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.
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Market Reality: Microsoft's HoloLens Sales Figures Revealed, AR Boosts Snapchat Revenue, & Facebook Expands AR Platform
This week, we're beginning to see the wide ranging impacts of some of the early iterations of augmented reality hardware and software.
ARCore 101: How to Create a Mobile AR Application in Unity, Part 3 (Setting Up the App Controller)
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of programming languages and variations of those languages that exist. Currently, in the augmented reality space, it seems the Microsoft-created C# has won out as the overall top language of choice. While there are other options like JavaScript and C++, to name a few, C# seems to be the most worthwhile place to invest one's time and effort.
How To: Easily Generate Hundreds of Phishing Domains
A convincing domain name is critical to the success of any phishing attack. With a single Python script, it's possible to find hundreds of available phishing domains and even identify phishing websites deployed by other hackers for purposes such as stealing user credentials.
Market Reality: Snapchat Does E-Commerce, Renault Drives into Star Wars AR & Christie's Taps Wealthy Art Buyers via AR
It doesn't matter how cool or groundbreaking a particular technology is, if it doesn't offer the promise of big returns on investments, you'll have trouble drawing interest from both Silicon Valley and Wall Street. That's why we're increasingly seeing existing augmented reality players doing everything they can to focus in on revenue generation, which was the message coming from Snap Inc. this week.
How To: Book Dinner Tables Directly from Apple Maps on Your iPhone
Apple has taken great strides to ensure that iPhone users are having an Apple Maps experience on par or even better than Google Maps can provide. One of the factors powering this is extensions, which adds functionality to certain apps by giving them permission to interact. Among all the possibilities, one extension will let you reserve dinner tables right from inside Apple Maps.
How To: Easily Convert Cooking Times for Your Microwave's Wattage Using These Apps
Not all microwaves are created equal, so when you use the recommended cooking time on any microwaveable meal, chances are you're actually cooking the food too much or not enough. And unless you're really good at mental math or have a virtual assistant that's smarter than Siri and Google, you have to do things the long way — but not with these helpful apps for iOS and Android.
How To: Use Face ID on iPhone X to Approve Family Sharing Download Requests
For parents that have an iPhone X, things are about to get a lot easier for you in iOS 11.3, which finally lets you approve app and media downloads on your child's iPhone using Face ID instead of typing in a password.
News: Google, Facebook & Huawei Seed AR & VR Talent Pool with Massive Donation to Univ. Of Washington Lab
Google, Facebook, and Huawei have made an investment in nurturing the future of augmented and virtual reality through $6 million in contributions to the opening of a new center at the University of Washington.
Outlook 101: How to Add Additional Email Addresses
If you work with multiple email addresses, you need an app that can organize and declutter your day-to-day messages. Outlook is a great choice, but if you only have one account attached, it somewhat defeats the purpose. Lucky for you, adding additional email accounts is both quick and simple.
Outlook 101: How to Customize Notifications & Alert Sounds for Individual Accounts
With email, one size does not typically fit all. You have multiple email accounts, each for different purposes and with varying levels of importance, so it only makes sense to customize the way your phone alerts you to each account's incoming emails. Luckily, Outlook allows you to do just that.
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: Magic Leap One Likely Has Larger Field of View Than HoloLens, but Not by Much
While the public now knows much more about the Magic Leap One: Creator Edition today than it did yesterday, there's still a quite a bit that's unknown. One of the most significant questions — with any mixed reality product — is the field of view. How much of what we see through these glasses will contain the computer's virtual creations?
News: Top 5 Features Missing from Samsung's Android Oreo Update
At this point, we've seen Samsung's vision for Android Oreo on both the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8. Just last month, Samsung opened its Oreo Beta Program for the S8 to the public. A few days ago, we obtained and detailed a leaked beta build of Oreo for the Note 8. While both of these updates have some compelling new features, there are always tweaks we hoped to see that didn't make the cut.
Market Reality: Augmented Reality Continues to Disrupt Mobile via Facebook, Starbucks, Swarovski & Others
Augmented reality was recently named the "Mobile Disruptor of the Year" for 2017 by Mobile Marketer, but the technology is showing no signs of slowing down as we head into 2018. In fact, the technology appears to be gaining momentum.
Apple Pay Cash 101: What You Need to Get Started
Move over Venmo, Apple Pay Cash is here, and it's built right into iMessage. If you're like us, you've been eagerly waiting to give this new feature a try on your iPhone ever since Apple announced it during WWDC 2017 back in June. While it was never released in the main iOS 11 update, it finally showed up in iOS 11.2.
News: Office Depot Updates Elf Yourself App with the Tiniest Bit of AR
Now that the holiday season has officially kicked off, Office Depot has updated its popular Elf Yourself app with a few new augmented reality options.
Gmail 101: How to Send & Receive Money with Android's Default Email App
Since its debut in 2004, Gmail has become the go-to email service for the internet at large. Over 1.2 billion people use it, so Google has wisely continued to add features that address the needs and wants of its diverse user base. For US and UK users, one of these new features is the ability to transfer money.
News: The Biggest Bugs & Performance Issues in the Essential Oreo Update
We've been running the Essential Oreo Beta on our PH-1 over the past week and compiling a list of important changes. If you're interested in getting the Beta yourself, we even put together a quick guide on how to do that. Now that we've ran down the best new features, let's take a look at all of the bugs and performance issues in Android 8.0.
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.
