Hot Gadget Hacks News Stories

News: Galaxy Note 10+ vs. Galaxy S10+: Comparing the Best Phones from Samsung

Unlike many other OEMs, Samsung has two prolific phone series they release each year, the Galaxy S series and Galaxy Note series. At first, the latter was the bleeding edge of technology, but in recent years, the line has been blurred. So what do you get with the Note 10+ over the S10+ besides a stylus? Let us compare.

News: 7 Things You Need to Know About the Galaxy Note 10 & Note 10+

Samsung has just announced the Galaxy Note 10 and 10+. These are the latest and greatest from the largest smartphone OEM in the world. Plenty of numbers and specs have been thrown your way to showcase how good the Galaxy Note 10 is, but we wanted to simplify all this for you and key in on the most important things.

Samsung vs. Apple: Galaxy Note 10+ vs iPhone XS Max

Every fall, we can expect a few things: leaves changing colors, cooler temperatures, and Samsung and Apple releasing new phones that fanboys and fangirls will argue about until the following year. This year, Samsung is mixing it up, releasing two phones in the Galaxy Note series. Let's see how the larger phones compare.

News: 5 Magic Leap Apps You're Probably Missing, Including Star Wars, the Magicverse Matrix, AR Jenga, & More

Whenever the name Magic Leap comes up, the talk inevitably seems to turn to the company's big-name backers and "unicorn-level" amounts of cash poured into the venture. And if it's not that, observers tend to focus on the company's market strategy and overall prospects.

News: Apple's iOS 13 Developer Beta 6 Available for iPhone with New Dark Mode Control, Hidden Link Previews & More

If tradition holds, we're roughly one month away from Apple's big iPhone announcement. While we're excited to see what will mainly be a significant camera upgrade, it's not all about the hardware. Apple will also release the official version of iOS 13 to coincide with the iPhone XI. Before then, however, iOS 13 needs beta testing, and developer beta 6 just hit on August 7.

Apple Card's Fine Print: The Rules & Restrictions You Need to Know Before Applying for Apple's New Credit Card

Apple Card has generated quite the buzz since its March 2019 announcement. The iPhone maker's new credit card pairs with Apple Wallet on your device, is simple to sign up for, includes enhanced security over other cards, has zero fees, and provides daily rewards right to your Apple Cash account. And as good as that sounds, the fine print can complicate things real quick.

News: Startup Tilt Five Preps Kickstarter Launch for AR Gaming Glasses, Plans to Ship Product by December

Augmented reality gaming startup Tilt Five is ready to reinvent old school Dungeons & Dragons-style games for the modern age with its augmented reality headset and tabletop game system.

News: Facebook Creates 'Virtual Wing' Art Exhibit at the Tate Museum in London, Powered by Spark AR

Ever since Facebook announced Spark AR at the 2017 F8 Developer's Conference, the social media giant has been looking for ways to implement its mobile augmented reality camera platform in the lives of everyday users.

Market Reality: Magic Leap App Makes Waves, Norm Glasses Push Smartglass Future, & Facebook's Mind-Powered Controllers

When it comes to the business of augmented reality, companies that aren't already introducing new products or apps are focused on producing the AR technology of the future. But in the realm of real products and apps, Magic Leap continues to show off what its headset can do, this time via a new app that transports users to the ocean's depths.

News: Microsoft FCC Filing Hints That the Wait for HoloLens 2 Is Almost Over

We know that Microsoft's HoloLens 2 is due to start shipping later this year, but despite the trickle of news about the device, we still don't know when.

News: Slipknot & Guns N' Roses AR Masks on Facebook's AR Camera Let Fans Virtually Wear the Music Experience

While Snapchat augmented reality often embraces pop stars like Drake and Ariana Grande, a couple of bands from the louder side of the music industry have found a home with Facebook.

News: Amazon Sumerian Gains Support for Physically-Based Rendering & Product Templates

Thanks to a new update to Amazon Sumerian, developers will now be able to not only create more realistic 3D content, but also build AR experiences more easily.

