Gadget Hacks Features
CES 2016: LG Shows Off Its Newspaper-Like Flexible Screen
LG literally rolled out a prototype of its cutting-edge flexible display at CES 2016 in Las Vegas. The company showed off an 18-inch screen with 1,200 x 800 pixel resolution that you can roll up like a magazine or newspaper and take with you. And while an 18-inch HD screen that rolls up is already pretty impressive, LG plans to build them up to 55 inches and beyond, with 4K resolution.
News: Apple Releases iOS 12.2 Public Beta 4 to Software Testers Early, Includes New Icons & Other Small Tweaks
Apple released iOS 12.2 beta 4 to developers on Monday, March 4, then shortly thereafter also pushed it out to everyone on the iOS 12.2 public beta program. All previous public beta updates for iOS 12.2 were released the following day, but this one changes course. In the iOS 12.2 public beta 4, there are new icons, an updated "About" page, and better Now Playing tile.
News: Facebook Reactions Are Live & Now You Can Die Happy
Have you ever run across a Facebook post that you don't necessarily want to "Like," but you're not really passionate enough about to bother stringing together a couple words for a comment? Well, you're in luck, as Facebook added five new "Reactions" that let you do more than just like a post, and they're now live for everyone.
News: Startup Form Launches Underwater Smart Goggles for Swimmers
Sports technology company Form is testing the waters for augmented reality wearables with a product aimed at a very specific user group.
How To: Change the color of your homescreen icons on an HTC 7 Trophy WP7 smartphone
Customize the colors of your homescreen icons on your HTC 7 Trophy Windows 7 smartphone! It's easy and only takes a few seconds. This WP7 user's guide will walk you step-by-step through the process. For more information, and to learn how to set up custom-colored icons on your own HTC 7, watch the clip!
News: Hack together a USB mini-fridge
Babblin5, our good friend from Wichita, is hacking again. Here he mods an old camper cooler, powering it with USB power.
News: Xiaomi Wearable Uses Waveguide Tech to Mount Challenge to US Smartglasses Market
As if answering Apple's major iPhone event on Tuesday, Chinese mobile giant Xiaomi held its own product launch event the following day.
News: Microsoft Teases Minecraft Augmented Reality Game for Mobile at Build 2019
It looks like Microsoft will finally make good on its promise to bring Minecraft to augmented reality, as foreshadowed via a HoloLens demo in 2015.
How To: Increase & decrease the size of web page content
In this video we learn how to increase & decrease the size of web page content. First, click and hold down the control key and move the mouse wheel up and down. After you do this, you will start to see your web page content get larger and smaller right before your eyes. You can also use the plus and minus keys on the keyboard to get the same effect. Keep in mind you will need to do this for each of the different pages as you access them. For a more permanent fix, you will need to go to the to...
Dev Report: Verto Studio 3D for VR Is Done, Now You Can Build 3D Models in HoloLens or VR
Verto Studio 3D is a 3D modeling package that has been in the works for a while now by Michael Farrell, the owner of Verto Studio LLC. Farrell has been working toward bridging the gap between XR 3D modeling and what we have become accustomed to with desktop 3D modeling packages like 3D Studio Max, Maya, and Blender.
How To: Unbrick an iPod Touch
Jeremy teaches us how to unbrick an iPod touch in this tutorial. First, hold the bottom button and top button simultaneously until the device shuts off. Hold these together until the logo comes on the device, then let go. The Apple logo will stay around for several seconds, maybe even minutes. Once the logo has disappeared, your regular screen should come back on the device. Now you will be able to resume using your device. If the logo stays on the screen for a long time, don't get worried, i...
News: Despite Recent Updates, Pokémon GO Is Still Vulnerable to Hackers
Despite a round of updates to Pokémon GO that patched and eliminated location spoofing, the game still has a difficult time dealing with the most hardcore cheaters. Like weeds on a grassy lawn, third-party bot makers still remain the biggest thorn in Niantic's side and continue to thrive despite the developer's best efforts to root them out. While the latest updates have blocked users from running modded versions of the game, like Pokemon GO++, that feature built-in joysticks to move your pla...
How To: Create a custom email signature for a Windows Live Hotmail account
Want to set up an email signature for a Hotmail account? It's easy. So easy, in fact, that this video tutorial can present a complete, step-by-step overview of the process in just five seven For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, take a look.
