Hot Gadget Hacks Posts
News: Now Noobs Can Create AR Apps for Ubimax's Enterprise Platform
Augmented reality software provider Ubimax unveiled their graphical authoring and publishing tool for their Frontline enterprise platform to attendees at Augmented World Expo Europe today.
News: RE'FLEKT Launches Remote Video Support for AR Platform Along with ARKit & ARCore Demo Apps
At the Augmented World Expo Europe press conference in Munich today, RE'FLEKT will unveil the addition of remote video calling to their RE'FLEKT One enterprise augmented reality platform, in addition to ARKit and ARCore apps that demonstrate the platform's capabilities.
News: Samsung Bringing ARCore Support to Galaxy S8+ & Note 8
As part of the Samsung Development Conference today, Samsung unveiled that they will expand support for Google's ARCore platform to include the Galaxy S8+ and Galaxy Note 8.
News: Mitsubishi Concept Car Includes AR Display to Improve Driver Safety
Self-driving vehicles may be the apex of safe driving, taking human error out of the equation. Until then, augmented reality can help reduce accidents by improving driver awareness.
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.
News: AR Headsets with Larger Displays from WaveOptics Could Arrive Next Year
Augmented reality headsets with larger eye boxes than any device currently available could make their way to market by the end of next year if current timelines hold true.
How To: 8 Ways to Increase Battery Life on Your LG V30
The LG V30 has solid battery life. With its QHD P-OLED screen and 4 GB RAM, it's able to maintain all-day performance with average use. Heavier users might find that its 3,300 mAh battery isn't quite enough for a full day of work, though, but with a few software tweaks, you can squeeze out even more battery life.
News: LG Partners with CEVA to Develop 3D Camera Module
Though Google and Apple have released their own software-based toolkits for AR, components suppliers continue to advance their technology to better support AR experiences on the hardware side.
News: Windows Mixed Reality Arrives with Fall Creators Update & Headsets
Today, anyone with a compatible PC can download the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and experience Windows Mixed Reality.
News: After Gathering Another $502 Million in Funding, Magic Leap May Deliver AR Device in Six Months
As expected, Magic Leap closed a Series D round of equity funding, raising $502 million from new and existing investors. Less expected, however, were a fresh set of rumors that the company's first devices could ship within six months.
WhatsApp 101: How to Use WhatsApp Web to Send & Receive Messages from Any Computer
Typos are a constant annoyance that we all deal with thanks to the cramped touchscreen keyboards on smartphones. For many, nothing beats the feel of a good old physical keyboard when it comes to typing fast with minimal errors. Fortunately, WhatsApp has an awesome feature which lets you use their messaging service right on your computer.
News: Lawyers for Meta & Genedics Trade Barbs in Patent Infringement Lawsuit
Meta Company has filed its response to allegations that the user interface for their augmented reality headsets infringe on six patents owned by a mostly-unknown company.
VSCO 101: How to Save Photos to Your iPhone or Android Phone's Camera Roll or Gallery
Whether you use VSCO to take all of your photos or you use it primarily to edit photos you take with others apps on your iOS or Android phone, you're at some point going to want your VSCO pics to end up in your Camera Roll or Gallery. VSCO doesn't add them there by default, but there's a couple of ways to get them there.
How To: Turn Your LG V30 into a Google Pixel 2
The LG V30 is an amazing device that will contend for best smartphone of 2017. It has all the major features you'd expect from a high-end flagship, and it even includes what's become a rare commodity these days — a headphone jack. However, for the purists out there, the LG UX skin strays too far away from stock Android. Have no fear, for with the LG V30, you can have your cake and eat it, too.
News: Mind Map AR Moving from Tango to ARCore
When Google announced its ARCore augmented reality toolkit for Android as its answer to Apple's ARKit for iPhones and iPads, the question from many observers was, "What about Tango?"
News: Zappar Extends AR Services to EVRYTHNG IoT Platform
A partnership between augmented reality company Zappar and IoT services provider EVRYTHNG will bring AR experiences to consumers while supplying market data to brands.
How To: Give Your WhatsApp Status Message a Makeover with GIFs, Photos & Videos
Taking a cue form Snapchat, WhatsApp Status lets you share updates that come in the form of GIFs, photos, videos and good old text. This awesome feature is available for both iPhone and Android users, and it even lets you choose which contacts to share with while disappearing after 24 hours.
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.
How To: Get the Pixel 2 Launcher with the Bottom Search Bar & Google Now — No Root Needed
Update 10/14: Developer paphonb has added rootless Google Now integration to the leaked Pixel 2 launcher, so now, anyone running Android Nougat or Oreo can get the full Pixel 2 home screen experience. For those running Lollipop or Marshmallow, we've left the unaltered leaked version linked out below, but we've added a new link for the tweaked version with Google Now integration.
Snapchat 101: How to Reserve Tables, Get Rides & View More Information About Snaps
Not that long ago, Snapchat was an app with only one purpose — to send and receive self-destructing picture messages. The app has clearly grown since, adding many features that both adhere to its original function as well as ignore it. One of these new features is Context Cards. You may have heard about them, but what exactly are they?
HoloLens Dev 101: Building a Dynamic User Interface, Part 7 (Unlocking the Menu Movement)
In the previous section of this series on dynamic user interfaces for HoloLens, we learned about delegates and events. At the same time we used those delegates and events to not only attach our menu system to the users gaze, but also to enable and disable the menu based on certain conditions. Now let's take that knowledge and build on it to make our menu system a bit more comfortable.