News: Snapchat Turns Jack in the Box Augmented Reality Experience into a Build-a-Burger Contest

Fast-food chain Jack in the Box has decided to put an augmented reality twist on the traditional sweepstakes promotion by employing the immersive powers of Snapchat.

News: Microsoft Discontinuing Major OS Updates for HoloLens 1

With HoloLens 2 (hopefully) just around the corner, Microsoft has announced that it will no longer be providing any major operating system updates to the original HoloLens.

News: Facebook's Brain Control Interface Research Could Eventually Produce Thought-Controlled AR Wearables

Who's ready to let future Facebook augmented reality smartglasses read their brain? Well, ready or not, the tech giant is making progress in the area of brain control interfaces (BCI) by funding research.

News: Zynga Debuts Pagini Hypercar in Augmented Reality via CSR 2 Mobile Game

Already among the first game makers to add augmented reality content to an existing game upon the launch of ARKit, Zynga is breaking new ground with mobile AR once again.

News: Apple's [AR]T Walk Brings Contemporary AR Art Installations to the Streets of Major Cities

In recent years, augmented reality has increasingly helped to take art off museum walls and bring it (virtually) into people's homes and communities, offering new perspectives on classic pieces and modern creations alike.

News: Startup Human Capable's 'Norm Glasses' AR Smartglasses Are Like Google Glass in a Regular Pair of Shades

What if, back in 2013, Google Glass had launched not as a Star Trek Borg-like eyepiece, but as a pair of seemingly normal shades, with the augmented reality lens and camera hidden within the frame?

Hands-On: Hands-On with Magic Leap's Undersea, an AR Experience That Transports You to Another World

The latest immersive production from Magic Leap Studios finally got its debut on Monday at Siggraph, during which the company also released the app to the general public, so we took it for a spin.

News: Google Challenges Apple's iPhone X Series with Face Unlock & Air Gestures on Pixel 4

It's been almost two years since Apple added the TrueDepth depth-sensing camera of the iPhone X for Face ID and Animojis, but now Google is ready to upgrade the front-facing camera on its Pixel series.

News: Apple Just Released iOS 13 Public Beta 4 for iPhone

Apple just seeded the fourth public beta for iOS 13 to software testers today, Tuesday, July 30. AppleSeed participants saw this beta one day early, alongside the release of developer beta 5. Now, developer and public testers alike are up-to-speed with the latest in iOS 13.

News: US Navy Using Magic Leap AR Technology to Improve Warfare Training

In recent years, the US military has been utilizing augmented reality as a training tool, giving officers and soldiers an opportunity to train and hone their decision-making, tactical efforts, and weapons accuracy via virtual scenarios.

News: Apple Just Released iOS 13 Developer Beta 5 for iPhone

Beta testing for Apple's big upcoming iPhone update, iOS 13, is well underway. So far, each of the four beta versions we've seen brought new features and changes to the table, many of which were never even mentioned by Apple during WWDC in June. Now, it's time to do it all over again, as Apple just released the fifth developer beta for iOS 13.

News: Adobe Previews Stationary Augmented Reality Display Called Project Glasswing

It appears that the Project Aero 3D content development tool isn't the only augmented reality project that Adobe has in the works.

Market Reality: Magic Leap One Tested as Office Companion, Nreal Releases SDK, & Apple Files for AR Navigation Patent

Now that we've had our hands on the Magic Leap One for almost a year and early adopter developers have had the opportunity to publish apps for the AR headset, it's time to see how it stands up against the rigors of a day at the office. We did just that, and we wrote about it!

News: AR Puzzle Game PuzzlAR Makes Jump from Smartphone to Magic Leap One

Augmented reality jigsaw puzzle game PuzzlAR: World Tour, formerly only available on mobile devices, has been given a major upgrade via a new version for the Magic Leap One.

Coming Soon: Choose Your Own AR Backdrops for Instagram Stories

Remember Photo Booth on Mac and iOS? It still exists, but there was a of time where everyone was using it. And why not? It was so cool to take photos with any background imaginable. Underwater? Check. On the moon? Of course. Now, Instagram wants to bring back the fun by introducing AR backgrounds for stories.

