In case you didn't already know, augmented reality is here. It's no longer just an idea in a cyberpunk novel. And while augmented reality has been around for a long time, the actual technology is finally catching up to the idea.
A few months ago, we gave you a small peek at a new entrant in the race to deliver augmented reality smartglasses to the masses, and now the device is finally ready for the public. ThirdEye Gen is now accepting preorders for its X1 Smart Glasses, which will also provide users with an AR-centric app store.
Do you know what your smartphone is made of? I've had smartphones for years, but if you asked me that question I'd probably respond with "Wi-Fi." For uninformed consumers like myself, it may shock you to know just how much goes into creating a smartphone.
Apple introduced their new mobile operating system for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch at WWDC on June 5, 2017, and there are a lot of great new features to try out. While the official version of iOS 11 was released to the public on Sept. 19, you can still sign up either as a developer or with the iOS Beta Program to get new versions of iOS 11 before anyone else does.
The roll-out of T-Mobile's hotly anticipated 'Digits' service is now underway. For those unfamiliar with what could be the un-carrier's next killer app, 'Digits' is basically a combination of Google Voice and AT&T NumberSync. With it, T-Mobile customers can use their number across any phone, tablet, wearable, or PC. That means you can give out your phone number and answer the call on any device you like.
Google Assistant will be getting an AI makeover with the addition of Google Lens. This new feature is basically a set of vision-based computing capabilities within the Assistant.
Stratford may soon become Canada's answer to Silicon Valley as the driverless car industry arrives. Potentially changing the character of the Ontario town known for hosting the Stratford Festival, a celebration of all things Shakespearean and stage-related.
Have you ever wanted to control a swarm of robots? Well, now you can! Robotics researchers at New York University (NYU) have created an app which controls 'bots from your smartphone, using augmented reality. This AR app would certainly come in handy when you want to make a coffee from the comfort of your couch, but let's not get ahead of ourselves!
Once upon a time, Flash games reigned as some of the best entertainment the internet had to offer. But then came the smartphone, which quickly overtook this genre with similar games that you could play no matter where you were. If you yearn for the good old days, though, you'll be happy to know that you can still use the Puffin browser to safely play old favorites and discover new gems.
Download a popular, legit app from the Google Play Store. Decompile it. Add malicious code. Repackage the app. Distribute the now trojan-ized app through third-party Android app sites. This is how advertising malware Ewind, what Palo Alto Networks calls "adware in applications' clothing," infects Android users.
It's fair to say that Google's messaging services are in a bit of a heap at the moment, and to make matters worse, Hangouts is removing its SMS capacities. Hangouts version 18 is now being rolled out, but doesn't appear to incorporate any functional changes.
The LG V20 went on sale on September 29, 2016, and is the second flagship phone in the V series to be released by LG. Both the V20 and its predecessor, the V10, have been audio-oriented phones from the start, but the V20 has a much nicer Hi-Fi Quad 32-Bit DAC, which makes the output audio from the 3.5 mm headphone jack sound amazing. It's loud, it's crisp, it's full, and everything from the higher frequencies to the lower ones can be heard.
The Huawei Nexus 6P was released a little over a year ago, but despite doing moderately well in sales, the device has had more than its fair share of issues. When first released, there were numerous reception and memory management difficulties that left users extremely frustrated, though, those problems were solved with updates pushed by Google.
A few months ago, it was discovered that Verizon was installing an extremely shady app called "DT Ignite" on some of its smartphones—most notably, the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. The app, created by Digital Turbine, monitors your smartphone usage, then uses the data it collects to silently install "recommended" apps without notifying you.
The reviews for the Google Pixel phone have hit the web. There's a lot of praise, but not all are so positive. We've collected some of the best takes on the new devices from the top tech sites around.
In the world of analog synthesizers, hitting a key, twisting a knob, or sliding a fader makes a beautiful musical (or not so musical) sound and can be an amazing and downright satisfying experience. Now it's about to get even more satisfying, if you add Microsoft's HoloLens into the mix as a means to twist those knobs virtually instead.
You may not know what HTTP is exactly, but you definitely know that every single website you visit starts with it. Without the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, there'd be no easy way to view all the text, media, and data that you're able to see online. However, all communication between your browser and a website are unencrypted, which means it can be eavesdropped on.
When it comes to sharing files between a smartphone and a computer, there are several solutions available for a Windows and Android pairing. But for those of us with Apple devices, the selection of apps in this category isn't quite as great. You can use AirDrop to quickly share files, but searching for files is not so easy.
If history holds true, we'll see the iPhone 7 arrive this September, and just like many times before, there are already a ton of rumors about its features. As usual, many claims are pure speculation, but there are some trustworthy reports and lots of good information we can use to make some educated guesses regarding Apple's upcoming flagship.
Out of nowhere, Google released a preview build of the upcoming Android N release back in March—a full two months early. As if that weren't enough excitement for one day, they topped themselves by following up that announcement with the debut of a new "Android Beta" program that allows users with eligible devices receive preview builds as a regular OTA update, meaning no losing data or manual installation.
