We may have to wait a few years before they arrive, but reports of Apple's headset taking shape in Cupertino gives the tech world hope that its white knight for consumer AR is on its way.
Because of the way Google Play works, Android has a "bad app" problem. Google allows any developer to upload an app to the Play Store, regardless of if it works, how it looks, or whether or not it can harm users. Malware scanning happens primarily after apps are uploaded, and though Google has recently taken steps to safeguard users with its Play Protect program, you don't have to depend on them.
This week, Samsung officially kicked off the Oreo Beta Program for the Galaxy S8 and S8+ in North America and several other markets. The full list of changes is quite substantial, so we'll be running through them in a series of posts detailing what's new. First up, the Galaxy phones inherit notification channels from Android 8.0.
With technology giants like Apple and Google finally entering the fray, the move toward mass adoption of augmented reality is ramping up. Apple's ARKit and Google's ARCore will allow entirely new categories of apps to be made. Unfortunately, in a world of heavy competition, getting these two frameworks to work together wasn't a priority for either company.
If you're following the classic Halloween playbook closely, you've already got a costume or three picked out, you've binged-watched your favorite horror movies, and you've likely visited a haunted house. But it's 2017, so how about trying something new, like a haunted house that's not actually there?
HTC is heading in a strange direction lately. Instead of releasing just one flagship in the spring season, they released two top-tier phones, with one having last year's specs and both having last year's design. They were also supposed to manufacture both the Pixel 2 and 2 XL, but Google was unimpressed by the HTC-made Pixel 2 XL and looked to LG for the bigger device. Now it seems, HTC isn't finished yet.
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.
Unlike traditional backlit LCD technology, OLED screens don't use any power to display black pixels. Many manufacturers have taken advantage of this by implementing an always-on display, which only lights up a few pixels here and there to show relevant info when your phone is locked. But this leads to extra battery drain, albeit small, and it increases the risk of screen burn-in.
Have you ever been listening to the radio and a song comes on that you can't identify? But you're driving, so you can't open your phone and use your favorite app to find the song's name. Well, with a feature called "Now Playing" on Pixel phones, Google has solved this problem.
Mobile game companies Hit Point Studios and Legacy Games have adapted their Color BlastAR augmented reality game for iOS with the ARKit platform.
Over the weekend at IFA 2017 in Berlin, Huawei introduced the Kirin 970 processor, the first of its kind to include artificial intelligence baked into the chip.
Google largely helped to pioneer the concept of a steering wheel- and pedal-free self-driving experience when it began testing its Firefly pod-like vehicles a few years ago.
While HBO Now does not support offline viewing yet, your smartphone is the perfect way to watch your favorite shows and movies on-the-go. Whether you're in a hotel running off Wi-Fi or you have an unlimited plan and are on the bus, if you want to binge some Game of Thrones, the HBO Now app is there for you.
5G is showing up more and more in the news, as an increasing number of companies jump on the bandwagon. AT&T made a splash earlier this year with their embarrassing "5G Evolution" debacle, and the other three major wireless carriers soon followed suit, detailing their own vague plans for 5G. Today we find another company has joined the fray, just not a cellular one — Apple has officially been approved to test 5G networks.
Our smartphones are full of personally-identifiable information. So much of what we do with these devices is tracked and recorded to make our experience more streamlined and personalized. For many users, that's a fair trade — but for privacy-minded folks, it's a raw deal.
According The Venture Reality Fund, the introductions of Facebook's camera platform and Apple's ARKit catalyzed increased activity among companies developing consumer applications.
If you have movies and videos stored on Box, Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive, you should definitely be using the VLC app for iPhone. After setting a few things up, VLC will let you stream videos directly from any of these services with a proper video player UI, complete with gesture controls.
Your smartphone is the perfect place to watch Hulu on the go. Whether you're looking to catch up on your shows in a hotel, or your phone is the only screen available, mobile streaming can be a lifesaver. But what about when you have access to a TV? Wouldn't you rather watch your favorite Hulu Original on the big screen than on your comparatively tiny smartphone?
At the end of June, Unity 2017.1, the newest version of the popular 3D development engine, went live. And with that release, it brought out some very cool new features like Timeline and Cinemachine, to name a few. Now, for those of us that develop with Unity and follow the beta program closely, these features are not new at all. What is more likely the case is that we have spent a good deal of time using these features for a few months and even possibly helped iron out a few bugs.
