure you only get alerts for the messages that matter to you most in the thread.
How To: These 5 Things Will Help You Get the Most Out of Your NordVPN Experience
VPNs add a protective layer between your data and your internet service provider (ISP) or bad actors (hackers), so it makes sense they've become so popular lately. Probably the most common one of these is NordVPN, so we explored its mobile app to find all the options worth checking out.
How To: Manually Switch to a Different LTE Band on Any Samsung Galaxy Phone
Your Galaxy uses information from your SIM card to communicate with nearby towers and facilitate a connection. Which LTE bands you are assigned depends on a number of factors, including available bandwidth and your device's supported signals. But if speeds aren't great on your auto-selected tower, you can improve things by manually choosing a band.
How To: Everything You Should Do Before Posting Protest Photos & Videos on Social Media
As protests surge in the wake of George Floyd's murder by a Minneapolis police officer, powerful photographs and videos from the demonstrations have gripped the world, putting our nation's very real and very justifiable widespread civil unrest out into the digital world. Unfortunately, these pictures could put you or others in danger if precautions aren't taken before uploading them online.
How To: Map Wardriving Data with Jupyter Notebook
With the Wigle WiFi app running on an Android phone, a hacker can discover and map any nearby network, including those created by printers and other insecure devices. The default tools to analyze the resulting data can fall short of what a hacker needs, but by importing wardriving data into Jupyter Notebook, we can map all Wi-Fi devices we encounter and slice through the data with ease.
News: 27 Best Productivity Apps to Make Working from Home Less Stressful
In the last decade, the number of people working remotely in the US has increased dramatically, and so has their need for technology and software to supplement that remote work. Whether you work from home or a coworking office space, the requirement for highly compatible and helpful productivity apps is a must if you want to get things done successfully.
How To: 15 Galaxy S20 Privacy & Security Settings You Should Double Check Right Away
Smartphones are more like computers than actual telephones. Unfortunately, thieves, hackers, and other bad actors know this and are always looking to make money off your personal data. Thankfully, your Galaxy S20, S20+, or S20 Ultra has tools to combat these threats — as long as you know where to look.
News: OnePlus 8 Pro Leaked Spec Sheet & Rumored Features
UPDATE: The OnePlus 8 Pro has been released! Check it out on the official OnePlus website or read through the rumored specs we've left below for posterity.
Vision Forecast 2020: AR Execs Weigh in on Recent Industry Milestones & What We Can Expect in the Coming Year
The year 2019 was filled with all the normal peaks and valleys of the tech business cycle, but this year was particularly important in a space as relatively young as the augmented reality industry.
How To: The 5 Best Phones for Staying Productive & Getting Things Done in 2019
For many of us, our work phone and our personal phone are one and the same. Just any old phone isn't going to cut it when you need to meet a deadline — a phone with built-in features that make it easier to get things done is almost a must.
News: Everything You Need to Know About the OnePlus 7T — the First OnePlus with a Price Drop
OnePlus, whose phones always challenge for the title of best spec-to-price ratio, releases two main devices every year. There's the primary flagship in late spring, then an iterative update with the "T" suffix in fall. Typically, there's not much difference between the two, but this year, OnePlus is mixing up the formula a bit.
How To: Get the Most Value from Your iPhone Trade-In
Phones these days are expensive. The iPhone 11 Pro is presumed to start at $999, following the iPhone XS and iPhone X's leads. One way to bring down that cost is to trade in your old iPhone, but there isn't one clear-cut way to do that. You could trade your iPhone into a participating website or put yourself out there and sell the iPhone on your own. It's all about what's best for you.
How To: The 15 Most Popular Talks from DEFCON's Hacking Conferences
Every summer for the last 26 years, hoards of hackers have descended on the Las Vegas Strip for DEFCON, the biggest hacker conference in the US. There's a wealth of talks every season (DEFCON 27 has at least 95 scheduled), and there have been some essential topics to learn from in past discussions. We've dug through the last ten years and found the 15 most popular talks you should watch.
How To: Safely Launch Fireworks Over Wi-Fi with an ESP8266 Board & Arduino
Fireworks are the best part about the Fourth of July and other celebrations, but they can easily cause accidental injuries. It's both safer and more fun to set them off remotely, so we'll hack some standard fireworks with nichrome wire, a relay, and an Arduino to ignite remotely over Wi-Fi using any smartphone or computer.
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.
How To: Mine Twitter for Targeted Information with Twint
Open-source intelligence researchers and hackers alike love social media for reconnaissance. Websites like Twitter offer vast, searchable databases updated in real time by millions of users, but it can be incredibly time-consuming to sift through manually. Thankfully, tools like Twint can crawl through years of Twitter data to dig up any information with a single terminal command.
News: Galaxy Note 10+ Hands-on Review & Spec Sheet Overview
The hugely successful S10 series of flagships may be a tough act to follow, but Samsung has proven that it's up to the task with the Galaxy Note 10. The latest phablet bearing the Note name is the first of its line to come with an even larger variant, and boasts an eye-pleasing design with impressive performance to boot.
