Hot Gadget Hacks Posts — Page 159 of 464

News: Magic Leap & Andy Serkis Reveal Lord of the Rings-Inspired Character for Upcoming AR Experience

We already know that Magic Leap is working with Hollywood motion capture legend Andy Serkis on a new immersive content experience but, so far, all we've heard are descriptions of the work. Well, now the mystery is over, and the character of Grishneck, who Magic Leap mentioned just last month, has finally been revealed.

News: Apple Released iOS 12.1 Public Beta 2 to Software Testers with New Emoji & Chargegate Fix

Public beta testers will be pleased to know that the second iOS 12.1 beta has just become available for iPhones. The Tuesday, Oct. 2 update features an impressive 70+ new emoji for testers to enjoy, including bald emoji, emoji with red hair, gray hair, and curly hair, among many others, as well as a patch for iPhone XS and XS Max devices suffering from charging issues.

News: Apple Released iOS 12.1 Beta 2 to Developers, Introduces Over 70 New Emoji & Chargegate Fix

Apple released the second developer beta for iOS 12.1 to testers on Tuesday, Oct. 2. The new update features over 70 new emoji, including emoji with red hair, gray hair and curly hair, and an emoji for bald people, among many others. It also introduces a fix for iPhone XS and XS Max suffering from charging issues, that some have dubbed "Chargegate."

How To: Install a Custom Kernel on the Essential PH-1

When you unlock the bootloader on your Essential PH-1, you open your device to a host of new possible tweaks. One popular modification is a custom kernel, which can not only speed up your phone, but give you new features that wouldn't be possible otherwise.

News: Stage Your Own Big Bang with Magic Leap One via the Universe Creator App

One developer has taken the formal name of the Magic Leap One: Creator Edition quite literally with an app that enables users to create a custom universe in their own living room.

How To: 6 Habits That Will Help You Avoid Bad Android Apps on Google Play

When I review apps, I'll oftentimes end up downloading at least one or two "bad" apps that either lied about their functionality or were riddled with ads. These apps, while not as harmful as malware, can still be a major headache. This got me thinking about the other bad apps on the Play Store and how to avoid them.

How To: The Best Video Chat Apps to Use with Your Infant

You know your infant is advanced. Maybe you want to give her or him a head start at learning things like writing code to develop the next big Fortnite game. Or maybe you just want to play Fortnite with your infant. But the American Academy of Pediatrics discourages screen time for kids under than 18 months, with just one exception: video chat.

Market Reality: Unity Leads the NR30 AR Software Segment, Magic Leap & Microsoft Pursue Military Partners

Continuing our NR30 series this week, we focused on the leaders of the software development industry that make augmented reality experiences possible. In other news, two of the current leaders in making AR headsets, Microsoft and Magic Leap, are pursuing multiple verticals with their products, as both now appear to be interested in making AR headsets for the military.

How To: 9 Ways to Improve Battery Life on Your iPhone X, XS, XS Max & XR

While the iPhone XS actually comes with a smaller battery than the iPhone X, Apple claims it, along with the XS Max and XR, offer users longer battery life than last year's first Face ID model. While that may be true, your new iPhone still ships without meeting its full battery-saving potential. There are, however, steps you can take to make sure your X, XS, XS Max, or XR makes it from morning until night.

News: Thalmic's North Wearable Teases a Cooler Direction for AR Smartglasses

A major obstacle to the mainstream acceptance of smartglasses is the current inability able to smoosh processors, sensors, and batteries into a pair of frames that look cool. Wearables maker Thalmic is hinting that it may have figured it all out.

NR30: The AR Software Development Leaders of 2018

One could argue that, at least for the moment, software development is more important to the augmented reality experience than hardware. Since a viable augmented reality headset has yet to emerge for the broader, mainstream consumer market, currently, the same devices that make texting and selfies possible are leading the charge to enable easy-to-use AR experiences.

How To: Bypass an iPhone's Lock Screen in iOS 12 to Access Contacts & Photos

Apple may pride itself on its commitment to user privacy and security, but it isn't invulnerable. We now know there is a bug in the latest version of iOS 12 and iOS 12.1 beta that allows those in the know to bypass your passcode and access contacts and photos. This applies to both Face ID and Touch ID-enabled iPhones. Not only do we know about the bug itself, we know exactly how to exploit it.

News: Amazon Offering More Than $100K in Prizes for Augmented Reality & VR Apps Built with Sumerian

Amazon Web Services is calling up an age-old tactic of the tech industry — the hackathon — to drum up excitement and encourage the development of apps built on the Amazon Sumerian AR/VR platform.

News: Hands on with the Honor 8X — Coming to the US Very Soon

Despite Huawei's ongoing battle with the US government, the Chinese company has continued to release phones in the US under its Honor brand. The Honor X series has been consistently released for several years, offering midrange specs at ridiculously low pricing, and the Honor 8X is no exception.

News: Magic Leap Teams with Sennheiser to Deliver High-End Spatial Audio for Augmented Reality

One of the best aspects of the Magic Leap One is the spatial audio, a feature that enhances the overall sense of immersion when interacting with virtual objects and content through the device. Now the company is aiming to boost the quality of that component by partnering with one of the leading names in high-quality audio.

News: Microsoft Fuels Efficiency at Chevron with Remote Assist App for HoloLens

Four months after unveiling the latest productivity apps for the HoloLens, Microsoft now has a series of compelling real-world use case videos showing how the augmented reality device and its apps are helping oil giant Chevron.

News: Google Puts Faces of Historic Women on US Currency via Augmented Reality

Well-regarded men from the history of the United States tend to grace the country's currency, but what if equally deserving women were honored in the same fashion?

