News: Star Wars Unleashes Adorable AR Porgs via Snapchat
To promote Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Disney and Lucasfilm released virtual porgs into the wilds of Snapchat via a Sponsored Lens on Sunday.
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News: Kay Jewelers Adds Some Bling to Snapchat via Try-on Lens
Rabbit ears and dog noses are fun and all, but Kay Jewelers is here to class up Snapchat.
News: Snapchat Sponsored Lenses Are Now More Helpful to Advertisers Through Context Cards
Snapchat's popular AR lenses just got a lot more useful for businesses, as the company has now opened its Context Cards platform to sponsored content.
News: Razer's New Gaming Phone Leaked in Promo Video Ahead of Announcement
Razer, the company known for PC peripherals and laptops, is joining the smartphone industry with a new device. Rumors have been swirling since they announced an event on November 1 at 4 PM EDT, but now, we have our best look yet with a leaked promotional video before the actual announcement.
News: Microsoft Invites Rest of Europe to HoloLens Party with Expanded Availability in 29 Markets
Just days after announcing the launch of two new mixed reality studio facilities, Microsoft is extending its mixed reality reach even further with the announcement that the HoloLens will now be offered in 29 new markets.
News: Google & LG Have OLED Issues? Samsung Wants You to Know They Don't
It's not rare to see an advertisement in tech directly call out the competition. Whether it's the famous Mac vs. PC ads from back in the day or the Pixel burning the iPhone 7's lack of a headphone jack, rivalries in these commercials are certainly commonplace. Samsung's new ad campaign takes a more subtle approach to this "throwdown" advertising, but the message is still clear — Samsung wants you to know its AMOLED displays are better than Google's and LG's POLED.
News: Developers Can Create Shared AR Experiences Through Twilio's Video Platform
With a pair of new APIs and low-latency media servers, Twilio's Programmable Video platform could soon help ARKit and ARCore app developers build shared AR experiences between multiple users.
News: Your Banking App Could Soon Help You Locate the Nearest ATM in AR
A potentially groundbreaking new app targeting retail financial services hopes to bring augmented reality to your local bank and credit union.
News: Arcona Could Cover the World with AR Objects
A Russian augmented reality startup wants the next frontier in real estate to be augmented reality estate.
Market Reality: As Magic Leap & Microsoft Seek Funds, Educators Prepare the Next Class of AR Innovators
For a company who hasn't released a product and has a reputation for being secretive, Magic Leap sure has a tendency to make waves. Over the past few weeks, they've refreshed their website design, released an abstract YouTube video, and announced a partnership with Madefire to offer mixed reality comics on its device whenever it launches. Next, they are gearing up for another round of funding.
News: You're About to See More AR Ads in Your Mobile Browser, Thanks to Vertebrae
Immersive advertising company Vertebrae has extended its native ad platform to augmented reality via mobile Chrome browsers for Android and Safari for iPhone.
Market Reality: Level Ex Closes $11 Million in Financing, While Gaze Coin Seeks $12 Million through ICO
According to Digi-Capital, investors poured $1.8 billion into augmented and virtual reality companies over the last 12 months, including $300 million in the third quarter. These investments are not made without a means to monetize products and services.
News: Research Papers & Patents Point to Magic Leap's AR Ambitions
In June at the eMerge Americas investors conference, Magic Leap founder (and NR50 member) Rony Abovitz proclaimed that the launch of their flagship product was "not far away."
Apple AR: Marxent Prepared to Deploy Content for ARKit Apps
While IKEA is collaborating with Apple for its ARKit furniture app, Marxent is ready to help the rest of the interior decorating and home improvement crowd with their apps.
News: Cruise's Testing Strategy Revealed: Part MIT Brains, Part GM Muscle
Cruise Automation, the driverless car startup General Motors (GM) bought for $1 billion in 2016, is readying a formidable fleet of robo-taxis for rollout in cities throughout the US. But when it comes to details about how the company plans to realize these lofty goals, it's been fairly tight-lipped.
Today's Top News: Tesla Quietly Upgrades Autopilot Hardware
Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk has repeatedly said this year all Tesla models made since October 2016 have the requisite hardware for "full self-driving" capabilities, yet the company has reportedly begun to add a second graphics processor (GPU) to its computer platform for Autopilot — without officially saying why.
Today's Top News: Tesla Could Be Stretching Itself Thin by Chasing the Driverless Truck
Elon Musk's SpaceX is launching the world's most powerful rocket. The Tesla founder and CEO says the company is about to go through "manufacturing hell" to make delivery schedules for its new Tesla 3. Somehow, Musk says Tesla will offer Level 5 driving (so you can take a nap while your car drives you to and from work) within two years.
News: GE Aviation Pairs Google Glass with Smart Wrench to Improve Process Quality
GE Aviation and their software partner Upskill are seeing success by giving their mechanics smart tools and smart glasses, the latter in the form of Google Glass.
News: New AR Exhibit in London Wants to Bring Awareness to Wildlife Preservation
Technology and nature, typically thought of as opposites, are coming together in a new London exhibit.
News: Pokémon GO Fest Disaster Leads to More Events Being Delayed
Niantic has gotten themselves into a bit of a mess regarding their hit game Pokémon GO recently. The company hosted a fan fest in Chicago earlier this month that ended up being a complete disaster.
