At Home Spa Experience

With NFTs taking the art world by storm, it's a bit refreshing to know that you can enjoy world famous masterpieces in the comfort of your own home via augmented reality without emptying your cryptocurrency wallet. And that's what you get with the Google Arts & Culture app, w ...more

Do you experience a pang of envy when you scroll through your Facebook news feed, Instagram home, or Twitter timeline and see all your friends doing super-awesome things that you weren't a part of? If you are like most people, then the answer is probably yes. This particular ...more

If you find yourself switching between Android devices frequently—for instance, your Nexus 6P and a Samsung tablet—you've probably noticed how the button placement can be different. Normally, it's back, then home, then the recent apps button, from left to right. But Samsung de ...more

Next year, fans of Mario Kart will be able to experience the game in real life with the assistance of augmented reality. On Feb. 4, 2021, Universal Studios Japan in Osaka City will open its Super Nintendo World mini-park, which will immerse visitors in all things Mario. Don' ...more

Newer gaming systems like the PlayStation 4 have a nice, subtle feature that goes a long way towards helping create a more immersive experience. Any time you're on the main menu or home screen, an ambient background music track is playing, which adds an aural appeal to an expe ...more

Running commands on Linux seems so complicated for the layman that it may as well be a foreign language. But for the die-hard terminal users, or for those who are just curious about the Linux experience, there's a new Android launcher that gives your home screen a command line ...more

Just weeks after officially launching its mobile augmented reality toolkit, Google can now claim one of its first Android and ARCore app exclusives with the Curate app from Sotheby's International Realty. Available now in the Play Store, Curate operates similarly to furniture ...more

While visiting the Made by Google pop-up shop in New York City this morning, I had a chance to try out the new Daydream View virtual reality headset. First impressions are important, and Google's new mobile VR product makes a good one. The headset is made of a soft fabric that ...more

The launch of Android 4.4 KitKat alongside the Nexus 5 was met with much fanfare from Android enthusiasts. Unfortunately, if you don't have a Nexus device or are still awaiting the 4.4 update, you may feel a bit left behind. If you have a carrier version of the HTC One, 2013' ...more

If there's one company that is a fan of the TrueDepth camera on Apple's iPhone X devices, it's the popular eyeglasses retailer Warby Parker. Last year, the company introduced the ability to measure customers' faces using the depth-sensing front-facing sensor on the original i ...more

When the Galaxy S6 hype-train was building momentum ahead of the phone's release, many reports had Samsung cutting back on its much-maligned TouchWiz skin. In the end, these reports were either highly exaggerated or entirely fabricated, because while not as egregious as previo ...more

While a viable version of consumer-grade smartglasses has yet to find mainstream success, two more contenders emerged this week, as Vuzix confirmed that a leak of a fashion-forward design is legitmate and Vivo introduced tethered smartglasses designed to pair with its new 5G s ...more

The holidays are stressful. Between traveling, family, and dinner, Thanksgiving weekend can feel like weeks. Many families have traditions that make the days long, but some of us would rather curl up somewhere and watch our favorite shows. But all is not lost — our phones do s ...more

Instagram introduced Photo Maps back in 2012, a feature allowing users to showcase where they've taken photos and explore where others have been, all through an interactive map. Through the hyperlinked location at the top of each photo, you can go through a timeline of all of ...more

By now, a mobile phone that isn't "smart" is about as hard to come by as a TV that isn't high definition. As a result, members of older generations who were previously reluctant to purchase a newfangled smartphone have no other choice but to cave into the more recent trends wh ...more

Venom, the latest in a long list of comic book characters to headline its own movie, is known by comic book fans by his catchphrase, "We are Venom." Now, via augmented reality, we, too, can be Venom. Sony Pictures, in conjunction with the release of the film Venom, has publi ...more

One Instagram creator's augmented reality homage to Disney's deep bench of animated characters has earned him fifteen minutes of fame. Taking a page from the enchanted book attraction at the Sorcerer's Workshop of Disney California Adventure, content creator Arno Partissimo p ...more

Beginning in November, National Football League (NFL) fans visiting New York's Times Square can come as close as any civilian can to stepping onto a professional football field. All for less than the price of a pair of cleats. Today, the NFL unveiled details of the NFL Experi ...more

Like its predecessors WandaVision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Marvel's latest series for Disney Plus, Loki, has its own augmented reality experience. However, while the former titles did not debut their AR content until just ahead of their respective season finales, th ...more

Two years ago, the 50th anniversary of the moon landing gave flight to a handful of Apollo 11 augmented reality apps and experiences, including one from the Smithsonian Channel. Now, as NASA's latest unmanned mission to Mars is scheduled to land on Thursday, the Smithsonian C ...more

