We recently set out to find the best phones for people whose primary usage revolves around social media apps like Facebook and Instagram. Samsung, Apple, and Google were the three brands that made our top five, and while the latter only had one finalist, the two bigger OEMs ha ...more
An incorrectly scaled object in your HoloLens app can make or break your project, so it's important to get scaling in Unity down, such as working with uniform and non-uniform factors, before moving onto to other aspects of your app. This HoloLens Dev 101 series has been desig ...more
Sometimes, you come across a recipe or a food hack and think, "That is the weirdest thing I have ever heard of; who would make that?" That was my initial reaction when I read Food52's piece about popcorn milkshakes. But after a bit more consideration, I decided that popcorn i ...more
On Monday, Apple unveiled its Apple Card, the company's boldest move yet toward becoming a truly mainstream mobile payments company. And the product has vast implications for our augmented reality future, some of which may not be immediately obvious to many. Let's start with ...more
Hip-hop artist Drake once rapped that "goin' online...ain't part of (his) day," but that's not stopping him from promoting his new double album, Scorpion, via augmented reality on Snapchat. Using Snapchat's Shoppable AR platform, the experience puts users into Drake's hoodie, ...more
If you've gone anywhere near a television in the US in the last 48 hours, you've probably seen some of the reports of Hurricane Florence and its devastating wind and rain making its way toward the Carolina coast. But if you're not a weather nerd, with your eyes locked on The ...more
Trivia games are among the most entertaining ways to learn factoids and interesting info you may have never known about before. They're also the perfect genre to enjoy with friends and family, as they're particularly great at breaking the ice to make for a more memorable time ...more
While everyone was marveling at the latest drama over at Magic Leap involving employees last week, a major rumor listed in one of the reports, related to the company's flagship device, was mostly overlooked. "One current issue with the headset is battery life and charging; th ...more
Fresh off of shipping version 2019.1 in April, Unity has already dropped the beta of 2019.2, and it has a bunch of new AR Foundation toys to test. Among the new capabilities supported by Unity's cross-platform mobile AR framework include face tracking and 2D image tracking, m ...more
Back in July, Oreo released their newest, limited-edition flavor, Choco Chip. These one-of-a-kind cookies are made up of golden, vanilla chocolate chip wafers with a chocolate chip creme filling. Don't Miss: Dunk Oreos Without Getting Your Fingers Messy With this new flavor ...more
With the 2018 FIFA World Cup underway in Russia, soccer (aka "football") fans worldwide can show support for their favorite teams and players in augmented reality via Snapchat and Facebook. On Snapchat for iOS and Android, fans can don virtual glasses painted with their team' ...more
In the moment, buying a dozen donuts always seems like a good idea. In retrospect, however, it's always too much... and you inevitably end up with a box of stale donuts a few days later. Instead of trying to power through them (and make yourself sick in the process), a new po ...more
Following in the augmented reality footsteps of Pokémon GO, Universal Studios has decided to give us an AR version of Jurassic World. The new game is called "Jurassic World Alive," and while the trailer for the game doesn't show any actual gameplay, the cinematic approach to ...more
This Fourth of July, stock up on hot dogs, ice cream, and smartphones. Yep, this Independence Day is a surprisingly good time to get your hands on the iPhone SE. If you're interested, head to your nearest Best Buy to check out this major deal. (Or wait for the iPhone 8 to come ...more
Augmented Reality beauty tools have become quite popular lately, and while CoverGirl's didn't exactly turn heads, the new Wanna Nails app by Wannaby looks like a great tool for anyone who uses nail polish. Wanna Nails (available on both iOS and Android) lets you try on nail p ...more
Quesadillas are great, don't get me wrong. Cheese, tortillas, meat... what's not to like? But I'm going to take a stand: your regular old quesadilla is boring. It's time to step it up a notch and get out of your quesadilla comfort zone. That's why I invented the ultimate ques ...more
Black Friday is fast approaching, and just like every other day-after-Thanksgiving, there will be too many tech deals you won't want to pass up. If you've been saving up all year just for this sometimes-chaotic shopping holiday, we'll help you figure out the best tech sales to ...more
I love my iPhone, but it would be a lie to say there aren't some Android features I wish would find their way to iOS. While iOS has plenty of its own advantages, Android has pulled ahead in many other areas. With iOS 12 coming later this year, we're hoping Apple takes a hint f ...more
Because augmented reality is still so new to so many people, there are a number of would-be experts opining online, often repeating basic facts anyone with a spare 15 minutes can find on their own. That's why it's important to point out when someone delivers what could be cons ...more
On Tuesday, the smartglasses startup known as North finally took the wraps off its Focals product, but in a very unique way: The team simply opened a couple of stores and invited the public in. The flagship store is located in the quiet, upscale confines of Cobble Hill, Brook ...more