News: Apple to Unveil Stereo AR Headset Support, New ARKit Capabilities, & More at WWDC, Report Says
Over the past two years, Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) has become a showcase for new ARKit capabilities. This year, it could offer more information related to Apple's long rumored augmented reality wearable.
How To: Shut off your alarm clock with a light phaser
We'll base the project around a digital clock radio and a light gun for gaming; huge selections of both of these are available inexpensively second-hand, with many beautiful and well-designed examples. To enable our FPSI (First Person Shooter Interface), we'll outfit the gun with five tilt sensors, arranged at different angles on a small circuit board. A cable tethers the gun to the clock and carries your tilt and trigger signals to the clock's time and alarm control button contacts.
News: Galaxy S9+ Camera Beats Pixel 2 & iPhone X with Highest DxOMark Score Ever
DxOMark, an independent camera reviewer, has become the go-to place where consumers and OEMs alike hope for good camera scores on major new smartphones. The Google Pixel 2 has topped the charts since Oct. 2017, when the score no doubt helped pull the phone out from its troubled launch, but it has just been dethroned by the Samsung Galaxy S9+, which received the highest DxOMark score yet.
News: Apple Files Patent Application for Automatic AR Lens Adjustment via Proximity Sensors
One of the worst-kept secrets in the tech world is Apple's plans for consumer-grade AR smartglasses, still unconfirmed publicly and only recently corroborated through a leaked account of an internal employee meeting.
Rolling Out RIGHT NOW: Get the KitKat Update for Your Sprint HTC One
As announced today, Sprint customers can manually update their HTC One devices to the latest version of Android, called KitKat.
News: Facebook Opens Enrollment for Spark AR Curriculum to Grow AR Creation Community
As Apple, Google, Snap, and Facebook wrestle for positioning to lure developers and creators to build augmented reality experiences for their respective tools, Facebook is looking at a learning approach for its Spark AR platform.
How To: You Can Block Any App from Using Up Your iPhone's Precious Mobile Data by Doing This
If you have a limited mobile data plan on your iPhone, you know how tricky it can be to stay within your given allotment. Large app installs and updates, 4K resolution videos, and photo backups can waste precious data resources in no time. And apps like Apple News, Facebook, Mail, and Netflix eat data like it's candy. But you can nip the problem in the bud by restricting data hogs from your cellular network.
How To: Make Contagious YouTube Videos Using TubeRank's Secret Viral Formula
While the phenomena of viral videos and internet celebrities are relatively new, it seems like there's a new one every other day. Sometimes they're funny, other times they have a social mission, like Kony 2012, and sometimes they're just videos of cats jumping in boxes.
News: Virtual Reality, Coming to a Dentist's Office Near You
I don't know anyone that likes going to the dentist—few things are more uncomfortable than having someone else's hands in your mouth. But outside of that, not only can the pain of certain procedures be unnerving, the drugs used to numb those pains can be just as uncomfortable. Not being able to feel your mouth for hours on end is a disconcerting feeling. But all that could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to virtual reality.
News: The Virtual Reality Developers Conference at GDC 2017 Is Underway
This year's Game Developers Conference, better known as the GDC, is underway at the Moscone Center in San Fransisco, California, and lasts until March 3, 2017. More importantly for us here at NextReality, the Virtual Reality Developers Conference (VRDC)—a new GDC sub-conference geared toward augmented, mixed, and virtual reality—has begun.
How To: Create personalized Interent radio stations with Last.fm
Want to create your own radio station? With Last.fm, it's easy! So easy, in fact, that this video guide can present a complete, step-by-step overview of the process in just under two minutes. For all of the details, and to get started listening to your own Internet radio station, take a look!
How To: Enable Paypal payments in Drupal
In this video you will see how to enable IPN with paypal and your Drupal CMS with ecommerce module enabled
News: Make Movie Magic on the HoloLens with Microsoft's New Actiongram Fantasy Contest
Want to go to Seattle and meet the Actiongram team?
News: Niantic Primes Its Lightship AR Engine for Transformers Game, Global Launch Slated for 2021
With the tagline "More Than Meets the Eye," the Transformers franchise was pretty much preordained to have its own augmented reality game, and AR gaming pioneer Niantic has stepped up to fulfill that destiny.
