News: What Is Augmented Reality?
Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that augmented reality (or, AR for short) will "change everything." But what, exactly, is augmented reality?
Samsung Released Search Results
News: Pokémon GO Developer Niantic Scores $245 Million in Funding to Fast-Track Real World Platform
With Pokémon GO as its cash cow and the forthcoming Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Niantic Real World Platform promising future revenue streams, Niantic has convinced investors to bet on its flavor of augmented reality
How To: The 5 Best Meal Tracking Apps for Managing Your Diet & Counting Calories
Whether it's for health reasons or just to look better, many of us want to get in shape. It's a long process that starts with nutrition, and dieting is never easy. Fortunately, there are some great food-tracking apps that will make it a lot easier to become a healthier version of yourself.
How To: Enable Dark Mode in Google's Contacts App for Android
With the rise of OLED displays, Android users have been begging Google for a true system-wide dark mode for years. While a system-wide solution is still somewhat unlikely, Google has given in by providing a dark mode for certain apps, including Contacts.
News: Pokémon GO Maker Niantic Looks to Smartglasses Future with Investment in AR Display Maker DigiLens
The company behind augmented reality's first real gaming hit, Pokémon GO, is quietly making moves toward supporting the rapidly growing smartglasses space that may one day move its content away from smartphones and tablets and onto AR lenses positioned on your face.
News: AR Optics Maker WaveOptics Strikes Alliance with China's Goertek to Produce Smartglasses for Consumers
WaveOptics, makers of diffractive waveguides, has inched closer toward getting products featuring its technology to market through a production partnership with a consumer electronics company whose clients include Google, Microsoft, and Sony.
News: Google's Security Report Shows a Clear Pattern Among Malware-Infected Users
According to Google's new Android ecosystem transparency report, you're eleven times more likely to be infected by malware if you're running Android Lollipop (5.0) as opposed to Android Pie (9). The same report shows that if you sideload apps, you're almost seven times more likely to be infected than if you stick to Google Play as your app source. All of the data provided in the report is quite interesting, but there's a clear pattern among malware-infected users.
News: Noovie ARCade App Brings Wreck-It Ralph Movie Experience to Augmented Reality for Fans
One of the funniest scenes from the teaser trailer for the Wreck-It Ralph sequel is the basis for the new pre-show augmented reality experience via the Noovie ARCade app.
News: Harry Potter Photo Printer from Lifeprint Turns Snapshots into Magical Augmented Reality Portraits
The Daily Prophet, the enchanted newspaper from Harry Potter lore, is no longer the sole source for magical moving printed photos.
News: Apple Releases iOS 12 Public Beta 10 for iPhone, Fixes Bug Constantly Telling You to Update
If you've been getting that "Please update from the iOS 12 beta" alert continuously in iOS 12 public beta 9, Apple just issued a fix for it Friday, Aug. 31, with iOS 12 public beta 10 — just in time for Labor Day weekend. This marks the second update this week as dev beta 11 and public beta 9 were released on Monday. It's also just one day after Apple announced its Sept. 12 event.
Hands-on: DreamGlass Looks Like a Cheaper, More Mobile Meta 2, But This Is What We Really Think After Trying It
Earlier this week, we told you about the new DreamGlass augmented reality headset from Dreamworld, a company started by a former Meta executive. The device looks great, and the features sound good, but is it worth your hard-earned cash? I recently took it for a brief spin to find out.
How To: Improve Gboard Accuracy by Deleting Suggested Words You'd Never Use
Predictive text is a common feature in most mobile keyboards these days. However, many times, its guesses are way off, sometimes hilariously so. As absurd as it can be, predictive text can also continuously suggest the same wrong word over and over. Thankfully, Gboard offers users a way to quickly remove these suggestions for good on both iOS and Android.
How To: Get Google's Pixel AR Stickers on Your Galaxy S9
Google's ARCore has expanded its support to include the Galaxy S9 and S9+, which means you get access to all the cool new apps that can sense the world around them. But one of ARCore's coolest uses so far is still Pixel-exclusive: AR stickers built right into the Google Camera app. Thankfully, XDA user lofass33 has an ingenious workaround for using these stickers on your S9.