Market Reality: Techstars Sees Easing the Cognitive Load as Killer AR App for Enterprise & Consumers
When a firm like Techstars believes that augmented reality is an attractive industry to invest in, there's a high probability that it's right.
How To: Build a LEGO Man Costume for Halloween
If you need a Halloween costume posthaste, you really can't go wrong with a LEGO man costume. And one made from cardboard that is fully functional, well, you'll probably win the "Best Costume" contest hands down. Not only will this mecha-esque costume wow everyone you meet, but it eliminates the need to apply Halloween makeup, style your hair, and get your outfit just so. With a LEGO man costume, you're ready to roll.
News: Lionsgate Goes Deep into AR & VR Ads for New 'Saw' Movie 'Jigsaw'
With a new installment of the Saw horror series opening in theaters nationwide this weekend, Lionsgate is betting its ad dollars on immersive advertising to sell tickets.
How To: Android 8.1 Oreo Lets You Hide 'Running in the Background' & 'Drawing Over Other Apps' Notifications
One of Android 8.0's central themes was battery improvements. Google implemented background restrictions and a few other under-the-hood changes, but the biggest battery-saving measure was almost user-hostile: A static notification that tells you when any of your apps are running in the background.
News: OnePlus 5 Is One of the Best Gaming Phones Available
You have a lot of choices when it comes to your next smartphone. iPhone, Galaxy, Pixel, G6, V20, and many more all vie for your wallet. Each of these phones are great for different purposes, but what if your main interest is mobile gaming? Which phone will give you the longest Minecraft session, or the best performance for Pixel Gun 3D?
Market Reality: Snapchat's World Lenses Are Just the Tip of the AR Advertising Iceberg
Snapchat is mostly credited as the first AR social network, and, like most social media companies, its revenue model is nested largely within advertising. As such, the company now has a new avenue for branded content.
Market Reality: Mira Closes Funding Round as Cappasity Prepares Blockchain Crowdsale
If competition in the augmented reality space was a spectator sport, then ARKit, ARCore, and HoloLens dominate the prime-time broadcasts on ESPN.
How To: Log into FaceTime & Messages in iOS 11 with Alternate iCloud Accounts
In a classic case of one step forward, two steps back, Apple has eliminated the ability to use multiple iCloud accounts for FaceTime and Messages in iOS 11, meaning the primary Apple ID on the account is the only one allowed. As inconvenient as this omission is, there's still a way to use alternate iCloud accounts on your iPhone with a little hackery.
Snapseed 101: Use the 'Healing' Tool to Remove Unwanted Elements from a Photo
Snapseed is an app that you should definitely be using not only if you're really serious about photography, but also if you want to ensure that your online work sets the standard for social media. It's a great companion app to Instagram and VSCO, and it will save your day many times over when you find yourself on your phone, on-the-go, needing to edit an image beyond the typical everyday filters.
Plex 101: How to Change Video Quality to Save Mobile Data
When you're on the go, Plex makes sure your media always stays with you. Just install the server app for Mac or PC and enable remote access, then you can stream movies and TV shows from your computer to your phone over the internet.
Market Reality: Lampix, Nokia, Xiaomi & More Invest in AR
Over the past week, companies took a variety of approaches to investing in augmented reality. Lampix is backing its own effort to build an ecosystem for augmented reality platforms. Nokia and Xiaomi are teaming up on numerous fronts, potentially including augmented reality.
News: The Scariest LiDAR Vulnerability We've Seen Yet
A vulnerability in the design of LiDAR components in driverless cars is far worse than anything we've seen yet outside of the CAN bus sphere — with a potentially deadly consequence if exploited.
News: Snapchat Adds Mobile Creative Studio So You Can Design Geofilters in-App
Snapchat announced today that you can now design geofilters in-app, making it easier than ever to customize your snaps. This new feature incorporates a mobile creative studio, so you no longer have to use your computer to create your custom masterpiece.
Instagram 101: How to Take Better Instagram Photos Using HDR
There are so many tips and tricks on how to improve your Instagram photos, but one really easy way is to use the HDR camera setting. HDR is high dynamic range imaging and takes three exposures of a photo — overexposed, underexposed, and one in the middle at the normal exposure. The end result is just one image of the three exposures combined.
News: Tiny Cameras for Your Next Phone Could Be Here Sooner Than You Think
Researchers have created a possible replacement for traditional camera lenses, using an "optical phased array" to function as both a lens and sensor of a camera.
News: Facebook Testing 'Profile Picture Guard' to Protect You from Scammers
Facebook is testing a new feature in India. One that could help you protect your profile photos from being used on sites without your permission.
Market Reality: Unity Receives Investment from Silver Lake
The leading platforms enabling augmented reality technology lead our headlines in Market Reality this week.
News: Scientists Surprised to Find New Defensive Role for Old Protein
Wound infections don't usually enter the blood and become systemic, spreading the infection throughout our bodies, and there's a good reason for that: Our bodies actively work to prevent it, according to research that discovered a new use for a protein first discovered decades ago.
News: Don't Even Think About Dropping Your Galaxy S8
If you shatter your new Samsung Galaxy S8 display, then be prepared to pay a hefty repair fee for that bezel-less baby.
News: Is Streetview Coming to Apple Maps? NYC May Hold the Answer
Apple Maps. For years now, its reputation has been that of a punchline. Although Apple and Google battle for supremacy in most hardware and software categories, in the map game there's no question who has the superior app. But the news of the day shows Apple expanding the cities it plans on collecting street data from, opening up speculation that they're not ready to throw in the towel on Apple Maps.