Lots of Google apps are getting dark mode. Google Drive has had it on Android 10 for a few months. But it hasn't been accessible to all Android users until now. With the latest update, there's a manual dark mode switch you can turn on regardless of what OS version you have. D ...more
It appears that the floodgates of consumer-grade augmented reality smartglasses from China are now open, with Mad Gaze being the latest company to rush its product through. The Hong Kong-based wearables maker posted a trio of new videos on Thursday featuring its Glow new smar ...more
Dark mode is one of the most requested features these days, but it's even more important with a navigation app. If you're using Google Maps for directions while driving at night, the default white background will shock your eyes and make it harder to see the road in front of y ...more
In 2019, Sony is mixing up its design, attempting to stand out among the sea of familiarity. Instead of emulating Samsung with punch hole cameras, they decided to target a rare section of the market, content consumers. There's the Xperia 1 for those who want the best, and the ...more
The augmented reality walking navigation mode for Google Maps appears to be closer to an upcoming release for the general public. Google recently granted the Wall Street Journal (paywall) a sneak peek at the navigation mode via a preview build, and the newspaper published its ...more
No matter how good a display is, the idea of perfect color calibration is subjective — some prefer warmer more saturated colors, while others prefer the calmer cooler side of the color spectrum. It is almost impossible to create a single color calibration that everyone can agr ...more
The next big iOS version for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch was revealed by Apple at WWDC 2018 and dropped for everyone on Sept. 17, 2018, less than a week after Apple revealed the new iPhone lineup. We've rounded up all the big picture items and secret features and changes we c ...more
Android 9.0 Pie is now available to install on Google's own Pixel devices and a select few other phones. In the new release, there's a fairly hidden setting that lets you enable a system-wide dark theme that changes the look of your Quick Settings panel and other menus. It's ...more
A new set of APIs for Unity promise to make it easier for developers to publish apps that support both ARKit and ARCore. AR Foundation allows developers to leverage the common features, such as plane detection and world tracking, found in the mobile AR toolkits. Available in ...more
After delaying its launch by four months, LG revealed its 2018 entry to the flagship market on Wednesday, May 2. After years of an underperforming mobile division, the LG G7 ThinQ is the first product since a shakeup within the division to get things back on track, and it brin ...more
As part of its ARCore push this week, Google has promoted Just a Line from one-time AR experiment to a full-fledged app. Available now in the Play Store, the dead-simple augmented reality drawing app makes the old Microsoft Paint app look like Adobe Illustrator. After the ap ...more
In just a few days, all the Galaxy S9 and S9+ leaks will come to an end, as Samsung will officially unveil its latest top-tier smartphone. But before that happens, we're all getting another leaked image of the handset thanks to a bit of snooping and the magic of augmented real ...more
The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL launched in 2017 with three colors: Clearly White, Just Black, and Kinda Blue. For those who wanted to stand out from the crowd a bit, Kinda Blue was the clear choice. Verizon, however, had other plans in mind, and Kinda Blue became exclusive to the ...more
Nike has launched an augmented reality design tool at its Niketown store in London that lets shoppers customize sneakers and see their designs on a real product. At the NIKEiD Direct Studio, shoppers can choose color and material selections on an enclosed tablet and see their ...more
So you want to do Kendrick Lamar's "HUMBLE." in Animoji Karaoke, but you need the lyrics. Well, now you can see those rhymes spit out in augmented reality. Available now in the App Store, AR Lyrics recognizes your music a la Shazam and displays the lyrics in your immediate su ...more
Last month, BMW rolled out its playful take on augmented reality with Snapchat, and now the automaker is bringing that same immersive computing whimsy to iOS directly. Using Apple's ARKit, the BMW i Visualizer app allows you to select and customize a life-sized version of the ...more
The threat of an evil access point has been around for a long time, and with the rise of open public Wi-Fi, that threat is often overshadowed by how comfortable we are using third-party Wi-Fi hotspots at coffee shops and public spaces. While we've shown an evil twin attack usi ...more
Razer just released their first flagship Android smartphone, appropriately named the Razer Phone. While mobile gaming fans are sure to enjoy the Razer Phone, the buttery-smooth 120 Hz display makes this an appealing option for anyone in the market for a new phone. If you've ju ...more
The Essential Phone didn't have a hot start when it was released back in August. A delayed release, poor camera performance, and high price tag led many to avoid the otherwise well-received device. But after a few software updates and price drops, it's now a steal of a deal. ...more
Apple released the second version of its iOS 11.2 developer beta Monday, exactly one week from beta 1, then opened up the public beta version on Tuesday. While beta 2 has been available on iPhone X since Friday, Nov. 3, all compatible iPhones can now update to this version. T ...more