News: New Patent Application Adds Fuel to Rumors About Augmented Reality Glasses for Apple
Apple has sprung a massive AR following since the announcement of their ARKit, with users waiting to see what exactly the tech giant will do next.
News: Google Glass Enterprise Edition Open for Business
Perhaps in tribute to the season premiere of Game of Thrones, Google Glass is demonstrating that what is dead may never die, as Alphabet's X (formerly Googlex) has revealed that the Enterprise Edition of the smart glasses are now available to businesses.
Today's Top News: China Is Cracking Down on US & Euro Driverless Mapping with New Restrictions
The Chinese government's tight restrictions on gathering data by foreign firms for 3D mapping, the lifeblood of machine-taught driverless systems, could at least slow down access to the market by Waymo, Tesla, General Motors (GM), Ford, and other players hoping to make inroads there.
News: Holographic Smartphone Is Coming, but We're Not Sure You Should Get It
So it's 2017 and there are no flying cars and teleportation devices around, but there might be holographic smartphones sometime soon. As cool as that sounds, should we trust a holographic smartphone from a company that has never made smartphones before?
News: NYU Gets Coveted Job to Host the First Publicly Funded VR/AR Facility
The de Blasio Administration of New York City has announced that the NYU Tandon School of Engineering will be hosting the country's first publicly funded VR/AR facility.
News: Driverless Nissan Leaf Could Launch This Year
The new Leaf with Nissan's ProPilot driverless feature could launch as soon as this year, following a teaser image and video the Japanese carmaker released of its flagship EV yesterday.
No Excuses Now: Uber Introduces a Tipping Feature in Their App
Uber drivers do a lot for us. They sit through traffic, make conversation, put on our favorite tunes, drive us however far we need to go, and they work long hours. Some even have to deal with people who may have had too much to drink, which we all know can be obnoxious. So yeah, we'd say that it's about time for Uber to include a tipping feature in their app.
News: Uber Loses Ground to Lyft Amid Culture Concerns
Uber has lost market share to Lyft, its main competitor. Uber's US market share dropped from 84% to 77% between January and the end of May this year, and the ride-sharing company has continued to run into legal, public-image, and internal trouble. Lyft, on the other hand, has been growing.
News: Samsung Announces That You Can Sign Up for Early Access to New Bixby
If you're not familiar with Bixby, I don't blame you. The Samsung assistant was released two months ago with the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. While users were excited about this Google Assistant-like feature, they were ultimately disappointed by the limited rollout of only some of Bixby's features. Now, Samsung is hopeful to perfect Bixby using you.
News: Jaguar Land Rover Leans Towards Driverless Fleets in $25 Million Deal with Lyft
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.
The Clone Wars: The Russians Flirt with Instagram & Fake Follower Vending Machines
From Instagram bot farms in China all the way to vending machines in Moscow that promise to sell you fake followers — the Facebook-owned empire is attracting the attention of the world around. When it comes to Russia especially, the country seems to be developing a little crush on the glorious IG queen.
News: One Step Closer to the Mainstream: Delphi and Transdev to Develop Driverless Cars
Delphi Automotive PLC has announced it is partnering with Transdev Group to develop on-demand driverless transportation systems, a deal that shows promise for autonomous development on a global scale.
A Song of Ice & Fire: Is Amazon Back in the Smartphone Game?
Winter is coming for Amazon. It looks like the company is having another go at the smartphone world with its release of new smartphones branded as "Ice".
AWE 2017: Rounding Up All the News from the Augmented World Expo
The Augmented World Expo (AWE), the biggest event for augmented, virtual, and mixed reality companies, developers, customers, and connoisseurs, is happening right now. You know what that means for us here at Next Reality? Companies presenting and exhibiting at AWE are releasing news like crazy.
News: Ford Pins Its Survival on Driverless with Its New CEO Appointment
Ford's appointment of Jim Hackett as its new president and CEO reflects how the company is largely pinning its long-term survival hopes on its driverless business. Following his previous role as head of Ford's Smart Mobility division, which overseas Ford's autonomous driving activity, Hackett will help the company take a more self-driving direction as a whole.
News: Forget Convenience, Uber Pool Maximizes Efficiency by Making You Walk More
After Uber noticed that if you walked to a more convenient pickup spot — instead of your exact location — that it would save you time and money, they decided to make a change to their system.
Market Reality: Aira Raises Funding for Visual Interpreter Service
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.
News: Realfiction's New Mixed Reality Display Projects Large Scale Holograms Without a Headset
Mixed reality display manufacturer Realfiction has developed a 64-inch display capable of delivering 3D holograms without a headset.
News: Will Google's Standalone VR Headsets Enable AR Experiences?
Google announced several new devices (as well as updates to existing devices) that will take advantage of the company's augmented and virtual reality platforms.
News: Fly Lufthansa? Snapchat Will Introduce You to Your Flight Crew
What companies do you think have a unique and compelling take on social media? Wendy's is certainly confident, to say the least. But Lufthansa Airlines is taking a different approach than most — and it seems to be working — as they give passengers a look behind the scenes through Snapchat Stories.