Gadget Hacks News

News: Washington Post Opts for Fun Over Function with AR App for Winter Olympics

Although The New York Times may have won the race in terms of presenting coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics through augmented reality first, The Washington Post is nevertheless working to compete in AR in a different way—via gaming.

News: Atheer's Enterprise AR Platform Now Available on HoloLens via Design Interactive's App

Enterprise augmented reality developer Atheer is bringing its AR solution for enterprise businesses to the HoloLens by way of a joint venture with fellow AR developer Design Interactive.

News: Snapchat Unveils Web-Based Tool for Creating Custom AR Lenses & Filters

Snapchat just fast-tracked the majority of its app user base into the world of augmented reality production by making its Lens and Filter tools available to anyone with a web browser.

News: This HoloLens App Brings Animals into Your Home Without Violating Your Lease

Augmented reality headsets with depth sensors, like the HoloLens, offer a much more immersive experience than the average smartphone at present, and one app demonstrates that in a uniquely entertaining fashion.

News: iBoot Source Code Leaked — Here's What iPhone Users Need to Know

A massive leak appeared the web today, and it's got some huge security implications for every iPhone on the market. On the plus side, it also has some potential for enabling deep-level modifications and jailbreak tweaks.

Apple AR: Now You Can Give Your Sweetheart an AR Valentine's Day Card

Those looking for a creative way to loose a metaphorical Cupid's arrow at the figurative heart of the object of their affection can now add augmented reality greeting cards to their quiver.

News: Snap Highlights Augmented Reality's Role in Favorable 2017 Results & Optimistic 2018 Plans

After closing its 2017 financial books on a high note, Snap, Inc. is planning to ride the momentum of its augmented reality products into the new year. That's the main takeaway following the company's 2017 earnings conference call, which was held on Tuesday.

News: Gboard Makes Finding Emojis Even Easier on iPhone

If you're looking for an alternative iOS keyboard for your iPhone, look no further than Gboard. The Google-made keyboard is bursting with features like web search, Google Maps, GIFs, and more. Now, Gboard is adding a new feature that'll make it easier to find the perfect emoji.

News: Google Skips ARCore to Add AR to Motion Stills App

If you're an Android user, you're very likely jealous of your iPhone friends who have access to the wide, wonderful world of augmented reality thanks to ARKit.

News: Deutsche Telekom & Zeiss Launch Smartglasses Startup Tooz

A new smartglasses powerhouse is rising in Europe, led by two of the region's leading brands, optical systems company Zeiss (also known as Carl Zeiss) and telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom.

News: Snapchat Adds 'Best Of' Filter & Lens to Celebrate its New Redesign

Snapchat's redesign has really taken off, slimming the app down to two sections: Friends and Discover. Snapchat appears to be celebrating this massive success by giving all users a sort of "best of" filter, one that encapsulates the complete Snapchat experience complete with the Dancing Hot Dog.

News: Audi Drives into AR Ahead of SpaceX Moon Landing Mission

Amazingly, SpaceX founder Elon Musk just launched a Tesla into space, bound for Mars. But just because you're not a billionaire with drone rockets at your disposal, that doesn't mean you can't participate in the automobile-infused future of space here on Earth.

News: iOS 11.3 Beta 2 Released, Includes Battery Health Information & Controls

Apple released the second beta for iOS 11.3 on Tuesday, Feb. 6. The update comes two weeks after the original announcement and release of the iOS 11.3 beta, which brought new Animoji, Messages on iCloud, and Apple Music Videos, among other features. One glaring omission was the promised battery health tool, but iOS 11.3 beta 2 just introduced it.

News: Amazon Will Finally Disable Lock Screen Ads on Their Discounted Phones

Amazon has had a long-standing partnership with its consumers regarding special offers. Amazon sells these Prime Exclusive Phones with lock screen ads and Amazon apps in exchange for discounts on the phones. You also need to be an Amazon Prime Member, leading us to historically believe that these "special offers" weren't really all that special. That is, until today.

