Gadget Hacks News

News: Apple Invades Grammys with iPhone X Animoji Karaoke for Childish Gambino & Migos

On Sunday, the annual Grammy Awards delivered its usual mix of fashion, live performances, and music industry magic, but this time with one important difference: Animojis.

News: Galaxy S9 Tipped to Have 'Intelligent Scan' Facial Unlocking — Iris & Face Recognition Combined

Over the past few days, we've learned a lot about Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S9 and S9+ smartphones. In addition to a full list of hardware specs, we have complete renders direct from renowned leaker Evan Blass. Of course, Samsung always has a few surprises up their sleeve, and today, we have some new information about the facial unlock method arriving on the S8.

News: Google Clips Should Be Built into the Camera on Pixel Phones

Google's new AI-powered camera, Google Clips, seems to be targeted at parents of young children in its current form, but the idea itself has unique potential. Just set it up somewhere, then you'll never miss a moment trying to capture the moment — you'll have a robot photographer taking care of that stuff for you.

News: Forget Face Masks, Facebook Is Working on Full-Body AR Camera Effects

Facebook may have shamelessly copied Snapchat and its camera effects for faces (as well as its World Lenses), but it might beat its social media competitor to virtual body augmentation.

Market Reality: While Apple & Vuzix Bet on AR, Game Developers Are Less Enthusiastic

This week, saw two companies leaning on AR to prop up their financial futures. On one hand, Apple made quite a bit of AR-related news ahead of its quarterly earnings report next week. On the other hand, Vuzix launched a pre-order program for its Blade smartglasses and closed the largest financing deal in the company's history to fuel its ongoing headset production.

News: GDC Survey Says Developers Are Bullish on HoloLens, Slow to Mobile AR Versus VR

A new survey of game developers paints a somewhat less than rosy future for augmented reality gaming, but there's still some hope for its long-term prospects.

Dev Report: Live 3D Tiles Are Finally Available for Windows Mixed Reality Headsets but Not HoloLens

Longtime Next Reality readers may remember my Wish List for Microsoft early last year. It was a post in which I put my head together with a number of other community developers to create a list of features that would make Windows Mixed Reality and HoloLens better for developers. It would seem that one of the most sought-after features is finally here ... well, sort of.

News: Lenovo Mirage Star Wars AR App Gets 'Last Jedi' Update, Including Porgs & New Lightsaber Duel

Although The Last Jedi hype has mostly passed, there are still a good number of fans out there dueling Sith lords in augmented reality via their new Lenovo Mirage headsets. Now, thanks to an update on Thursday, those aspiring Jedi have a new AR challenge to engage in the Star Wars: Jedi Challenges app.

News: How the RED Hydrogen One's 4V 'Holographic' Display Works

RED has apparrantly been blowing minds with the revolutionary technology inside its upcoming Hydrogen One. Like the Razer Phone in late 2017, most of the cool tech lives inside its screen — which, also like the Razer Phone, is unlike any other on the market today. RED, too, is poised to make some major waves in the coming months, as its phone should be arriving in stores this summer.

News: Thyng Gives Anyone the Ability to Embed AR Content in Images Ahead of ARKit

Stop me if you've heard this one before: scan an image with your iPhone's camera and augmented reality content shows up.

News: This App Turns the iPhone X into an AR Face-Painting Booth

Thanks to Face Maker, a new app for the iPhone X, children everywhere can now avoid the trauma of face painting.

News: Apple iPhone X App Lets You Wear Your Friend's Face Like a Mask & Put Words in Their Mouth

On Wednesday, Apple released a new batch of Animoji characters that gives iPhone X users more virtual masks to play around with, but what many have been waiting for is an app that lets you put on a virtual mask of another person, not an animated emoji. Well, that day has finally arrived.

