Japan

Whether it's a short road trip or an 18-hour flight, our phones are now essential travel companions. No longer do we need a GPS unit, maps, cameras, camcorders, or even boarding passes. However, not all phones are created equal in this regard. Some are more suited for travelin ...more

Hyundai Motor Company says it will launch its driverless tech ahead of schedule, but the Korean carmaker will remain behind mainstream rivals, including General Motors (GM), Nissan, and Honda. Speaking to the Korean IT news outlet the Electronic Times, Hyundai said it was lau ...more

It turns out that the video Magic Leap released earlier today was indeed a teaser for the public release of the Game of Thrones experience for meant for all Magic Leap One users. Available now for download in the Magic Leap World section, the app is a free download that allow ...more

In an early morning blog post, Microsoft announced the expansion of the Microsoft HoloLens Agency Readiness Partner Program. This announcement comes on the tail of an expanded HoloLens release over the last few months to many countries outside the initial US and Canada. Micro ...more

Rising on the world stage, dengue fever is transmitted by mosquitoes — and apparently air travel too. In July 2017, the World Health Organization's official report tallied 80,732 cases of dengue fever in Sri Lanka, with 215 deaths so far in 2017. The announcement notes that i ...more

Smartglasses from Apple have become the holy grail of augmented reality, and 2020 has been the rumored time horizon for the product's arrival for the past two years. The latest analyst report sheds more light on its potential debut next year. In the present day, though, Sony ...more

After months of waiting, it looks like HMD has finally answered the call. Nokia's parent company is finally releasing a true flagship phone — one that isn't just an enhanced version of a previous phone and actually brings something new to the table. That phone is the Nokia 9 P ...more

If Yo-Yos were the key to world domination, Jensen Kimmitt would be King. Kimmitt is Yo-Yo God. He literally killed at every competition this year. Via YoYo Skills: "In the 2010 season (Which starts after WYYC in August), Jensen competed in 7 contests all over the world. Fro ...more

Maglev trains. Why are they so cool? Well, for starters, they float. The idea of levitating trains have been around since the '60's.  The first commercially available levitator was introduce in 1984, Birmingham, England. The fastest known floating train is Japan's JR-Maglev, ...more

Seeing your baby for the first time via ultrasound is an exciting moment for new parents, but a new augmented reality twist on the experience could make the experience even more powerful. Or, it could just give you x-ray vision. Last week, Takashi Yoshinaga, a researcher at ...more

It's like National Cellphone Day. Here are the details for the new iPhone 4, coming out later this month: "There's also of course that front facing camera we were all anticipating, a rear camera with LED flash, and a new high resolution display that doubles the pixels in eac ...more

The HoloLens team is finally beginning to realize that to truly engage the mainstream, augmented reality needs to make its way out of the lab or factory floor and onto the streets. The latest example of this comes in the form of a new AR art installation called "Unmoored," wh ...more

Google dropped new features for its Pixel lineup of phones, and there's something here for everyone. With the launch of Android 12, Google gave its smartphones (Pixel 3 and newer) a handful of exclusive features that Android phones from other manufacturers don't have. Example ...more

The augmented reality cloud will probably be one of the most important pieces of digital real estate in the next few years, and China has no intention of being left out of the virtual land grab. During Huawei's Developer Conference this weekend, the company took the wraps off ...more

If you haven't been using Spotlight Search on your iPhone, we've got ten reasons for you to start. Apple's made some significant improvements to the search interface available on the Home Screen and Lock Screen, and it's more useful than ever. The new features and updates for ...more

The Oscars are just a couple of days away when Hollywood will celebrate the best crop of films from 2019 in the US and internationally. To enhance the event for hardcore movie fans, the Los Angeles Times and Yahoo News have teamed up to produce an augmented reality experience ...more

What's harder than returning Nadal's serve, hitting a Clemens fastball or tossing a Manning bros. level touchdown pass? The scientist prove, no matter how you slice it, saving a penalty kick save in soccer may be the most improbable feat in all of sports. The numbers don't al ...more

Sweet little bug cakes by Japan's Komatsuya Honten bakery make an interesting belated Valentine's Day treat. Interesting tidbit of Valentine's Day trivia: in Japan, women give chocolate to men for Valentine's Day, not the other way around. Via CNN, "A Japanese company has ad ...more

In case you haven't noticed, I absolutely adore video games. Most of my friends don't, so to get my fix of knowledgable video game conversation I have turned to podcasts. They're free, they feature the smartest people in games journalism, and can be enjoyed while doing just ab ...more

It's been months since Leap Motion, the hand-tracking interface startup, announced the hiring of Keiichi Matsuda as the VP of design and global creative director based in London. Since then, Matsuda's normally active social media stream has been fairly quiet — until now. Hard ...more

Now that iOS 13 is in the wild, developers are starting to show off the magical augmented reality powers ARKit 3 can deliver. One shining example comes via the new Meisai AR Filter app, developed by Japan's Kitasenju Design, which is capable of producing visual illusions that ...more

The first marriage to be officiated by a robot took place in Japan this past Sunday. A humanoid robot named I-Fairy stood in as witness at the ceremony between Tomohiro Shibata and Satoko Inoue of Tokyo. Reuters reports: "The bride, Inoue, works for the company that makes th ...more

Apple just released the fifth developer beta for iOS 14 today, Tuesday, Aug. 18. This update comes two weeks after Apple released iOS 14 developer beta 4, and 12 days after the release of iOS 14 public beta 4. Apple seeded this new update to developers at 10 a.m. PDT, the sta ...more

It's an auto freak's wet dream: the beauty of synchronization + the adrenaline rush of engines revving and expert vehicle maneuvering. Check out these incredible dancing Toyotas on Japan's Fuji Speedway. Inspired? Start small.