Dev Report: Vuforia 7's New Features Keep It Ahead in an ARKit, ARCore World
The advent of ARKit and ARCore has strengthened the demand for development tools to build augmented reality experiences for compatible iPhones, iPads, and Android devices.
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.
Apple AR: Defend Your Home from Zombies with Your iPhone
While VR promises to take gamers to another world, AR has the potential to bring the game elements into your own neighborhood or home.
Cydia 101: How to Purchase Apps & Tweaks on Your Jailbroken iPhone
While widely known for its massive collection of free apps and tweaks that let you fully personalize your jailbroken iPhone, Cydia also comes laden with packages that can be purchased to take customization to a whole 'nother level. Similar in function to the iOS App Store, buying an app in Cydia is simple and relatively safe.
TIDAL 101: How to Adjust the Quality of Streaming or Downloaded Music
Thanks to their partnership with Tidal, over 30 million Sprint customers can access Hi-Fi audio on the go. And the Jay-Z-owned music service isn't limited to just Sprint customers — for $19.99/month, anyone can listen to lossless audio from their favorite artists. But streaming uncompressed audio files uses a lot more data than standard quality, so how do you use Tidal without hitting your data cap?
TIDAL 101: How to Enable Loudness Normalization
Jay-Z's Tidal streaming service provides Hi-Fi music to a mainstream audience. Even better, Tidal can do this without blowing out your eardrums, because it's easy to enable volume normalization so that one track isn't louder than the next.
Brief Reality: Mobile AR Apps Help Save Rhinos (& Sell Stuff)
Mobile apps themselves are not always the end product or service for generating revenue. More often, they are deployed as tactics within a larger marketing or public relations strategy.
How To: Disable HDR Video Downloads on Your iPhone 8 or 8 Plus
HDR, or high-dynamic range, is currently the best way to view movies and TV shows on your iPhone 8 or 8 Plus. With a wider color gamut and a broad luminance range, there's no beating HDR video for the ultimate viewing experience. Unless, of course, you don't have the storage to hold those giant Dolby Vision or HDR10 files.
News: Updates to Upskill's Skylight Productivity Platform Make Building AR Apps Easy
Augmented reality software maker Upskill has released the latest version of their Skylight platform, adding a number of new tools to ease implementation and improve functionality for enterprises, including a new application builder.
News: DAQRI Focused on Growth as It Promotes Former Qualcomm Exec to CEO
Augmented reality headset maker DAQRI today named chief product officer Roy Ashok as the company's new chief executive officer to accelerate the company's growth.
Cydia 101: How to Re-Enable a Semi-Tethered Jailbreak
Unlike fully untethered jailbreaks such as Yalu's iOS 10.2 method, semi-tethered jailbreaks require users to re-enable the mod each time their device is turned off. Fortunately, the process of kickstarting a jailbreak is easy to do, since it's already embedded in your iPhone's OS and doesn't require reinstallation.
Safari 101: How to Block Cross-Site Tracking on Your iPhone
While it's easy enough to ask websites not to track your browsing activity in Safari, they do not have to honor your request. Plus, some of the third-party content providers that websites use can actually invasively track you across other websites. Thankfully, iOS 11 includes a way to minimize companies from tracking you across the web on your iPhone.
TIDAL 101: How to Cast Music to Your Google Home or Chromecast
With so many Chromecast-powered devices available, chances are, you're near something with casting abilities right now. Whether it's Android TV, Google Home, or any one of the various gadgets with Chromecast built-in, you can use a more powerful speaker to play media from your smartphone. The only caveat is that the app you're streaming from needs to support Google Cast, but thankfully, Tidal does.
News: Magic Leap Will Display Mixed Reality Comics at Launch (Whenever That Happens)
We may not know what Magic Leap's product looks like. And we haven't received even a "save the date" for its launch. But we know that it will display mixed reality comics from Madefire when whatever it is arrives.
News: Where Is the Free App of the Week in iOS 11?
The Free App of the Week is as cool as it sounds. Apple features one app every week on the front page of its App Store that comes completely free. Once you download it, you have access to all future updates, just like you would if you purchased the app in full. Sounds great right? There's just one problem — it's missing.
How To: Catch a Ride with Lyft or Uber Straight from Apple Maps in iOS 11
There's no denying the impact ride sharing apps like Uber and Lyft have made on our lives. With fares that undercut traditional yellow cabs, combined with the fact that your ride is just a tap away, these services have become the primary mode of transportation for many folks in urban areas. Thanks to iOS 11, booking an Uber or Lyft has just become a lot more convenient.
HoloLens Dev 101: Building a Dynamic User Interface, Part 6 (Delegates & Events)
In this chapter, we want to start seeing some real progress in our dynamic user interface. To do that, we will have our newly crafted toolset from the previous chapter appear where we are looking when we are looking at an object. To accomplish this we will be using a very useful part of the C# language: delegates and events.
News: OnePlus 5 Is One of the Best Gaming Phones Available
You have a lot of choices when it comes to your next smartphone. iPhone, Galaxy, Pixel, G6, V20, and many more all vie for your wallet. Each of these phones are great for different purposes, but what if your main interest is mobile gaming? Which phone will give you the longest Minecraft session, or the best performance for Pixel Gun 3D?
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.