Hot Gadget Hacks Posts

How To: Force Restart Your iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus When It's Acting Up

If your iPhone is acting up, frozen on a screen, and/or won't respond to you, force-restarting it is a surefire way to whip it back into shape. And the process is easy on older devices ... just hold down a two-button combo until the Apple logo appears. That's no longer the case with the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, which require a more extensive procedure that's harder to remember.

Dev Report: Machine Learning Agents Come to Unity

As we have seen previously with the likes of SethBling's Mar I/O videos and other examples, video games seem to be a great source for training AI neural networks. Augmented reality and machine learning are part of a collection of technologies that seem to be growing toward a point of maturity, and that will likely cause them to be intertwined for the foreseeable future. As developers, machine learning will definitely change the way we create software in the coming future. Instead of going lin...

Market Reality: Mira Closes Funding Round as Cappasity Prepares Blockchain Crowdsale

If competition in the augmented reality space was a spectator sport, then ARKit, ARCore, and HoloLens dominate the prime-time broadcasts on ESPN.

News: Why Google's HTC Purchase Is Nothing Like the Motorola Ordeal

Google just bought a huge chunk of HTC for $1.1 billion. They're bringing in around 2,000 employees, mostly from the hardware division, and these folks will presumably work under hardware chief Rick Osterloh. There's a massive patent portfolio involved, too, so stop me if you've heard this before — Motorola, anyone?

Apple AR: Star Wars & LucasArts Veterans Create Life-Sized HoloChess Game with ARKit

Until Star Wars Jedi Challenges arrives in November, a forthcoming ARKit revision of HoloGrid: Monster Battle from Tippett Studios and Happy Giant, might be the closest most Star Wars fans can get to playing the HoloChess game from the movie.

Apple vs. LG: How Does the iPhone X Compare to the LG V30?

The highly anticipated iPhone X is finally up for preorder, and it's been almost as exciting as we expected. With the dual cameras, bezel-less display, and high-tech facial recognition, there's almost nothing on the iPhone X that won't be liked. But around the same time as the iPhone X's announcement, another phone was revealed, and almost everyone seems to have forgotten about it. We didn't.

How To: Set Up Face ID on Your iPhone for Enhanced Security

The cutting-edge iPhone X, XS, XS Max, and XR have one-upped their Android competitors when it comes to facial recognition. Apple packed these flagships with an array of front-facing sensors to complement its selfie camera, which allows the new device to more accurately analyze faces, which you need for Face ID, Touch ID's replacement.

How To: Log into FaceTime & Messages in iOS 11 with Alternate iCloud Accounts

In a classic case of one step forward, two steps back, Apple has eliminated the ability to use multiple iCloud accounts for FaceTime and Messages in iOS 11, meaning the primary Apple ID on the account is the only one allowed. As inconvenient as this omission is, there's still a way to use alternate iCloud accounts on your iPhone with a little hackery.

How To: Put the iPhone X, iPhone 8 & iPhone 8 Plus into DFU Mode in iTunes

With the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and the exclusive iPhone X, Apple has come full circle in transitioning its users away from the home button present since the first iPhone a decade ago. This gives us a window into Apple's design philosophy moving forward, but it also presents some new problems, especially when it comes to entering and exiting DFU mode in iTunes.

Apple AR: Color BlastAR Rides the Rainbow from Tango to ARKit

Mobile game companies Hit Point Studios and Legacy Games have adapted their Color BlastAR augmented reality game for iOS with the ARKit platform.

How To: Access Your AirDrop Settings in iOS 11's New Control Center

AirDrop is an underrated feature that lets you to quickly transfer files like songs and photos via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi from your iPhone to Macs and other iOS devices. It's been a staple in the Control Center ever since iOS 7, prominently displayed for easy access. However, with iOS 11, that quick access to AirDrop has seemingly disappeared.

Apple AR: Avoid Hills on Your Next Run or Ride via ARKit with Fitness AR

As a long-distance runner off and on for the past, I absolutely detests hills. While there are many apps that can measure elevation and slope for certain routes, understanding spatial data on a line graph or even an elevation map can be difficult.