News: Meta Caters to Design Professionals with 3D CAD Support for Solidworks

In another move that pushes Meta 2 toward becoming a legitimate workplace tool, Meta Company has partnered with Dassault Systèmes to bring augmented reality support to the latter's Solidworks 3D CAD software.

News: Investors Bet $8M on Former Google & Facebook Engineers' Platform-Bridging AR Development Tool

Augmented reality software maker 8th Wall has closed a Series A funding round of $8 million in capital to feed the growth of its development platform.

News: Augmented Reality Skates into New York Times Coverage of Winter Olympics

Before The New York Times brought augmented reality to its iPhone app, the only way Winter Olympics fans could get this close a view to the world's best athletes would be to acquire a press pass.

News: Doritos & Mountain Dew Remix Their Super Bowl Songs of Fire & Ice on Snapchat

After pouring out $10 million for 60 seconds of Super Bowl advertising time, Doritos and Mountain Dew continued their Sunday marketing binge on Snapchat.

News: Intel Reveals Vaunt Smartglasses, Normal Looking Glasses That Work with iOS & Android Smartphones

Just a week after news leaked out about Intel's 2018 plans for smartglasses, the company revealed what the device looks like and how it works in a new video (bottom of this page) released on Monday.

Market Reality: Apple, Niantic, Intel & Facebook Pursue the Trophy in the Super Bowl of AR

With the Super Bowl just days away, it seems appropriate to draw parallels between football and the professional sport of technology business, or, more specifically, the augmented reality segment.

News: New York Times Adds AR to Its Coverage in Time for Winter Olympics

After devoting a number of resources toward developing VR content to modernize the delivery of its news content in recent years, The New York Times is expanding its capabilities to include augmented reality as well, a mission outlined in a manifesto published on Thursday.

Apple AR: This Is What Apple CEO Tim Cook Said When Cornered About Possible AR Smartglasses

Prior to Apple's earnings report on Thursday, the storm clouds were gathering as Wall Street prepared for bad news in the wake of reports of slower iPhone sales. But it turns out that those fears were mostly unwarranted. Apple managed to increase iPhone revenue during the December quarter, despite selling slightly fewer phones.

News: Snapchat Launches In-App Store with 'World's First AR Superstar' Hot Dog Toy & Other Swag

It used to be that the best kind of swag was T-shirts and hats from your favorite music artists, but now the symbol of casual insider cool falls to the tech companies, and Snapchat has just joined the ranks of branded apparel purveyors.

News: Consumer Smartglasses Powered by Intel Could Arrive This Year, Report Says

Intel Corp.'s augmented reality division could ship consumer-focused smartglasses before the end of the year, according to reports.

News: Niantic Acquires Escher Reality to Add Multiplayer Capabilities to Its Apps

Soon, Pokémon GO allies attacking a raid boss at a gym will be able to do so together in augmented reality.

News: Galaxy S9 & S9+ Will Support T-Mobile's New 600 MHz LTE Band — Rural Users Rejoice

In 2017, after purchasing a majority of the 600 MHz frequency, T-Mobile began a massive rollout of the new LTE Bands across the US. However, there are currently only two devices that support the frequency, also known as LTE Band 71. Thanks to a recent FCC listing, we've learned this number will double when the Galaxy S9 and S9+ debut next month.

Apple AR: Art.com & Houzz Apps Take Imaginative Approaches to Hang AR Art Until ARKit Update Arrives

One of the more obvious benefits that vertical surface detection will bring to iPhone and iPad apps with the spring 1.5 update to Apple's ARKit platform is the ability to hang virtual artwork that rests realistically on walls.

News: 5 Things We Want to See from Nintendo's Upcoming Mario Kart Tour on the iPhone

Nintendo set the internet ablaze Wednesday night with two big announcements. First, Nintendo revealed that the Switch's paid online service will begin in September (boo), but it was the other report that really got fans excited — Mario Kart is coming to your iPhone.

News: It's Time to Ask — Is Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates Secretly a HoloLens Hater?