Just as the modern travel experience has improved thanks to the internet, Airbnb wants to make your stay in a stranger's home easier by way of augmented and virtual reality. On Monday, the company revealed that it's working on augmented reality features that, in the future, m ...more

There's no debating that the Galaxy S8 and S8+ are top contenders for the most beautifully designed handsets of 2017, but the same can't be said for their TouchWiz interface, which has been met with lukewarm reception at best. Changing the UI by flashing a custom ROM has alwa ...more

Fan favorite Transformer Bumblebee returns to theaters on Friday in a spin-off of the film franchise, so Paramount Pictures is bringing the car-robot back into the homes of fans via augmented reality. On Thursday evening, Snapchat launched a Sponsored World Lens featuring Bum ...more

Whether you made the switch from iOS, or you came from a different Android device, there's a lot to learn about your new Galaxy device. Samsung does things a bit differently, and thanks to their TouchWiz interface, there are tons of added features to take advantage of—though s ...more

If online retail is war (and who says it isn't), then CGTrader is prepared to arm its allies with augmented reality ammunition. On Wednesday, at the Augmented World Expo (AWE) in Santa Clara, California, the 3D content provider unveiled ARsenal, an e-commerce software tool th ...more

Many new phones are moving to navigation gestures from the physical buttons of the past. The idea is to maximize screen space as much as possible while still being intuitive. Something cool you should know about, Chrome for iPhone and Android has a neat little trick that pairs ...more

Even though the Music app took a backseat during Apple's initial iOS 14 announcements, there's a lot going on in the updated app. Some of the new features and changes apply only to Apple Music subscribers, while others apply to your own music library, so there's something for ...more

The iPhone's home screen gets its signature aesthetic from a grid of icons that seamlessly blend in to almost any background. It's a somewhat minimalistic look, but that's interrupted by cluttery text labels for apps and folders. Fortunately, there's a way to remove these labe ...more

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. First, Slipknot has published an AR experience via Facebook's Spark AR platform to promote the ...more

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. The marketing superheroes behind the movie have teamed up with 7-Eleven, which i ...more

To revise a line from the Blues Brothers, when it comes to ARKit apps, we've got both kinds — home utilities and games. As such, two more candidates for each category have made their way to the app store. In addition, one by one, NFL teams are taking a pass at augmented reali ...more

The Nexus 5 is the current Google flagship packed with the latest and greatest of all things Android, but what if you never made the leap from your Nexus 4 smartphone? Though the N4 is a year old, it's no slouch, and it's still a Nexus. It was among one of the first devices t ...more

We already know that major players like Magic Leap have been planting the seeds of augmented reality for mainstream consumers through wireless partnerships with AT&T, NTT Docomo, SK Telecom. But now, one of India's leading telecom companies has joined forces with a much lesse ...more

Fans of the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man have yet another way to experience the web-slinger in augmented reality. To promote the pending release of Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 4, Sony Pictures has published a mobile app for iOS and Android that brings Spider-Man int ...more

Twitter's official iOS app is adequate if you're not much of a tweeter, but if you are, there's a lot of useful features that are missing. Luckily, there are plenty of free Twitter clients available that you can use on your iPhone. These third-party apps have features such as ...more

The YouTube app for Android doesn't exactly offer the greatest user experience. For one thing, it opens to an arbitrary "Home" tab instead of your subscriptions, so you see a list of what YouTube thinks you want to watch instead of your favorite channels. In addition to that, ...more

Samsung's Galaxy series of devices have one common design theme that ties them all together—the physical home button at the bottom of the phone. This button can wake the phone, take you to your home screen, and even scan your fingerprint to securely unlock your device. The on ...more

There's only so much Netflix and TikTok a person can take in quarantine before they've had enough. We've only just started our stay-at-home lifestyle, but already TV and movies are getting old. The COVID-19 lockdown doesn't just have to be a mindless watch party, so why not ta ...more

Samsung Experience isn't for everyone. While it's a far cry from the TouchWiz days, it is still too heavy of a skin for Android purists. But you shouldn't let that dissuade you from a powerful device that checks nearly all other boxes — there are ways to make the Galaxy Note 9 ...more

Since we wouldn't have Android without Google, everyone has come to realize that the Pixel smartphones are a prime example of what an Android smartphone should be. With so many unique software related features, no wonder people want that Pixel experience. OnePlus offers its O ...more

