The home bar, that tiny sliver of color at the bottom of the screen on Home button-less iPhone models, is helpful when first getting used to an iPhone X or newer's gestures. It helps you learn how to swipe up to unlock, go to the home screen, view the app switcher, and so on. ...more
As Magic Leap continues to spread its influence in the US with the help of wireless carrier AT&T, the augmented reality startup is also working its way into East Asia. This week, Magic Leap announced a partnership with SK Telecom that will make the South Korean telecom giant ...more
After some social media teasing, the Star Wars universe's Magic Leap debut has finally arrived. On Tuesday, Magic Leap announced the release of Star Wars: Project Prog, which is available for free via Magic Leap World. In addition, ILMxLAB, the immersive entertainment divisi ...more
Snapchat made augmented reality selfie effects famous, with Facebook copying the feature across its mobile apps. Of course, others have followed, but their face tracking apps often pale in comparison to the original. Now, Google is giving Android developers the keys to adding ...more
Nike and Snapchat, having already reigned triumphant with its viral augmented reality ad featuring Lebron James, are teaming up with another basketball legend at NBA All-Star Weekend This year's site for the league's annual star-studded event, which takes place on Saturday an ...more
The actual augmented reality portion of Pokémon GO is about to get even more fun for players. On Tuesday, the company revealed GO Snapshot, an extension of AR+ Mode facilitated by ARKit and ARCore that will enable players to pose Pokémon characters in augmented reality for ph ...more
The last six months have been filled with ups and downs for international music superstar Ariana Grande, but she's starting 2019 on a new, virtual foot, powered by Apple's iPhone TrueDepth camera. On Friday, a new Apple commercial showcased Grande's "7 Rings" single in the fo ...more
I'm not a morning person, so getting a "Good Morning" message on my iPhone when I wake up makes me want to toss it across the room. If you feel the same way about this morning greeting, there's an easy way to stop it from showing up on your lock screen. This also applies if yo ...more
The last few months have delivered some great new Magic Leap releases, but that doesn't mean the development team is resting on its laurels when it comes to the platform itself. On Thursday, Magic Leap began inviting users to join its Lumin OS Beta Program, which includes a r ...more
When Apple released its Downtime feature in iOS 12, it gave us an easy way to control how much time we spend on our iPhones — but it wasn't perfect. When setting Downtime, you' were forced to use the same time schedule for every day of the week, so your weekdays and weekends h ...more
If you've ever wanted to barge into Jerry Seinfeld's apartment like Cosmo Kramer, you can now do so without having to book a ride on the Peterman Reality Tour. Built with input by Tho. E. Azzari, the sitcom's original production designer, the Seinfeld Set Replica is a non-AR, ...more
Simulated training can help soldiers and sailors learn how to use their weapons safely, but simulations can sometimes lack the stressful environment of a real firefight. That's why the US Navy has developed a more realistic augmented reality simulator that runs on the Microso ...more
Not all enterprise augmented reality tools require a high-end headset and heavy computing power. Sometimes, a smartphone can do the job just as well. Along those lines, software maker Atheer is now bringing its workforce AR platform to iPhones and iPads via a native app. The ...more
Just after a month of testing, iOS 12.1.3 has been released for iPhones. Like the previous iOS 12.1.2 update, there's not much to get excited about. There are no new features discovered yet, but there are a few fixes for issues with photos in Messages, imperfect pics when usin ...more
The tradition of using cutting edge technology to prepare for missions in space, in this case, augmented reality, continues with a new team of international astronauts slated to board the International Space Station (ISS) later this year. On Tuesday, European Space Agency ast ...more
While many of Facebook's tools are well received as they enhance the experience, one which is often complained about is the Marketplace. The Craigslist-like feature which offers a way to facilitate transactions between users can be a little overbearing with its alerts. However ...more
Whether it's an ex you can't stand, that annoyingly political friend of a friend, or good old fashioned trolls, the block feature on Facebook can be a great way to de-stress your feed. It will keep people from contacting you, and it will also prevent them from viewing your pro ...more
If you're familiar with jailbreaking, you're well aware of the fragmented nature of downloading tweaks. Unlike the iOS App Store, which contains about two million apps of varying categories, installing jailbroken packages often requires you to first install a separate repo int ...more
Apple released iOS 12.1.3 beta 4 to software developers on Thursday, Jan. 10, just three days after beta 3 came out. Public beta testers also received the update. In general, iOS 12.1.3 fixes a VoiceOver issue with ECG and Irregular Heart Rate notifications, as well as a fix i ...more
On Instagram, you can write text over any picture or video in your Story, but it may be hard to get your message across with a distracting background. Although there is a "Type" option for Stories, which allows you to write text over colorful gradient backgrounds, the selectio ...more
