Gadget Hacks News
News: Apple's iOS 14.3 Release Candidate 2 Available for iPhone, Adds Support for App Clips, AirPods Max & Apple Fitness+
Apple's first release candidate for the iOS 14.3 beta came out on Dec. 8, but there must have been a serious bug in the system because iOS 14.3 RC 2 followed it just two days later on Dec. 10. These builds highlight everything that you should expect to see on the stable version very soon.
News: Next Reality Snap Spectacles 3 Holiday Giveaway!
UPDATE: Entries are now closed. Thank you for participating! Next Reality is where we help you literally 'see' into the future of augmented reality, and to help with that mission we're offering three free pairs of Snap Spectacles 3 to three lucky readers who sign up for the Next Reality daily AR email newsletter.
News: Snap Simplifies Lens Studio with 'No-Code AR' Tools & New Templates, Invests $3.5 Million in AR Development
At the opening of its virtual Lens Fest, taking place Dec. 8-10 and open to the public, Snap is furthering its facilitation of AR development with new tools for Lens Studio version 3.3 and a planned investment into its AR creator community.
News: Next Reality's 2020 Holiday Gift Guide: Augmented Reality Hardware, Gaming, Wearables & More
We're still awaiting the arrival of consumer-grade AR smartglasses from the likes of Apple and Facebook. But that doesn't mean there aren't AR products out there to try this holiday season.
News: Snap Showcases Storytelling Power of Spectacles 3 Wearable with Film by LA Artist Lauren Halsey
The latest generation of Spectacles aren't AR smartglasses per se, but Snap is intent on demonstrating that the wearables are capable of storytelling powered by augmented reality.
News: How You Can Put Street Art Legend KAWS & Even That Mysterious Alien Utah Monolith in Your Own Home via AR
Sure, you could leave a random monolith in Utah and get some notoriety for your street art. Or, you can let others put your art anywhere they'd like with augmented reality so they can appreciate it where they are.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.3 Public Beta 3 for iPhone
Apple released iOS 14.3 public beta 3 today, Wednesday, Dec. 2. The update comes three hours after Apple released 14.3 developer beta 3, and 15 days after Apple released iOS 14.3 beta 2 for developers and public beta testers. The latter introduced a change that bypasses the Shortcuts app when using a custom icon on the home screen.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.3 Developer Beta 3 for iPhone
Apple released iOS 14.3 developer beta 3 today, Wednesday, Dec. 2. The update comes 15 days after Apple released iOS 14.3 beta 2 for developers and public beta testers, which introduced a change that bypasses the Shortcuts app when using a custom icon on the home screen.
News: Varjo Follows in Apple's Footsteps with LiDAR Depth Tracking in XR-3 Headset
Apple no longer has an exclusive province to LiDAR for the purposes of augmented reality. This week, headset maker Varjo unveiled its new VR-3 and XR-3 headsets, the latter of which includes LiDAR sensors and stereo RGB cameras to enable depth sensing and inside-out tracking of real-world environments for "pass-through" mixed reality experiences.
News: Looking Glass Responds to Sony's Holographic Display with Consumer-Friendly Looking Glass Portrait
In response to Sony unveiling its own holographic display back in October, Looking Glass Factory CEO Shawn Frayne quickly penned a letter welcoming the electronics mainstay to the field, with a post-script teasing the reveal of their own for December of 2020.
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.
News: Dreamworks Delivers A Furry AR Selfie Lens on Snapchat for Release of 'The Croods: A New Age'
The movie theater business is hurting due to the pandemic, but that hurdle is actually the perfect set of circumstances for movie studios to lean hard into augmented reality marketing.
News: Snapchat's Spotlight Confirms That the TikTok, Instagram Social Media War Is On — And AR Is the Next Battlefront
In the realm of social media, all roads lead to one destination: cracking the code of continuous partial attention dopamine hits. We learned this back in the days of Vine, before Twitter foolishly killed it. And I pointed my lens at the emerging trend back in 2016 when I highlighted Musical.ly for Mashable, just before it was snapped up by China's Bytedance for $1 billion and merged into what is now TikTok.