Android 6.0 Marshmallow added a new permissions system that can make your digital life much more secure. Unlike previous versions, apps now have to ask for your consent before they can access certain data, which puts you firmly in the driver's seat.
We're near the end of a productive year for Apple, one that introduced a new Apple TV, the iPad Mini 4 (in conjunction with the Apple Pen), the iPad Pro, and the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, as well as iOS 9. Now, the second major update to iOS 9—version 9.2—has just been released to the public.
For a lot of would-be cord cutters, the lack of streaming local sports is the only hurdle that needs to be cleared before they can sever all ties with big cable. This is why it was a huge victory for us anti-cable folks when Yahoo announced that they would be hosting the first ever live-streaming NFL game this Sunday at 9:30 AM Eastern.
If you've updated your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 to a version of iOS 7, iOS 8, or even iOS 9, you've probably noticed that its performance is a little more sluggish than it was back when it had iOS 6 and lower on it.
With our internet-connected devices growing in number by the year, it would be nice if they could somehow all be interconnected. This is becoming commonplace for our tablets, smartphones, and laptops, but our media streaming boxes still seem to be isolated in their own little worlds.
With the Galaxy S6 Edge, the curved display is mainly an aesthetic feature. Unlike the Galaxy Note Edge, Samsung didn't include many software features to take advantage of its unique design, outside of the scrolling tickers and night clock. For instance, with the Note Edge, you can launch apps from the curved portion of the screen—but this isn't true for the S6 Edge.
When purchasing a new phone, one of the most vital features to consider is battery life. Everyone wants to know how long they can use their device without needing to hug a wall. Increasingly, more and more manufacturers ship their devices with some variation of a "battery saving" mode, which can help combat dead-phone issues in times of dire need for battery life.
After several weeks of testing out the public beta, Apple has finally released iOS 8.3 to the general public. The latest iteration of iOS for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch serves mostly as an update to fix many of the bugs that plagued earlier versions, but there are still a couple of awesome new features included in the new build.
Smartphone users often wish for a privacy, where no one is able to poke his/her nose in their personal stuff. Unfortunately, none of the smartphones have been able to guard their privacy in this fashion. Smartphones usually come up with none or almost negligible built-in security to serve your purpose.
Beginning with KitKat, I've been used to customizing every aspect of my Android phone, but with the release of Lollipop, there is quite a bit of catching up that developers need to do. Most customization features, like quick settings rearrangement and theme support have already been ported over, but any type of lock screen customization has been noticeably absent.
Location Services, a native feature on iPhones since iOS 6, is used to pinpoint your approximate location using a combination of GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cell tower information. Apple uses this on their smartphones for many useful reasons: so that you can tag locations in Instagram, get better directions in Maps, and check for matches based on your location in Tinder.
Keeping expensive mobile devices safe and secure is a priority for most of us, but the process of repeatedly unlocking a phone or tablet can seem like a pointless task. This leads to disabling the lock screen altogether, especially when in a safe place (e.g., home, office, car, etc.).
Widget toggles, or "power toggles" as they're often called, have been around for quite a while. They serve their purpose nicely as an easy way to add switches to your home screen or notification area for functions that don't come with the stock software on your device.
Smartphones like the Nexus 6 and those in the Samsung Galaxy Note series border on being called tablets due to the sheer size of their displays. They are essentially "phablets," i.e., devices too large to be a typical smartphone, yet too small to be a tablet.
Connoisseurs of hard liquor always face a dilemma: how do they chill their spirits without diluting the flavors? After all, if you've shelled out big bucks for a bottle of single malt, you really don't want to mess it up with an ice cube that has freezer burn. (As for refrigerating whisky, most people recommend against doing that: it can cause the whisky to "haze," or look clouded.)
AT&T Code Scanner, DriveMode, and Samsung Hub make up just a sliver of the sea of apps on my Galaxy Note 3 that I'll probably never use in my lifetime. Additionally, there aren't any built-in methods for uninstalling these pre-loaded Android apps (aka bloatware) from carriers and manufacturers.
You wouldn't send your GPS coordinates to a completely random stranger just because he or she asked you for it, right? So why are you constantly sharing your location (and other data) to apps on a daily basis?
On mobile devices, the Notification Center received a huge facelift when iOS 8 was released, but it wasn't until Yosemite that its Mac OS X counterpart received the same amount of love—especially the much needed ability to add custom widgets, like a FaceTime dialer.
While the adoption of Apple's newest mobile operating system, iOS 8, was smoother than its predecessor, there were still a lot of bugs and features that needed ironed out. There were lost cellular signals, missing Camera Rolls, a confusing iCloud Drive, and no functioning Apple Pay yet, among other things. Now it's just over a month later from its first release to the public and things are finally looking pretty good.
iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch owners: it's that time again. iOS 8 has been released to the public, and those who have been eager to update since Apple's WWDC announcement won't have to wait any longer. Since iOS 8 promises to pack a bunch of new, really great features, it's time to present your options for getting on the latest and greatest for your Apple device.