With the increasing popularity of OLED displays, companies like Apple, Google, and Samsung have all shifted away from traditional LCDs for their flagship devices. An OLED screen provides deeper blacks and is better for battery life since each pixel can be controlled individual ...more
Returning to the spotlight after its debut at last year's CES, augmented reality smartglasses maker Rokid is back with a new update. On Monday, the China-based startup announced Project Aurora at CES in Las Vegas. Rokid describes the new prototype hardware device as functioni ...more
Apple released the iOS 12.1.3 developer beta on Monday, Jan. 7, and the iOS 12.1.3 public beta followed shortly behind. Apple has been pretty on point with its public beta releases for iPhone, always releasing the same day as the dev version unless it's the very start of a bet ...more
Attention all iOS software developers — Apple just released iOS 12.1.3 beta 3 today, Monday, Jan. 7. This is the first update in quite some time for beta testers, as Apple released 12.1.3 beta 2 nearly three weeks ago. While we don't expect beta 3 to offer users a monumental u ...more
QR codes have become a staple in our everyday lives. Companies use them for everything from marketing promotions to movie tickets thanks to security they provided for these types of transactions. But for years, Android users had to download an app to scan these codes. Well, no ...more
Removing unwanted apps from your iPhone is a straightforward affair — long-press an app's icon, then hit the delete button once it appears. Unfortunately, the same can't be said when it comes to uninstalling tweaks from a jailbroken iPhone. Many tweaks aren't very polished, a ...more
The city of London is getting a holiday gift this season, but it's not the kind you unwrap, since it's completely delivered in augmented reality. Snapchat has created an augmented reality version of the famed Big Ben tower clock building that enables Westminster residents and ...more
Apple pushed out iOS 12.1.3 developer beta 2 to all developers on Wednesday, Dec. 19. It's an interesting and mysterious update, as it follows the sudden release of iOS 12.1.2. That software only had one beta version before its stable release, which would explain why the iOS 1 ...more
According to App Annie, the average person's phone contains 60–90 apps. Such a large amount can easily crowd an app drawer, especially since the same source states that only about 30 are used in a month. Having a way to organize apps in the app drawer can help you avoid wastin ...more
Without a second beta like most other beta versions, Apple released iOS 12.1.2 to all iPhone users on Monday, Dec. 17. The update comes just one week after the iOS 12.1.2 beta went live, so why did it have such a quick turnaround? The answer likely revolves around eSIM issues ...more
Although Niantic is already an augmented reality startup unicorn thanks to the success of Pokémon GO, the company has reportedly captured yet another round of funding. Citing sources close to the matter, the Wall Street Journal reports that the AR gaming and software develope ...more
While Unity is already the leading 3D engine for augmented reality content in terms of volume, the announcement of Project MARS, a new augmented reality authoring tool, at Unite Berlin in June promised to expand AR development to a whole new audience of designers and other non ...more
Apple just released the first version of the iOS 12.1.2 beta to developers on Monday, Dec. 10. The update arrives mere days after the Cupertino-based company seeded the official version of iOS 12.1.1 to the public, itself of which had been in beta development since Halloween. ...more
Public testers, Apple just released the first public beta for iOS 12.1.2 on Tuesday, Dec. 11. The company had already released the developer beta on Monday, Dec. 10, and just like clockwork, the public beta version was right on its heels. Unfortunately, with the new iOS 12.1. ...more
In the aftermath of the launch of the Magic Leap One, Magic Leap has ejected two more executives from their leadership roles. Chief marketing officer Brenda Freeman and chief business officer Rachna Bhasin have been transitioned into advisory roles but will continue to report ...more
Instagram introduced a new feature in September 2018 that lets you share other users' Stories via Instagram Direct, the app's private messaging tool for solo and group messages. Problem is, it works both ways, so whenever you add to your ephemeral Story, everybody that sees it ...more
Augmented reality and drones already go together like turkey and stuffing, but a new iOS app adds some spice to the combination with a new kind of flight path automation. Available now in Apple's App Store, the Vermeer Beta app displays a 3D map of the intended drone flight a ...more
On Sunday, Apple CEO Tim Cook (the number one person on our NR30 list) made a rare television appearance to talk about and show off his current obsession: augmented reality. In a segment on the new HBO documentary news series from Axios, Cook invited two of the site's journal ...more
Any real Star Wars fan knows that fear is a path to the dark side, as it leads to anger, and then suffering. For players of Star Wars Jedi Challenges, though, access to the antagonistic side of the Force is now available through their mobile apps. The new Dark Side expansion, ...more
