Hot Gadget Hacks Posts
News: North Focals Smartglasses Update Adds Google Fit, Google Slides, & a Distraction-Free Mode
The software updates from Canadian smartglasses startup North keep coming, each with a unique new twist.
How To: Turn Off Those Annoying Amber Alerts & Emergency Broadcasts on Your Android
To bring things up to code with a new FCC standard, Android recently added an "Emergency broadcasts" feature that will make your smartphone notify you whenever a potential safety threat or Amber Alert is posted in your area. Even if you have your phone set to silent, these emergency alerts will cause your device to emit a loud, piercing sound when a potential threat is nearby.
News: Pepsi Celebrates Summer with Hundreds of Instagram Camera Effects for Soda Drinkers
With the upcoming Memorial Day weekend serving as the unofficial start of summer, Pepsi is turning to Instagram to help sell its soft drinks to quench the thirst of beachgoers and BBQers.
News: McGraw-Hill Jumps into Educational Augmented Reality via Partnership with Startup Alchemie
In the wake of Apple and Google pitching augmented reality to schools, McGraw-Hill is stepping up its own augmented reality efforts for education.
How To: Change the Chat Color in Messenger Threads to Personalize a Conversation
Blue has defined Facebook's color scheme since its inception. Both Facebook's main app and Messenger theme are blue, which means your chat bubbles, like emoji, and menu bar items are also. While certainly a satisfying color for chat, you may get sick of it after a while, especially when it's in every thread. Luckily, Facebook lets you customize the color of individual Messenger chats.
News: Smartglasses Startup North Secures $40 Million in New Funding, Report Says
Despite the recent gut punch of staff layoffs, Canada-based smartglasses startup North and its Focals are likely to be in the game for a while longer.
How To: Enable Dark Mode in Google Maps on iPhone & Android
Dark mode is one of the most requested features these days, but it's even more important with a navigation app. If you're using Google Maps for directions while driving at night, the default white background will shock your eyes and make it harder to see the road in front of you. Thankfully, you can now enable a dark theme to make this whole process a lot safer.
News: Google Releases Glass Enterprise Edition 2, Includes Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1Upgrade
As the tech world patiently waits for the advent of mainstream consumer smartglasses, Google is content to stick to the business world (for now).
News: Apple Releases 'Second' iOS 12.4 Public Beta for iPhone to Software Testers
Public beta testers, you're in luck. Apple just released the second iOS 12.4 public beta today, May 20. The update comes five days after the release of the first developer beta for iOS 12.4 and seven days after the release of iOS 12.3. Public beta 2 and dev beta 2 were both released at the same time, something that doesn't happen often.
News: Magic Leap Adds Mobile Carrying Case to Its Arsenal of Augmented Reality Gear
It took a while, but one of the most anticipated Magic Leap One accessories is finally here. Magic Leap has quietly added the official Magic Leap One carrying case, which we previewed last year, to its website.
News: Apple Releases Second iOS 12.4 Beta for iPhone to Developers Today
Apple just released the second iOS 12.4 developer beta today, May 20, five days after the release of the first developer beta for iOS 12.4 and one week after the public release of iOS 12.3. In general, the iOS 12.4 update will support Apple Card, Apple's upcoming credit card due out this summer.
How To: Enable Dark Mode in Google Calculator
As the industry has shifted toward OLED (including Google's own Pixel lineup), the outcry for dark mode has been louder than ever. Google heard the cries and has been working toward a real system-wide dark mode. To lay the groundwork, they are adding the feature to all their apps, including their Calculator app.
Market Reality: Mimesys Joins Magic Leap, Samsung Funds DigiLens & Lenovo Moves in on Microsoft's AR Territory
Magic Leap and Samsung are putting their money where their augmented reality plans are, with the former acquiring an AR collaboration technology and the latter funding a waveguide display maker.
News: Now You Can Visit the Statue of Liberty in NYC from Anywhere in Augmented Reality via iOS App
Many native New Yorkers, like myself, get a chance to visit the famed Statue of Liberty during school trips when they're a child in grade school. And if you're not lucky enough to be born in the city, you have to make a special trip to the monument as a tourist.
