Gadget Hacks News — Page 5 of 129

AR Snapshots: These Snapchat AR Lenses Let You Use Your Entire Body to Create Visual Masterpieces

Snapchat's first foray into augmented reality started with the selfie camera and face-tracking technology, with the app's AR capabilities expanding from there.

News: Google's Project Starline Promises 3D Video Conferencing Like We've Never Seen Before

During the Tuesday launch of Google I/O, the company's CEO, Sundar Pichai, pulled off a Steve Jobsian "one more thing" move near the end of his keynote address that was simply stunning.

News: Google Adds Sports Athletes to AR Search, Includes Virtual Street Signs in Live View AR in Google Maps

Since bringing augmented reality features to Search and Maps, Google has made them arguably the most useful augmented reality products in its portfolio.

News: DigiLens Forges Reference Design for Smartglasses with 50 Degree Field of View

In the great smartglasses race, component makers, such as those that supply the crucial waveguide displays that make visualization of virtual content possible, have a vested interest in pushing the industry forward in order to ship units.

News: Facebook Reality Labs VP Hugo Barra Abruptly Heads for the Exit

Facebook Reality Labs just experienced its first major executive exit since the pandemic began. Hugo Barra has announced that he's stepping down from his position as vice president of VR at Facebook.

News: Google Offers Virtual Photo Booth Web App Ahead of Socially Distanced I/O Conference

Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic is showing signs of winding down, nevertheless, Google will still hold its annual I/O developer conference as a virtual affair, with keynotes and sessions available as live streams and on-demand videos starting Tuesday, May 18 and concluding on Thursday, May 20.

News: Apple Releases iOS 14.6 RC for iPhone, Adds Option to Unlock iPhone Using Voice Control

Apple pushed out the Release Candidate for iOS 14.6 on Monday, May 17. The 18F71 build includes new features and bug fixes, including an option to unlock your iPhone with Voice Control. It comes just hours after Apple announced Spacial Audio and Lossless Audio playback for Apple Music, new features that will require iOS 14.6 to run.

News: Epic Games Restarts Lawsuit vs. Nreal as Settlement Talks Collapse

One fight for augmented reality branding that we thought had been settled has suddenly turned into a full-fledged legal battle—again.

Market Reality: Microsoft's Consumer Smartglasses, Apple Invests in Corning & Niantic Launches Lightship Beta

Sure, Microsoft has mostly marketed its HoloLens headsets towards enterprises and developers, but we learned this week that, like every other tech giant, the company is working on a consumer-grade AR wearable. Speaking of consumer smartglasses, Apple made another strategic investment this week that has implications for Apple's AR future.

News: Microsoft Brings Chromium-Based Edge Browser, Swipe to Type & More to HoloLens via Windows Holographic Update

Since its launch two years ago, the HoloLens 2 has been the best AR headset available, and nothing has come close to touching it since.

News: Microsoft's Alex Kipman Confirms HoloLens Consumer AR Smartglasses Being Developed & Describes How It Can Happen

The story of the HoloLens has been a mix of work and play. But while many developers have devoted time to creating gaming and entertainment apps for the HoloLens 1, with the HoloLens 2, Microsoft has been encouraging everyone to focus more on the enterprise side of things.

News: Microsoft Mixed Reality Developer Shows Off the Full Power of Hand Tracking & Occlusion via the HoloLens 2

The experience of actually using the HoloLens 2 can be difficult to describe to anyone who hasn't had a chance to directly interact with the device in person and be blown away by its immersive capabilities.

News: NBCUniversal Teases Augmented Reality-Powered Shopping via TV

Consumers who haven't already delved into the interactive wonders of augmented reality are about to be pushed into the immersive waters by market forces.

News: The History of Europe Gets Immersive via HoloLens 2 Experience at St. Peter's Church in Belgium

In recent years, the tech innovation space has been dominated by the US and Asia, with Europe weighing in, but still being mostly lauded for its art history and architecture.

News: Niantic Opens Private Beta for AR Cloud Platform Now Called Lightship

Niantic first unveiled its AR cloud back in 2018, using it to enhance the immersive capabilities of its gaming portfolio.

News: Rovio Reinvents Angry Birds as Web-Based AR Tower Defense Game for Burger King Campaign

Angry Birds, one of the first franchises to find success in mobile gaming, continues to shoot its shot at new life in augmented reality gaming.

News: Apple $45 Million Corning Investment Shores Up iPhone Display Supply, Opens Up Investment AR Innovation

After awarding $410 million to the company that supplies it with VCSELs and LiDAR sensors, Apple has made another strategic investment into a company that may contribute to future augmented reality hardware innovations.

News: Apple Releases iOS 14.6 Beta 3 for iPhone, Adds Fix for Performance Bug

Apple released the third iOS 14.6 beta today, Monday, May 10. The update fixes a bug that could cause your iPhone to experience performance issues after startup.

Market Reality: Apple Funds AR, Campfire Headset Plans Revealed, Marvel Adds AR to NBA, & Star Wars Day Snapchat Lenses

Apple has a sterling reputation when it comes to managing its supply chain; it's where CEO Tim Cook proved his mettle to succeed Steve Jobs. Now, the company has made a strategic investment with a supplier that will be crucial to its future plans for AR wearables.

