Hot Gadget Hacks News Stories
News: iPhone X Can Record & Send Video Holograms via HoloBack App
If you find yourself on the run from the Empire, you no longer need a droid to send a holographic distress message, you just need an iPhone X and the HoloBack app.
News: Moto Z3 — the Good, the Bad & the Meh
In 2018, Motorola is no longer the same brand that introduced the world to the Motorola Droid. The once iconic company is now part of the "Others" group, scrambling for fifth place. The newly-announced Moto Z3 perfectly embodies their current state with competitive specs ... if it came out last year.
News: 5 Reasons Why Fortnite Avoiding the Play Store Is a Terrible Idea
After getting confirmation from Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, we now know Fortnite Battle Royale will not be available on the Play Store when it's finally released for Android. Instead, users will have to download the APK directly from Epic Games' website — and quite frankly, this is a bad idea.
Market Reality: More Magic Leap One Details Unearthed, Apple Adds to Its AR Team, & Snapchat Learns New Tricks
The arrival of Magic Leap One is tantalizingly close and, although the company has been saving the last details for launch day, a few of the more important details were found this week hiding deep in the code on Magic Leap's website.
News: Google Stays Nimble with ARCore 1.4 Update, Bringing Passthrough Camera Auto-Focus & Wider Availability
Google's ARCore team is staying busy, as evidenced by yet another update of its augmented reality toolkit.
News: If You Use Snapchat, Don't Jailbreak Your iPhone
Recently, a user on Reddit complained that their Snapchat account had been temporarily banned because Snapchat noticed the user's account was going through a third-party service. In reality, the account in question was running on a jailbroken iPhone, and it was far from the first to be banned by the messaging app.
News: App That Puts SpaceX Launches on Your Tabletop Boosts Augmented Reality's Flight into the Mainstream
The mainstreaming of augmented reality won't happen overnight, but it's becoming increasingly clear that traditional media is leading the charge in the effort to introduce the public to immersive computing. A recent example came from none other than USA Today via its 321 Launch app.
News: Nokia's Snake Game Slithers into Augmented Reality via Facebook AR
If you're a part of Generation X or a Millennial, there's a good chance that the first mobile game you played was Snake on an old school Nokia phone. Now, you can relive that nostalgia of monochrome and push buttons in augmented reality with the Facebook Camera.
News: Snapchat Adds Speech-Activated Lenses to Its Augmented Reality Capabilities
Snapchat users are used to raising their eyebrows or opening their mouths to activate augmented reality face effects. Now, they get to use their voices as well.
News: Latest Huawei Mate 20 Rumors & Leaks — Face ID, Massive Battery & Wireless Charging
As we enter the second half of 2018, rumors for the second season of flagships have started to emerge. On the Android side, this means the latest iterations of the Google Pixel, Galaxy Note, LG V series, and Huawei Mate. Thanks to FunkyHuawei and XDA, we now have some solid rumors regarding the Huawei Mate 20.
News: iOS 12 Public Beta 4 Released for iPhone Software Testers
Apple released the fourth public beta for iOS 12 to public beta testers on Tuesday, July 31, just one day after the company seeded the fifth developer beta to eligible users. Both releases are surprising, as Apple had appeared to stick to a two-week release schedule for the iOS 12 beta season, and these updates both came one day earlier than expected.
News: Snapchat Celebrates Harry Potter's Birthday with Quidditch Bitmojis
Now even muggles can see how they'd look chasing the Golden Snitch on a Nimbus 2000. That's because Snapchat is gifting Harry Potter fans with a 3D Bitmoji Lens that adorns their digital doppelgängers in the robes of the houses of Hogwarts.
News: Apple Adds Former DAQRI Designer to the Team, Bolstering AR Smartglasses Rumors
Apple continues to build its augmented reality hardware and software team in stealth mode. The latest addition comes via the hiring of a former DAQRI user experience designer and VR app developer.
News: Microsoft Update Adds Miracast & More Sharing Functions to HoloLens
The latest preview build for Microsoft HoloLens is packed with new sharing features, including support for the Miracast protocol.
News: ODG Video Shows Off Hands-Free ReticleOS Media Player for R-9 Smartglasses
A couple of months ago, I got the opportunity to get a sneak peek at a new media interface for ODG's R-9 Smartglasses, and the experience was impressive. Now, after weeks of keeping it under wraps, I can finally show off what I saw.
News: Magic Leap's 'Blink' Demo Shows How Eye Tracking & Spatial Audio Make Virtual Content Come Alive
Over the past few weeks, a trio of developer lessons (one of which was revealed in Magic Leap's most recent Twitch livestream) have revealed samples of experiences that are possible while using the Magic Leap One.
News: Magic Leap One's Battery Life, Memory Specs Revealed
Last week, Magic Leap gave us an additional peek at its Lumin OS and more tutorials that show how its device works with virtual content. But details about the hardware wasn't included in the array of new information.
News: iOS 12 Beta 5 for iPhones Released to Apple Developers
Apple released the fifth developer beta for iOS 12 on Monday, July 30, only 13 days after the release of dev beta 4 and 12 days after public beta 3. Until this release, Apple kept a consistent two-week schedule for developer beta updates, so we were a little surprised to see this one drop one day early.
News: Magic Leap One Field of View Specs Finally Uncovered
In the lead up to the Magic Leap One launch, Magic Leap has been coy about what the actual field of view (FoV) is for its first commercial product.
News: Magic Leap Reservation Page, Images Hint at Impending Release
The Magic Leap One: Creator Edition has been teased for months now, and while we still don't know exactly when the sales will begin, it can't be long now because we've discovered a couple of new hints that the device's launch is imminent, hiding in plain sight on the company's website.