How To: All the Smartphone Accessories You Need for Your Next Overseas Trip
Planning a vacation overseas can sometimes feel overwhelming with the number of things you need to remember before heading out. Since smartphones keep us connected at all times, it's essential that you have everything you need here as well. Unexpected events can arise while on your trip, and you should be prepared for anything like a survival expert.
How To: The 5 Best Travel-Friendly Phones for Road Warriors, Vacationers & Business Flyers
Whether it's a short road trip or an 18-hour flight, our phones are now essential travel companions. No longer do we need a GPS unit, maps, cameras, camcorders, or even boarding passes. However, not all phones are created equal in this regard. Some are more suited for traveling, no matter the duration.
Android for Hackers: How to Backdoor Windows 10 Using an Android Phone & USB Rubber Ducky
With an inconspicuous Android phone and USB flash drive, an attacker can compromise a Windows 10 computer in less than 15 seconds. Once a root shell has been established, long-term persistence to the backdoor can be configured with just two simple commands — all while bypassing antivirus software and Windows Defender.
How To: What to Do After Your iPhone Is Lost or Stolen — The Ultimate Guide
Your iPhone just went missing, and now you're panicking. You need it for work, to get around, to contact your friends and family, and pretty much everything else in your life. So, what are the chances you might get it back? The odds may be stacked against you unless it's just under a couch cushion, but you can improve your chances of recovering your iPhone by taking certain steps.
How To: Leverage a Directory Traversal Vulnerability into Code Execution
Directory traversal, or path traversal, is an HTTP attack which allows attackers to access restricted directories by using the ../ characters to backtrack into files or directories outside the root folder. If a web app is vulnerable to this, an attacker can potentially access restricted files that contain info about all registered users on the system, their permissions, and encrypted passwords.
How To: Siri Settings, Shortcuts & Hacks Every iPhone User Should Know
Out of the box, Apple's digital assistant could be a godsend or a nuisance, depending on your daily interactions it. No matter which camp you fall into, Siri can always be better suited to your personal needs with a little customization. You can make Siri a powerhouse not to be reckoned with, or you can minimize its presence if you only need Siri help sometimes — all without any jailbreaking.
How To: Get the Most Out of the Gym With These 6 Essential Apps
The gym can be pretty distracting. With the slamming of weights and pieces of equipment, loud music blasting through the speakers, and plain old grunting, it can be challenging to focus on your workout. However, with your just your phone, you can not only eliminate these distractions but make the most of your time there.
How To: Check if Your Wireless Network Adapter Supports Monitor Mode & Packet Injection
To hack a Wi-Fi network, you need your wireless card to support monitor mode and packet injection. Not all wireless cards can do this, but you can quickly test one you already own for compatibility, and you can verify that the chipset inside an adapter you're thinking of purchasing will work for Wi-Fi hacking.
News: Everything You Need to Know About the Google Pixel 3a & 3a XL
After poor sales of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, Google needs to reinvigorate its Pixel lineup, devices it's been pushing heavily over the last couple years. On May 7, Google had the eyes and ears of the technology industry at its Google I/O keynote, making it the perfect time to announce new devices that would attract a different crowd of users. Meet the Pixel 3a and 3a XL.
How To: 15 Tips & Tricks for New Pixel 3 Users
The Pixel 3 runs stock Android, so you might think that since you've used an Android device before, you should know your way around the new phone by default. But Google has actually added several great Pixel-exclusive software features to its flagships, and not all of them are easily discoverable.
News: The OnePlus 6T — a Few Additions and 1 Major Subtraction
In the battle for best stock Android flagships, there are really only two choices: Google Pixel phones and OnePlus phones. Although the latter isn't true stock Android, it is impressively close and usually paired with more impressive hardware than the Pixel lineup. The latest is the OnePlus 6T, which will be a bit controversial for fans this year.
How To: Apply OTA Updates on Your Rooted Pixel 2 or 2 XL
So, you rooted your Pixel 2 or 2 XL and everything seems to be working quite well. However, a month passes, and you get a notification to install the monthly security update. Like clockwork, Google has been pushing out OTA security patches every single month for a while, but there is a new problem for you at this point — as a rooted user, you are unable to apply the update correctly.
How To: Detect When a Device Is Nearby with the ESP8266 Friend Detector
Smartphones and other Wi-Fi enabled devices send radio signals called probe frames to locate nearby wireless networks, which makes them easy to track by listening for their unique MAC address. To show how this kind of tracking works, we can program a NodeMCU in Arduino to sniff the air for packets from any device we want to track, turning on an LED when it's detected nearby.
News: Everything You Need to Know About the ASUS ROG Phone — the Best Gaming Phone on the Market
Ever since the announcement of the Razer Phone, a wave of gaming smartphones started to hit the market. With ASUS being such a big name in gaming, it made sense for them to throw their hat in the ring. The result is the ROG Phone. And with this first try, ASUS has topped the rest, creating a gaming phone others should try to emulate.
How To: Hack Facebook & Gmail Accounts Owned by MacOS Targets
It only takes a few commands to manipulate a MacBook's secure HTTPS traffic and pluck login passwords out of the encrypted data. Let's take Facebook and Gmail hacking to the next level by intercepting Safari and Google Chrome web traffic in real time.