News: Campfire CEO Jay Wright on How He Plans to Use AR to Transform How We Work & Collaborate

The mission to rise above the fray to become a leading player in the augmented reality business is a moving target that depends on innovation, resources, and timing.

News: Transform Your Friend into an AR Musical Synthesizer via This HoloLens 2 NFT App

One of the oldest electronic musical instruments is the theremin, a synthesizer that generates sound based on hand gestures, as featured in the classic "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys.

News: Japan-Based Developer Unleashes Giant AR Gundam Robot on the Public via HoloLens 2

The future of the HoloLens 2, according to Microsoft, is all about enterprise use cases. But that doesn't mean some of the more creative-minded HoloLens developers won't bend the top-tier augmented reality device to their own designs. The latest example of this trend comes from Japan.

News: Apple Secures Supply Chain for AR Hardware with $410 Million Investment into Optical Manufacturer II-VI

As Apple prepares to potentially introduce its (mostly) secretive AR headset for possible introduction later this year and launch next year, the company has made a strategic investment to ensure its supply chain can support it.

News: Marvel Heroes Invade ESPN's NBA Broadcast of Warriors vs. Pelicans Game via AR

Two brands with affinities for augmented reality, Marvel and the NBA, joined forces to inject some AR superpowers into Monday night's matchup of the Golden State Warriors and New Orleans Pelicans.

AR Snapshots: Celebrate May the Fourth Be with You Day with These Star Wars Snapchat AR Lenses

Thanks to the grandest of puns, May the 4th is Star Wars Day. And what better way to pay tribute to the space opera than with the augmented reality superpowers of Snapchat.

News: AT&T and NBA Launch Mobile AR Experience via Chicago Bulls App

The Chicago Bulls may not be very relevant in the current NBA standings, but they do lead the league in one other area.

News: Apple Releases iOS 14.5.1 for iPhone, Includes Fix for Missing App Tracking Transparency Prompts

Apple released the newest update for iPhone, iOS 14.5.1, today, Monday, May 3. The update (build number 18E212) is the first since iOS 14.5, which Apple made available one week earlier on Monday, April 26.

Market Reality: Apple's AR Spaces, Facebook's AR Future, Snap's 3D Acquisition & Campfire AR Headset Launch

There's already some fierce competition between Snap and Facebook in the AR space, but it's about to heat up even more, with Snap snatching up a 3D mapping startup that could add some new AR capabilities to its arsenal.

News: Apple Releases iOS 14.6 Public Beta 2 for iPhone

Apple seeded public testers the second iOS 14.6 beta today, Friday, April 30. The update (build number 18F5055b) comes three hours after Apple released the second 14.6 developer beta, four days after the launch of iOS 14.5, which introduced over 60 new features and changes to iPhone, and eight days after the first 14.6 beta hit developers' iPhones.

News: Apple Releases iOS 14.6 Developer Beta 2 for iPhone

Apple seeded developers the second iOS 14.6 beta today, Friday, April 30. The update (build number 18F5055b) comes four days after the launch of iOS 14.5, which introduced over 60 new features and changes to iPhone, and eight days after the first 14.6 beta hit developers' iPhones.

News: Facebook CEO Zuckerberg Uses Latest Appearance to Triple Down on Augmented Reality & Creator Revenue-Focused Future

Facebook's annual earnings call on Wednesday didn't come with any big surprises, that is, if you took everything at face value.

News: Adidas & Tooz Reveal More About AR Smartglasses Partnership

The progress Tooz has been making in the smartglasses space has been mostly kept under wraps, but the company is slowly giving us a deeper look at what it has in store for smartglasses wearers.

News: Apple's AR Spaces in Updated Clips App Uses iPhone & iPad LiDAR to Give You New AR Video Powers

Ever since the debut of the LiDAR Scanner in the latest batch of Apple's iPhones and iPads, the questions have swirled as to how this would benefit augmented reality interactions.

News: Campfire AR Headset Emerges from Stealth to Offer 3D Collaborations for Enterprise & Design Teams

The augmented reality space is no longer about if but when every company and creator will use some kind of immersive device and software to produce and distribute 3D content.

News: Snap's Acquisition of 3D Mapping Startup Signals Move to Build AR Cloud

The concept of Metaverse, otherwise referred to as AR cloud, where a digital twin of the real world filled with virtual content anchored persistently for all to see, has been a sci-fi dream of futurists for years and an aim for most tech companies who are serious about AR.

News: Netflix Fantasy Franchise 'The Witcher' Opens Early Access to AR Game Called Monster Slayer

Having found success in video games and a hugely popular Netflix series, The Witcher franchise is now on the hunt for the coin Pokémon GO has earned in location-based augented reality mobile games.

News: Apple Releases iOS 14.5 for iPhone, Introducing 60+ New Features & Changes

Apple's "Spring Loaded" event introduced us to many new and exciting products, including iMac and iPad Pro models with the M1 chip, an upgraded Apple TV 4K, a purple iPhone, and the long-awaited AirTag. However, one of the most anticipated announcements came in the form of a software update — the biggest update since iOS 14.0 and iPadOS 14.0 came out — and that's iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5.