How To: Stop Audio Messages from Self-Destructing in iMessage So You Can Keep Them Forever
Apple has several ways for you to communicate in the Messages app aside from texting — and that includes audio messages. You can send a voice recording via iMessage by long-pressing the microphone icon just right of the input field and speaking. However, by default, these audio messages self-destruct after two minutes, which isn't good if you want them archived.
News: Microsoft Turns Real World into Multiplayer Playground with Minecraft Earth Mobile AR Game
As promised with its teaser from Build 2019, Microsoft has unveiled the details for its augmented reality version of Minecraft for smartphones.
News: Next Reality Is Giving Away Free Tickets to AWE
You already know that the best place to learn about the cutting edge of augmented reality is Next Reality, but the best event to meet the people and companies pushing the space forward is the annual Augmented Reality Expo (AWE), and we're giving away free tickets!
How To: Save Your Parking Location from Your OnePlus Home Screen
There once was a time before smartphones when you had to actually remember where you parked your vehicle. This really sucked when visiting a location with a large parking lot — they even made a whole Seinfeld episode about it. But now you can just tap a button to solve this problem. Who says we're not living in the future?
News: Magic Leap Acquires Augmented Reality Telepresence Startup Mimesys
Just months after we previewed the augmented reality, volumetric video conferencing powers of Mimesys, the company has undergone a major change — it's now a part of Magic Leap.
News: Jeri Ellsworth's Tilt Five Teases Forthcoming Augmented Reality Twist on Board Gaming
While augmented reality industry continues to grow, analog board games are also making a comeback. So, why not join the two together?
How To: 'Rick & Morty' Returns This November — Here's How to Catch Up or Rewatch Your Favorites
The last third season episode of Rick and Morty aired Oct. 1, 2017. Over a year and a half later, we finally have confirmation that everyone's favorite morally ambiguous, universe-traveling duo will make their return in November. While six months is still quite a wait, you can make it go faster by catching up on some classic episodes.
News: Apple Releases First iOS 12.4 Beta to Developers, Includes Support for Apple Card
If you're an iOS developer, welcome back to beta testing. Apple just released the first iOS 12.4 developer beta today, Wednesday, May 15, just two days after the public release of iOS 12.3. While Apple has not shared any release notes, we know this latest version of iOS will support Apple Card, Apple's upcoming credit card.
News: Samsung Joins Niantic in Backing DigiLens with $50 Million Funding Round
Smartglasses are the future of augmented reality, and Samsung is betting on waveguide maker DigiLens to emerge as a leader in the growing AR wearable industry.
News: Google & Magic Leap Developer Create Augmented Reality Mobile Apps for Warping Real World into Art
Because of its ability to place digital content into the real world, augmented reality lends itself well to artists and creatives.
News: The OnePlus 7 Pro's GPS Is So Much Better Than Other Phones Thanks to This Unique Feature
We've all been there — using Google Maps for navigation and waiting for the app to find our location. As we drive around, we keep hoping it will get a lock in time to make the next turn. Well in the US, we finally have a solution to this problem, and it's the OnePlus 7 Pro.
News: Unity Beta 2019.2 Adds Face, 2D & 3D Image Tracking to AR Foundation
Fresh off of shipping version 2019.1 in April, Unity has already dropped the beta of 2019.2, and it has a bunch of new AR Foundation toys to test.
News: You Can Get a OnePlus 7 Pro with INSANE Specs for the Price of the XR or S10e
OnePlus unveiled its latest device — the OnePlus 7 Pro — Tuesday, May 14. Usually, the company touts a device with impressive specs, build quality, and price, all without sacrificing too much. This time around, however, OnePlus decided to include a Pro device without compromise, while retaining those core values, making the 7 Pro highly competitive against the "low end" phones of their competitors (the iPhone XR and Samsung S10e).
News: Lenovo's New Android-Based AR Headset Hits the HoloLens Where It Hurts — Enterprise Applications
Now that Microsoft has squarely focused on the enterprise market with the HoloLens 2, it appears Lenovo is content to play follow-the-leader with its new augmented reality headset.