When we are building programs that communicate over a network, how can we keep our data private? The last thing we want is some other lousy hacker sniffing our packets, so how do we stop them? The easy answer: encryption. However, this is a very wide-ranging answer. Today we'r ...more
HDR, or high-dynamic range, is currently the best way to view movies and TV shows on your iPhone 8 or 8 Plus. With a wider color gamut and a broad luminance range, there's no beating HDR video for the ultimate viewing experience. Unless, of course, you don't have the storage t ...more
While IKEA will employ ARKit to help you see how that new couch looks in your living room, Redbubble wants to show you throw pillows that match. Redbubble, an online marketplace for clothing and home décor from independent artists, has updated its iOS app to enable customers ...more
The creative possibilities are part of what makes Apple's ARKit so exciting. We've seen new camera effects, painting, and new ways to tell stories through ARKit. Now, the app developer studio "Orb" has created an app to let you create scenes with 3D objects of your choosing. ...more
I don't know about you, but I'm tired of hearing some of the same old jargon from people online who claim that all you need to make it on Instagram is to take good pictures and post consistently. Yes, for sure, but do you really think it's that easy? Instagram, if you're seri ...more
It's certain that the release of Apple's ARKit is going to be game changing for businesses. This demo video was created by YouTube user hdsenevi who used the ARKit to create a simple bar chart. The chart has adjustable settings, allowing the user to make each bar larger or sm ...more
Microsoft recently released "Seeing AI," an app aimed to help the blind understand their surroundings. As Microsoft puts it, "the app narrates the world around you by turning the visual world into an audible experience." We asked Matthew Chao, the brother of one of our founde ...more
While it might be a little past its prime now, the running gag about Nokia phones never breaking was one of the internet's favorite jokes. "If you buy one," they would say, "you'll never need another phone again." I think if those users could see into the future, they'd change ...more
Have you been watching out for Sony's latest smartphone entry? If so, you're in luck. Best Buy announced today that pre-orders have begun for the Xperia XZ Premium. If you're someone who has been waiting for this day ... order, order, order! The phone will cost you $799, and ...more
In the driverless race, technological advances can sometimes just add more tension to an already heated competition, if Waymo suing Uber over their allegedly stolen LiDAR technology is any indication. Now, Sony is offering a new camera sensor, one that should help self-driving ...more
Jeep has now jumped on the AR-retail trend with their introduction of the Jeep Compass Visualizer. Customers can now view and customize a Jeep Compass to their liking, all without a real Jeep even present. Customers will be able to use the smartphone to go in depth with a vir ...more
The Easter Bunny is about to get his first experience with mixed reality. Virtual Reality Los Angeles (VRLA) will host its third annual expo in April, and this year's attendees will get to experience a fun Easter egg hunt sponsored by AfterNow and VRLA, in partnership with mix ...more
Monday has been a big update day for Apple. Alongside the release of iOS 10.3, iWork has been updated across both iOS and macOS. The biggest change is the ability to unlock password-protected files with Touch ID, either on iPhone and iPad, or on the new MacBook Pro with Touch ...more
Cortana, a strong competitor to Apple's Siri and the Google Assistant, has just been updated for beta testers on Android. The update introduces some sleek redesigns of both the look and features of the app, developing anticipation for the official update. MSPoweruser reports ...more
TrueCaller is sharing your phone activity by revealing the last time your phone was used to contacts. The application used to identify unknown callers launched in 2009 and has faced a wealth of privacy concerns before. In addition to making your contacts public, TrueCaller no ...more
OnePlus just unveiled a new version of their popular OnePlus 3T—a limited edition all-black "colette" version for the boutique's 20th anniversary today. The slick device will feature the iconic colette logo on the back. But consumers will have to act fast as there are only 25 ...more
I don't know about you, but I was obsessed with handheld gaming devices when I was younger. Between my Game Boy and multiple Tamagotchis, I was guaranteed hours of entertainment that could fit comfortably in the palm of my hand. Jeroen Domburg, aka Sprite_TM, created the worl ...more
Facebook released a new app in November 2016 that aimed to compete directly with Snapchat, but it was only officially available in Brazil—and still is. The app, called "Flash," is so much like Snapchat that it's not even the slightest bit of a stretch to call it a clone. Even ...more
In December of last year, Australian Feliks Zemdegs broke the human world record for solving a Rubik's Cube with a time of 4.737 seconds. Well, this robot did it way, way faster by solving one in under 1 second. Don't tell me a robot takeover isn't real possibility. Video: . D ...more
You've likely seen light-up musical keyboards that teach you how to play a song with visual cues, but few of those devices exist and have a limited number of songs you can actually learn. But Karl Baumann and his HoloLens Hackathon team figured out that in mixed reality, you c ...more
