News: Niantic Opens Private Beta for AR Cloud Platform Now Called Lightship
Niantic first unveiled its AR cloud back in 2018, using it to enhance the immersive capabilities of its gaming portfolio.
Niantic first unveiled its AR cloud back in 2018, using it to enhance the immersive capabilities of its gaming portfolio.
Two of the three entities behind Pokemon GO, the reigning champion in mobile augmented reality gaming, are joining forces again to see if lightning can strike more than once.
What is old is new again. In this case, a classic arcade game gets the augmented reality treatment. In a new promotion playing off its ad campaign featuring actor Craig Robinson (The Office, Hot Tub Time Machine), Pizza Hut has turned its pizza boxes into a virtual Pac-Man game via web-based AR technology.
When you're playing a game on your iPhone, the chances are good that you'll come across an ad you have to watch before you can continue — especially on free games. While it may be annoying to be forced to wait for 10 seconds or even up to a full minute, it can be even more frustrating when you accidentally leave the game to visit the ad's linked app or site when trying to hit the little "x" to continue gaming.
For Android smartphones, the latest craze is high refresh rate displays, and many popular flagships have them. But until now, there has been no way to confirm it is, in fact, running at higher hertz besides a menu option. Android 11 changes this.
When you're stuck working or learning from home, video meetings can help you stay connected to employers, coworkers, schools, students, and more. And Zoom is the hottest video conferencing service at the moment. While Zoom is easy to use, it does have a fair share of sketchy features you should know about, such as attendee attention tracking.
Apple released iOS 13.4 to public beta testers on March 18. The update comes the same day we learned that iOS 13.4 would be made available March 24. The sixth beta is iOS 13.4's GM (golden master), even though Apple refers to it as "beta 6."
Apple released iOS 13.4 to registered developers on March 18. The update comes just hours after news broke that iOS 13.4 would hit all compatible devices on March 24. The update is the GM (golden master), which makes it the same build as the official release we expect to see on March 24, although Apple does refer to it as "beta 6" on the dev site.
With many office workers in the US being asked to work from home if their job allows, Magic Leap's customary updates for the Lumin OS and Lumin SDK brings some help to keep distributed workforces connected.
As first reported by Next Reality last year, game developer Preloaded, in partnership with BBC Studios, has finally launched BBC Earth - Micro Kingdoms: Senses.
As helpful as it is, Google Maps isn't the only mapping app with augmented reality walking navigation anymore.
Lego has shipped several apps and products that add an augmented reality dimension to their playsets. But it has taken a reality TV show from Fox to allow brick fans to build with virtual bricks in augmented reality.
Augmented reality already seemed like the ideal technology to advertise for a movie based on the premise of being sucked into a video game world the first time around. For the sequel, how about two times the immersion?
While "Baby Yoda" from The Mandalorian threatens to overshadow it, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives in theaters next week, which means it's time for Disney and Lucasfilm to ramp up its promotional strategy.
Since the release of iOS 13.3 beta 3 on Nov. 20, Apple has remained silent on new beta updates. That's likely because there was a holiday the following week, and then all of the major shopping events after that. But now, it's back in the game, and on Thursday, Dec. 5, Apple pushed out iOS 13.3 developer beta 4 and public beta 4.
We have seen Kickstarter-launched wearables before, but this one is particularly unique and may even have you blinking a bit in wonder when you see how it functions.
Norway-based production tools company Vizrt is putting the real into augmented reality with its broadcast AR solution that's designed to keep sports fans (and other audiences) watching.
While iOS 13 introduces over 200 new features for your iPhone, one of the biggest focuses this year is Photos and Camera. The update completely overhauls the Photos app, creating a more organized and natural way to interact with your pictures and videos. You'll also find a few new tricks in the Camera app. In all, Apple has added over 30 new features to your shooting, editing, and viewing experience.
Recently, Android Police highlighted one of the downfalls of Android 10's new privacy protection: the fact that it broke the ability for apps like Pushbullet to sync your clipboard across devices. While third-party apps can potentially find a way around this, there's no guarantee. But have no fear, Google is here to the rescue.
Does your Activity page on Instagram feel cluttered? You're not alone. Instagram lumps all alerts into one long, chaotic timeline, so if you want to see comments or likes, you have to weed through everything else including shares from other users, memories, recommendations, and new follows. Instagram knows its a mess, and the company plans to add notification filters to sort things out.