Despite their sometimes fluffy reputations and occasionally ethically compromised viewpoints, tech evangelists are important, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The right passionate voice behind the right technology platform or piece of hardware can sometimes spell the difference between fostering a community of potential users and watching a product die on the vine.

News: 14 Cool New Features in Android Oreo for the OnePlus 5T

When OnePlus announced the 5T, many were disappointed that it wasn't shipping with Android Oreo. To curb some of this disappointment, OnePlus quickly introduced an open beta for both the 5 and 5T and promised that each would receive the official version by Q1 2018. Well today, OnePlus has met this promise and pushed the OTA out for the official stable version of Android Oreo.

News: Almost a Year Later, Android Oreo Is Still on Less Than 1% of Phones

The first developer preview build of Android P (Android 9.0) is right around the corner, but less than 1% of Android phones are running Oreo. The fragmentation on Android (the number of devices on different versions of the operating system) is staggering, and a problem that has plagued the operating system since it first debuted in 2008 — despite Google's best efforts to fix it.

News: Google AR Product Head Defects to Facebook to Lead Camera Efforts

Facebook just ratcheted up its ongoing augmented reality war against the competition by stealing away Google's director of product for AR, Nikhil Chandhok. In his new role, the executive will serve as Facebook's director of product on the company's Camera/AR team.

News: Augmented Reality in Cars — the Companies & Tech Driving Us into the Future

While autonomous vehicles are almost assuredly the future of personal transportation, we are likely many years from seeing self-driving cars become as ubiquitous as manually-driven ones, as the auto industry has a myriad of government regulations and other constraints to contend with. Until then, augmented reality is looking like the next big thing in automotive technology.

News: 1 in 4 iPhone Users Still Haven't Updated to iOS 11

From its official launch back in September, iOS 11 has been equal parts revered as it has been criticized. Even with all the great, new features we've come to expect from a major iOS update, plenty of bugs and glitches have forced users to overlook the positives. Perhaps that is why, four months later, 25% of iPhone owners are still running iOS 10.3 or earlier.

News: Apple News Glitch Spammed iPhone Users with the Same Notification Over & Over

Well, that was annoying. Earlier today, iOS users — including myself — were getting plagued with the same CNN news alert over and over again. While the news itself is significant (the guy who sent that false missile alert in Hawaii was fired), people usually get the gist after just one alert, not dozens.

News: Apple May Be Holding Back Crucial Key to ARKit's Gaming Success Until 2019, Report Says

Now that we finally have vertical plane recognition in ARKit (at least on a developer level until the spring iOS 11.3 release), the real promise of mobile augmented reality is beginning to come into focus on iOS. But a new report indicates that a major near future advancement of ARKit that could change everything has been put on hold by Apple.

News: Magic Leap May Have Shed Light on the Name of Its AR Operating System in Trademark Filing

It looks like Magic Leap is getting its ducks in a row to launch its Magic Leap One: Creator Edition as the company's name is once again showing up in US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) filings.

News: Lack of Resources Could Force Apple to Delay the iPhone SE 2

Earlier this year, rumors began to swirl regarding Apple's upcoming iPhone SE 2. They predicted an A10 processor and a glass back for wireless charging, all at a price point at least $150 cheaper than the iPhone 7. While it wasn't poised to turn heads like the iPhone X, it would have been a reasonable upgrade for many users looking for a more budget-oriented Apple device.

News: This Is How Much the Galaxy S9 Will Cost in the US

Although expected to be only a modest upgrade over the S8, we can't help but be excited about the Galaxy S9's unveiling late next month. Among the many rumors and questions we're looking to see addressed, one of the biggest queries we have is, of course, with the price tag. We might not have to wait a month for the goods, however, thanks to a new pricing announcement out of South Korea.

Apple AR: Apple's ARKit Update Already Being Taken to New Levels in These Developer Experiments

Thanks to Apple's beta preview of iOS 11.3 released last week, app developers are already experimenting with the ARKit capabilities that will be available to regular users this spring.