Hot Gadget Hacks Posts
News: McDonald's Tests Mobile Ordering Using Geofencing to Ensure Your Order Is Hot & Fresh When You Get It
It's 2017 and finally ordering "fries with that" at McDonald's is an even easier prospect for all you lovers out there ball and chained to the fast food game. The great big golden arches are moving one step closer to making your order as golden as it ought to be through a mobile ordering app using geofencing technology to track your location.
News: Watch a Demo of Leap Motion's Mobile Hand Tracking in New Video
Leap Motion, an augmented and virtual reality control system, has proven to be a force of nature when it comes to pushing hand-tracking tech forward. Now they've released a video showcasing their "Blocks" demo, which is already integrated into the reference headset kit designed by Qualcomm for VR companies "to take and sell their own branded devices with."
News: New Nexus 6 Update Downgrades Your Android Version Back to 7.0
Google has done it again—they've pushed another broken OTA update for the Nexus 6. Except this time, it almost completely softbricks your Nexus 6 instead of just screwing up Android Pay and SafetyNet. Apps are force-stopping left and right, making the phone practically unusable.
News: Google Home's New 'Listen' Tab Makes It Easy to Discover Music You'll Love
Google Home now helps users to discover new music with an added "Listen" tab in the app. The feature offers suggestions based on the Cast-enabled apps on a phone, while offering other apps to download if you'd like to broaden your musical horizons. The playlists are curated to your individual taste and will adjust for different artists and activities, which is a pretty nifty feature. This means that Google Home can cater to your momentary mood change with music, which is a welcome addition to...
News: OnePlus Introduces the 3T Colette Edition in Black with 128 GB of Storage
OnePlus just unveiled a new version of their popular OnePlus 3T—a limited edition all-black "colette" version for the boutique's 20th anniversary today. The slick device will feature the iconic colette logo on the back.
News: DAQRI Hires Xbox Creator to Accelerate AR Development
Augmented reality upstart DAQRI announced today that it has strengthened their in-house talent by recruiting renowned physicist Seamus Blackley and acquiring a team of 15 engineers and scientists from Heat Engine, LLC.
News: Google Assistant Updates Add Screen Search Button & Tweaks the Search Interface
Google Assistant has introduced tappable shortcuts on the Google app for Android, iOS, and Google.com this week.
News: Order for iPhone 8's 3D Touch Sensors & AMOLED Panels Suggest Higher Price & No Launch in September
The infamous iPhone 8, or iPhone Edition, may take longer than the anticipated September release date due to manufacturing complications of the 3D Touch modules equipped with AMOLED panels.
News: iPhone 7 Remains Top-Selling Phone as iPhone Market Share Grows—But Takes a Hit in China
2017 has been a good year for Apple thus far. The new Kantar data is out, showing that from November 2016 to January 2017, the iPhone 7 has held steady as the top-selling phone in all the largest markets.
News: Chrome for iOS Updated to Add a 'Read Later' Feature
Google just pushed out an update to Chrome for iOS, with the main change being a new feature called "Read Later". Read Later is a nifty little feature that allows you to download and save web pages that you can read even if you're offline. Being a subway rider in NYC, I know very well how annoying the lack of an internet connection can be when traveling, which makes this feature all the more handy.
News: Shazam Sets Sights on AR Advertising with iPhone & Android App Updates
The company that pioneered music scanning for mobile devices is moving into the augmented reality advertising arena. Included in an update of their iOS and Android apps last week, Shazam can now scan special codes to immerse users in 3D animations, 360-degree videos, mini-games, and other AR content.
News: Apple VR Platform for iPhones May Actually Be in the Works
Google and Samsung have been leaving Apple in the dust when it comes to virtual reality gear. However, as the market grows and becomes more impossible to ignore within the tech world, Apple may be forced to play catch up. This could account for the new Apple patent that was granted today.
News: 5-Year-Old Injured as Another Samsung Explodes
A 5-year-old girl was injured after the battery in another Samsung phone exploded in China. The Samsung Note 4 was reportedly charging next to the sleeping girl when it blew up in her Guizhou-based home.
News: Oppo F3 Plus Will Come with a Dual Camera Selfie Shooter
Selfies' reign on social media and pop culture has not really lost any steam since it was declared the word of the year back in 2013. We've had the much-mocked selfie stick, and even an ill-fated TV show named after the term. So what's next? Well, if you're phone maker Oppo, you're banking on the next big selfie-thing being the dual selfie camera.
