Hot Gadget Hacks Posts
Your Face, Beyoncé's Body: New Microsoft App Swaps Your Face into Any Picture
You may not have woken up like this, but you're still #flawless thanks to Microsoft's new Face Swap app for Android.
News: Apple Unveils New & Improved Control Center for iOS 11
Apple has revealed software improvements and new hardware users can look forward to today, including a new and improved Control Center for iOS 11. This recent announcement shows that the Control Center will now be consolidated into one panel as opposed to two, and all commands will be displayed by small icons.
News: Apple Maps to Include Indoor Mapping with Floor Plans for Malls & Airports
Apple announced today at WWDC that Apple Maps is about to get a lot more detailed with its inclusion of floor plans of shopping malls and airports. This will be a welcomed feature to Maps as users will be able to quickly see which stores the malls have and how to get to them easily. The feature will also allow consumers to know exactly where their gates may be to get to their flights faster, or where to grab coffee. These maps will be created for cities such as Boston, New York Chicago, Hong ...
News: WittyThumbs Offers Online Advice for Online Dating
A new dating advice site, WittyThumbs, launched today that lets users offer advice to others as well as seek it; the site combines that collaboration with advice from designated dating experts.
News: Amazon Prime Video Coming to Apple's TV App This Summer
The rumors were confirmed today at WWDC, Amazon Prime is coming to the TV app on the iPhone. This app will allow users to stream their favorite Amazon Prime shows including Bosch, Mozart in the Jungle, Catastrophe, Transparent, and more.
How To: Make Custom Ringtones for Your iPhone from Any Songs You Already Own
Full disclosure: I really like Apple's stock ringtones on the iPhone. After all, there are over 50 to choose from if you include the classic ones. With all that choice, why would you ever need more? Personally, I get bored easily, and I'd like my music to play when people call. Apple doesn't let us pick a song from our music libraries, but there is still a way to use our favorite tunes as tones.
How To: Why Aren't More Manufacturers Using Nougat's Seamless Updates Feature?
A groundbreaking new Android feature called seamless updates was announced at Google I/O 2016. No longer would we have to wait for updates to download and install — instead, they'd be applied silently in the background, and the new Android version would be waiting on us the next time we restarted our phones.
News: Finally, Apple Is Doing Something to Improve the Accuracy of Apple Maps
According to the French Blog iGeneration, Apple Maps is hoping to get itself back on the map. How? By taking a page out of Google Maps' book and hiring freelancers from TryRating to manually check the accuracy of their locations.
Market Reality: Outlook for Augmented & Mixed Reality Remains Favorable
With many of the companies working in augmented and mixed reality focused on the Augmented World Expo, the finance side of the industry has been relatively quiet.
AWE 2017: Rounding Up All the News from the Augmented World Expo
The Augmented World Expo (AWE), the biggest event for augmented, virtual, and mixed reality companies, developers, customers, and connoisseurs, is happening right now. You know what that means for us here at Next Reality? Companies presenting and exhibiting at AWE are releasing news like crazy.
How To: Replace Your Galaxy S8's Nav Bar with Pie Controls to Prevent Screen Burn-In
The Galaxy S8's AMOLED display is prone to screen burn-in, particularly with the navigation and status bars. But hiding these bars would make it hard to navigate your phone — that's where Pie Controls come into play.
Cavs vs. Warriors: How to Watch the 2017 NBA Finals on Your Smartphone for Free — Without a Cable Subscription
Who said sports need parity to be fun? For the third year in a row, the Cleveland Cavaliers are facing off against the Golden State Warriors on the NBA's biggest stage, and basketball fans everywhere couldn't be more excited.
News: Meta Cuts Ribbon on New AR Workspace
Meta CEO and founder — and Next Reality 50 member —Meron Gribetz unveiled a new operating environment for augmented reality called Meta Workspace for the audience at the Augmented World Expo (AWE) in Santa Clara, California, today.
News: Wikitude & Lenovo Converge for Augmented Reality Cloud Platform
Lenovo has partnered with Wikitude to develop a cloud-based platform for delivering industrial-focused augmented reality content, the companies announced at the Augmented World Expo today in Santa Clara, California.