It looks like the Harry Potter version of Pokémon GO won't appear in 2018 after all, as the company has decided pushed the game's release to 2019. "Get ready for some exciting and fun adventures ahead," the company said in a blog post. "We've been hard at work with our partne ...more
The landscape for mobile augmented reality apps is still mostly filled with utility and gaming apps, but a new entrant into the space is looking to pull children into the mix. A just-released iOS app called Bookful takes classic children's stories usually found in large-sized ...more
With the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR, Apple introduced dual-SIM capabilities to iOS, made possible by eSIM technology. If you recently picked up one of these three new iPhones and need to utilize your eSIM while traveling abroad, you might want to take a look at the data plans o ...more
There's been a lot of fanfare as iOS 12 rolls out, and as an Android owner, you might be feeling left out. There's no need to feel that way, though. You don't have to choose between running out to get a new iPhone or being stuck with only your Android's features — at least whe ...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
In the waning days of October, at the Innovation Tokyo 2018 conference, attendees got their hands on some of the new augmented reality experiences that Niantic is working on through its Real World Platform. Among the experiences available to the 12,000 attendees who visited t ...more
Apple wastes no time with betas. Right on the heels of the official release of iOS 12.1, Apple released the first beta for iOS 12.1.1 to developers on Wednesday, Oct. 31. The update comes just one day after iOS 12.1, which itself was in beta development for 43 days this year. ...more
Magic Leap's recent L.E.A.P. conference was free to all who registered in time, but if you weren't able to make the trip to Hollywood, the company just released video of some of the sessions that took place over the course of two days. The sessions, which are really discussio ...more
In the latest example of non-tech companies taking on augmented reality marketing, online travel site Travelocity has added an AR version of its Roaming Gnome mascot to its mobile app. Available for iOS and Android, the feature, enabled by ARKit and ARCore, respectively, give ...more
While these days it is better known for the cross-platform gaming sensation Fortnite, Epic Games also makes Unreal Engine, one of the top development environments for 3D content and, in turn, augmented reality and virtual reality experiences. As a result, the company has mana ...more
Among all the new Magic Leap app announcements made at the recent L.E.A.P. conference, an update to one of the company's major in-house apps went mostly unnoticed: Create 1.1. For those unfamiliar with Create, the app isn't a game or a productivity app, but more of an incredi ...more
A sizzle reel just released by augmented reality cloud company 6D.ai shows off what kind of hyper-realistic AR experiences developers can build with its SDK. For its forthcoming game Dragon Duel, developer Happy Giant created an AR dragon that can climb real world objects and ...more
Despite the relatively small size of Magic Leap's first annual L.E.A.P. conference, there was a lot to see and experience. Apparently missed by many was one of the best experiences I had at the event: Wingnut AR's unreleased Pest Control game. For those of us who hate bugs, t ...more
Google subsidiary Owlchemy Labs has cooked up an experimental ARCore mobile app that enables smartphone users to follow along with their VR friends as they play games in a head-mounted display. Called Mobile Spectator, the app uses ARCore to track the smartphone's position in ...more
When Pokémon GO developer Niantic launches its Real World Platform for augmented reality gaming, it will run over 5G speeds courtesy of T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom and the edge servers of its MobiledgeX subsidiary, the companies announced today. As we've previous ...more
After the limited initial release of the massively popular game on the Android platform, many users have been stuck waiting to play Fortnite. That's because, initially, Epic Games only released the game to Samsung Galaxy devices, and asked non-Samsung users to join an invite l ...more
Magic Leap and AT&T have lifted the lid on multiple parts of their mysterious relationship today. According to AT&T Communications CEO John Donovan, the company is planning to launch a beta version of DirectTV Now for the Magic Leap One in 2019. The announcement came onstage ...more
The thrill and excitement of great tourism generally requires visitors to take part in the country's local fare in person. But Air New Zealand's new augmented reality experience for the Magic Leap One gives visitors an immersive taste of what the country has to offer without e ...more
As promised last week, Magic Leap has finally released the long-awaited augmented reality game Dr. Grordbort's Invaders. The game, developed by Weta Workshop, is easily the most well known and hyped title among all of the Magic Leap apps (and there aren't many) currently on t ...more
Magic Leap One owners with itchy trigger fingers may have their itch scratched next week, as Magic Leap has shared a brief teaser on Twitter for the long-awaited Dr. Grordbort's Invaders game from Weta Workshop. The video concludes with the Magic Leap logo and the hashtag #le ...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