Gadget Hacks Features

How To: Clear your Internet history in Safari

Have you been on a "Safari" that you'd rather not let others find out about? Stop living in fear. Here's how to cover your tracks.

News: Facebook Outage Takes Down the Metaverse, Oculus Quest & Ray-Ban Smartglasses Users Impacted

On Monday, the social media giant Facebook suffered a massive outage that, as of this writing, is still in effect.

How To: Create a stored procedure in MySQL with DreamCoder

If you're new to DreamCoder for MySQL, one of the things you may want to know how to do is create a stored procedure in a remote MySQL database. Happily, this tutorial will walk you, step by step, through the process. For detailed instructions, press play!

Market Reality: Apple Sets Stage for AR Smartglasses, Spatial Adds Funding, & Pinterest Enters AR Makeup Game

We may or may not see Apple's long-awaited take on AR smartglasses this year, but the company is more than getting its practice swings in with its current wearables business, which hit record revenue in 2019 according to financial results released this week.

How To: Solder for cheap

In this tutorial, we learn how to solder for cheap. Start out by forming the wire to get it ready to solder. The trick here is to create some tension between the two ends, do this by going back and forth hitting the wires. Now, grab a torch and start to flex the wire while holding it in front of the open flame. After this, grab some of the flux you keep in a bottle and apply it to the piece. Continue to apply heat to the wire until it turns cherry red, then apply the solder with the connectio...

Pixel 3 vs. iPhone XS: The Battle of the 'Small' Flagships

The battle between the Pixels and the iPhones has been heating up over the last few years, and this year's bout is the best one yet, with Google's Pixel 3 taking on Apple's iPhone XS.

Apple AR: This App Totally Lets See Your Weed Right in Front of You, Man

If there's one augmented reality app idea that should have gone up in smoke, it's probably Tokédex, an app that brings cannabis to the world of AR.

How To: Use the "word choice window" when texting with Swype

Sometimes there is more than one option for a particular finger Swype. When this happens, Swype will give you a list to choose from so that you can pick whichever word you were hoping to use. Swype is the fastest way to send texts and e-mails available and with a bit of practice you will have it mastered. Just think of Swype as the T9 of 2010 and you will catch on fast.

News: Unpacked! Samsung Teases Galaxy S5 Reveal Date

Falling in line with tradition, Samsung is ever-so-subtly teasing their big Galaxy S5 reveal at an event dubbed Unpacked 5. Just like with previous releases, we've seen a steady stream of information leak about Samsung's next flagship, from possible UI elements to more detailed hardward and software information. Now, we've got a date to look forward to, on the first day of Mobile World Congress no less.

How To: Conceal a compressed file within the header of a JPG or JPEG image

Looking for an easy way to hide a file or folder? Try embedding it within an image file. It's easy and this clip presents a complete, step-by-step overview of the process. For more information, including detailed instructions, and to get started embedding files within JPEG files yourself, take a look.

How To: Combine Top News Stories Shared by Facebook & Twitter Friends into One Easy-to-Read Place

Serving as the primary tool of distribution for many websites, social media is how most of us catch up what's going on around the world. While there is a bunch of clickbait going around on Facebook and Twitter, there are plenty of genuinely interesting articles being shared.

How To: Do Facebook smileys

This video illustrates the method of using Facebook smileys. The process is composed of the following steps -Step 1While typing a wall post or a message in Facebook , click on the smiley button present in the top right corner of the text box where are typing your text.Step 2You will be presented with a drop down menu with the smileys that can be used in Facebook. Select anyone of them and insert them in your post by right clicking on it.Step 3You can add any number of smileys by following the...

News: First Truly Mainstream, Hit Augmented Reality App May Arrive Through Advertising, Says Unity CEO

Despite the launch of ARKit a year ago, and ARCore this year, a true killer app has not arrived for either platform, that's according to the head honcho for one of the leading development environments for 3D applications.