News: 20 Things That Suck About iOS 11 for iPhone

There's no denying that there are some seriously useful new features in iOS 11 for iPhone. But there's also no denying that Apple got a few things wrong with the latest iOS update, as well as left a few important features out.

How To: Missing the 3D Touch Multitasking Gesture in iOS 11? Try This

Now that iOS 11 is officially rolling out to millions of iPhones, many users are upset with the fact that Apple has removed the 3D Touch multitasking gesture that we enjoyed in older iOS versions. Though not as fluid as this gesture, there is still a hidden way to quickly get into the app switcher without having to double-click the home button.

News: Looking for Your App Store Wish List in iOS 11? We Have Some Bad News

Whether you used it to remind yourself to buy a game or to store away that app recommendation that your friend begged you to download, the "Wish List" in the iOS App Store was a useful tool to keep track of new apps you might have wanted to install on your iPhone. But how can you access your Wish List in iOS 11?

Apple AR: Houzz ARKit App Beats IKEA to the App Store

With the official release of iOS 11, the availability of an app that uses the much-hyped ARKit platform to place virtual furniture in one's home was expected.

Apple AR: Kaon Interactive Ports Their Marketing Apps from Tango to ARKit

Apple has billed ARKit as a means to turn millions of iPhones and iPads into augmented reality devices. The refrain is similar for Kaon Interactive, a developer of product catalog apps for businesses.

How To: Open the iPhone's New HEIF Photos on Your Windows PC

Apple's iOS 11 release promises many improvements and fresh ideas. One of those new ideas is an image codec called HEIF (similar to HEVC for videos), designed to reduce the space photos take up on your iPhone. But it's so new that it's already causing issues with compatibility.

How To: The 9 Most Annoying Changes in iOS 11 & How to Fix Them

Now that iOS 11 is official, everyone can enjoy all of the great new features available, but there are certainly a few bad seeds in there that you'll probably find annoying. Luckily, a lot of these disagreeable quirks can be changed for the better.

Apple AR: Human Anatomy Atlas Journeys to the Center of the Body with ARKit

An update to the Human Anatomy Atlas 2018 enhances the study of the human body with augmented reality courtesy of iOS 11 and ARKit.

Apple AR: Edmunds Previews Parking Fit for Car Customers with ARKit App

IKEA can help customers determine if a couch fits in their living room, but who is going to help them figure out if their new SUV will fit in the garage?

News: 91 Cool New iOS 11 Features You Didn't Know About

Apple's iOS 11 is finally here, and while they showed off several of the new features it brings to your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch back at WWDC 2017, they've only just touched the surface of what iOS 11 has to offer. There are a lot of cool new (and sometimes secret) features to explore, so we've collected them all here for you.

How To: Download & Install iOS 11 on Your iPhone

The final developer version of iOS 11 was leaked a few days ago, but Apple quickly stopped signing it so nobody else could install it. With Apple's Sept. 12 event now over, the Golden Master (GM) version of iOS 11, the same version that will be released to everyone around Sept. 19, is available to install again — and anyone can get it.

Apple AR: Redbubble Throws Pillows in AR with ARKit Update

While IKEA will employ ARKit to help you see how that new couch looks in your living room, Redbubble wants to show you throw pillows that match.

News: Here's When You Can Download iOS 11

It's hard to believe iOS 11 was announced three months ago. In that time, we have downloaded multiple betas, experienced the Golden Master, and seen the new software in action on the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus. After all this waiting, however, the official release of iOS 11 and all its awesome new features, is finally here. Well, almost.

News: Aireal Places AR Content Anywhere in the World with Geographic Coordinates

While ARKit and ARCore are poised to bring AR experiences to millions of mobile devices, one company is poised to anchor those experiences anywhere in the world with just a set of geographic coordinates.

Apple vs. Samsung: How Do the iPhone 8 & 8 Plus Compare to the Galaxy S8 & S8+?

Now that the the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have been revealed, we've been eager to see how the new devices will stack up against top-of-the-line Android phones like the Galaxy S8 and S8+. We can't compare real-world usage right now since the new iPhone models haven't been released yet, but we can see how they stack up on paper to get an idea of which one is the better buy.