The mysterious technology product teased via an eccentric TED Talk nearly five years ago has finally been revealed, and it's called the Magic Leap One: Creator Edition. After all of the non-disclosure agreements, furtive comments from CEOs and insiders given early access to th ...more
I'm a sucker for sushi, both in its traditional forms and its modern fusion creations. When the infamous sushi burritos surfaced, I'm not ashamed to admit that I waited in a ridiculously long line for what is essentially an uncut sushi roll. (As for whether it was worth it or ...more
The most genius summertime snack hack that we've come across recently is, without a doubt, the campfire cone. Astounding in its simplicity and ease of preparation, yet brilliant in its execution, the campfire cone has something for everyone: parents and children, expert and no ...more
The rise and fall of Meta, the Silicon Valley-based augmented reality startup that looked to challenge the likes of Microsoft's HoloLens, and others, took just six years. Now, as the story of the company draws to a close, we finally have some deeper insight into what exactly ...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
Leaks are seemingly inevitable for smartphone makers these days. The OnePlus 5T, the successor to the OnePlus 5, is no exception to this rule. Last week, we witnessed leaked photos showing off the 5T's rumored "edge-to-edge" display. Today, leaks on OppoMart's 5T preorder page ...more
If you're a dedicated Instagrammer, you're probably well aware of the humblebrag hashtag #NoFilter, which expresses to other users that your photo is just so damn awesome that it looks like you added filters to it, even though you really didn't. However, it was those filters ...more
As protests surge in the wake of George Floyd's murder by a Minneapolis police officer, powerful photographs and videos from the demonstrations have gripped the world, putting our nation's very real and very justifiable widespread civil unrest out into the digital world. Unfor ...more
Whenever a new, category-defining Apple product is in the works, we usually get a series of creative concept designs to accompany the rumors swirling around the prospective launch. Now we're being given the same creative treatment for the much-talked-about potential release o ...more
When it comes to making smartglasses that look more like regular eyeglasses and less like sci-fi helmets, Corning International might be among the suppliers to make it happen. In a recently-released concept video, Corning demonstrates how its precision glass wafers and panels ...more
Facebook may have shamelessly copied Snapchat and its camera effects for faces (as well as its World Lenses), but it might beat its social media competitor to virtual body augmentation. The AI Camera Team at Facebook has developed a method for detecting body poses and separat ...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. New to t ...more
Now that ARCore is out of its developer preview, it's time to get cracking on building augmented reality apps for the supported selection of Android phones available. Since Google's ARCore 1.0 is fairly new, there's not a lot of information out there for developers yet — but w ...more
Google and Apple are working to enable augmented reality content for the web, but startup 8th Wall has managed to launch a web AR platform that works on mobile browsers now. On Tuesday, the company launched 8th Wall Web, a platform that adapts the company's own environmental- ...more
Wheat toast. White toast. Sweet potato toast. Okay, one of these things is not like the others... Don't Miss: Screw Sandwiches—Toast Is Where It's At Kelsey Preciado, the blogger behind Little Bits Of, first came up with this so-crazy-it-might-be-genius idea when she didn't ...more
Apple's "Spring Loaded" event introduced us to many new and exciting products, including iMac and iPad Pro models with the M1 chip, an upgraded Apple TV 4K, a purple iPhone, and the long-awaited AirTag. However, one of the most anticipated announcements came in the form of a s ...more
Apple demonstrated their continued interest and investment into the awesome world of augmented reality during their Sept. 12 event, highlighting a few new AR games that will appear on iPhones thanks to ARKit. But that's not all you can expect — as long as you have an iPhone wi ...more
With the Google Maps API giving entertainment brands the means to build their own location-based AR games, Niantic is raising the bar for the genre with new updates to Pokémon GO. In a blog post published on Monday, Pokémon GO announced the addition of research tasks to the a ...more
Let's say you're with friends at a sporting event, music festival, lounge, or some other fun venue, and you want to create a fun split-screen compilation from all the videos you took independently. It's not an easy task, because someone has to get all the video footage and the ...more
When chocolate cravings strike, indulgent fudge makes everything in the world right again. And while plain fudge will do the job just fine, add-ins like walnuts and Oreos elevate this dessert to new levels. Traditional fudge recipes require patience and hands-on cooking via s ...more
When you buy a Mac, you accept that you're giving up the customization found on Windows or Linux systems for a more fluid and secure machine. This is great for most consumers, but for those of us who'd rather opt for a tailor-made experience, there are always developers that c ...more