We Harry Potter fans all remember Hogwarts students pulling Mandrake Roots in the greenhouses in Chamber of Secrets. Well, in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, we now have an opportunity to work in our own Greenhouses, as well as dine inside Inns scattered throughout the map. Let's take a look at how these two establishments help you along your magical AR journey.
Learning Chinese is hard, but it can be a lot easier with the help of a few great apps. As a native English speaker who's currently living in China, this is a process I've recently gone through. After playing the field, here are the three apps I personally think will help you the most with your Chinese learning adventure.
Apple released iOS 12.3, the latest version iOS 12 for iPhone, on May 13. Great features to know about include Apple TV Channels such as HBO and Showtime that you can subscribe to in the TV app, support for audio, image, and video streaming to AirPlay 2-enabled TVs, and the ability to use Apple Pay to pay for content and subscriptions inside Apple's own apps.
Already a dominant force at the box office, Marvel Studios appears intent on establishing itself as the ruler of augmented reality media as well.
When the titular hero of your superhero movie activates his powers with a catchphrase, it would be pretty neat if your augmented reality promotion for that film could react to the user's voice.
Location services provider Mapbox is expanding the reach of its augmented reality development capabilities to include apps for automobiles as well as smartphone navigation.
Nike and Snapchat, having already reigned triumphant with its viral augmented reality ad featuring Lebron James, are teaming up with another basketball legend at NBA All-Star Weekend
On Monday, with just days left before Christmas, Lowe's dropped a surprise augmented reality treat in everyone's lap: a brand new Magic Leap One app.
As Samsung's very own take on Android 9.0 Pie, the newly-dubbed One UI (formerly Samsung Experience, and TouchWiz before that) comes with a slew of new features and redesigned elements for the Galaxy's interface. Many of the changes, like the redesigned native app icons, are readily apparent, but other features got subtle enhancements that greatly improve user friendliness.
In the latest example of non-tech companies taking on augmented reality marketing, online travel site Travelocity has added an AR version of its Roaming Gnome mascot to its mobile app.
Adding another arrow to its quiver of augmented reality acquisitions, Apple has reportedly acquired Spektral, a computer vision company with technology for real-time compositing (otherwise know as the "green screen" technique in broadcast TV and film).
Cited by many listed on this year's NR30 list as the most important event in the last 12 months, last year's release of ARKit catapulted Apple CEO Tim Cook to the top of Next Reality's rankings. This week, we dug deeper by explaining why he's at the top of the list of NR30 Mobile AR leaders.
Incoming phone calls and FaceTimes, whether you want to answer them or not, will take over your entire iPhone's screen — no matter what you're in the middle of doing on the device at the moment. You could be browsing the web, playing a game, or chatting on social media. It doesn't matter, you'll get interrupted. But you don't have to put up with it anymore.
Smartglasses maker Epson remains the top gun in the drone market with its Moverio line of wearables, and the company is further elevating its offerings with its new Drone SoAR app for DJI drones.
Another entrant into the do-it-yourself AR content creation market has emerged, as Zappar has updated its ZapWorks Studio software to include features for development newbies.
Apple knows their products can be addicting, and with iOS 12, they are doing something about it. With the help of Screen Time and few other new tools, it should now be a lot easier to get off your phone and enjoy life in the real world.
If two hands are better than one, then two hand-tracking SDKs must be better than one as well. After uSens announced its Hand Tracking SDK at the Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara on Thursday, ManoMotion unveiled the latest version of its own SDK. Both technologies give apps the ability to track hand gestures with just a smartphone camera.
As Facebook, Apple, Samsung, and others offer augmented reality selfie effects and content that challenge its platform, Snapchat has continued to innovate with its augmented reality capabilities.
During Snap Inc.'s quarterly earnings report, released on Tuesday, the company disclosed that it snagged a revenue total of $230.8 million for the first quarter of 2018, an increase of 54% compared to last year, largely fueled by its augmented reality offerings and other advertising products.
Just weeks after being acquired by comedian turned producer Byron Allen for $300 million, The Weather Channel has tapped augmented reality studio The Future Group to integrate immersive augmented reality experiences into its broadcast content.