Hot Gadget Hacks News Stories — Page 23 of 129

News: Magic Leap Loses CFO Scott Henry & Effects Wizard John Gaeta Following News of Funding Woes

This week's news that Magic Leap's patents had entered collateral limbo, now in the hands of JPMorgan Chase, threw a dark cloud over the company.

Market Reality: Magic Leap Seeks Series E Funding, Apple Delays AR Headset, & Snap Starts Selling Spectacles 3

The week in AR business news started out with a bang with two bombshell reports that cast a shadow on the AR industry as a whole.

News: Starbucks Uses Instagram AR to Promote Sustainability via Holiday Campaign

Starbucks is spicing things up ahead of this holiday season with a little augmented reality joy. This week the company launched its first Instagram filter, called Holijoy, delivered like an early Christmas gift and packing four seasonal lenses.

Gift Guide: Must-Have Smartphone Accessories for Gaming

Smartphone gaming continues to improve with ever sharper displays and raw processing power to deliver console-quality graphics right in the palm of your hands. Nonetheless, you still stand to improve the gaming experience on any phone by adding the right accessories to the mix.

News: Amid Motorola Razr Hype, Lenovo Unveils AR Glasses Concept for Private Computing

After drawing attention from nostalgic Gen Xers for its Motorola Razr reboot with a foldable screen, Lenovo has a new augmented reality smartglasses concept that the company hopes will also turn some heads.

News: What's New in Shortcuts in iOS 13

When Apple acquired the popular Workflow app in 2017, many were worried that it would either get replaced with something much worse, or just disappear entirely. Thankfully, Apple put these concerns to rest with the launch of Shortcuts. In iOS 13, Shortcuts is becoming more powerful than ever, providing functionality on the iPhone that the original Workflow team could only dream of.

News: Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra — a $1,399 Spec Sheet Monster

Sorry, Galaxys S11–19, Samsung's jumping straight to Galaxy S20 this year. They're also going with essentially three base models before accounting for niche variants. Of these three models, it's clear which one's the best: the Galaxy S20 Ultra.

News: Disney Plus Serves Up Snapchat Lens to Promote Live-Action 'Lady & the Tramp'

Unless you've been totally off the grid, there's a good chance you're aware that the Disney Plus streaming video service launched this week. And, if you're on this site, you're likely salivating over the new Star Wars series, The Mandalorian.

News: Galaxy S20 & S20+ Spec Sheet Review — Are Samsung's Latest Flagships Worth the Premium Price?

In a bold move, Samsung has decided to forgo the Galaxy S11 moniker and jump straight to the S20. Perhaps it's marketing for the new 20:9 aspect ratio and 120 Hz display, or maybe it's just the fact that it's releasing in 2020.

News: University of Sussex Researchers Develop Method for Making Holograms Touchable

Most augmented reality experiences are purely visual, with spatial audio gaining in popularity to make visual experiences more realistic. However, leveraging the sense of touch may be the next frontier for AR experiences.

News: Flow Immersive Launches Magic Leap Augmented Reality Data Slideshow App That Puts PowerPoint to Shame

Thanks to the expanding universe of augmented reality tools being made available, increasingly, anybody can liven up sleepy office meetings with immersive computing.

Gift Guide: Keep Your Friends & Family Productive with These Essential Smartphone Gifts

Christmas is just one week before Jan. 1. That means a lot of New Year's resolutions filled with promises to better ourselves with increased productivity, focus, and work ethics — but getting started can be challenging. Give the people in your life a leg up this holiday season with these smartphone gifts to keep them on-task in 2020.

News: Apple Watch Series 5 Offers the Best Lifestyle Assistant & Fitness Wearable You Can Get

The wearables space experienced its "big bang" moment back in 2015 when Apple released its first wearable device, the Apple Watch. Although the device was initially dismissed by some as an unnecessary charm bracelet packed with frivolous tech, in very short order, the public learned just how useful the Apple Watch can be.

News: New Photos of the 2019 Motorola RAZR Surface in FCC Filing, Reveal Dimensions, Notch & Biometrics

Lenovo has done a great job preventing leaks of their new Moto RAZR. We've seen a few images here and there, but for the most part, we knew very little about the long-rumored phone. But with the announcement date just around the corner, an FCC filing has given us a look at the new RAZR from almost every angle.

News: Magic Leap Adds Spotify Music to Growing Arsenal of Spatial Computing Apps

The spatial computing world of Magic Leap is no longer limited to the rarefied tones of Sigur Rós and Sennheiser's Ambeo Augmented Audio app. Now, the entire music universe will be at your augmented reality fingertips.

News: Snapchat Transports Gucci Fans to Trippy Tropical Island for Holiday Promotion

Baby, it's cold outside, but, with some help from Snapchat augmented reality, Gucci is thawing our wintery hearths with a virtual trip to the tropics.

News: Sally Beauty's YouCam-Powered AR Try-on Kiosks Land in 500 US Stores

Another major retailer is putting all its chips in on the relentless rise of selfie culture. Sally Beauty is rolling out kiosks to try-on "some of its best" hair dyes in 500 of its stores throughout the US. The in-store augmented reality-powered kiosks invite you to view yourself on video, overlay a punky (or otherwise) hair color, and snap a selfie on the screen to share your #glowup with friends.

News: Apple Releases iOS 13.3 Public Beta 2 to Software Testers

Apple is often unpredictable when it comes to beta releases, especially with public betas. Developers receive their updates first, then public testers have to wait and see if Apple will do the same for us. Sometimes, the iPhone OEM makes us wait until the following day, but not with iOS 13.3 public beta 2. This update is now available to download and install.