News: The Mixed Reality Continuum Shows Exactly What Lies Between Physical & Virtuality
We've explained the differences between mixed, virtual, and augmented reality through old-fashioned text and infographics, but in a rapidly-changing environment that leads to even more terms, it's best to think of all these realities in one simple way—as a continuum.
News: The First Meta 2 Mixed Reality Headsets Will Begin Shipping in Two Weeks
Microsoft's enjoyed being the only mixed reality headset on the block for a little while, but the Meta 2 intends to join the party very soon. According to UploadVR, in a couple of weeks they'll begin shipping alpha versions of their headset with improved hand tracking.
How To: View the nonmobile versions of web sites on Android browsers
What's the point of having a browser on your Android phone if you're only seeing part of the internet. Visit the full versions of your favorite web sites by configuring your Android browser to show nonmobile websites on your mobile phone.
News: Apple iTravel to Eliminate Airport Torture
The folks over at Patently Apple have uncovered some very promising looking plans for a future iPhone app called iTravel. iTravel plans to cover ticket-buying, electronic check-in, car rentals, and possibly even Apple designed airport kiosks. Fingers crossed it comes out soon. Apple excels at making dummy-proof, intuitive, easy-as-pie user interfaces, and man, the airline travel process sure could use a little streamlining.
News: Magic Leap's Chief Content Officer Rio Caraeff Opens Up on Walled Gardens, Data Privacy, & Blockchain
Over the years, Magic Leap's long-cultivated shroud of mystery led some onlookers to buy into the company's dream before even trying the device, while for others, the secrecy seems to have stoked the kind of resentment and overcorrecting critique usually reserved for the mighty Apple.
News: Apple Releases iOS 13.4 Public Beta 3 for iPhone, Hints at Future 'OS Recovery' Mode
In a welcomed Wednesday twist, iOS 13.4 public beta 3 follows the release of developer beta 3 by just three hours. While that isn't super uncommon for most beta cycles, it is for this one. Apple waited 24 hours between dev beta 2 and public beta 2, and five full days between dev beta 1 and public beta 1. It's nice to see these betas coming out on the same day again.
How To: Use the trackpad on a BlackBerry Bold 9650 smartphone
Learn how to utilize the trackpad on a BlackBerry Bold 9650 phone. This clip will show you how it's done. Whether you're the proud owner of a BlackBerry smartphone or are merely considering picking one up, you're sure to be well served by this video guide. For detailed information, including step-by-step instructions, and to get started using the BlackBerry Bold 9650 trackpad yourself, take a look.
News: Former Google Augmented Reality Engineering Lead Takes Over Facebook's Portal Hardware Team
It looks like Facebook really likes Google's augmented reality leadership talent, as the social media giant has hired away another employee from the AR and VR team at Mountain View to lead its team for a product that brings Facebook's AR platform into homes.
News: The Most Exciting Events Coming Up at Augmented World Expo 2017 in May
Coming up at the end of May is the world's largest conference and expo dedicated to all things augmented and virtual reality, the Augmented World Expo, more commonly known just as AWE. And this year, a few of us from NextReality are going to be there.
News: Could This Be the New Samsung Galaxy S6?
With Mobile World Congress right around the corner, we're all left to patiently await the unveiling of two Android flagship smartphones—HTC's One M9 and Samsung's Galaxy S6.
How To: The Fastest Way to Stay Up to Date with Reddit on Your iPhone
Reddit is a force to be reckoned with. What started out as link aggregator has become one of the world's most popular websites, with over 170 million unique visitors and 6 billion monthly pageviews. Whether you're into cute animals, crazy conspiracy theories, sports, or Taylor Swift's armpit, Reddit definitely has something for every taste, interest, and morbid curiosity.
News: Universal Studios Japan Powers Up Mario Kart Ride at Super Nintendo World with AR Headsets
Next year, fans of Mario Kart will be able to experience the game in real life with the assistance of augmented reality.
How To: Create new contacts in a BlackBerry 8700 address book
Male instructor explains how to create new contacts in the BlackBerry 8700 mobile device. Going to the BlackBerry's address book, it is a matter of entering in all the information for a new contact to be created. Step-by-step process makes it very easy to understand and complete the contact.