ARCore 101: How to Create a Mobile AR Application in Unity, Part 1 (Setting Up the Software)
If you've contemplated what's possible with augmented reality on mobile devices, and your interest has been piqued enough to start building your own Android-based AR app, then this is a great place to to acquire the basic beginner skills to complete it. Once we get everything installed, we'll create a simple project that allows us to detect surfaces and place custom objects on those surfaces.
News: Google's Announcing the Pixel 3 & 3 XL on October 9th — Here's Everything We Know
Update: Google's new Pixel models have been released! Check out our full guides on the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL to see all the details, but we'll leave the rumor roundup intact below for posterity.
How To: The Galaxy S9's 'Adapt Sound' Feature Makes Your AKG Earbuds Sound Even Better
The Galaxy S9 is an audio powerhouse. It has the first set of stereo speakers on a Samsung flagship, and it even comes standard with a set of AKG-tuned earbuds that would normally cost $99. But if you want to further enhance your audio experience, there's a feature that will customize audio output to your own specific hearing.
News: Not Digging the Notch on the Leaked OnePlus 6? Don't Panic Yet
Last week, the first possible image of the upcoming OnePlus 6 leaked. It was met with mixed reactions, most notably for its apparent iPhone X-style "notch." OnePlus fans seem concerned that the company is implementing a design choice based on what it thinks is trending, not necessarily what's best for the product. If you're one of those uneasy about OnePlus' future, don't be. At least not yet.
News: A Return to Glory? HTC Releases the U12+ with 4 Cameras, Edge-to-Edge Display & Edge Sense 2
2017 was a down year for HTC. First, the U11 and U Ultra were widely criticized. Later, Google purchased a large chunk of HTC's manufacturing division, leaving the Taiwanese company running with a skeleton crew after losing 2,000 key employees. But that's not stopping HTC — their flagship U12+ was just announced, and it's quite impressive.
How To: Easily Convert Cooking Times for Your Microwave's Wattage Using These Apps
Not all microwaves are created equal, so when you use the recommended cooking time on any microwaveable meal, chances are you're actually cooking the food too much or not enough. And unless you're really good at mental math or have a virtual assistant that's smarter than Siri and Google, you have to do things the long way — but not with these helpful apps for iOS and Android.
News: The Razer Is Now the Best Gaming Phone You Can Buy
When it comes to mobile gaming, you have a lot of fantastic options. Most flagship devices on the market, such as the Galaxy Note 8, iPhone 8 Plus, or OnePlus 5T, are perfectly capable of giving you an excellent, immersive experience. If you're looking for the ultimate way to experience Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp or something with more action like Into the Dead 2, the Razer Phone is the winner.
News: This Is the Only iPhone X Cyber Week 2017 Deal We've Found
While Black Friday shoppers found countless deals on all kinds of smartphones, one device was overtly left out of the price cuts — the iPhone X. Walmart was the only store to offer a promotion on the newest Apple device, and even then, it was difficult to find. Cyber Week appears to have repeated recent history, with only one store offering a special on the iPhone X, but it's not Walmart this time.
News: How Would the Pixel 2 XL Look if HTC Built It? Now We Know
The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL were built by different manufacturers. This is pretty common knowledge among Android fans at this point — Google's smaller Pixel 2 was built by HTC, while the larger Pixel 2 XL was built by LG. What would the Pixel 2 XL look like if HTC had followed through and delivered on the larger phone for Google? Today we have some answers.
News: Lionsgate Goes Deep into AR & VR Ads for New 'Saw' Movie 'Jigsaw'
With a new installment of the Saw horror series opening in theaters nationwide this weekend, Lionsgate is betting its ad dollars on immersive advertising to sell tickets.
News: Google Continues AR Duel Versus Apple with AR Stickers for Pixel 2
Clearly, the next big battlefield for tech gamesmanship between Apple and Google will be augmented reality.
News: Preorder & Release Dates for the iPhone X
Apple officially unveiled the long-awaited iPhone X, its tenth-anniversary edition iPhone, on September 12. With preorder and release dates just around the corner, you'll want to brush up on all things iPhone X to make sure you get your hands on one as soon as possible. After all, preorders start Friday, October 27.
How To: List of Phones with Unlockable Bootloaders
If you want to root your phone, it's a huge plus. If you want to install a custom ROM like LineageOS, it's an absolute must-have. Custom kernels like ElementalX, custom recoveries like TWRP — none of this happens unless you buy a phone with an unlockable bootloader.