While millions eagerly await the stable Android 8.0 release for the Galaxy S8, the beta is already in the wild and readily available. Notable improvements include notification channels and the revamped Samsung keyboard. One aspect often overlooked are new customization options ...more

By eliminating the need for hard keys on phones, manufacturers are able to use that extra space for a larger display, which is clearly evident on the bezel-minimal LG G3. In order to replace the physical home, back, and app switcher keys, we now have stylish soft keys. While ...more

We're living through the technological revolution, and while devices like the iPhone 6 or Galaxy S5 have made life easier and more entertaining, it's possible that sometimes our smartphone usage can become uncomfortably excessive. In your own experience, think about how anxiou ...more

Gliding + falconry = parahawking, a unique and exhilarating experience. Birds (vultures, eagles, hawks) are trained to "guide" a paraglider through thermals (columns of rising air in the lower altitudes of the Earth's atmosphere which provide large, soaring lifts). The birds a ...more

As first reported by Next Reality last year, game developer Preloaded, in partnership with BBC Studios, has finally launched BBC Earth - Micro Kingdoms: Senses. The experience, which allows the user to become immersed in the world of insects and arachnids, is accessed using t ...more

Xiaomi phones run a skinned version of Android known as MIUI, which, over the years, has been a popular custom ROM. One of the standout features Xiaomi has added to the mix is something called Quick Ball, which lets you navigate your phone by swiping inward from a small circle ...more

VPNs add a protective layer between your data and your internet service provider (ISP) or bad actors (hackers), so it makes sense they've become so popular lately. Probably the most common one of these is NordVPN, so we explored its mobile app to find all the options worth che ...more

Apple's testing a new app for iOS 12 called Shortcuts, and it has a lot of overlap with their existing Workflow app. So much overlap, in fact, that Workflow won't be sticking around for much longer. Workflow, if you didn't already know, is a scripting app for iOS that connect ...more

Have you ever wondered where you'd come out if you drilled to the other side of the world? Now, if you have an Android device and Chrome web browser, you can find out. On its Experiments with Google hub, Google has aggregated a collection of AR experiences built on the WebXR ...more

The year leading into fall is turning out to be packed with a flurry of augmented reality activity. Most notably, TikTok is adding another major weapon to its AR arsenal. Also on deck are the powers of Hollywood horror in the form of an innovative approach to AR marketing that ...more

What happens when a entrepeneur/theme park creator and special effects artist/magician team up? You get a team crazy enough to create the first true virtual reality theme park (sorry, Six Flags). They only have a single experience so far, but it's already taken a giant leap be ...more

With an eye toward future iPhone X-focused augmented reality functions, Apple's new investment in one of its components vendors will increase production capacity for the technology behind its TrueDepth camera, but could also apply to its future AR ambitions. On the software s ...more

If you ever imagined turning the surface of your desk into one large augmented computer, well the future might not be far off, my friends. Lampix, the company that transforms any surface into a smart surface, is currently working on a portable and quite fashionable lamp to pro ...more

As you may have heard, Verizon has jumped on the "giving up users' data to whomever will pay" bandwagon with its new AppFlash spyware app that's all set to be pre-installed on at least one of the Android phones they sell. Currently, AppFlash is only being tested on the LG K20 ...more

Google Maps lets you set home and work locations for quick access to navigation. In fact, these two locations are so central to the Maps experience that if you don't have both saved, the app can be a little naggy about it. But if you work from home, there's just one address to ...more

The game wizards at Insomniac take pride in diving deep when it comes to world-building, and the same is true for the studio's latest title for Magic Leap One called Seedling. Revealed on Wednesday at the L.E.A.P. conference in Los Angeles, the Magic Leap One-based title is l ...more

With Android Pie beta now available for the Galaxy S9 and S9+, Samsung is well on its way to catching up to major competitors like the Google Pixel 3 in terms of giving its users the latest and greatest software Android has to offer. Of course, Samsung has added its own touche ...more

If you have some experience in the Google world, you'll know that Google Assistant has had location-based reminders since it dropped nearly two years ago. Before that, Google Now offered the same feature. Even with that precedent, you've never been able to ask Google Home to r ...more

While ARKit and ARCore are poised to bring AR experiences to millions of mobile devices, one company is poised to anchor those experiences anywhere in the world with just a set of geographic coordinates. The geospatial augmented reality platform Aireal enables developers to p ...more

Furniture shopping is about to get a whole lot easier thanks to Apple's AR Kit and Ikea. In an exclusive with Bloomberg Businessweek, Tim Cook, Apple CEO said: We've talked to Ikea and they have 3D images of their furniture line. You're talking about changing the whole exper ...more