How To: Use the free iPhone 4 Case Program App to get a case

Apple really ate some mud in the media over the iPhone 4's blatant antenna problems, but they're finally trying to make good by offering free problem-solving bumper cases to all of their iPhone 4 customers. Keeping true to their "There's an App for that" slogan, they've made an App that allows you to order the free bumper case that they're promised you right from you iPhone. If you have service that is! This video will show you how to use it and get what you deserve from Apple.

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.

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."

How To: | 3 DIY Electronic Geek Chic Pieces for Him

Stand out from the high street fashion clones with stuff you’ve fashioned yourself. It’s easy to take old pieces of electronic junk and transform them into all sorts of fun ‘n’ funky geeky accessories. Like a totally useful tote bag, a what-on-earth-is-that wallet and a bedazzling belt. It’s terribly geeky but chicy too. Here’s how…

How To: Connect to PostgreSQL database server with DreamCoder

If you're new to DreamCoder for PostgreSQL, one of the first things you may want to know how to accomplish is to connect to a remote PostgreSQL database. Happily, this tutorial will walk you, step by step, through the process. To learn how to establish a connection between a given PostgreSQL database and the DreamCoder for PostgreSQL, take a look!

Apple AR: Creepy Effects Make Surfaces Bubble & Boil

This man's effect using Apple ARKit is both really cool and really freaky. In his tweet, John van der Zwaag said that this "alters reality" rather than just adding to it.

News: Shopping for a New Couch? Amazon Wants You to See It in Your Home (While You're Still in the Store)

Amazon has been toying with the idea of opening physical retail stores for some time now, even opening old-fashioned bookstores in select locations and teasing cashier-less convenience stores. But the online retailer has some new ideas in the works, including implementing virtual and augmented reality into retail home stores.

How To: Find your external IP address

In this tutorial, we learn how to find an external IP address on your PC using different websites. First, find a website that will let you find your IP address for free. Once you find this site, it will not only give you your IP address, it will show you where you are in the world. Not only will it tell you where you are in the United States, it will tell you your exact coordinates and pin point your location on a map. There are many sites available online that will do this, a great site is I...

How To: Use Skype over the 3G network on your iPhone

This video tutorial is going to show you how to use Skype over the 3G network on your iPhone. For this purpose you will need a jailbroken iPhone. Go to Cydia and launch it. This will take a bit of time. Make sure you have the latest Mobile Substrate & Skype. If not, follow the video and download and install it. Then press home button and come back to springboard and click on Skype. It takes sometime to load. Press on the free phone and press call. If you want you can select speaker and there ...

How To: Use the Internet Explorer 7 phishing filter

Check out this video tutorial to learn more about the Phishing Filter on Internet Explorer 7. Web browsers such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 have become an important part of the computing experience for business and home users around the world. With the popularity of web browsers for accessing information, running programs, and even accessing corporate resources, the browser has become a target for viruses, malware, and phishing schemes that present real dangers to Internet users. Inter...

News: DAQRI Focused on Growth as It Promotes Former Qualcomm Exec to CEO

Augmented reality headset maker DAQRI today named chief product officer Roy Ashok as the company's new chief executive officer to accelerate the company's growth.

How To: Jailbreak version 3.1.2 iPhone and iPod with Blackra1n

iPodTouchHelping teaches you how to Jailbreak version 3.1.2 iPhone and iPod using Blackra1n. Connect your iPod or iPhone to your computer and make sure it appears in iTunes. You need to go to Blackra1n and click on the Windows icon. Download the program and run it. Click Make it rain in the Blackra1n application. You might get some error messages, just ignore them. The process will finish and the device will reboot. You will see the Blackra1n icon on your device, tap that and select Cydia and...

How To: View historical photos on Google Maps

Interested in viewing old, historical photos of the places you know on Google Maps? This clip will show you how it's done. It's easy! So easy, in fact, that this handy home-computing how-to from the folks at Tekzilla can present a complete overview of the process in about two minutes' time. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, take a look.

News: Get Amazon Prime for Only $72 or Just Binge-Watch “Transparent”—This Saturday Only

An Amazon Prime subscription offers free two-day shipping and discounted rates on many Amazon products, while at the same time granting users access to Amazon's Instant Video library. While this service normally runs $100 per year, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced today that the company will be offering a $28 discount on this price for one day only.