News: Samsung May Finally Stop Teasing & Show Us Its Foldable Smartphone
According to new rumors, Samsung, still stinging after the Note7 recall debacle, is determined to be the first to release a foldable smartphone. According to ET News, the company is going to begin prototype production of their always-rumored but never-seen folding smartphone in the third quarter of this year.
News: Waze & Spotify Team Up for Easy Access to Music While You Drive
Good news for those of us who are both directionally impaired and like to hold our own concerts while driving: Waze and Spotify are teaming up to make your drive easy to navigate with a sweet soundtrack.
News: Google's Allo Seems to Leak Search & Location History in Chats
Google's personal messaging service Allo could reveal your search history and other private information to friends if the Google Assistant bot is called upon in chats, according to a story from Re/code.
News: Interactive Surface Developer Lampix AR/VR Winner of SXSW Accelerator Event
Judges at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Accelerator Pitch Event named Lampix the winner in the Augmented and Virtual Reality category, conference organizers announced today. The ninth annual competition, which took place over the weekend in Austin, Texas, pitted 50 startup finalists against each other in 10 technology categories.
Video: Cortana Can Help in Windows Insider Preview Build 15055's Mixed Reality Portal
A new Windows Insider Preview, version 15055, was released on Friday, March 10. Along with the normal collection of bug fixes and new features came a secret addition to the Mixed Reality Portal in the update. Windows Mixed Reality, along with Cortana, can now teach you how to use the platform, and, hopefully, usher in with it some understanding of what mixed reality is.
News: Microsoft's HoloLens Partnership Program Grows Internationally
In an early morning blog post, Microsoft announced the expansion of the Microsoft HoloLens Agency Readiness Partner Program. This announcement comes on the tail of an expanded HoloLens release over the last few months to many countries outside the initial US and Canada.
News: New Case Puts iPhone & Android Back to Back
It's the bane of many a tech geek's existence that the customizability of Android software cannot be combined with the sleek design of the iPhone. A new Kickstarter project titled Eye, however, is looking to change that with a new iPhone case that allows you to combine the two.
News: Easily Make Your Own Pokémon GO with Motive.io
Throughout the summer and fall of 2016, in the sudden whirlwind that was Pokémon GO, it was hard to go anywhere in public without seeing someone attempting to catch Pokémon. Now, thanks to an upcoming platform called Motive.io, from the Vancouver company of the same name, location-driven application development will soon be accessible to everyone.
How To: Use Your Android's Volume Keys to Move the Cursor in Any Text Field—No Root Needed
One of the biggest hurdles for making touchscreen text input easy on the user has been finding a simple way to move the cursor around. With all the advancements in mobile technology, we're still left fumbling around with tiny arrow indicators or magnifying glasses when we need to add a letter to a word we've already typed. But thankfully, developer Ouadban Youssef has found a better way.
How To: Install ViPER4Android on Your LG V20 for Better Sound Quality
ViPER4Android is a revolutionary audio equalizer for Android, something that I personally can't live without. That's the reason why porting V4A to the LG V20 was the first thing I did when I got the phone. There are two variants of ViPER4Android: FX and XHiFi. XHiFi is an older version which isn't developed anymore, but has amazing audio reconstruction capabilities. FX, on the other hand, has at least three times as many options and features as XHiFi without the audio reconstruction.
News: Augmented Reality Empowers Indonesian Women to Operate Online Stores
While its direct-selling model echoes brands like Avon and Tupperware, Indonesia's MindStores gives the approach a modern twist—with augmented reality.
News: Bosch Wants to Speed Up AR Adoption in the Auto Industry
While there are many uses for augmented reality in the automotive industry, adoption has been slow. With the plethora of makes and models on the road today and rolling off assembly lines tomorrow, developing and deploying knowledge bases that utilize augmented reality to dealerships and garages can be costly and difficult to scale.
How To: Easily Remove Old Photos in WhatsApp to Free Up Storage on Android
Over a billion people use WhatsApp, which makes it the most popular standalone messaging service out there. But if you're one of the many people whose group of friends relies on WhatsApp for all communication, chances are, you have several years-long messaging threads with all sorts of random pictures and GIFs cluttering up the place.
