We're all feeling the impact of the economic recession underway due to the coronavirus. With millions of Americans filing for unemployment benefits, now more than ever should we focus on the best deal rather than the best model. And in no industry is that more evident than smartphones.
It wasn't too long ago that the power menu for stock Android didn't offer much beyond turning the device off, but Google has steadily added more functions, like capturing screenshots and provisioning access to emergency information.
With all this time spent stuck at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, HQ Trivia would be a prime way to beat the boredom. Unfortunately, HQ went belly up in February, just before everyone had stay-at-home orders. While HQ has teased a potential comeback, there are other trivia games out there that are live right now. One of those brings the spirit of HQ Trivia back to our phones.
Working from home has its perks. You don't need to commute, you can work in your pajamas, and you don't even need to clean your house, especially if you're using Zoom for video meetings on your smartphone. Instead of clearing toys from the floor or moving that pile of clothes on your chair, you can take advantage of Zoom's virtual background feature to hide what's really behind you.
The worldwide health crisis around the coronavirus has gripped the live events industry, particularly in the tech sector, with the cancellations of Mobile World Congress, the Game Developers Conference, Facebook's F8, Google I/O and now South by Southwest.
Computer vision is a key component in enabling augmented reality experiences, but now it can help give sight to the blind as well. In this case, that assistance comes from Envision, developers of mobile apps for iOS and Android that use optical character recognition (OCR) and object detection to provide an audio description of the user's surroundings.
Part of the fallout from the canceled Mobile World Congress is that a range of products, ideas, and designs slated for reveal in Barcelona are now being showcased without the framing and context of the massive tech gathering.
OnePlus has always pushed the boundaries with specs. They give their phones the premium treatment, which, yes, includes the camera nowadays as well. But even though they have become pretty solid in the photography department, it could always be better.
After dipping its toes into the AR cloud arena last year, Ubiquity6 is now jumping in with both feet this year.
While the automotive industry is moving towards adopting AR displays in future models, BMW is already shifting into the next gear with its vision of the technology.
With the consumer edition of its Nreal Light headset, scheduled to ship in 2020, Nreal is prepared to bring the entire Android app ecosystem into augmented reality.
In his famous 1996 "Content is King" essay, Bill Gates predicted that content is where tech companies will make money on the Internet. The adage clearly holds true in the current phase of augmented reality experience.
If there's any lingering uncertainty as to the mainstream viability of augmented reality, a list of the top mobile apps and games of 2019 serves to dispell those doubts.
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.
After establishing itself as a leader among media companies in augmented reality in journalism over the course of 2018, The New York Times pulled back from the technology this year.
It's the holiday season, and the tech industry is giving consumers several AR products and apps as gift-giving options.
If you're looking to save big on Apple AirPods, Beats, Bose, and other major headphones brands this Black Friday, look no further than Walmart. The store is hosting a number of sales on Black Friday itself, but you don't need to wait until Thanksgiving night to take advantage of the savings.
Halloween may be finished, but the augmented reality chills are not over yet for some people. Arachnophobes are bravely facing their fears by cozying up to augmented reality spiders for a university study.
The latest official update for iPhone, iOS 13.2, introduced 22 new features and changes to the iOS 13 era, building off the improvements brought by iOS 13.1 and iOS 13 proper before it. It's time to take our first peek into what's next for iPhone and iOS, as Apple releases iOS 13.3 developer beta 1 today, Tuesday, Nov. 5.
GravityBox is a name that many know as the module to rule them all when it comes to customizing your Android device. Ask any of the longtime modding pros, and they'll tell you about the good old days during the Xposed era. The community was booming and full of great ideas, and there were never any shortages of fun modules to try. Thankfully, it still lives on even years later.
Silicon Valley-based startup 8th Wall has spent much of the last few years building a reputation for enabling AR experiences that are platform agnostic via web browsers and mobile apps. Now, 8th Wall is promising to give developers the freedom to build and host AR experiences from anywhere via a simple web browser.
