Hot Gadget Hacks Posts
News: Magic Leap's Neal Stephenson Visits Microsoft HoloLens Headquarters to Talk Augmented Reality
One of the masters of science fiction, Neal Stephenson, may be on staff at Magic Leap, but that doesn't mean he can't take a moment to visit the halls of competitor Microsoft, the maker of the HoloLens.
How To: Fix Blemishes in Photoshop Express to Get Flawless Skin in Your Selfies
You finally did it! You've combined all your knowledge about photography and angle to take the perfect selfie. It looks stunning, and you cannot wait to post that bad boy to Instagram. But wait, what's this? Your skin looks so uneven and — is that a zit!? I guess the selfie gods were not in favor of your skin when you snapped it. Luckily, you can fix all of those minor flaws with the help of Photoshop Express.
News: North Hits the Road Again with New Focals Smartglasses Pop-Up Stores Across North America
After testing the waters with a few pop-up stores along the West Coast earlier this year, North is bringing its smartglasses to more cities across the US and Canada.
News: Amazon Adding Virtual Try-On from L'Oréal's ModiFace to Its Beauty Products
Cosmetics augmented reality specialist ModiFace appears to be really benefiting from the brand power of L'Oréal, which acquired the company last year.
How To: Tag People in Reminders to Get Alerts When Chatting with Them in iOS 13's Messages App
While iOS 13 might have made waves for some of its more prominent features — most notably system-wide Dark Mode — some of the more interesting tools lie with its smaller, unannounced updates. One of those updates is a new Reminders setting to tag contacts in a to-do task so that iOS pings you when texting that person in Messages.
News: Snapchat Celebrates Pride Month with New Landmark AR Experiences
While the 49th Annual Gay Pride Parade and Festival will take place on Santa Monica Boulevard and West Hollywood Park, revelers will also be able venture Northeast to the TCL Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard to continue celebrating via Snapchat.
News: Epson to Launch Moverio Assist as Easier to Deploy Smartglasses Remote Assistance Tool
The idea of remote assistant apps in augmented reality has been taking off in the last couple of years, but Epson is introducing a differing kind of solution for companies that may benefit from a more straightforward dynamic before going full-on immersive with higher-end AR remote assistance tools.
News: Magic Leap Adds Sketchfab Support to Its Native Helio Web Browser
New York-based virtual content startup Sketchfab is usually at the forefront of the latest developments in augmented reality, so it's no surprise that the company has locked in yet another major platform.
News: Here's What You Need to Run ARKit 3 on Your iPhone or iPad
If you've been putting off upgrading your iPhone or iPad, you might want to start shopping for a current-generation device to take advantage of the latest capabilities in ARKit 3.
How To: Get Dark Mode in Google Photos
Dark mode is everywhere. Both Android 10 and iOS 13 added the feature natively, and many of your favorite apps now include the option. So far, Google has been on a mission to add it to all of its apps, and Google Photos is no exception.
News: Snapchat Mutates X-Men Fans via Augmented Reality to Sell Tickets for 'Dark Phoenix' Movie
Augmented reality is often likened to granting superpowers to mere mortals, but what about mutant powers?
News: Ellen Degeneres Is Leveraging the Power of Augmented Reality Gaming to Help Save an Endangered Species
Many tech insiders are waiting for augmented reality to go mainstream, but if you look around hard enough, you'll find that it's already gone as mainstream as possible, thanks to talk show host Ellen Degeneres.
How To: Can't Find the Accessibility Menu & Its Options in iOS 13? It Got a Huge Update Worth Checking Out
The iPhone's "Accessibility" menu is one of those options that's very easy to overlook but incredibly handy in certain situations. You can set AssistiveTouch to help navigate your device, use a Bluetooth mouse when your screen is acting up, and enable the red screen filter for nighttime escapades. For as long as the menu has been available, it's been in the "General" settings, but not in iOS 13.
News: Meet & Compete Against Team USA via USA Today's Augmented Reality Experience for FIFA Women's World Cup
After winning the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, the USA Women's National Soccer Team is ready to defend its title in the 2019 tournament.
News: Augmented Reality Startup AstroReality Expands Its Product Universe with NASA AR Series
After getting its start with models of augmented reality planets that serve as targets for augmented reality experiences, AstroReality is diversifying its portfolio by paying tribute to one of the space agencies that made its products possible.
How To: Download the New iOS 13 Wallpapers on Any Device
We're excited about iOS 13 and its many shiny new features. System-wide Dark Mode, new Messages options, and so much more awaits iPhone users. But if you don't have an iPhone or don't want to update to iOS 13, you can still get its new wallpapers on your device for some Apple-friendly backgrounds for your home and lock screen.
News: Magic Leap Achieves Full Hand Tracking & Lays Foundation for Magicverse with Latest Lumin Update
After improving hand-tracking and adding multi-user sharing features in the last Lumin OS update, Magic Leap has upped the ante yet again.
News: iOS 13 Developer Beta 1 Available for iPhone with a Lot of Kinks to Work Out
The first developer beta for iOS 13 is available to install on iPhone models, but the process for doing so may be a bumpy ride. Apple has not included configuration profiles for the developer beta yet, and many developers are having issues installing iOS 13 even with macOS 10.15 Catalina installed. Plus, since this is the first beta, there are a lot of problems with old and new features to work the kinks out of.
News: Fashion Startup Kollectin Lets You Try on Earrings & Necklaces from Indie Designers in AR, with Just a Swipe to Buy
The natural marriage between fashion and augmented reality is charging onward, but not just from the major brands we already know about.