Apple AR: Learn What Your Food Is Made of Using Augmented Reality
With the release of Apple's ARKit comes endless possibilities for education and learning. One of those possibilities is an AR rotating model of our solar system in your room, another is using AR to instantly know the nutritional value of food items.
Apple AR: JigSpace Shows You How Things Are Made Using AR
JigSpace, a company that uses 3D renderings to give instructions, showed off a fun new way to learn how things work using Apple's ARKit. The video released shows the anatomy of a range of things, including an espresso machine, an Archer Hb Plus chair, and the manual transmission of a car. Not to mention, they also used ARKit to show a 3D how-to of removing an iPhone's SIM card.
Netflix 101: Choosing the Netflix Plan That's Right for You
Netflix offers three different tiers of service. The good news is that no matter which subscription plan you choose, the available content is the same. Whether you choose the cheapest plan or the most expensive, you'll be able to watch any TV show or movie in Netflix's library. But there are other things to consider when choosing the plan that's right for you and your smartphone.
Instagram 101: How to Take Better Instagram Photos Using HDR
There are so many tips and tricks on how to improve your Instagram photos, but one really easy way is to use the HDR camera setting. HDR is high dynamic range imaging and takes three exposures of a photo — overexposed, underexposed, and one in the middle at the normal exposure. The end result is just one image of the three exposures combined.
News: Apple Bursts onto Augmented Reality Scene with ARKit
During the opening keynote of their Worldwide Developers Conference today in San Jose, Apple introduced the ARKit for the new iOS 11 that will bring augmented reality apps to millions of compatible iPhones and iPads.
How To: Set a Charging Limit on Your Android Device to Avoid Excess Battery Wear
There's a lot of conflicting information out there when it comes to the best habits for charging a smartphone's battery, so let's clear some of that up right off the bat. Lithium ion batteries (the type used in most modern electronics) start to lose their ability to hold a charge over time, and the two biggest factors that contribute to this are excess heat and overcharging.
How To: Replace Your Android Browser with This Enhanced Version of CyanogenMod Gello
No matter which smartphone you buy, it will come with an internet browser preinstalled. Depending on your OEM, the default browser might be called Samsung Internet, HTC Internet, Silk Browser by Amazon, ASUS Browser, or Google Chrome—there's just so many stock browsers available.
How To: Get a Boot Animation That Shows Donald Trump Flipping Off the Whole World
There are two things you're not supposed to talk about in a social setting: religion and politics. When it comes to the latter, though, a certain orange-hued reality TV star has made it all but impossible to stay mum about the goings-on in DC.
News: Google Pixel Reviews Are Out—Here's What People Are Saying
The reviews for the Google Pixel phone have hit the web. There's a lot of praise, but not all are so positive. We've collected some of the best takes on the new devices from the top tech sites around.
News: This Table Shows Why Google Needs Andromeda
There's a new operating system on the horizon, and this one's so big that it may actually live up to its galactic moniker. Andromeda, a merging of Android and Chrome OS, has the potential to bring Google to the ubiquitous status that Microsoft's Windows enjoyed in the '80s and '90s.
How To: Run the Same App Side by Side in Nougat's Multi-Window Mode
Some manufacturers, like Samsung and LG, have had split-screen multitasking on their custom versions of Android for years. But starting with Android Nougat, Google added this functionality to AOSP, which means that all phones and tablets running Android 7.0 or higher will now have a new multi-window mode.
Android Basics: How to Unlock Your Phone with Your Fingerprint
Starting with version 6.0 Marshmallow, Android now supports fingerprint scanners natively. This change has effectively opened the floodgates, and now almost every flagship Android device includes a fingerprint scanner out of the box.
News: For the First Time, You Can Help Name Android
Google switched things up this year by releasing a developer version of Android N far ahead of I/O, but that's not the only convention they've done away with this year. For the first time, Google will accept name suggestions from the public.
How To: Get Android Nougat's All-New Emojis Right Now
Apple has stepped up its emoji game lately, and as a result, there are several iPhone emojis that don't show up on Android devices running older firmware. However, Google responded by adding a next-gen set of Unicode 9.0 emojis to its Android Nougat preview build, meaning that soon, Android will have more emojis than iOS.