News: Vuzix Launches Program Allowing Consumers to Order Blade AR Smartglasses Along with Business & Developer Customers

After Vuzix's scorching hot week at CES, the future of AR is so bright, we have to wear (smart) shades. Luckily, Vuzix is making it easier for consumers to grab a pair.

News: iOS 11.3 Makes Multitasking Faster on the iPhone X

Apple released iOS 11.3 beta on Jan. 24 and the public stable release on March 29, and it didn't take us long to find plenty of cool new stuff. Aside from new Animoji, Health Records, and some upcoming changes related to the recent battery fiasco, most of the new features are about polish. One such feature we've found should make iPhone X users a little happier.

News: Augmented Reality & VR Take Flight in New Airbus iPhone App

While flying can be a frustrating and sometimes nerve-racking experience, Airbus is banking on augmented reality features in its new iflyA380 app for iPhones and iPads to help passengers learn to love the ordeal.

News: 24 Cool New Features in iOS 11.3 for iPhone

While iOS 11.3 doesn't have as many new features as iOS 11.2, there's still a lot to love about Apple's latest update for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, even if some of the best features we were expecting didn't make the cut.

Apple AR: Apple Adds Much-Needed Vertical Surface Recognition in ARKit Update

When Apple unboxes the next major update to its mobile operating system this spring, iPhones and iPads will gain some significant new features for augmented reality experiences: verticality.

News: Apple iOS 11.3 Update Introduces Brand New Set of Animoji Characters

We knew it was coming, it was just a matter of when. Apple has just announced iOS 11.3, a new update for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, and it will include a brand-new set of Animoji for the iPhone X.

News: iOS 11.3 Beta Released with Messages on iCloud, New Animoji, Apple Music Videos & More

It's tough to keep pace with Apple lately. As expected, only one day after the public release of iOS 11.2.5, the company released iOS 11.3 to developers. A day after that, Apple pushed it out to public beta testers, too. With new Animoji, more transparent battery information, Apple Music receiving music videos, and more, this update is the one to watch out for.

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.

Rumor Roundup: Latest News & Leaks on the RED Hydrogen One — Holographic Display, Dual SIM & More

For the unaware, RED is a company that specializes in high-end cameras and other recording devices. RED's cameras are used to shoot some of Hollywood's biggest films and TV shows. Their modular designs make them ideal for the user who does a lot of mixing and matching — and has a wallet to back their work up (their WEAPON 8K VV starts at $79,500).

Apple AR: Tim Cook Makes Rare Animoji Appearance, Pushes AR Amid Slow iPhone X Sales Reports

In the wake of reports of slow iPhone X sales and a possible early end to its shelf life, Apple CEO Tim Cook is on a public goodwill tour of sorts, espousing the virtues of Apple AR.

News: iOS 11.2.5 Released with ChaiOS Patch, HomePod Support & Persistent 'Now Playing' Bar

As expected, Apple began pushing out the final version of iOS 11.2.5 to all iPads, iPhone, and iPod touches today after 41 days of beta testing. Highlights include a fix for the ChaiOS vulnerability, a persistent Now Playing bar in Music, and some signs of AirPlay 2 just in time for the HomePod launch on Feb. 9.

News: Google AR Prototype Enables 3D Model Viewing Through Web Browsers

Unsurprisingly, Google wants to be the caretaker for augmented reality on the web, and its latest move in this endeavor is a 3D model viewer prototype called Article that's designed to work across all web browsers.

News: Augmented Reality Haunts Meitu Apps in the Name of 'Insidious: The Last Key'

Scary movies seem to be a natural fit for augmented reality experiences, with the latest example coming from the Insidious film franchise.

News: This Winter Olympics App Will Use Augmented Reality to Help Fans Navigate PyeongChang 2018

If navigating a new city for a sporting event, such as the upcoming Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a daunting task, then making your way through a foreign country to a series of venues may seem like an impossible mission.

News: 'The Walking Dead' Mixes Augmented Reality & Wine to Keep You Alive Between Episodes

Fans of The Walking Dead can now kill time until the series returns from its winter hiatus by raising walkers from the labels on bottles of wine influenced by the show.