News: Magic Leap's New Overture App & Background Music Service Hope to Bring Music into Your AR Workspace

The mystery surrounding Overture, an app that showed up in the Magic Leap World app store along with the latest Lumin software release, has been cleared up.

News: Apple's Latest Patent Proposes Augmented Reality Navigation for Cars via Mobile Device

With Google taking on the sidewalks with augmented reality walking navigation for Google Maps, Apple has its sights set on the road.

News: I Spent a Full Day Working in the Magic Leap One & Discovered the AR Office of the Future

Why do you need augmented reality? Because enterprise, they say. And while that's certainly true for several disciplines, there's still that mainstream use case hanging out there waiting for users to discover beyond the realm of enterprise and gaming.

News: Occipital Updates Structure Sensor with Active IR Stereo Depth Sensing in Mark II Version

Years ago, in 2013, Occipital introduced its original Structure Sensor for iOS, a mobile 3D scanning device for measuring three-dimensional objects. Soon after, in an unrelated deal, Apple acquired PrimeSense, the company that made one of the components for Occipital's scanning device.

News: Magic Leap Expands Multiplayer Support & Adds Hand Mesh Tracking in Latest Lumin OS Update

While Magic Leap has remained mostly silent regarding its plans for its Magic Leap One successor, the software team continues to makes strides with improvements to the device's Lumin OS and SDK.

News: Magic Leap Reveals Peek at New 'Undersea' Augmented Reality Experience

The Association for Computing Machinery's annual Siggraph conference, taking place next week in Los Angeles, will bring researchers from around the to show off their latest innovations in imaging and display technology.

ASUS ROG Phone II: The Gaming Phone for Everyone

Since the Razer Phone's announcement in 2017, we've seen a new subgroup of phones emerge. Gaming phones are now a thing, leading to companies like ASUS creating phones that are thoroughly optimized for the mobile gaming experience. And with their second iteration, they perfected it.

News: Apple Releases iOS 12.4 for iPhone with Migration Tool, Apple News+ Improvements & More

While the eyes and ears of the iPhone world are singularly fixated on iOS 13 and its suite of over 200 new features, Apple was actively piloting iOS 12.4 in tandem with the big iPhone update, in preparation for the release Apple Card. Today, Apple has finally seeded iOS 12.4 stable, 116 days after its first beta version, and there's still no concrete evidence that Apple Card itself will show its face.

News: Nreal Pushes On in Face of Magic Leap Lawsuit with SDK Launch for Nreal Light Smartglasses

In the midst of fending off legal challenges from Magic Leap and Epic Games, startup Nreal isn't retreating. Instead, the company is digging in its heels and pushing forward with its launch plan for its Nreal Light smartglasses.

Market Reality: Microsoft Debuts HoloLens 2 AR Clones, Samsung Posts Smartglasses Patent, & Intel Depth Cams Get Cheaper

The longer it takes Apple, Snapchat, Facebook, and other tech giants to build their own version of augmented reality headsets and smartglasses, the longer runway of practical experience Microsoft gains with the HoloLens and its sequel. The latest example: AR cloning.

News: Microsoft HoloLens 2 Video Transports Us to Tokyo & into Mind of Developer Dreaming of Augmented Reality Companions

When you're trying to pioneer a brand new category of technology, sometimes it's not enough to just have great tech. You also need to be able to tell a great story. You need to be able to capture the imagination.

News: The Smartphones of Austin's Underground Musicians

Smartphone technology has become as ubiquitous as automobiles. In Austin, Texas, a city that is widely known as the "Live Music Capital of the World," smartphones have been embraced by the music community not just as a way to document and promote, but to create music.

News: These Apollo 11 Augmented Reality Experiences from Google, USA Today, Time, & Smithsonian Will Fly You to the Moon

Unless you've been hiding under a (moon) rock for the past month, you already know that Saturday, July 20 is the 50th anniversary of NASA's Apollo 11 lunar landing.