News: Magic Leap Sheds Light on Lumin OS, Disney Creates AR's Future, & The New York Times Innovates on AR Strategy
Magic Leap has earned a reputation for overt secrecy, but as it nears the highly-anticipated launch of the Magic Leap One, the company is spilling some of the beans. This week, we get a heaping helping of information on the Lumin OS, as well as a couple of great demos.
News: Magic Leap Unveils Two New Demos Showing How Spatial Computing Works
The long and slow road toward the actual release of the Magic Leap One appears to be accelerating, with a couple of new demonstrations of how the system works revealed in this week's creator's portal updates along with the company's developer documentation.
News: Magic Leap Mobile Companion App Revealed, iOS & Android Supported
Among a treasure trove of new developer information on the Lumin OS that Magic Leap recently published on its Creator Portal appears to be the official confirmation of the Magic Leap Mobile Companion App.
News: Magic Leap Gives the World a Peek at Lumin OS
A fresh batch of developer info has been revealed on Magic Leap's Creator Portal. On Thursday evening, the normally secretive company gave the general public perhaps the closest look yet at Magic Leap One's Lumin operating system.
News: Augmented Reality Puts the Magic in 'Magic: The Gathering' Cards
While augmented reality experiences can already appear to be magical, particularly to the uninitiated, one developer is doubling down on its mystical potential for the ever-popular Magic: The Gathering card game.
News: The ASUS ZenFone 5Z Is Coming to the US with Legit Flagship Specs for Under $500
After first being announced at Mobile World Congress 2018, the ASUS ZenFone 5Z will finally be coming to the US. Deemed an iPhone X clone by some, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to this flasghip. While it is similar to the iPhone X, in some ways, it improves on the design.
News: Magic Leap Releases Preview of Lumin Runtime in Latest Version of SDK
With the launch of the Magic Leap One looming over summer's horizon, on Wednesday, Magic Leap released an essential component that will differentiate it from current augmented reality platforms.
Back to School Batteries: Fast Charge Your Android on the Go with These 11 USB-C External Power Packs
Will smartphone batteries ever last as long as we need them to? Perhaps not. That's why we rely on external batteries to help us stay connected for hours, even days, longer than usual. But in 2018, you don't want to use just any external battery. Modern Android phones have fast charging — so should your portable charger.
News: Samsung Updates AR Emoji with Better Tracking & Facial Features
With Apple preparing to bring a slew of new features to its Animoji app this fall, Samsung has updated its AR Emoji imitator with the ability to create more realistic digital doppelgängers.
News: Disney Research Creates Avatars That Can Strike a Pose to Match a Person's Movements in Augmented Reality
A new augmented reality framework from Disney Research could make it possible for fans to take selfies with an augmented reality Mickey Mouse, Darth Vader, or Iron Man that mimic the user's poses.
News: New York Times Leads Readers on an AR Journey Through the Cave That Trapped the Thai Soccer Team
One of the more compelling human interest stories of the summer has been the plight of the Thai Wild Boars soccer team, who were trapped in a cave for weeks.
Market Reality: Magic Leap Builds Content Arsenal, Unreal Engine Updates for Mobile AR, & AR Cloud Expands
If you're not impressed with the current crop of AR content, and you're worried this may put a damper on the industry's growth, these stories should give you cause for some optimism.
News: Magic Leap Recruits Square Slice Studios to Create Content for Magic Leap One
In keeping with its focus on loading the Magic Leap One with content at launch, Magic Leap has inked a creative partnership agreement with augmented reality production studio Square Slice Studios.
News: Microsoft HoloLens Art Project Turns New York into an Undersea Dystopia
The HoloLens team is finally beginning to realize that to truly engage the mainstream, augmented reality needs to make its way out of the lab or factory floor and onto the streets.
News: Gorilla Glass 6 Fixes the Worst Part of Glass Phones — How Slippery They Are
During a recent press event, Corning revealed the latest generation of Gorilla Glass, aptly named Gorilla Glass 6. While the focus at the event was on the improvements to its scratch and impact resistance, Corning also revealed some exciting prototypes which change the textures of the glass.
News: Unreal Engine Update Brings Support for Latest Augmented Reality Toolkits from Magic Leap, Apple, & Google
On Thursday, Epic Games released Unreal Engine 4.20, which finally includes support for the latest iterations of ARKit and ARCore, as well as Magic Leap One early access.
News: Want to Jailbreak? If You're Running iOS 11.4, Do Not Upgrade to 11.4.1
In the tech world, upgrades are normally a good thing. On iOS, it means bug fixes and security patches that protect your iPhone and keep it up with the times. In the jailbreak world, however, upgrades can mean certain death, as we are reminded today when Apple stopped signing iOS 11.4. That means if you upgrade to 11.4.1, you will no longer be able to jailbreak your iPhone.
News: Two Makes a Trend — LG May Follow Huawei into Triple Camera Territory
It looks like the Huawei P20 Pro won't be the only phone with a triple camera for much longer. Rumors indicate the upcoming LG V40 ThinQ will share the same number of cameras. And just like with dual cameras, LG is showing that there is more than one way to arrange them.
News: iOS 12 Public Beta 3 Released for iPhone Software Testers
The updates just keep on coming. Apple released the third beta for iOS 12 to public testers Wednesday, July 18, just after seeding the fourth iOS 12 developer beta to registered developers the previous day. This update comes thirteen days after the release of the second public beta, which itself came hot on the heels of the third developer beta.
News: Get at Least 3 Months of Free Project Fi When You Buy an LG G7 or V35
Project Fi, Google's MVNO, is running a new promotion on the latest and greatest from LG. From July 16 until the 29th, whenever you order and activate the LG G7 ThinQ or LG V35 ThinQ, you will receive a $300 service credit. When you do the numbers, that equals a minimum of three free months of service.