Who doesn't like dumplings? Yummmy. Here in Los Angeles (the home of WonderHowTo) resides Din Tai Fung, a world renown Chinese dumpling house with locations in Taiwan, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, and Korea. Patrons have been known to wait hours for their dumplings, wh ...more

This week Farmville is revisiting some old themes for 24 hours each. Tuesday 8/17 Tuscan Wedding Items available again. This looks like the same image as yesterday's mystery game but the time limit has been extended. Monday Day 8 8/15 - 8/16 at 9pm PDT Love stuff! Get ...more

With augmented reality making its way into the mainstream, consumers have been expecting a company bloodbath for a while now, one that will have a ton of casualties. Blippar has been expected to be one of those casualties due to the reported loss of millions of dollars earlier ...more

Those of us who are actively developing for the HoloLens, and for the other augmented and mixed reality devices and platforms that currently exist, are constantly looking for the next bit of news or press conference about the space. Our one hope is to find any information abou ...more

Apple just unveiled the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus at their September event, which means we're inching closer to traffic jams, parking lot fights, and day-long lines at Apple Stores, as well as those inevitable, dreaded words: "sold out." While the new iPhones aren't exactly gro ...more

If there is one constant in currently available AR headsets, it's that, for a quality experience, they'll carry a high price tag. Price is one of the reasons these devices are mostly marketed towards enterprise customers for now. And that's the case with HoloLens 2, generally ...more

Apple just released the first beta for iOS 14.2 to iPhone software testers today, Monday, Sept. 21. This update brings a new Control Center tile for Shazam music recognition, a redesigned Now Playing Control Center tile, and a new "People Detection" feature in Magnifier. A si ...more

Following up on the initial tease over three months ago, Snap Inc. is finally letting the public get its hands on its new Spectacles 3 wearable device. The limited release shades come Mineral (gold) and Carbon (black) and come packed with a number of features that are an upgr ...more

At first, Apple's six developer beta for iOS 14 isn't much to look at, but there wouldn't have been an update if there weren't some important issues to address. Most of the serious updates in build number 18A5357e revolve around SwiftUI, which even has a few new features, and ...more

Kogoro Kurata, master ironsmith, known for his massive, impressive metalworking. His creations are awe-inspiring. Any blacksmith or engineer would agree. Kurata: "Being an artisan means you need skills first. However in my case, I want to make something first and then learn ...more

Nintendo rolls out its first smartphone-specific game in the U.S. on March 21st, and the main protagonist is... you. Well, your Mii, and it's not a game, but a social app. What?! Coming to both Android (you can sideload the app already via APK Mirror) and iOS, the app is cal ...more

Okay, I have a confession to make. I'm not a real New Yorker. I'm from the land of southern hospitality and steaks bigger than your newborn: Texas. I don't know how to hail a taxi yet, and I still smile at strangers on the street. I'm slowly learning how to fit in, but one thi ...more

One of the earliest players in the social virtual reality space, vTime, has just landed $7.6 million in new funding, which the company says is partially earmarked for developing and releasing an augmented reality version of its platform later this year. "Bootstrapped from lau ...more

As if air travel wasn't filled with enough fees and baggage levies, we've got our prized quiver. Why Renting Boards Sucks Bocas del Toro, as our an example destination, is not the best place to rent a board. For two main reasons, you're going to want your own boards there. F ...more

When you're trying to pioneer a brand new category of technology, sometimes it's not enough to just have great tech. You also need to be able to tell a great story. You need to be able to capture the imagination. Along those lines, a new Microsoft HoloLens 2 promotional spot ...more

The deadly Wuhan coronavirus outbreak has not only has claimed lives in China but also has caused disruption around the globe, particularly in the tech industry. To date, the virus has claimed more than 1,000 lives in China, according to the country's officials. Now the virus ...more

Over the past week, companies took a variety of approaches to investing in augmented reality. Lampix is backing its own effort to build an ecosystem for augmented reality platforms. Nokia and Xiaomi are teaming up on numerous fronts, potentially including augmented reality. ...more

Many years ago, when I first traveled to Tokyo, Japan, I was amazed by the contactless IC card turnstiles embedded in the county's subway system. Well, despite New York City also being a top-tier city, its famed subway system has only recently added contactless payment, and A ...more

Can't help but smile at this goofy, endearing nerd "master" (Vitalijus Rodnovas) guiding his copy-cat protege robot (coined Waldo). The rig allows Waldo to mimic Rodnovas' body movements in actual real time. Hackaday has dug up the HowTo notes: "...The project page is slight ...more