Market Reality: Magic Leap Draws Comics, Warby Parker Tries AR, Facebook Acquires GrokStyle, & LeBron Dunks via Snapchat

This week, the recurring theme in augmented reality can be summed up fairly succinctly: content is king.

Market Reality: Qualcomm & DigiLens Prepare Components for AR Wearables & Retailers Get an AR Reality Check

It will likely take a few more years before smartglasses are ready for primetime as component makers achieve the innovations necessary for consumer-centric device designs. Nevertheless, two technology companies are making steps in that direction as Qualcomm is rumored to be working on a chip dedicated to AR & VR headsets, while DigiLens has reduced the size of its waveguide displays for motorcycle helmets.

News: John Hanke, CEO of Pokémon GO Maker, Says AR, Not VR, Should Be the Way of the Future

It isn't too hard to see John Hanke's bias towards augmented reality. His company, Niantic, created the astronomically profitable game Pokémon GO, which revolves around AR technology. However, Hanke has a case against virtual reality—he believes it just won't be healthy, in more than one sense of the word.

How To: Watch the First Episode of Black Sails a Week Early

I have been a fan of pirates ever since I downloaded my first movie on LimeWire. Wait, wrong pirates. I guess real pirates are pretty cool too. Johnny Depp brought pirates back into the spotlight with his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. And a Somali pirate from Captain Phillips got nominated for a Golden Globe.

How To: Apple Releases iOS 13.6 GM for Public Beta Testers, Includes CarKey Support, Apple News Audio & Symptom Tracker

Apple just released the public GM (golden master) for iOS 13.6 today, Thursday, July 9. The update comes three hours after Apple released the 13.6 GM for developers, and the same day as the release of iOS 14 public beta 2.

News: Seek's CEO Reveals How Its New AR Patent Could Change the Entire 3D Space & Looks into the Future of Smartglasses

Among the various components of the emerging augmented reality space, the most lucrative is the advertising market. The prospect of turning every object, every location, ever signpost in the real world into a discount code or virtual transaction interface is why AR will ultimately be more profitable than VR.

News: Apple Releases iOS 14.2 Developer Beta 2 for iPhone, Introduces New Emoji

Apple just released iOS 14.2 developer beta 2 (build number 18B5061e) for iPhone today, Tuesday, Sept. 29. The new update adds fresh emoji to iOS, including smiling face with tear, seal, ninja, anatomical heart, among many others from the Emoji 13.0 collection.

News: Attack of the iPhone 6 Clones, Xbox One Gets More Social, & More Tech News You Need to Know

Better sleep, smartphone news, and changes to your favorite forms of entertainment. There's been a lot going on over the last couple of weeks in the world of tech, and we thought we'd show you all of the need-to-know products, updates, and ideas that we think are most important.

News: Resolution Games Scores $7.5M in Funding Round Backed by Google, Unity Founder, & Others

Fresh off shipping an augmented reality game for Magic Leap, Resolution Games has farmed another $7.5 million in funding through a Series B round.

News: The Perceptoscope Brings Mixed Reality to Any Location

With most augmented and mixed reality devices, you wear a purchased headset and use it alone, in a place of your choice—but not this one. Ben Sax decided to reinvent the binoculars to create a mixed reality experience that anyone can walk up to and try for free. He calls it the Perceptoscope.

How To: Automatically update applications on a Google Android smartphone

With Android OS 2.2, Froyo, your can tell your Android to automatically update software. You will learn how to turn on automatic updates and simultaneously install multiple updates at one time, and more @ butterscotch.com: http://bit.ly/bpNZbf

How To: Apply a screen protector to any Blackberry phone

So you've got a new Blackberry phone, and it's your new favorite toy. How do you protect it from dust and dirt? A lot of Blackberry users will use screen protectors. This video shows you how to properly apply a screen protector to any Blackberry phone. Now you'll be able to see who you need to BBM!

News: Apple Working on Rear-Facing AR Sensor for 2019 iPhone, Report Says

Apple CEO Tim Cook told us that augmented reality would change everything, and now we have a better idea of exactly what he meant.