Microsoft has informed HoloLens users that the company will begin rolling out a mandatory update for HoloLens as part of its Windows 10 October 2018 release that brings a number of new features and quality-of-life improvements to the headset. The update's new features are hea ...more
You're in a new city and you want to explore—what mobile app is best? If you want to know what club is hopping that night, use SceneTap. If you want to know if any friends are at a nearby get-together, use Foursquare. If you want to know what restaurant is best, try Yelp. But ...more
On Monday, at its annual Build developer conference, Microsoft revealed two new apps for the HoloLens apps. The apps, Microsoft Remote Assist and Microsoft Layout, will be available to HoloLens customers as a free preview for a limited time starting on May 22. Remote Assist ...more
Electronic Arts is inviting players of The Sims Freeplay and their friends to visit the homes of their Sims in augmented reality with a new AR mode that supports multiplayer and persistent content using ARKit 2.0. Available in the Brilliant Backyards update for ARKit-compatib ...more
It seems we've come full circle in alternative dating routes. Just like a long time ago when people were able to go to matchmakers and watch videos of potential matches, the dating app 'Hinge' is now allowing you to add videos to your profile. In fact, many dating apps are st ...more
It's no secret that HBO has some ... mature content. Just watch the first five minutes of Game of Thrones. Yeah, I know. What a ride. But here's the thing — HBO has kids content, too, and it's good stuff! HBO now owns Sesame Street, of all shows. So parents should be allowed ...more
Beta testing for Apple's big upcoming iPhone update, iOS 13, is well underway. So far, each of the four beta versions we've seen brought new features and changes to the table, many of which were never even mentioned by Apple during WWDC in June. Now, it's time to do it all ove ...more
Another piece of Magic Leap's mysterious story has been uncovered thanks to a new patent application revealed on Thursday, March 15. The new patent application descriptions and drawings outline a method of using a head-mounted device to detect and translate sign language. Yet ...more
Franchises left and right are releasing Pokémon Go-style augmented reality games, and Google is making it even easier to churn out the apps. Announced today via a company blog post, the Google Maps API now enables developers to build their own location-based games using Maps ...more
We keep at least half a dozen hard-boiled eggs in the fridge for times when we're on the go and need a quick snack. Often, we eat them sliced in half with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, or we just make some deviled eggs or a quick egg salad—but these gets old very quick ...more
After the spectacular rise and fall (and rebirth) of Glass, Google is taking another run at augmented reality smartglasses. Citing documents from companies involved in the project, WinFuture reports that Quanta will serve as the contract manufacturer for the wireless headset, ...more
Portrait mode works with any dual-lens iPhone, as well as the single-lens iPhone XR, and lets you take impressive portraits with blurry, bokeh-filled backgrounds. Portrait selfies, on the other hand, are only available devices with Face ID. But that's only for Apple's Camera a ...more
As we predicted earlier this week, the focus has already begun to move from Magic Leap back onto Apple's rumored augmented reality smartglasses. The latest credible whispers come from none other than longtime Apple-focused analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Boasting a long track record of ...more
The first developer beta for iOS 13 is available to install on iPhone models, but the process for doing so may be a bumpy ride. Apple has not included configuration profiles for the developer beta yet, and many developers are having issues installing iOS 13 even with macOS 10. ...more
While a hot dog with all the typical American condiments (ketchup, mustard, relish) is heavenly for kids, as an adult, I realize there is nothing wrong with switching things up a bit and getting creative. In fact, a plain hot dog can be a fantastic blank canvas for chefs to wo ...more
In an effort to help its advertising partners close sales with its sponsored augmented reality camera effects, Snapchat has launched a set of e-commerce tools designed to encourage users to buy products directly in the app. Shoppable AR is an enhanced Lens that offers adverti ...more
Have you been noticing SpaceX and its launches lately? Ever imagined how it would feel to launch your own rocket into the sky? Well, imagine no longer! In this tutorial, you'll learn how to make a simple augmented reality app for iPads and iPhones by using ARKit. Specifically ...more
The Android Oreo Beta for the Galaxy S8 and S8+ has been available for nearly two weeks. Samsung started rolling out the Beta 2 update late last week in the UK, and just yesterday in the US. Unfortunately, the US version of the update firmware (G955USQU1ZQK6) experienced a cri ...more
In the years leading up to the release of the Apple Watch, we were frequently teased with concept designs of what Apple's smartwatch might look like. Of course, many of those outlandish designs were off the mark, but the attention to the idea itself hinted that the public was ...more