When we talk about augmenting our reality, we often first think about vision instead of our other senses—but there's more to an immersive experience than what you see. One inventor figured out how to utilize sound and touch to create a simple, upgraded version of laser tag that you can play with your smartphone.
The easiest way to see which Pokémon are close to your current location in Pokémon GO is by checking the Nearby tracker in the bottom-right of your screen. At least this was the easiest way up until a few days ago. Initially, the Pokémon in the Nearby screen would be marked with between zero and three footprint icons—the more footprints, the further away a Pokémon is from your location. Pokémon with zero footprints should be visible to you.
Collecting Pokémon in Pokémon GO is only half the fun. Once you've reached Level 5, it's time to get your Pokémon ready to do battle with other Pokémon. This is where Gyms come in.
With most augmented and mixed reality devices, you wear a purchased headset and use it alone, in a place of your choice—but not this one. Ben Sax decided to reinvent the binoculars to create a mixed reality experience that anyone can walk up to and try for free. He calls it the Perceptoscope.
Gotta catch 'em all, right? That's easier said than done, considering that Pokémon GO has region-specific characters that you may never get a chance to see. Sure, you can spoof your GPS location to make the augmented reality game think you're at a different spot on the map, but Niantic Labs seems to be catching on to this method, and some users have been soft-banned for a few hours after trying it.
Mixed reality (MR) feels like an amazing, almost mind-blowing futuristic technology—but only once you've experienced it for yourself. Words, images, and even videos simply cannot describe the experience in full. If you want to really peer into the future and experience MR for yourself, you can sign up and just go in many cities.
If you're using an up-to-date version of Google Maps on your Android device, there's a little-known feature you can use to apply stickers to saved places, making them visually easier to find while you're looking at the map.
Modern smartphones are packed to the brim with low-power sensors like accelerometers and gyroscopes, which means they're capable of precisely measuring almost any type of movement. So why is it that when you just want to get walking directions somewhere, your device still uses its battery-sucking GPS connection to track your progress?
Google has begun the testing phase for its new Hands Free app that lets you pay at participating locations without having to even take your phone out of your pocket.
If your iPhone can't last a full day without being recharged multiple times, something's wrong—but it might just be working harder than it needs to.
Like most people who spend a good deal of time in front of their computer—whether for work, school, or play—I jump back and forth from window to window, working and playing with different things at the same time to get my work done faster or procrastinate harder.
When you think of Terminal, you probably imagine some hacker sitting in front of their computer in a dimly lit room trying to break into an FBI database. In reality, it's just a simple tool that can make using your Mac much easier.
Most new Android devices come with at least one feature that helps control navigation, music, and more through voice-controlled, hands-free communication. While they usually don't end up being completely "hands-free," these apps do stop people from using both hands to perform tasks on their smartphones while driving, therefore distracting them less overall.
At any moment, you can open up Meerkat and start live-streaming a video from your smartphone, available for anyone to watch. Thanks to its popularity at SXSW and the backing of several big Hollywood players, the app just announced that it's receiving $14 million in funding.
When you search for a specific location or business with the Google app, a Knowledge Graph card is usually the top result. This card displays a handy mini-map and offers a quick link for directions to the location of your query, but it has one irksome flaw—these links can only be opened by the Google Maps app.
Google has updated its Search application for iOS with their new Material Design aesthetic, taking cues from Android's redesigned look with refreshed colors, depth effects, and new animations. But the update doesn't stop there; there are several new and useful features added to the mix. Download Google Search for iOS for free from the iOS App Store to check out all the new goodness for yourself.
Now that you've updated your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch to iOS 8, there's a lot of cool new things to explore. If you felt a little overwhelmed from all of the detailed information available in our Coolest Hidden Features of iOS 8 post, then I've got a simple breakdown of all of the new features available with quick links to their walkthroughs and pictures, if available. Watch the short video roundup, or skip below for the list.
There are a ton of great new features in iOS 8, and one of the most interesting (and perplexing) ones is called "Family Sharing."
John Frusciante, of Red Hot Chili Peppers fame, has just launched a new album, literally. His latest work, Enclosure, was loaded up on Sat-JF14 satellite inside the payload bay of the Interorbital Neptune Rocket on March 29th and launched into orbit.
Imagine that Tinder fornicated with Facebook and had a baby. The product of that union would be the hideous, yet overwhelmingly interesting SocialRadar, an app dedicated to stalkers and stalkees.
The launch of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean was also the launch of Google Now, a service that was supposed to one-up Siri, the resident personal assistant for iOS devices. Google Now offered enticing features, but its launch went unnoticed by a great many Android users.