The iPhone 6s models introduced Live Photos in iOS 9, a cool new camera feature that takes a GIF-esque moving image every time you snap a pic, but the cool factor pretty much stopped right there. You couldn't take them on older iOS devices, share them with non-iOS users, or ev ...more
Complex games in mixed reality require a pretty detailed scan of the room, and getting this process right can be both time-consuming and annoying. Computer science students at the University of Washington decided to fix that by turning it into a game. Video: . It's hard to kno ...more
In usual Apple fashion, there are new wallpapers to go along with their new operating systems, iOS 10 and macOS Sierra. The background that's included in iOS 10 for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch is a crashing aqua-colored wave with land just below its surface, and macOS Sierra' ...more
Most sandboxes wait for children on a playground or the occasional zen garden raking. This one combines light, sand, and depth cameras to create a completely malleable topographical map you can alter with a brush of your hand. Video: . Gary Glesener, director of the Modeling a ...more
Lenovo is teaming up with Google to debut the first Project Tango smartphone, which uses 3D sensors to map the world around it. The Tango phone will be able to give directions without the need for GPS, and it can augment reality to bring things like dinosaurs and cars into you ...more
The world's first cloud-oriented smartphone, Nextbit Robin, is now available to the masses via Amazon with free one-day shipping for Prime members. Robin is designed to streamline all the times you've tried to download an app or take a photo only to be hit by the "not enough ...more
Every year, tech companies use April 1st as a means to prove that they have a sense of humor. Sometimes their jokes are good for a chuckle, other times the gags backfire disastrously. For the most part, however, we'd be better off without the bulk of these annual antics. But ...more
Computer cables tangle and get in the way, but Mobile Accessory Project hopes to solve that with CONNEX, a flat cable shaped like a credit card which expands up to 1.5 feet. Don't Miss: How to Keep Any Cord Tangle-Free Video: . The cord is made of silicone cut into a zigzag p ...more
3D printers have been surging in popularity for both professional and personal applications, and now OLO is on the verge of making 3D printing practical wherever you go. Their eponymous 3D printer is battery-powered and uses the light from your smartphone's screen to create 3D ...more
At Apple's highly anticipated special event held today at their headquarters in Cupertino, California, it was announced that their latest software update, iOS 9.3, would be available to the public complete with several new additions. The most notable element of this announceme ...more
Say you're out and about when suddenly you get the urge to write a strongly-worded email. You get the words down, but still feel like you could really hammer home the message with the right point of emphasis. Or maybe you just want to make absolutely sure that your recipient c ...more
Many websites are crowded with ads, pictures, and other irrelevant content that make it harder than necessary to read a simple article on your iPhone. In many cases, you have to zoom in just to get a better view of the text you're attempting to read—unless the webpage blocks z ...more
The release of Windows 10 marked a big visual overhaul for the world's most popular desktop operating system, but Microsoft isn't done tweaking the interface just yet. Don't Miss: How to Use the Revamped Snapping Feature The operating system sports new and improved context m ...more
For minor adjustments and color-correction, the Photos app is extremely useful, but its capabilities are limited to just the basics. Now, with Mac OS X El Capitan, Apple is opening the door for third-party extensions, meaning we can utilize additional, unique tools when editin ...more
While Windows 10's new File Explorer is just as, if not more, useful as it was in previous iterations of Windows, it could definitely still be better. Two features that would greatly improve File Explorer are tabbed results and a customizable user interface, similar to how the ...more
Snapchat provides a handful of filters and overlays which allow you to show off your location, make your pictures more colorful, or even display how fast you're moving. But unlike Instagram, Snapchat only allowed you to use a single filter per photo or video... or at least tha ...more
My bathroom is like my own private arcade room. Whenever I'm seated comfortably on the toilet, no one is going to disturb me, so I can play anything I want on my smartphone. You probably do it, too — and your parents, kids, friends, colleagues, and boss — so don't be afraid to ...more
Windows 10 makes it a cinch to change the lock screen background: simply go to Setting -> Personalization -> Lock screen, then change the background to whatever you'd like. But, trying to change the login screen background—the screen where you enter your password—was a long, c ...more
If you've noticed a tiny discolored spot on your computer screen that just doesn't seem to go away, chances are you have a stuck pixel. With modern LCD and OLED screens, there are millions of incredibly small dots (pixels) that make up all of the contents of your display—and w ...more
Snapchat has built upon the photo-sharing service it once was to become a money-sending, commercial-shelling, video-messaging giant. They improved their user experience by adding Stories, Geofilters, and even the rarely-used Snapcash feature, but why isn't there something as s ...more