Coming Soon: Call & Message All Your Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp Friends from One App
You're in constant communication with your friends and family. The only issue? Nobody uses the same app. Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp — you have contacts spanning all three, and the resulting balancing-act to keep in touch can be overwhelming. That's why Facebook — who owns all three apps — is coming out with a way to call and message friends across all three platforms from one place.
How To: Install Android Q Beta on Any Project Treble Phone
For many, the stock version of Android is often considered the epitome of what the operating system should look and feel like by default. It's clean and clear of unwanted extra apps that come pre-installed with the system, provides a fluid and fast user experience, and runs on just about any device that has an unlocked bootloader to install a custom ROM with the stock version ready to go.
How To: Stream PC Games to Your Phone Using AMD Link
It is a great time to be a mobile gamer. Not only are there millions of mobile games on the Play Store and App Store, but thanks to some recent developments, we can also even play PC games. AMD recently released an app, which, among other things, lets you play your favorite PC games on your phone.
News: iOS 12.3 Features You Don't Want to Miss, Including Apple TV Channels, AirPlay 2-Enabled TVs & Apple Pay in Apple Apps
Apple released iOS 12.3, the latest version iOS 12 for iPhone, on May 13. Great features to know about include Apple TV Channels such as HBO and Showtime that you can subscribe to in the TV app, support for audio, image, and video streaming to AirPlay 2-enabled TVs, and the ability to use Apple Pay to pay for content and subscriptions inside Apple's own apps.
How To: Install Android Q Beta on Any Google Pixel Phone
During the Google I/O 2019 keynote, the latest Android Q Beta was released to the public for Pixel smartphones along with 15 other non-Pixel devices. It's the third Developer Preview for Android 10, but it's the first official public beta outside of Google's Pixel smartphones. A new public beta means good things are on the way as the future of Android continues to evolve.
Market Reality: Google Adds AR to Search, AWE Turns 10, & Nike Makes AR Part of Its Sales Strategy
As the Augmented World Expo (AWE) prepares to open its doors to AR developers and enthusiasts, we sat down with founder Ori Inbar to talk about AR's growth over the past decade, and what the future may hold.
Coming Soon: Use Google Lens to Calculate Tips & Split Bills for a Group
Google Lens can perform many different tasks with your smartphone's camera thanks to advanced machine learning, such as foreign text translations, landmark identification, and business cards to contacts conversion, to name a few. With this year's Google I/O conference, we have another cool Lens feature to look forward to — receipt calculations.
News: After Nearly a Decade of AWE, Founder Ori Inbar Unpacks the Past, Present, & Future of Augmented Reality
In just a few weeks, on May 29, the annual AWE (Augmented World Expo) conference will take place once again in Silicon Valley (Santa Clara, California, to be exact).
How To: Watch HBO Offline on Your iPhone for 'Game of Thrones' Anytime
If you're a Game of Thrones fan and would like to watch the latest season offline on your iPhone, or if you need to catch up on previous seasons, there is no current support on HBO Go or HBO Now to download episodes for offline viewing. But that's only halfway true because there is a legal, official way to download HBO content on your iPhone, it's just not obvious at all.
How To: Install Android Q Beta on Your Essential Phone
Like last year's beta release of Android Pie, Google has allowed the Android Q Developer Previews to support some non-Pixel devices. Announced at Google I/O 2019, there are 15 non-Pixel smartphones eligible for the Android 10 Beta, including 2017's Essential PH-1.
News: Why Facebook Co-Founder's Call for a Breakup Is Focused on the Wrong Target — AR Is Zuckerberg's Next Big Data Bonanza
Next to Apple, Snap is currently one of the most important companies on the planet in terms of delivering products that are moving augmented reality into the mainstream. That's why it's no surprise that Facebook, which is also focused on AR and tried to acquire the company for $3 billion several years ago, duplicates many of the smaller company's features.
News: Nike Begins Using Augmented Reality for Sneaker Fitting in Mobile App & in Retail Stores
After applying augmented reality as a solution for the sale and marketing of sneakers, Nike is taking the next step in its adoption of AR to improve the customer experience.