Ah, the sand between your feet, the sun on your skin, and the debt you're accumulating. However strong my sense of wanderlust may be, I still can't justify dropping thousands of dollars on a vacation. Fortunately, a new site — Wander — promises to help you book vacations that match your budget.
Most carmakers now agree with Waymo that piloting driverless cars is best left to the machine — with no meddling from the human.
If there's one thing I know, it's that people hate buying mobile games. I'm the same way — no matter how good a game looks, if I have to pay for it, I have to fight the urge to immediately walk away. That's why it's such a big deal when a great game goes on sale. Right now, that game is 'Reigns.'
Last month, AT&T made headlines with its disastrous launch of its 5G Evolution network (spoiler alert: it wasn't actually 5G). T-Mobile responded to the embarrassing news by saying the company would be working on its own 5G network, and would take its time rolling it out. Well, T-Mobile may have just pulled an AT&T — T-Mobile is launching LTE-U in the US, and things seem pretty similar to the 5G Evolution's introduction.
M — Facebook's AI-powered assistant unveiled to the public in April — is now better than ever. The latest update to M now allows it to provide three more suggestions: a function to save content to view later, birthday wishes, and call initiation.
Cell phones have advanced rapidly since their inception. However, one frustrating aspect of our handheld computers is that we sometimes expect more than they can handle. We want smartphones to do all our PCs can do, but in many cases, that just isn't possible; especially when that comes to viewing and sending certain file types. WhatsApp is taking steps to bridge that gap now, by allowing users to send whatever kind of file they want, with one or two restrictions ...
Carrier-branded Galaxy S8 models come with a ton of bloatware that you usually can't get rid of without rooting. If you dig a little deeper, however, there is a way to debloat your S8, and it's relatively hassle-free.
Esports — and, subsequently streaming it — are possibly some of the more surprising products of the 21st century so far. Who would have thought that people would be watching professional gamers play, the same way we've watched pro sports players on TV for more than half a decade?
Waymo revealed more clues about its future business model after it said yesterday it plans to kill its Firefly pod-like car project and focus more closely on offering driverless systems for commercially available car and truck models.
When I crack open a new book, I always make sure I have a pen and a highlighter nearby so I can mark away! Anything particularly witty, inspiring, or engaging gets highlighted, underlined, or circled. When I use the Amazon Kindle app on my phone, I do the same thing by writing notes and highlighting, but I often find it difficult to keep track of my markings.
Apple announced upcoming changes today to prevent third-party tracking of users and prevent autoplay, on Safari. Safari will prevent the recording (by anyone other than Apple) of users' browsing behavior, and by doing so prevent advertisers from targeting ads based on individuals' history.
The iPhone has a feature that lets you see how much juice is left in your Bluetooth headphones, but most Android phones are lacking this ability. Thankfully, there's a simple app that'll close this gap in functionality.
With many of the companies working in augmented and mixed reality focused on the Augmented World Expo, the finance side of the industry has been relatively quiet.
Instagram Direct is fast becoming the end-all-be-all messaging app, and it just added some incredibly convenient features that should make it a bit more practical. These new additions have a clear purpose: To help Instagram Direct grow its base and take on more feature-rich messengers like Snapchat or WhatsApp.
Until recently, Firefox had the ability to continue playing YouTube videos in the background after minimizing the browser. It worked great as a YouTube Red alternative, but unfortunately, Mozilla removed this feature after some pushback from Google. Thankfully, there's a way to get it back.
Running commands on Linux seems so complicated for the layman that it may as well be a foreign language. But for the die-hard terminal users, or for those who are just curious about the Linux experience, there's a new Android launcher that gives your home screen a command line makeover.
If you're a tech enthusiast, there's no way you're not watching HBO's Silicon Valley. So you surely know the Pied Piper crew's latest shenanigans involve an app that uses a phone's camera to find facts about food items — a sort of Shazaam for food, if you may.
Over the past week, we are seeing more companies capitalizing on services leveraging augmented reality. One company secured funding to expand their service, while two other companies grow its own services through acquisition.
Samsung has some competition as LG may be incorporating OLED panels for their new flagship V30 launching later this year.
Your friends are ditching Snapchat for Instagram. After the social network turned camera company announced it lost $13.30 per user in its first quarter as a publicly traded company, well, it doesn't look too good for the platform's future, y'all.
Have you ever gone to a friend's house and not asked for the Wi-Fi password? Probably not, and the same can likely be said of any friends that come over to your place. But the actual act of sharing Wi-Fi passwords is still incredibly clunky, and it's particularly hard if you have a nice and secure password with uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
