Hot Gadget Hacks News Stories
News: Disney Patent Previews More Star Wars AR Gaming
A newly-filed patent application from Disney Enterprises, Inc. teases more augmented reality lightsaber duels, either for at-home gaming or for the media behemoth's forthcoming Star Wars theme park.
Market Reality: Apple's Smartglasses Timeline Shifts, Continental Invests in Automotive HUDS, & Target Ships Web AR App
Consumers are chomping at the bit for augmented reality smartglasses from Cupertino's finest, but one market analyst is saying not so fast, Apple fans. Meanwhile, automotive AR is gaining speed, with the latest milestone coming courtesy of a major investment in waveguides by Continental. And although mobile AR apps have already arrived, retailer Target is taking a different approach. So why is Target tinkering with web-based AR? Answers below...
News: Mapbox Updates Maps SDK to Compete with Google Maps API for Location-Based Gaming
Location services company Mapbox has added new capabilities to its location-based gaming tool to fend off Google's challenge for the same mobile app category.
News: Google Partnering with Qualcomm & Quanta on AR Headset, Report Says
After the spectacular rise and fall (and rebirth) of Glass, Google is taking another run at augmented reality smartglasses.
News: Analyst Predicts Apple's AR Headset Won't Arrive Until 2021
Noted analyst Gene Munster is predicting that Apple's initial entry into the augmented reality wearables category will be a year later than previous reports have estimated.
News: Try These 5 Hot New Snapchat Lenses — Iron Man, iDubbz & More
In this week of Snapchat lenses, there was a significant increase in ones that involve Marvel superheroes (the Infinity War effect), as well as ones with YouTubers. Classic sitcoms will also always do well, as evidenced by some of my previous roundups. Overall, lenses are doing well and only continuing to grow.
News: Target Taps YouCam for Augmented Reality Cosmetics Web App
Department store chain Target is the latest retailer to offer an augmented reality cosmetics app for customers to virtually try on lipstick.
News: DigiLens Gets $25M Boost from Continental for Automotive Augmented Reality
Waveguide manufacturer DigiLens has closed a $25 million Series C round of funding from automotive technology company Continental, which uses the technology in its heads up displays.
News: iOS 11.4 Beta 6 Released, Includes Fix for 'Black Dot' Bug & Under-the-Hood Patches
Talk about rapid-fire. Apple released the sixth beta for iOS 11.4 on Thursday, May 17. The update comes just three days after the release of iOS 11.4 beta 5, indicating that Apple is readily approaching the official release of the software. Apple has not issued an official iOS update since 11.3.1, which found its way to users over three weeks ago.
News: Google Updates AR App to Help Muslims Observe Ramadan When Offline
Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and prayer, is underway, and Google has rolled out several tools to help Muslims commemorate the event, including an augmented reality app.
News: Watch JerryRigEverything Scratch, Burn & Bend the New All-Glass OnePlus 6
With the change to a glass back, many of us are concerned about the durability of OnePlus 6. While glass does offer some benefits such as lighter weight, without proper reinforcement, it can easily shatter in one drop. Now we have our our first look at its durability thanks to JerryRigEverything.
News: Create & Explore Floating Orbs of Sound in AR with Fields App
When it comes to augmented reality apps, visually immersive experiences are plentiful, but audio experiences are somewhat underrepresented. A new app for iPhones and iPads seeks to shift the AR paradigm toward the latter.
News: Amazon Sumerian Now Available to Anyone Who Wants to Create AR & VR Apps
Amazon Web Service's do-it-yourself tool for building augmented reality experiences and VR has graduated from beta and is now available to all interested users.
News: ANTVR Goes Modular to Shrink the Size & Expand the Field of View of Its AR Headset
China-based virtual reality headset maker ANTVR has decided to enter the augmented reality space, and to do so it's launching its headset on Kickstarter. The company claims that its new Mix AR device has a field of view that surpasses the Meta 2, the HoloLens, and others within a smaller form factor and at a fraction of the price. But there's a catch.
News: NBC's Today Show Uses Snapchat to Let You Dress for the Royal Wedding in Augmented Reality
Royal wedding fever has officially taken over the media, and that obsession with the UK's latest marriage event has now extended to Snapchat, thanks to a new Lens from the Today Show.
News: Samsung's Galaxy S9 & S9+ Finally Get ARCore Support
Google's Pixel smartphone had a decent head start as one of the first devices to offer ARCore, but that early exclusivity has been frustrating for some Android device owners. Some of that frustration was relieved when Google added more Android devices to the ARCore list in February.
News: Rick & Morty Fan Creates Snapchat Lens to Transport You into the Adult Swim Universe
It's not an official app, but for fans of Rick and Morty, it's a welcome piece of the series' universe until the recently renewed animated show returns to Adult Swim.
News: iOS 11.4 Beta 5 Released for iPhones with Under-the-Hood Improvements
Apple is speeding things up in the iOS 11.4 development. The company released to developers the fifth beta for iOS 11.4 on Monday, May 15. Public beta testers got the update just hours later. The update comes just one week after the release of the fourth 11.4 beta, which introduced minor bug fixes and security patches to iPhone running the software. This beta version doesn't seem any different.
News: Tech Toothbrush from Samsung Incubator Graduate Uses AR to Help Kids Improve Brushing Habits
Kitten Planet, a spin-off company that grew up in Samsung's C-Lab incubator, has developed a connected toothbrush that teaches and motivates children to brush their teeth better via augmented reality while tracking their performance.