News: Apple Releases iOS 13.3 Beta 2 to iPhone Developers

We're finally back in the swing of things. For the first 26 days after the release of iOS 13.2, which introduced 22 new features and changes to the iOS 13 era, there wasn't a new beta. Then, Apple released iOS 13.3 developer beta 1, and now we seem to be back on schedule, as Apple just released 13.3 beta 2 to developers.

News: Looking Glass Launches 8K Immersive Display, a High-Resolution Holographic-Style Window into the 3D World

The next phase of the holographic display is upon us, and Looking Glass is aggressively making sure that it's at the tip of the spear when it comes to leading that charge.

News: Snap's Spectacles 3 Officially Go on Sale Internationally Online & at Retail

Following up on the initial tease over three months ago, Snap Inc. is finally letting the public get its hands on its new Spectacles 3 wearable device.

News: Kohl's Partners With Snapchat AR for Holiday Pop-Up & Black Friday Promotions

All Kohl's wants for Christmas is Snapchat augmented reality. In conjunction with a holiday pop-up hosted in New York City from Nov. 7 through Nov. 10, Snapchat ran a sponsored portal lens available to targeted Snapchat users in the AR carousel. The experience gave users the ability to virtually transport themselves to the pop-up.

News: Apple AR Headset Delayed Until 2022, Smartglasses to Follow in 2023, Report Says

After recently renewed enthusiasm for the arrival of Apple's long-awaited AR wearables -- the subject of multiple reports and rumors over the past few years -- some of that excitement may now be dampened a bit.

News: Magic Leap Patents Signed Over to JPMorgan Chase as Collateral Just Months After Major Funding Push

Is the augmented reality magic fading down in Plantation, Florida? That's the first question some may be asking following a casual revelation over the weekend that Magic Leap, the maker of the Magic Leap One, has assigned much of its patent portfolio over to JP Morgan Chase as collateral.

Market Reality: HoloLens 2 Arrives, Valve Reportedly Assists Apple with AR Device, & Niantic Prepares AR Cloud Launch

While the long-awaited HoloLens 2 officially arrived this week, details leaked about another, arguably longer-awaited AR headset, the fabled wearable from Apple, and a previously undisclosed partner assisting the Cupertino-based company with the hardware.

News: Apple Releases iOS 13.2.2 to iPhones, Includes Fixes for Multitasking Bug and Dropped Cell Signal

If you're a beta tester, you know Apple released iOS 13.3 this week, bringing with it stability for multitasking as well as minor changes throughout the OS. It seems Apple doesn't want the rest of us to go without this critical patch, as the company releases iOS 13.2.2 today, Thursday, Nov. 7.

News: Microsoft Launches HoloLens 2 Worldwide, Here's a Close-Up Look at the $3,500 Device (Updated)

The long wait is over — the best augmented reality device on the planet is finally available.

News: Everything You Need to Know About the 2020 Motorola RAZR

If you had a phone in 2004, there's a pretty good chance it was a Motorola RAZR. The iconic phone is the tenth highest-selling of all time, and it marked the height of the flip phone era. Now that the technology has caught up, Lenovo (Motorola's parent company) is bringing it back in a big way.

News: Niantic Preps Multiplayer Mode for Pokémon GO, Plans Limited Launch of Real World Platform via Creator Program in 2020

Augmented reality gaming pioneer and Pokémon GO mastermind Niantic is putting the pieces on the gameboard to prepare developers and gamers for the launch of its AR cloud platform.

News: Apple Releases iOS 13.3 Public Beta 1 to iPhone Software Testers, Includes Multitasking Bug Patch

Who's ready for another beta season? We beta testers have had quite the break: Apple released the fourth public beta for 13.2 on Oct. 23, and since then, two full weeks have gone by without a shred of beta news. It seems this Wednesday, Nov. 6 is our lucky day, as Apple just released the first public beta for iOS 13.3.

News: Apple iOS-Powered Sesame Street Yourself App Turns Kids into Their Favorite Characters via ARKit 3's New Features

The longest-running children's television show in the United States, Sesame Street, hasn't survived 50 years without leveraging new technology along the way.

News: Coca-Cola Opens a Can of Augmented Reality to Get Consumers into the Holiday Spirit

Halloween is barely in the rearview mirror, but Coca-Cola is ready to bypass Thanksgiving altogether to accelerate the arrival of Christmas, and the brand has enlisted augmented reality as an accomplice.

News: HoloLens & Augmented Reality Spiders Used in Univ. Study to Treat Arachnophobia

Halloween may be finished, but the augmented reality chills are not over yet for some people. Arachnophobes are bravely facing their fears by cozying up to augmented reality spiders for a university study.

News: Apple Releases iOS 13.3 Beta 1 to iPhone Developers, Includes Fix for Multitasking Bug

The latest official update for iPhone, iOS 13.2, introduced 22 new features and changes to the iOS 13 era, building off the improvements brought by iOS 13.1 and iOS 13 proper before it. It's time to take our first peek into what's next for iPhone and iOS, as Apple releases iOS 13.3 developer beta 1 today, Tuesday, Nov. 5.

News: 10 Ways Mobile AR Filters Are Making Consumer AR of the Future a Mainstream Reality, Today

Despite the fact that over 600,000 Snap Lens filters have been created since Lens Studio debuted in 2017, and Facebook is reporting that more than a billion users have interacted with its Spark AR filters across Facebook properties, social augmented reality filters get a bad rap in the AR industry.