Hot Gadget Hacks Posts
Apple AR: Army of Robots Enlists ARKit for First-Person Shooter
The promise of augmented reality when it comes to gaming is the conversion of the player's real-world environment into a virtual playground.
Apple AR: Lowe's Builds Pair of AR Apps with ARKit
Lowe's Home Improvement has been an early adopter of augmented and virtual reality in their business practices, so it was a bit of surprise that their name was absent from the ranks of companies launching ARKit apps last week.
How To: Add Additional Emails to FaceTime & Messages in iOS 11
Using either iMessages or FaceTime on the iPhone is a great alternative for coworkers to stay in touch in the event that messaging services like Slack go down. They're also a handy means of communicating between buyers and sellers, as it provides a more intimate way of either checking out or showcasing a product. But you're not always going to want to give out your real number to everyone.
How To: Get Back the Missing 'Message' Icon in iOS 11's Share Sheet
Some iPhone users who updated to iOS 11 can no longer see the "Message" icon in the share sheet when in apps such as Photos, which means they can only text or iMessage an image from within the Messages app itself now. This is a bug with remote management software which will hopefully get fixed soon, but until then, the solution isn't pretty.
Dev Report: Unity 2017.2 Is Out
Being on the bleeding edge is a place that you will get cut from time to time, as has been the case for many developers in the HoloLens space.
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: Get the iPhone X's Swipe-to-Go-Home Gesture on Any Android
With the new iPhone X, Apple introduced a buttonless design for the first time. But without a home button, navigation within iOS 11 had to change to accommodate the new model. To solve this issue, Apple created gestures to perform the actions that the home button once executed. But while Apple users have to wait until November 3 to use these gestures, you can get these features right now on Android.
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: 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.
How To: iOS 11 Breaks AirDrop on Some iPad Models — Here's How to Fix It
After installing the new iOS 11 update on one of our iPads, we noticed something peculiar — AirDrop simply stopped working. The button was still there in the revamped Control Center, but it was almost imperceptibly grayed out. Tapping it did nothing, nor did long-pressing or 3D Touching. Even more perplexing, AirDrop was just working flawlessly before the update.
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?
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.
Apple AR: Occipital's ARKit App Offers Room Scanning on Par with Tango for iPhones
In off-record discussions with AR experts, the consensus on ARKit is that it takes a software approach to the depth-sensors available on Tango devices. As a result, the toolkit has shortcomings, such as detecting walls and vertical surfaces.
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: Fast Charge Your iPhone X, iPhone 8, or iPhone 8 Plus
When Apple announced the iPhone X, 8, and 8 Plus, they had a laundry list of new features to talk about. They discussed the improved camera, the new screen, wireless charging, and many other things, but they curiously failed to mention that they just matched one of biggest features Android has touted over Apple for years — fast charging.