News: Fantasmo Wants to Map the World & Its Buildings in 3D with Your Smartphone's Camera
Another AR cloud savior has emerged this week in Fantasmo, a startup that wants to turn anyone with a smartphone into a cartographer for spatial maps.
News: ABC News Seeks Audience with Royal Wedding Onlookers via AR App
If you have yet to receive your invitation to next weekend's royal wedding in the UK, then you can still experience part of the pomp and circumstance in augmented reality courtesy of ABC News.
News: Try These 5 Hot New Snapchat Lenses — The Simpsons, Playable Flappy Bird & More
In the wild world of Snapchat lenses, this week was an especially good one for cool effects. Lens-crafters (really hoping I can get that name to stick) have gotten a lot better at making non-gimmicky lenses that allow you to interact with them in new and unique ways.
Market Reality: AR Competition Heats Up as Microsoft, Google, & Samsung Make Money Moves
Some of the big guns developing augmented reality technology fired shots at their competitors with announcements and leaked plans this week.
News: Here's How Shared AR Experiences will work via Google's Cloud Anchors
In the arms race between ARKit and ARCore, Google scored a big win with the announcement of its Cloud Anchors shared AR experiences platform at Google I/O on Tuesday.
News: Niantic Planning to Chart AR Maps with Crowdsourcing Help from Gamers
If you are an active player of Pokémon GO, you may soon be capturing more than just virtual pocket monsters.
News: First Images Captured by Microsoft's Project Kinect for Azure Surface Online
Images captured by Microsoft's next generation Kinect depth-sensing camera that will facilitate augmented reality experiences in the next version of the HoloLens and give computer vision to untold multitudes of connected devices in enterprise facilities, have made their way into the wild.
News: Samsung & Microsoft Join Forces to Take on Apple with Combo AR & VR Headset
Mere weeks after rumors surfaced that Apple may be working on a headset capable of VR and augmented reality, it appears that Samsung is taking the same approach, but with an assist from Microsoft.
News: Google Lens Gets Smarter with Text Selection, Style Recommendations, & Real-Time Search
During Tuesday's keynote at the I/O developer conference, Google unveiled new capabilities for its Lens visual search engine and expanded the availability of the platform in smartphone camera apps.
News: Google's ARCore Moves Past Apple's ARKit in the Race for Shared Augmented Reality Experiences
On Tuesday, at Google's I/O developer conference, the company announced a huge update to its ARCore augmented reality toolkit that matches the latest features of ARKit, and surpasses Apple's AR platform via support for shared experiences.
News: 8 New Features Coming to Google Assistant for Android & iPhone
According to Google at their 2018 I/O conference, Google Assistant is now available on over 500 million devices. Now that the assistant is available on iPhones as well, Google has to give iOS users a reason to switch to its assistant over the built-in Siri. Today, Google has eight more reasons for users to do so.
News: Google Working on AR Walking Navigation Mode for Maps
At Google's I/O developer conference keynote on Tuesday, ARCore may have been absent, but Google did preview a potentially trailblazing augmented reality feature for Google Maps.
News: Epson Adds Biometric Authentication from Redrock to Its Smartglasses
Users of Epson's smartglasses can now tell their devices to "talk to the hand" when it comes to passwords and authentication.
News: Kinect Graduates from Gaming to Enterprise with Project Kinect for Azure
Microsoft's Monday keynote introduced the fourth generation of the company's Kinect sensor during Build 2018 in Seattle.
News: iOS 11.4 Beta 4 Released for iPhone with Mostly Under-the-Hood Improvements
Apple released the fourth developer beta for iOS 11.4 on Monday, May 7, followed the next day with the public beta release. This update arrives just six days after the company seeded beta 3 to users, which fixed an 11.3 issue with 3D Touch, among other various bugs.
News: Microsoft Unveils Remote Assist & Layout, New HoloLens Apps Aimed at Workforce Productivity
On Monday, at its annual Build developer conference, Microsoft revealed two new apps for the HoloLens apps.
News: 7-Eleven Joins Forces with 'Deadpool 2' for Augmented Reality App & In-Store Experience
With the theatrical premiere of Deadpool 2 less than two weeks away, the hype train for the sequel to 2016's surprise R-rated hit is gaining steam, and augmented reality is on board for the ride.
Market Reality: Microsoft's HoloLens Sales Figures Revealed, AR Boosts Snapchat Revenue, & Facebook Expands AR Platform
This week, we're beginning to see the wide ranging impacts of some of the early iterations of augmented reality hardware and software.
News: U2 Takes Fans Behind the Scenes of Its New Augmented Reality Tour
Last month, we told you about U2's new augmented reality-powered music tour. But if you don't have the means to travel to the show, the group recently revealed an inside look at what it will be like and what inspired the band to dive into immersive technology.
News: Try These 5 Hot New Snapchat Lenses — Westworld Host, Trumpet Boy & More
There was a huge Marvel movie that opened a week ago, and a popular TV show just finished its second episode of the current season. Both of these facts translate to more cool Snapchat lenses to try out on your iPhone or Android phone, thanks to Snapchat's Lens Studio — where anyone can make a sweet lens.
News: Netflix Film 'Anon' Paints Dystopian View of Augmented Reality That Obliterates Privacy
Augmented reality is expected to eventually change everything, and the prevailing view is that those changes will be for the better. The converse view, however, is that the technology will further erode privacy.