Opinion: Why Facebook Forcing Instagram AR Filters into a Unified Platform Is Bad for Our Smartglasses Future
Quietly, while the rest of the world was engaged in pandemic and political concerns, a few weeks ago Facebook casually upgraded its Spark AR platform with what it calls Unified Effect Publishing.
News: Google Gifts 5G Android Smartphones with 'The Mandalorian' AR App
With the new season of The Mandalorian underway, Google has launched a new AR app that enables some Star Wars fans to connect with virtual characters in between new episodes.
News: HBO Rolls Out 'His Dark Materials' AR Experience To Bring Characters to the Real World
In this year of everything going virtual and remote, it makes even more sense now that Hollywood is leaning heavily on augmented reality. In this case, it's HBO using AR to promote its highly-acclaimed original programming.
News: Nintendo Crafts AR Content for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
The Animal Crossing series has been a big hit for Nintendo, so in a bid to enhance the experience even more for users, the game is getting the augmented reality treatment.
News: Snoop Dogg's Cali Red Wine Pours Another Glass of AR via 8th Wall's WebAR
When Treasury Wine Estates released 19 Crimes Snoop Cali Red this summer, named for its new partner in wine, rapper Snoop Dogg, it already came with the brand's signature AR-enhanced label.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.2.1 for Missing Messages Bug & iPhone 12 Mini Lock Screen Issue
Apple released iOS 14.2.1 for iPhone today, Thursday, Nov. 19. The update includes fixes for a bug where some MMS messages might not be received, an issue where iPhone 12 mini lock screens would be unresponsive, and a problem where "Made for iPhone" hearing devices would have sound quality issues when playing from iPhone.
News: Amazon's New Augmented Reality App Highlights Dog Reality Stars from Prime Video Series 'The Pack'
Amazon has joined the ranks of film and TV studios using the power of augmented reality to engage fans looking to go behind passive screen viewing.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.3 Beta 2 for Developers & Public Beta Users, Includes Improved Home Screen Shortcuts
Apple pushed out the second beta for iOS 14.3 to developers and public beta testers, which includes a few quick fixes for issues in Apple ProRAW for iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max and HomeKit. It also gives home screen shortcuts a more seamless transition. It is not yet known if the update addresses missing SMS texts that have been plaguing users across carriers, including us.
News: Manscaped's Brand Hype Grows into Augmented Reality via Snapchat Lens
If you're a man and subscribe to podcasts or YouTube channels that cater to masculine interests, then you've almost certainly encountered sponsorships from Manscaped. And that means I don't have to explain what the company is selling you (for the uninitiated, it's a company dedicated to helping you trim your body hair—most notably, your nether regions, in addition to other areas).
News: China Wireless Giant Oppo Debuts Mainstream-Friendly Smartphone-Tethered AR Smartglasses & Cloud App
One of China's largest smartphone makers, Oppo, just took the wraps off its new design for augmented reality smartglasses called AR Glass 2021.
News: True Crime Reality TV Comes to Augmented Reality for Apple iPhone via CrimeDoor
The true crime genre has long been popular on television and more recently on podcasts with shows like Serial.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.3 Public Beta 1, Includes ProRAW Support for iPhone 12 Pro & 12 Pro Max
Apple released the first public beta for iOS 14.3 today, Friday, Nov. 13. The update includes ProRAW support for iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, upgrades to air quality in Weather, support for the PS5 controller, among other new features and changes.
News: He Needed Smartglasses, So He Made a Pair — And You Can, Too
Last year this guy made his own smartwatch from scratch, so in 2020, naturally, he decided to give making smartglasses a try. And it worked!
Update: Apple Released iOS 14.3 Beta 1 for Developers for Real, Includes ProRAW Support & Air-Quality Changes in Weather
Apple released the first developer beta for iOS 14.3 on Thursday, Nov. 12, only to pull the update back, push it back out, and finally release it for real. An afternoon marred by Apple server issues spanning macOS Big Sur downloads to iMessage and Apple Pay could have been part of the issue. The new update for iPhone adds ProRAW support for iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
News: Cadillac Shows Off Augmented Reality in 2021 Escalade
What was edge automobile technology just a few years ago is now clearly mainstream, as Cadillac just demonstrated via its new 2021 Escalade.