News: StubHub Punches Augmented Reality's Ticket to Help Fans Navigate Super Bowl LII

While the Minnesota Vikings have a realistic chance to become the first team to play in a Super Bowl on their home field, there will still be fans attending Super Bowl LII who will be in unfamiliar surroundings.

Market Reality: Sketchfab Opens AR Content Store, Amazon Pushes Fitness Gear with AR & DAQRI Capitalizes on AR Training

While it may seem to some like investors are just throwing their money at augmented reality companies simply because the tech is heavily hyped, these money managers do actually want to see a return on their investments.

News: Alexa Voice Control Coming to iPhones Soon

If you're anything like most iPhone users, then you've probably grown tired of Siri's antics by now. She frequently has trouble with even the most basic of questions, and severely lags behind Google Assistant with regards to usability. Unfortunately, Google Assistant for iPhones has been less than ideal.

News: Maroon 5 Dives into Augmented Reality with Music Video Created Entirely in Snapchat

Move over, Hype Williams, it looks like Snapchat is about to take some of your music video-making business, and pop rock group Maroon 5 is the proof.

News: iOS 11.2.5 Beta 7 Released, Expect Public Version Early Next Week

Apple just pushed out iOS 11.2.5 beta 7 today for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch to both developers and public beta testers. On Wednesday, Jan. 17, beta 6 was released, and there were two betas the previous week. With Apple promising a patch for "ChaiOS" next week for everyone, it's like iOS 11.2.5 will be that update.

News: This Is How Big Business, Cities & Native American Tribes Are Leveraging the Power of AR via DAQRI Headsets

While the mainstream consumer market waits for cool augmented glasses to arrive from Magic Leap, or maybe even Snap Inc. (Spectacles 2.0??), AR headset maker DAQRI and its business customers are finding new, money-saving and time-saving use cases for the technology today.

News: This iPhone App Gives You Virtual Prizes for Turning Your Curse Words into Objects in AR

If you love to hear yourself talk, you can now enjoy seeing your words materialize in augmented reality with an ARKit-compatible iPhone or iPad.

News: Amazon Pushes Athletic Wear in Augmented Reality with Mo-Capped Fitness Models

Apparently, Amazon's new year's resolution is to bulk up its fitness fashion sales by pumping up its augmented reality muscles.

Bye, Notch: Samsung's Developing a Way to Embed the Selfie Camera in the Screen

While 2017 saw the rise of "bezel-less" smartphones, none truly lived up to the name. Samsung shrank its bezels significantly, while Apple went with the infamous "notch." However, Samsung seems on the verge of kicking bezels out the door with a new patent application that embeds the front camera into the display.

News: Meta 2 Augmented Reality Headset Available to Businesses Through Dell Starting in February

Following up on a preview of the deal we reported during last week's CES, Dell has officially announced the details around its role as the first company to resell the Meta 2 augmented reality headset.

Dev Report: 'Book of the Dead' Demo Shows New Unity 2018.1 Features Are a Literal Game Changer

In its goal to push the visual quality of real-time rendering to a new level, Unity is starting the new year off right by releasing a sneak peek at its upcoming interactive rendering improvements via a short, three-minute first-person interactive demo called "Book of the Dead."

News: FaceCake Uses Snapchat-Like Camera Effects to Let You Try on Earrings Instead of Masks & Rainbows

Although it sounds like a foodie's take on Facebook, what Calabasas, California-based FaceCake actually offers is more about augmented reality fashion marketing rather than food selfies.

News: iOS 11.2.5 Beta 6 Released, Almost Ready for the Masses

Apple pushed out iOS 11.2.5 beta 6 today for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch to developers and public beta testers. Last week two beta updates were rolled out, and this fast pace may indicate that iOS 11.2.5 is almost ready for prime time.