If you're a Twitter user, it's a safe bet to assume that you've used a hashtag. On all social networking sites that have the capability, such as Instagram, Facebook, and Google+, the pound (#) symbol is used to mark and designate specific keywords or topics in order to make it effortless for users to connect with one another.
There are hundreds of sites that host high-res wallpapers for your Android's home screen, but most of us stick with the same old drab stock wallpaper because we're too lazy to go hunt for new ones.
Being lost sucks. There really is nothing worse than going to a huge event with a bunch of friends or family and then getting separated. Instead of partying with the bros, you get stuck next to this lame couple who keeps seriously making out every ten seconds. SMH.
Living in Los Angeles has taught me one thing—parking is a luxury. If you are lucky enough to find street parking anywhere near your desired location, do not pass it up thinking you will get an even closer one. It does not exist. Looking for free parking? Get real. You can't even park at a busted meter in Los Angeles, despite state law saying otherwise. Now, finding a good parking spot is not just relevant for Los Angeles, but for other large cities and any other crowded areas, be it a shoppi...
Yesterday, Bryan Clark pointed out a new option on Verizon's privacy settings that gives new customers 30 days to opt out of a data sharing program that gives advertisers information on basically everything you're doing on your new iPhone (or any other smartphone).
The ultimate measure of a Call of Duty Black Ops player, or player of most any other online multiplayer shooter, is their kill-to-death ratio, or KD. If yours is lower than 1 you're dying more than you kill, and you probably want to improve you skills and start doing some pwning. This video tutorial will give you a lot of great advice and tips on how to do so. These include class setups, sniping spots, and other awesome knowledge.
If you're just getting started playing Yu-Gi-Oh! or are looking for some general tips to improve your deck construction skills, check out this video. It was made by a tourney-winning player, and will give you a lot of great tips on building good decks.
Your Call of Duty Black Ops custom player card / emblem is the first thing that a potential opponent sees about you, and you should be proud of it. This video will give you some great tips that will help you make any emblem you choose to make look sharper, less flat, and overall just plain more badass. The example made in the video is a cool star, so if you wanted a star you're even luckier!
Poker and video games go together great, not at the same time perhaps, but there is a lot of overlap between their fans. Show your love of both by watching this video and learning how to make a pocket aces Call of Duty Black Ops player card / emblem.
Are you tired of being bossed around by the Call of Duty Black Ops player card / emblem videos? Then you've found the right one, because this design leaves plenty of room for customization. The video will teach you how to make a nice-looking generic logo background that you can customize with whatever colors and symbols you like.
Sesame Street Muppets are beloved by the majority of American television-watching children, but Grover doesn't get as much love as some of the other Muppets like Big Bird and Elmo. Show him some love by making a Grover player card / emblem in Call of Duty Black Ops.
Interested in playing Sir Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" on a piano or other keyboard instrument? Let this free video music lesson be your guide. While this tutorial is best suited for intermediate or advanced piano players, players of all skill levels can play along. Watch this tutorial to get started playing "Candle in the Wind"!
In this video tutorial, you'll learn how to play John Lennon's "Oh My Love" on piano or other keyboard instrument. While this tutorial is best suited for intermediate or advanced piano players, players of all skill levels can play along. Watch this tutorial to get started playing "Oh My Love"!
In this video tutorial, you'll learn how to play the Beatles' "Hey Bulldog" on the piano. While this tutorial is best suited for intermediate or advanced piano players, players of all skill levels can play along. Watch this tutorial to get started playing "Hey Bulldog"!
Tennis is much more tiring than players of other sports often give it credit for. A match is most often won by the more agile player. If you need to work on your footwork and movement to improve your tennis game, watch this video for drills that will help you do it.
So the game has gone into penalty shots and you're looking to add a flair to your shots? No worries, these shots are easier to do with players with a higher flair or penalty ratings (like Ronaldo), higher star players means better chances of getting the shot. In this video you will learn how to perform advanced penalty shots like the Chip shot and the Stutter shot.
Le Freak by Chic is a popular song from the 70's and the epic bass player on the track was Bernard Edwards. The song for bass players is all about sticking in the pocket and grooving hard when it calls for it. In this excellent lesson you will learn how to play each section of the song from the intro, through the extended bridge, and more!
Brownman from Achievement Hunters covers not one, but four achievements in Madden NFL 11 for the Xbox 360. If you've been having some trouble unlocking these achievements for Madden 11, this is the video to turn to.
Touching a soccer ball with your hands for a trick is somewhat sacrilegious, but ever since basketball players started spinning the roundball around on their fingers, soccer players have felt the need to answer. This video will teach you how to spin a soccer ball on the end of your finger quickly and easily.
