Hey, you, still stuck at home? Cheer up, today is the first day of spring. Yes, really. And since you're probably locked in on TV, we're guessing you need a break from some of the less than sunshiney news reports rolling in. Well, no worries, because there's actually some good news to report.
You need a break from gloomy coronavirus updates. We all do. The unrelenting stream of doom and negative news is both helpful in terms of keeping ourselves and our families safe, but it also has the unfortunate effect of increasing our anxiety. When will this end? How bad will it get? Is there reason to be hopeful?
As the COVID-19 virus continues to spread, counties, cities, and states are closing down businesses, events, and schools that aren't absolutely necessary. Some companies around the US are recommending or requiring employees to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic. If you're stuck at home, there are apps and services to help you make it through a lockdown.
Augmented reality's status as a new storytelling medium has already led to the reinvention of filmmaking and journalism.
While the big names in augmented reality demonstrated the breadth of opportunities in the industry's landscape this week, one new startup showed off what is possible further in the future.
They say it is always darkest before the dawn. If that's the case, then perhaps there's a light ahead for Magic Leap after more unfavorable news in the form of executive departures.
While the long-awaited HoloLens 2 officially arrived this week, details leaked about another, arguably longer-awaited AR headset, the fabled wearable from Apple, and a previously undisclosed partner assisting the Cupertino-based company with the hardware.
Move over, Star Wars. You're not the only Disney property that can play in the Lenovo Mirage AR headset anymore.
Long before the HoloLens or the Magic Leap One, a California-based team of independent filmmakers envisioned what the future of augmented reality might look like.
While the tech industries giants and eager startups chase the dream of widespread consumer augmented reality, enterprise AR is living the dream today.
Apple just released the sixth beta release for iOS 12.2 today, Monday, March 18. Just as expected, the update to the developer version dropped just past 1 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. PDT), and comes with new changes and features from iOS 12.2 beta 5 and beyond, including a new warranty status in the "About" page in Settings.
Apple just released the third iOS 12.2 developer beta Tuesday, Feb. 19, fifteen days after the release of iOS 12.2 developer beta 2. Beta 3 fixes an issue with the lock screen, and reintroduces Group FaceTime to beta testers. Overall, iOS 12.2 hosts a wealth of new features as well as bug and security patches.
The hype around augmented reality has risen to a fever pitch over the past two years, and if this week's selection of business news stories are any indication, the din is about to get down right deafening.
Seven days ago, Apple released the first public beta for iOS 12.2. Now, public testers have access to the latest beta update since Apple released 12.2 public beta 2 on Tuesday, Feb. 5. The company released the developer beta one day earlier, which includes bug fixes, new Animoji, and more.
On Monday, Feb. 4, Apple released the second developer beta for iOS 12.2. The update features bug fixes to users running iOS 12.2 beta 1, as well as four new Animoji for Face ID devices. Developers are strongly encouraged to update their iPhones. It's unclear at this time whether the update includes a fix for the Group FaceTime bug discovered last week.
All of the the tech industry giants, including Apple, Facebook, and Google, are working on new smartglasses and/or AR headsets, but this week, Google took a major step forward with gesture recognition technology that could make its way into AR wearables, posing a threat to Leap Motion and its hand-tracking controllers.
After joining Google and Huawei in underwriting the UW Reality Lab at the University of Washington in January, it appears Facebook is already seeing a return on its donation.
When the announcement of the Cheddar app for Magic Leap first went out on Tuesday morning, the app was not available on my updated Magic Leap One (located in New York City). However, after checking throughout the day, I can confirm that the app is now live.
Now that the Magic Leap One is out in the real world, the mystery behind the company lies not in whether it will actually ship a product, but when it will ship a consumer product. Or, does CEO Rony Abovitz steer the company in a different direction first?
Our national month-long celebration of all things creepy and crawly comes to a climax on Wednesday with Halloween and will end with Día de Muertos on Friday, so now is the ideal time for the The New York Times to publish a mildly chilling augmented reality story for children.
Now that the augmented reality cat is out of the bag, Magic Leap is beginning to open up a bit more about how of some of its work came together in the years and months leading up to the Magic Leap One's release earlier this month. On Wednesday, the company unveiled a behind the scenes video of how the ethereal music-meets-AR app Tónandi was produced in collaboration with Icelandic music group Sigur Rós.