The wait is finally over. Apple just released iOS 13.2 for iPhone, the latest update to this year's iOS 13 release. The update contains a slew of exciting new features, such as Deep Fusion for 2019 iPhones, a suite of new emojis, the long-awaited Announce Messages with Siri, among many, many others.
Suddenly, Magic Leap's lawsuit against Nreal, as well as its barrier to entry in the Chinese market, appears to be as insurmountable as The Great Wall itself.
All those Apple commercials encouraging people to use their iPhones to make their smartphone movies look amazing, but how can you achieve some of the same looks? That's the question many often ask after plunking down over $1,000 for a brand new iPhone, shooting some video, and getting somewhat mediocre results.
Smartglasses from Apple have become the holy grail of augmented reality, and 2020 has been the rumored time horizon for the product's arrival for the past two years. The latest analyst report sheds more light on its potential debut next year.
Slack's in-app web browser works fine, but it just doesn't offer the functionality and features that a dedicated browser such as Chrome, Firefox or Safari can. Features like the ability to bookmark a page, search for specific text, or request the desktop site are missing. Luckily, Slack makes it easy to change your default browser.
For many of us, our work phone and our personal phone are one and the same. Just any old phone isn't going to cut it when you need to meet a deadline — a phone with built-in features that make it easier to get things done is almost a must.
You usually reply to emails on your own ... unless it's related to your work. You may want input from coworkers or higher-ups, and while forwarding works, Spark offers an easier way to discuss important emails with others. Using Spark for Teams, you can easily share an email with your team and discuss it privately.
XDA recently reported on a leaked version of the upcoming Pixel 4's camera app. By testing the app, they were able to find upcoming Pixel 4 features like a new Night Sight mode that can photograph stars. Well that leaked version has leaked itself, so now you can install it on your own Pixel phone.
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.
Despite hints hidden in internal iOS 13 code, Apple did not unveil its long-rumored smartglasses at its annual iPhone launch event on Tuesday.
So, you just updated to Android 10, ready to explore all of the new features Google has to offer. There's just one hiccup — those gesture controls everyone talks about? They don't work. In fact, the option is completely grayed out, taunting you from the get-go. What's going on here, and how can you restore functionality to a staple Android Q feature?
Until Star Wars-style 3D hologram projection technology becomes commonplace, the near future of certain kinds of remote work is in robotics. Now, a new dynamic is using augmented reality to give this kind of telepresence a kind of superpower.
In iOS 13, Apple is taking the Reminders app more seriously. With its long list of helpful new changes, the app finally stacks up to other task managers like Todoist or Wunderlist. One of the changes is small but mighty — the ability to add custom icons to lists. Doing so lets you personalize each collection of reminders to your liking and can help you identify lists with just a glance.
With Google taking on the sidewalks with augmented reality walking navigation for Google Maps, Apple has its sights set on the road.
While the eyes and ears of the iPhone world are singularly fixated on iOS 13 and its suite of over 200 new features, Apple was actively piloting iOS 12.4 in tandem with the big iPhone update, in preparation for the release Apple Card. Today, Apple has finally seeded iOS 12.4 stable, 116 days after its first beta version, and there's still no concrete evidence that Apple Card itself will show its face.
After debuting its virtual Pocket Gallery last year with the works of Johannes Vermeer, Google Arts & Culture has released a sequel that brings even more artists into your home via augmented reality.
In the last few years, the HoloLens has become a popular tool for use in medical procedures and training. But recently, the Magic Leap One has gained momentum in the space as well when it comes to medical use cases.
A new profile on Apple's exiting design chief Jony Ive, the man behind many of the company's most successful products, paints a fuller picture of what led to his departure.
The long-awaited Dark Mode may have grabbed all the spotlight with iOS 13, but Apple has made subtle changes across the whole platform to make your iPhone even more user-friendly. A small option aimed at people who are sensitive to motion is one such example — a feature that can also be a godsend for the rest of us.