HoloLens Dev 101: Building a Dynamic User Interface, Part 4 (Creating Objects from Code)

After previously learning how to make the material of an object change with the focus of an object, we will build on that knowledge by adding new objects through code. We will accomplish this by creating our bounding box, which in the end is not actually a box, as you will see.

How To: Add Email Accounts to Mail in iOS 11 on Your iPhone

Using the Mail app to log in and sync to email services such as Gmail and Outlook is incredibly easy to accomplish on the iPhone thanks to the intuitive nature of its operating system. This is still evident with iOS 11, and though the process differs slightly from its predecessors, it can still be accomplished with relative ease.

How To: 5 Mail Features You Need to Know About in iOS 11 for iPhone

While the Mail app didn't get as much love from Apple in the iOS 11 update as Maps, Photos, Safari, Siri, Camera, Messages, Notes, and the App Store did, there are still a few new features you need to know about when emailing on your iPhone.

How To: Your Android Phone Comes with a Face ID Feature Built In — Here's How to Use It

The iPhone X has a new unlocking mechanism called Face ID, which replaces the old Touch ID system since the phone no longer has a fingerprint sensor. The way it works is simple — you just look at the phone, it recognizes your face, then the system unlocks — so Apple deserves the praise they're getting for it. But did you know you can get almost this exact same feature on any Android device right now?

News: Why the iPhone X Needs a $25 USB Type-C Cable to Fast Charge

After learning that you'll need to spend at least $74 on a special charger and a USB Type-C Lightning cable to enable fast charging on the new iPhone X and iPhone 8 models, you may be wondering why you can't just use the standard Lightning cable. While we can't answer why Apple didn't include the USB-C cable in the box with their new phones, we can explain why you need USB-C to enable fast charging.

Market Reality: AR Investors & Influencers Respond to Apple's Big AR 'Meh'

The launch of the latest line of iPhones came and went without major revelations for advanced AR hardware other than the next iteration of processors and cameras.

How To: Improve Battery Life on Your iPhone 8 or 8 Plus

So, you've gotten (or are getting) a shiny new iPhone 8 or 8 Plus. Congratulations! It's got great new features including the new A11 Bionic chip, wireless and fast charging, and portrait lighting. And let's not forget a much better battery ... right?

How To: Restart Your iPhone in iOS 11 Without Using the Power Button

The new iOS 11 update provides an easy software-based solution to shut down your iPhone in case the power button, officially known as the Sleep/Wake button on all iPhone models except the iPhone X, goes bonkers. In addition to this, there's also a hidden setting that lets you instantly restart the device, and it's better than the "Bold Text" trick that's been around since iOS 7.

Apple vs. Samsung: How Does the iPhone X Stack Up Against the Galaxy Note 8?

Now that the cutting-edge iPhone X is up for preorder, everyone is excited to see how the new device will compare to offerings from Apple's competitors. Namely the Galaxy Note 8, which is a beast of a phone in its own right.

Apple AR: Cambria & Markilux Match IKEA with ARKit Apps for Home Makeovers

IKEA won't be alone among ARKit apps for visualizing home décor and improvements when iOS 11 arrives next week.

News: 11 iPhone AR Demos That Will Change How We Use Our Phones

Apple demonstrated their continued interest and investment into the awesome world of augmented reality during their Sept. 12 event, highlighting a few new AR games that will appear on iPhones thanks to ARKit. But that's not all you can expect — as long as you have an iPhone with an A9 chip or later, there will be a ton of cool new AR tools, games, and other apps to play around from the App Store.

HoloLens Dev 101: Building a Dynamic User Interface, Part 3 (Focus & Materials)

We started with our system manager in the previous lesson in our series on building dynamic user interfaces, but to get there, aside from the actual transform, rotation, and scaling objects, we need to make objects out of code in multiple ways, establish delegates and events, and use the surface of an object to inform our toolset placement.

How To: Take Screenshots on the iPhone X, XS, XS Max & XR

The fact that the iPhone X, XS, XS Max, and XR don't have Home buttons means that you'll need to learn a few new gestures. There's the home gesture, the multitasking gesture, and even a new way to access Apple Pay, among others. But one less-common action that has issues due to the lack of a Home button is taking a screenshot.