News: Magic Leap, Microsoft Pursuing Military Contracts to Supply AR Headsets for Soldiers, Report Says

Leading augmented reality headset makers Microsoft and Magic Leap are among the companies now vying for a military contract for battlefield heads-up displays.

How To: Fix Cellular & Wi-Fi Issues on Your iPhone in iOS 12

The new iPhone XS and XS Max have more issues than just their hefty price tags. Customers have only had the phones for a handful of days, but some are already complaining of cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity issues on both models. If your experience is the same on your XS or XS Max, there are steps you can take to get your iPhone reliably back online.

News: Snapchat Ships Amazon Visual Search as Its Next Step Forward in AR Evolution

Snapchat has officially unveiled its Visual Search service for Amazon (teased a month ago), a tool the company began testing on Monday.

How To: Create Transparent Floating Windows on Your Galaxy Note 9

While Android does allow apps to use picture-in-picture mode (PiP), only a handful of apps actually support the feature. Most of the apps that do are video apps. The thing is, PiP is useful for more than just watching videos, and the Galaxy Note 9 has included a way to allow any app to offer a similar feature, video or not.

How To: Make Any App Work in Split-Screen on Your Galaxy Note 9

With the Galaxy Note 9's 6.4-inch AMOLED display, split screen is far more useful since each half of the screen is relatively large. The problem is that there are some noticeable omissions in the list of apps which support the feature. However, Samsung offers a fix for this.

News: Build 3D Content on Your Smartphone or Tablet with Torch's New Mobile App

Augmented reality experiences for consumers, for the most part, are relegated to mobile devices at present, but creation and development of those experiences is still a province of desktop computers.

How To: All the New Swipe Gestures on Your New iPhone XS, XS Max, or XR

If the iPhone XS, XS Max, or XR is your first Home button-free iPhone, you might have some questions, such as "How do I access the app switcher?" and "How do I use reachability?" While iPhone X owners have had over a year of practice, newcomers to Apple's buttonless revolution might feel a bit confused when it comes to actions they used to perform on iPhones with ease.

How To: Activate Siri on Your iPhone XS, XS Max, or XR

This year marks the first for Apple to exclude the Home button from any new iPhones. If you're going from a Home-button iPhone to a new XS, XS Max, or XR, you might be a bit stumped when trying to perform basic tasks, such as activating Siri. While you can't hold down the Home button any longer, there's a new method that's just as quick.

Market Reality: Rony Abovitz Perches Atop NR30 AR Hardware Leaders as Angry Birds & Thyng Jump on Magic Leap Bandwagon

This week, Next Reality published profiles on the leaders in augmented reality hardware industry, with Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz topping the list. So, it should be no surprise that two app makers want to align themselves with Magic Leap's flagship product.

News: 11 Reasons to Not Skip Out on AppleCare+ When Buying a New iPhone

On the surface, AppleCare+ seems like an expensive and gimmicky option to tack onto your already pricey iPhone 11, 11 Pro, or 11 Pro Max. Upon further inspection, however, you'll see that its seemingly expensive price tag is chump change compared to the fees you'll have to pay if you end up having to repair your premium device outside its one-year warranty.

News: AR App Thyng Making Jump from Mobile to Magic Leap One

The first mobile augmented reality app out of the gate with support for Magic Leap One Creator Edition is Thyng, who is planning to release the headset version of the app later this year.

How To: Clear the RAM on Your iPhone XS, XS Max, or XR to Fix Problem Apps & Boost Performance

While the iPhone XS and XS Max come equipped with 4 GB of random access memory, and the iPhone XR with 3 GB of RAM, Apple's latest flagships are still susceptible to occasional slowdowns in performance in iOS 12. This can be fixed by clearing RAM, but the process is now a little trickier compared to iPhones with Home buttons.

How To: Force Restart Your iPhone XS, XS Max, or XR When It's Acting Up

We often take for granted how reliable our iPhones are — so much so that many of us get panic-stricken at the very rare event where our device freezes up as a result of a buggy app or an update gone awry. Because of this, knowing the basics of troubleshooting is a handy skill to have, and this still applies to the iPhone XS, XS Max, and iPhone XR. Force-restarting is usually the first tactic to employ.

News: 11 Awesome Features Siri Gained in iOS 12 for iPhone

Since its humble beginnings on the iPhone 4S, Siri has come a long way. While each iteration of iOS sees new features for the iPhone assistant, iOS 12 offers users some of the best advancements in Siri we've seen in a long time, not the least of which is support for Shortcuts, Apple's replacement to the Workflow app.

News: Apple Releases iOS 12.1 Beta 1 to Public Software Testers, Reintroduces Group FaceTime to iPhones

Following closely behind the developer beta, Apple released the first public beta for iOS 12.1 to testers Thursday, Sept. 20. The update comes only two days after developers received their first look at 12.1. Both the developer and public betas surprisingly mark the return of Group FaceTime, allowing beta testers to chat with up to 31 other friends.

NR30: The AR Hardware Leaders of 2018

It is almost indisputable that smartglasses and head-worn displays are the future of augmented reality. However, at this precise moment, they are still a very niche market.

News: E-Commerce Gets an Augmented Reality Upgrade for Mobile Web Platforms from Vertebrae & Shopify

Two companies armed with web-based augmented reality tools, Vertebrae and Shopify, are ready to help online retailers boost their sales.

How To: Make the Volume Buttons on Your Galaxy Note 9 Control Media Volume by Default

For the majority of phones, Android's volume rocker is wrong. A large vocal part of the Android community wishes the volume buttons' default control was the media volume, not the ringer. Although the Galaxy Note 9 is in the "wrong" camp, Samsung has included multiple ways to change it.