News: Apple's Third Generation of Animoji Adds Memoji Customization & Stickers to Messages
Apple is giving iPhone owners even more options to express themselves via Animojis with a wide range of customization options for their personal Memojis.
News: Unreal Engine 4 Now Available for Microsoft HoloLens 2
A major software tool first promised during the reveal of the HoloLens 2 earlier this year is finally available.
Market Reality: Meta Company & Leap Motion Find New Owners as AWE 2019 Wraps Up
The annual Augmented World Expo (AWE) typically packs the front page of Next Reality with new products and services from companies in the augmented reality industry.
News: Snapchat Assists Warriors & Raptors Fans in Rooting for Their Teams with NBA Finals AR Experiences
With the defending champion Golden State Warriors and Drake's favorite team, the Toronto Raptors, set to face off in the NBA Finals starting Thursday, Snapchat has gifted hoops fans with a pair of augmented reality experiences.
How To: Watch Apple's WWDC 2019 Keynote on Any Device
Apple had its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 3, 2019, which showcased big software announcements for all of Apple's hardware, and anyone can watch the keynote as it happened.
News: Vuzix Reveals Price for M400 Smartglasses, Opens Pre-Orders for Early Adopters
Smartglasses maker Vuzix rushed out of the gate to be the first company to announce hardware powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 for augmented reality wearables, but now the company is buying time until the product is ready to ship.
News: UK-Based Ultrahaptics Acquires Leap Motion for $30 Million
The long and somewhat tumultuous journey of Leap Motion has come to an end, thanks to another startup.
News: CGTrader Arms Retailers with Augmented Reality Content via ARsenal Platform
If online retail is war (and who says it isn't), then CGTrader is prepared to arm its allies with augmented reality ammunition.
News: Nreal Light Consumer Edition Arriving Later This Year for $499
Having already solved for functionality and form factor, Nreal appears poised to pull ahead of its consumer smartglasses competition as the third piece of the puzzle now falls into place.
News: Mojo Vision Debuts Microscopic Display for Augmented Reality Wearables
After raising more $100 million in funding from some of the tech world's biggest names, Mojo Vision is finally ready to show the world the building block of its "invisible computing" platform.
News: AWE Partners with Accessories Project to Deliver the Ultimate Augmented Reality-Powered Swag Bag
I'm here at the annual AWE event in Santa Clara, California, and the venue is just as packed, if not more so, than last year.
News: Scope AR Adds Session Recording to Its Enterprise Augmented Reality Platform
With a fresh infusion of $9.7 Million in funding on its ledger, enterprise augmented reality company Scope AR has now expanded the functionality of its WorkLink platform.
News: Everything You Need to Know About the Moto Z4
Motorola is a shell of its former self. In 2010, it had just released the Motorola Droid, a phone so popular it led to all Android phones being called "Droids" by non-techies. But there have been some rough years between then and now, and Motorola's latest "flagship" doesn't look like it will help get them off this path.
News: Apple Releases iOS 12.4 Public Beta 3 Today for Software Testers
Apple released the third public beta for iOS 12.4 on the afternoon of May 28. The update arrives roughly three hours after Apple published 12.4's third developer beta, and eight days after 12.4 public beta 2. At this time, it seems beta 3 is a minor update for 12.4, which itself is a small upgrade to iOS 12 as a whole. We expect iOS 12.4's shining feature to be Apple Card support.
News: Apple Seeds iOS 12.4 Developer Beta 3 Today for iPhone
With the iOS 13 beta right around the corner, Apple is churning out the betas for iOS 12.4 with developer beta 3 out today, May 28. It's the third beta in just 14 days and just eight days after developer beta 2 and public beta 2. The third beta may only house improvements overall, as iOS 12.4 is pretty bare bones as is, despite some hints at Apple Card support.
News: Looking Glass Pro Workstation Offers Glasses-Free 3D Computing, but at Premium Price
With Microsoft taking direct aim at enterprises for its HoloLens 2 with a $3,500 price tag, one startup is betting that business will be willing to pony up for glasses-free 3D displays as well.
News: Meta Rises from the Ashes Under New Ownership, Along with a New CEO
Almost half a year after we broke the story about the demise of Meta Company, there's good news for fans of the augmented reality startup — a rebirth is at hand.
How To: Use Split Tones in Photoshop Express to Create Cinematic Photos
If you want your photos to look like they came straight out of a movie scene, the best method is to use split toning. Many Hollywood producers use this effect to recreate the cinematic look of cameras before the digital film era, which is why most people associate split toning with a cinematic feel.
News: Sony Pictures & Snapchat Serve Up Creepy Augmented Reality Lens to Promote 'Brightburn' Movie
The new film Brightburn, a horror take on the superhero genre produced by Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, debuted in theaters on Friday, and it has some promotional backing from Snapchat to drive ticket sales.
How To: Get a Dark Theme on Gboard for iPhone or Android
If you've been paying attention to the smartphone industry, you've certainly noticed a rise in dark mode lately. With most phones now sporting OLED panels, which use less power to display darker colors, users have been begging developers to include a dark theme in their apps. Lately, Google has been happy to oblige.
News: Features We Want in iOS 13 for iPhone (& What's Rumored to Show Up)
Apple's scheduled to show off the first look of iOS 13 at WWDC 2019 on June 3, but what will the new operating system hold for iPhone? Rumors suggest that many features initially planned for iOS 12 will show up in iOS 13, codenamed "Yukon," and dark mode will be the big ticket item this year.