News: PTC Offers Free Trial of ThingWorx Platform
For companies wary of the temperature, PTC just made it easier for them to dip their toes in the waters of augmented reality.
News: Markerless Tracking & Tango Support Come to Scope AR's Remote Assistance Solution Remote AR
Today in Santa Clara, California, at the Augmented World Expo, Scope AR revealed a major new update that will add markerless tracking for their remote assistance application, Remote AR, on standard devices.
News: Epson Adds Two New Moverio Augmented Reality Headsets
At the 2017 Augmented World Expo (AWE) in Santa Clara today, smartglasses maker Epson introduced two new augmented reality headsets from its Moverio line of products.
News: Aryzon Joins the Race to Be the Cardboard of AR
Another entrant — Aryzon — has joined the competition to be crowned as the "Cardboard of AR." The Netherlands-based startup launched their Kickstarter campaign Monday (May 29) and the campaign has already surpassed its funding goal. The company expects to ship units to backers in September.
News: Edgybees Extend Drone Prix AR Game to Epson Moverio Smartglasses
Earlier this month, Edgybees was the first game developer out of the gate with an augmented reality racing game for DJI drones called Drone Prix AR. Now, as the month closes, they are crossing the finish line with the first gaming app for Epson Moverio BT-300 Drone Edition smartglasses.
Brief Reality: Blippar Transforms into Shazam for Cars
Augmented reality is quickly becoming a popular tool for marketing use cases, as demonstrated by new projects serving the automotive, entertainment, and tourism industries this past week.
Review: Now You Can Relive the '00s with Crazy Taxi on Mobile for Free
Crazy Taxi continues to be a favorite among gamers of all ages, from those who played the game in late-'90s arcades to those who discovered the game later on consoles. This weekend, Sega announced their mobile version of Crazy Taxi would now be available for free. What a time to be alive. So does the arcade classic still hold up in 2017? Let's find out.
News: You Can Now Send Web Links & Landscape Photos on Instagram Direct
Instagram Direct is fast becoming the end-all-be-all messaging app, and it just added some incredibly convenient features that should make it a bit more practical. These new additions have a clear purpose: To help Instagram Direct grow its base and take on more feature-rich messengers like Snapchat or WhatsApp.
News: Take Spectator View to a Whole New Level with DataMesh's MeshExpert
Beijing- and Seattle-based DataMesh have announced the release of a new enterprise geared mixed reality middleware — MeshExpert. This solution for collaborative interaction with dynamic data is made up of two primary components: MeshExpert Live!, a 4K mixed reality capture system built off of the Microsoft Spectator View, and MeshExpert DataMix, which offers the ability to blend different types of data with XR and mobile hardware.
How To: Translate Webpages in Safari on Your iPhone
Yes, there's a way for you to get translations of foreign language websites on your iPhone using the built-in Safari app. Problem is, it's not super obvious. Actually, you'd never know the option was there if someone didn't tell you. But with a little setup on your part, you can have Safari translate webpages whenever you need it to.
Not Hotdog: Try the Silicon Valley SeeFood App on Android
If you're a tech enthusiast, there's no way you're not watching HBO's Silicon Valley. So you surely know the Pied Piper crew's latest shenanigans involve an app that uses a phone's camera to find facts about food items — a sort of Shazaam for food, if you may.
Market Reality: Unity Receives Investment from Silver Lake
The leading platforms enabling augmented reality technology lead our headlines in Market Reality this week.
News: The Mummy Unwraps Augmented Reality Scavenger Hunt
Universal Studios and Cinemark Theaters have enlisted mobile augmented reality game Seek to promote The Mummy, a reboot of the action-adventure film franchise starring summer movie mainstay Tom Cruise.
News: Personal Computing Is Dead, Long Live Collaborative Computing
Those of us who are actively developing for the HoloLens, and for the other augmented and mixed reality devices and platforms that currently exist, are constantly looking for the next bit of news or press conference about the space. Our one hope is to find any information about the road ahead, to know that the hours we spend slaving away above our keyboards, with the weight of a head-mounted display on our neck, will lead to something as amazing as we picture it.