News: Everything You Need to Know About the Google Pixel 2 — Specs, Features & More
After months of leaks and rumors, Google has finally unveiled the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. If there were such a thing, the Pixel would be the one "true" Android flagship — so even if you don't plan on buying a Pixel 2, you'll want you learn more about this milestone device.
How To: Get Sony's New Xperia Music App with Material Design on Any Android
Anybody who was around in the '80s and '90s associates Sony with music still to this day, thanks to their wildly successful Walkman brand. And that's not even mentioning their major label record company. Indeed, the Tokyo-based electronics maker/media conglomerate has music embedded in its DNA, and that's certainly noticeable in the stock Music app included with their Xperia phones.
How To: Save Battery & Increase Performance on Your HTC One M9 with These Simple Non-Root Tips
As a fan of the HTC One series, I almost always upgrade my phone soon after the new model becomes available. I purchased the M7 when it first came out, upgraded to the M8 shortly after its launch, and then jumped on the M9. However, I stopped right there.
News: Chairish App Now Lets You Try Before You Buy (With Augmented Reality)
Chairish, Inc. is the latest furniture retailer to bring augmented reality into its mobile stores, adding features for users to visualize products in their homes.
News: Google's March Security Update Breaks Android Pay on Some Pixel & Nexus Devices
Google's monthly Android security updates are generally welcome—at the very least, they provide a feeling of security that our device is now somewhat safer than it was 30 days ago. Vulnerability patches, slight enhancements to performance, and overall bug fixes are generally included in the monthly OTAs, but as it turns out, they're not always for the better.
News: Trimble Brings Mixed Reality to the Construction Site with DAQRI Smart Helmet
Trimble is integrating its mixed reality applications into the DAQRI Smart Helmet to enable outdoor and on-site support for design, construction, and heavy industry as part of a collaboration the companies announced today.
News: Scope AR Brings Live, Interactive AR Video Support to Caterpillar Customers
Customer service just got a lot more interesting. Construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar just announced official availability of what they're calling the CAT LIVESHARE solution to customer support, which builds augmented reality capabilities into the platform.
News: Unity Labs to Bring Tools to Simplify Mixed Reality Development
In a press event this past week at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, Unity Labs, the experimental and forward thinking arm of Unity, announced an upcoming toolset for developers in the augmented, mixed, and virtual reality space called the XR Foundation Toolkit (XRFT).
News: LG V30 Revealed — Dedicated DAC, Dual Back Cameras, Snapdragon 835 Processor & More
The LG V30 has finally been announced and was rumored to be released sometime in September, but September has come and is almost gone, while LG fans have been waiting anxiously. The V series offers a more robust media experience when compared to LG's other flagship, the LG G6. Since the phone has been announced, we do have all of the details for the third flagship in LG's V series, and believe me, it's sounds like it'll be worth the wait.
News: Savannah College of Art & Design Publishes First College Catalog with AR Capabilities
When it published its 2016-2017 catalog last year, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) became the first college to leverage augmented reality technology for a college catalog.
News: Try Windows 10's Mixed Reality Portal on Your PC with Insider Build 15048 — No Headset Required
If you're part of the Windows 10 Insider Program, build 15048 launched this morning, and included a nice big unannounced surprise. You can now launch the Mixed Reality Portal and enable the simulation to try out mixed reality right from your PC, even if you don't have one of the new Acer dev kits.
How To: Access Bitcoin Gambling Sites from Your Phone — Even if They Ban Your Country
Bitcoin, the decentralized cryptocurrency notorious for its status as the currency of the dark web, seems to be shedding its shady past and is now enjoying soaring highs not seen since 2014. The highly volatile online commodity reached parity with an ounce of gold back in March amid speculation of a pending ETF approval from the Federal Trade Commission. Since then, Bitcoin has doubled in value and analysts predict a bitcoin could reach $100,000 in value in 10 years.
How To: Use the 'Print' Option to Create PDFs of Notes, Webpages & More on Your iPhone
Apple lets you save webpages as PDF files in iOS 10, but the only obvious way to do this is by using iBooks. The thing is, most people would probably rather save their PDFs to a service like Google Drive or Dropbox to make sharing a bit easier. Plus, iBooks isn't officially available for Windows or Android, so there are some cross-platform problems there, too.