Last month was a whirlwind for the augmented reality industry, with the Augmented World Expo, Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, and an exciting Magic Leap Twitch livestream all wrapping up before the ides of June. Now that we've had a chance to fully digest it all, we have a real sense of where the augmented reality industry is heading.
Apple's linear Notification Center has been scattershot at best since iOS 9 when we could group notifications by app. Without any type of grouping ability, the notification history becomes more of a nuisance of random alerts based on time alone, making it a treasure hunt to find the notification wanted. Now, iOS 12 has addressed this issue, bringing back groupings — with improvements.
While some in the augmented reality space are tweeting about future amazing immersive experiences and others are showing off cool experiments, Microsoft continues to move forward with tangible business solutions right now that show how the HoloLens can improve business.
Augmented reality device maker Vuzix has filed a defamation lawsuit asking for $80 million in punitive damages, money damages, and interest against a short seller who has publicly claimed that the Amazon Alexa functionality of the company's Blade smartglasses is fraudulent.
While Magic Leap may have plans to eventually introduce sign language translation for smartglasses in the near future, students at New York University have demonstrated that such a feat is possible today with a smartphone and a prototype app.
If you're a fan of Gboard, Google's third-party keyboard for iOS, then you can already search Google, YouTube, and Google Maps from any screen you're on. But if you prefer Apple's stock keyboard or another third-party one on your iPhone, you don't have any Google search options ... at least, until now.
Accused of violating whistleblower and age discrimination laws by its security director, Magic Leap has taken an internal situation to the US District Court to clear its name of the allegations.
Facebook just ratcheted up its ongoing augmented reality war against the competition by stealing away Google's director of product for AR, Nikhil Chandhok. In his new role, the executive will serve as Facebook's director of product on the company's Camera/AR team.
As expected, Apple began pushing out the final version of iOS 11.2.5 to all iPads, iPhone, and iPod touches today after 41 days of beta testing. Highlights include a fix for the ChaiOS vulnerability, a persistent Now Playing bar in Music, and some signs of AirPlay 2 just in time for the HomePod launch on Feb. 9.
When the Super Bowl airs, every other TV network puts on reruns because no one wants to face that juggernaut for ratings. The launch of a new iPhone is the Super Bowl of the tech world, with the launch of the iPhone X being the biggest one yet.
Some drivers give Tesla's Autopilot update released this week rave reviews, after version 8.1 has taken longer than expected to live up to Elon Musk's "smooth as silk" Tweet from earlier this year.
Wargaming's World of Tanks — the popular multiplayer online war game — teamed up with The Tank Museum to create an augmented reality experience like no other. Alongside several German tanks that are part of the exhibit, visitors can use Microsoft HoloLens and Google Tango technology to explore a rare Stürmtiger tank inside and out.
Volvo Cars' "all-electric" announcement last week was seen as a direct threat to Tesla's electric vehicle (EV) and driverless lead, but German auto giant Volkswagen (VW) says it is in a better position to challenge Tesla.
Finding the perfect lip color can be a difficult task, to say the least. Thankfully, we're living in a world with augmented reality, where it's possible to try on lipstick from different brands at home.
A report by PwC highlights that immersive experiences in augmented and virtual reality represent the fastest growing segment of the entertainment and media industry over the next six years. News from two companies working in the industry, Fox and NetDragon, underscore the growth forecast.
The way we tell stories is about to change. Imagine you're hearing a story when suddenly characters and images from the tale start to appear in your world. This immersive way of storytelling is in the not-so-distant future thanks to the Microsoft HoloLens and Rémy Martin.
The $25 million development alliance Jaguar Land Rover's mobility unit InMotion has formed with US-based ride-share firm Lyft reflects how the British luxury carmaker is leaning towards a fleet service business model for its driverless offerings.
Demand for Tesla's driverless features as well as its ultra-long battery ranges and a reputation for offering the best-in-class electric car driving experience helped Tesla see a 32% surge in its value as a brand, topping out at $5.9 billion in the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, released June 5.
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.