News: One Number to Rule Them All! T-Mobile (Finally) Brings 'Digits' to Every Customer
The roll-out of T-Mobile's hotly anticipated 'Digits' service is now underway. For those unfamiliar with what could be the un-carrier's next killer app, 'Digits' is basically a combination of Google Voice and AT&T NumberSync. With it, T-Mobile customers can use their number across any phone, tablet, wearable, or PC. That means you can give out your phone number and answer the call on any device you like.
Wish List: 18 Features We'd Like iOS 11 to Embrace on iPhones
WWDC 2017 is right around the corner, where Apple is expected to reveal iOS 11, the newest version of their mobile operating system. There have been many rumors floating around about what iOS 11 will have in store for us, but not all of those features will end up in the final product — and a lot of the features you want won't actually make the cut, either. But that doesn't mean we can't hope for the best.
NR50: Next Reality's 50 People to Watch: Amitt Mahajan
From Farmville to selling a company to Google, Amitt Mahajan has been through the startup ringer. Now, as managing partner with Presence Capital, he's funding the future of augmented and mixed reality.
News: Paula the AR Salesperson Is Ready to Take Your Order
German tech store Saturn is experimenting with an AR alien called Paula to push their products ... That's a sentence I never thought I'd write.
Brief Reality: ITC Infotech, PTC, Oracle Join Forces for Augmented Reality Service
The common thread between this week's Brief Reality stories is that augmented reality is beginning to prove its worth as a technology that improves workflows and processes. From customer service to healthcare to manufacturing, augmented reality is helping companies improve productivity.
Hands-on: Acer Windows Mixed Reality Dev Kit & Datascape
One thing that I got more and more excited about as we got closer and closer to the Microsoft Build 2017 developers conference was finally learning about the new Acer Windows Mixed Reality head-mounted displays (HMD). Brandon Bray, Principal Group Program Manager at Microsoft, had teased us a few weeks earlier at the Vision Summit event in Los Angeles, California, and said there would be a lot more information at Build. Fortunately for us, he was right.
How To: Play 'Comix Zone' on Your iPhone Now & Relive the Glory Days of Arcade-Style Fighting Games
Prepare yourself for a trip back to the days when a Sega Genesis was your gateway to premium gaming. The mid-nineties classic, Comix Zone, has been soft-launched in the Philippines, and while it's not officially available for gamers in the states, you can install it right now with a little hackery.
How To: Fix Play Services Battery Drain by Forcing It to Use Doze Mode
Google Play Services has been near the top of every Android user's list of battery-sucking apps for years now. It's a core system app, so you'd expect some battery drain, but for many folks, it runs rampant.
How To: Play 'WWE Tap Mania' on Your iPhone or Android Before It's Officially Released
Every now and then, it's refreshing to play a game that doesn't involve much thinking. Sega is set to bring us just that, as a new game called WWE Tap Mania has soft launched for iOS and Android in the Philippines.
How To: Turn Your Galaxy S8 into a Google Pixel
There's no debating that the Galaxy S8 and S8+ are top contenders for the most beautifully designed handsets of 2017, but the same can't be said for their TouchWiz interface, which has been met with lukewarm reception at best.
AWE Giveaway: We Promised Free Passes to the Augmented World Expo & Here They Are
The Augmented World Expo or AWE — if you are a big fan of AR/MR technology, that is a very fitting acronym — is the world's largest conferences dedicated to all things augmented, mixed and virtual reality. AWE is in its 8th year, and with the massive growth we have seen in the space over the last year, promises to be its biggest year yet.
News: Apple Aggressively Targets Android Switchers as Growth Disappoints Analysts
Tim Cook claimed 85% of new iPhone buyers are switchers from Android back in 2015. Now, after financial analysts noted a drop in the company's stock prices, Apple has unleashed a series of ad campaigns directly targeting the users it needs to win over. That's you, Android lovers.