News: What Snap's Voca.ai Acquisition Could Mean for Snapchat & Spectacles — Virtual Voice Assistants Meet Augmented Reality
What does it mean when a software company obsessively focused on innovating the way we use our mobile devices to see and communicate with the world adds virtual voice agents? Possibly e-commerce magic, with a powerful layer of augmented reality.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.2 for iPhone, Introducing 100+ New Emoji, Eight New Wallpapers & More
Apple just released iOS 14.2 for iPhone, which introduces multiple fun new features and changes. There are 117 new emoji, such as a seal, ninja, bubble tea, and smiling face with tear. Eight new wallpapers can also be found, each containing a light and dark mode variant. HomePod's new Intercom feature appears too. And those are just a few of the things to look out for.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.2 'Release Candidate' for iPhone to Beta Testers, Includes Fix for 'New iOS Update' Bug
Apple released the "release candidate" for iOS 14.2 today, Friday, Oct. 30. The update is available for both developers and public beta testers, and notably fixes a pressing bug in beta 4 — users would encounter a message telling them to update from their iOS 14 beta, despite no update being available.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.2 Public Beta 4 for iPhone, Introduces Eight New Wallpapers
Apple just released the fourth public beta for iOS 14.2 today, Wednesday, Oct. 21. The new update adds eight new dynamic wallpapers to iOS, including four real-life landscapes, and four digital landscapes. When counting each wallpaper's light and dark mode, there are 16 possible variations to use.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.2 Developer Beta 4 for iPhone, Introduces Eight New Wallpapers
Apple just released the fourth developer beta for iOS 14.2 today, Tuesday, Oct. 20. The new update introduces eight new dynamic wallpapers, including four real-life landscapes, and four digital landscapes.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.1 for iPhone, Adds Support for 10-Bit HDR Video Playback & Editing on iPhone 8 & Later
Apple just released iOS 14.1 for iPhone today, Tuesday, Oct. 20. This update first hit iPhones one week ago, but not for long — Apple pulled the release almost immediately, later seeding it to iOS developers only as a GM (golden master) release.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.2 Public Beta 3, Includes New Icons for HomePod Mini & Beats Flex
Apple just released the third public beta for iOS 14.2 today, Wednesday, Oct. 14. This update includes new glyphs for the HomePod mini and Beats Flex, support for HomePod's upcoming new "Intercom" feature, new core media features, and SwiftUI fixes.
News: Apple's iOS 14.2 Developer Beta 3 Available for iPhone with New Core Media Features & SwiftUI Fixes
Apple released iOS 14.2 developer beta 3 for iPhone on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The update adds new glyphs for HomePod mini and Beats Flex, support for HomePod's upcoming "Intercom" feature, new Core Media features for developers, as well as resolved SwiftUI issues.
News: Apple Released iOS 14.1 for iPhone, Then Pulled It — But You Can Still Install the GM Build
Apple erroneously released iOS 14.1 for iPhone as a stable OTA update on Tuesday, Oct. 13, just after the special event where it announced the iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max. It's not surprising given Apple's track record lately.
News: Everything You Need to Know About the iPhone 12 Pro & 12 Pro Max, Apple's Camera Juggernauts for 2020
Apple has four iPhone models for the remaining months of 2020, but the most impressive ones are the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. While the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini are great smartphones, the "Pro" models offer more advanced features, especially for photographers and augmented reality enthusiasts.
News: All You Need to Know About the iPhone 12 & iPhone 12 Mini — Apple's New 5G Phones
Not much about 2020 is what you'd call normal, but if one thing remains the same, it's that Apple will still release new iPhone models. This year, the company is offering four new options: two "Pro" models and two "consumer" devices. If you want to know more about the latter two, the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini, keep reading.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14.2 Public Beta 2 for iPhone, Introduces New Emoji Including Seal, Ninja, Bubble Tea & More
Apple just released the second iOS 14.2 public beta (build number 18B5061e) for iPhone today, Wednesday, Sept. 30. The update adds emoji from Emoji 13.0 to iOS for the first time, including smiling face with tear, seal, ninja, anatomical heart, among many others from the collection.