Even for those of us who enjoy spending time alone at home, at a certain point, it just gets boring. We all need social interaction, but with stay-at-home orders, that can be hard to come by. If you're feeling the itch to hang out with friends and have a good time, you should ...more
We've been so worried about volumetric scans possibly robbing celebrities and performers of their agency and right to control their image that, somewhere along the way, we forgot that scans may not always be necessary to produce passable holographic performances. That's the d ...more
Starting February 21, you can preorder your Galaxy S20, S20+, or S20 Ultra. Samsung includes everything you need to get started in the box, but probably not everything you'll want. Let's go ahead and bridge that gap. No matter which phone you pick up, as with all Samsung's fl ...more
Starting Sept. 13, you can preorder the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, or 11 Pro Max from Apple, wireless carriers, and various e-commerce websites. However, unlike with Android smartphones, there is only one set of iOS phones that come out each year, so they're pretty hot items. That mea ...more
Beyond spotlight-grabbing features like Dark Mode and computer mice support that iOS 13 contains, Apple has also made its mobile platform more user-friendly for people that exhibit sensitivity to on-screen animations. If you've always found the transitional effects between app ...more
In a legal brief entered on Monday, Florida-based startup Magic Leap has filed suit against the founder of Nreal, a former employee of Magic Leap, claiming that the company's Nreal Light smartglasses were built using Magic Leap's intellectual property. The documents, which we ...more
Your iPhone comes packed with a long list of excellent text tones to choose from. Bamboo anyone? Of course, for some of us, stock sounds from 2013 don't cut it anymore. We want customizability, something that's found more on Android than iOS. However, you can add your very own ...more
Fans attending the US Open Tennis Championships in Queens, New York, which kicks off on Monday, will have the opportunity to meet tennis star Venus Williams in an augmented reality game sponsored by American Express. Fittingly, Williams' younger sister Serena was recently fea ...more
If you're a fan of Gboard, Google's third-party keyboard for iOS, then you can already search Google, YouTube, and Google Maps from any screen you're on. But if you prefer Apple's stock keyboard or another third-party one on your iPhone, you don't have any Google search option ...more
The augmented reality industry made great strides in 2017, but its apex is not even in sight. In terms of software, augmented reality is approaching meaningful mainstream awareness, thanks mostly to Apple and ARKit. Meanwhile, on the hardware side, AR is very much in its infa ...more
As you all journey along with me on my challenge to become some sort of Instagram expert, let me share with you one hack that is currently helping me out a lot. If you've ever wanted to put a line break in your posts, then keep on reading. If you are in Android user, then you ...more
An average user's smartphone tinkering doesn't go much further than taking their phones out of the box, signing into their account, and installing apps. But some of us want more functionality and customizability than the basic experience provided by Android and iOS. Thankfull ...more
Okay, so that headline definitely got your attention, but what the hell do cats have to do with Android Nougat? Well, apparently, Google's on a far-out trip reminiscent of the post-India Beatles era, because this is actually a thing. Previous Android versions have included an ...more
Keyboards and mice work fine for computers, but in a holographic environment you'll want to do more than just point, click, and type. While we can still benefit from these input devices, complex hand-tracking methods are necessary for the evolution of mixed reality user interf ...more
How to build a set of strong, stackable sturdy sawhorses. Let's face it, one of the most useful pieces of carpentry equipment would have to be a set of sawhorses. Every worksite, garage or workshop needs a set of sawhorses. They have numerous uses from stacking timber on, usin ...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
It's almost here. Another year has come and gone, and it's time to watch the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers battle it out in New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII. For the truly football-obsessed, this Sunday is a day almost as exciting as Christmas. Personally, I jus ...more
Hardly anyone writes by hand anymore, but I would consider starting again if I had this pen. This masterpiece by Caran d'Ache is beautiful. Anyone know how much one of these runs for?
Why do you need augmented reality? Because enterprise, they say. And while that's certainly true for several disciplines, there's still that mainstream use case hanging out there waiting for users to discover beyond the realm of enterprise and gaming. After much thought — and ...more
While Apple has moved on from Touch ID to Face ID in newer iPhone models, there are still plenty of iPhones with fingerprint sensors — in fact, Apple's second-generation iPhone SE is the first new Touch ID iPhone in three years. With Touch ID, you can register up to five finge ...more
The world around us keeps getting smarter. Not only do we have advanced AI services like the Google Assistant, but now we've got the Internet of Things connecting physical objects to the digital world. It's amazing when you think about it, but the real sci-fi stuff starts to h ...more
When you know how to cook it, tofu is a delicious dish in and of itself—truly. Too many people have been subjected to poor quality or badly cooked tofu and told to eat it because it's a "healthy alternative" to meat. Usually what they bite into is a bland, rubbery mess coated ...more
February may be the shortest month of the year, but for iOS softModders, there were plenty of apps and tweaks to fill up those days. Whether patching major security holes or just a tweak to make speed dialing more efficient, there was a plethora of great mods for our jailbroke ...more
The mother of all games is almost here. Super Bowl XLVIII pits the Seattle Seahawks (or Seachickens, if you're from the Bay Area) against the Denver Broncos and regent exemplar of neck surgeries, Peyton Manning. Over the years, the Super Bowl has become one of the world's mos ...more
There are definitely some very cool things about the new iOS 7, but it's also got plenty of downsides, one being the updated look of stock app icons. Apple drastically changed their glossy skeuomorphic icons for a flat, modern squircle look using their golden ratio grid. If y ...more
Thrift stores! As a Steampunk, they can be your best friend, but it's easy to make a tragic mistake. This hands-on guide will help you navigate the murky waters of successful thrifting in order to find the hidden gems that will make your Steampunk outfit complete! Thrift Stor ...more
Since it's October and Halloween is fast approaching, it's time for a series of articles on how to make the coolest Steampunk Halloween decorations for your home! In this installment, we'll look at some jack-o'-lanterns, skulls, and a few other things that are easy to Steampun ...more
One of the greatest consoles ever to exist in the world of gaming is the PlayStation 3, which even lets you do a million different things unrelated to games. But no matter how big of PS3 fan you are, you have to admit that the internal browser is not the greatest. Far from it. ...more
Norway-based production tools company Vizrt is putting the real into augmented reality with its broadcast AR solution that's designed to keep sports fans (and other audiences) watching. A couple of weeks ago, Chris Black, the head of content and communications at Vizrt, demoe ...more
Although early attempts at consumer smartglasses have employed trackpads and handheld or wearable controllers for user input, its the gesture control interfaces of the HoloLens 2 and the Magic Leap One that represent the future of smartglasses input. A new machine learning mo ...more
Many native New Yorkers, like myself, get a chance to visit the famed Statue of Liberty during school trips when they're a child in grade school. And if you're not lucky enough to be born in the city, you have to make a special trip to the monument as a tourist. Alas, many ca ...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
With the arrival of iOS 12, Do Not Disturb has received long-overdue enhancements to make the feature more user-friendly. Among these changes is a subtle but incredibly convenient feature that helps ensure you remain undisturbed for short periods of time to more focus on your ...more
Whether you're in high school or college, you no doubt will have your iPhone in your pocket all day long. To make your iPhone last the whole time and even help you out with your studies, these are the accessories you'll want to get your hands on. You might not think you need ...more
Enterprise augmented reality software maker Scope AR is bringing the powers of its two productivity apps together like the Wonder Twins into the form of a single app. Announced at the Augmented World Expo (AWE) in Santa Clara on Thursday, the merged app brings together Remote ...more
China-based virtual reality headset maker ANTVR has decided to enter the augmented reality space, and to do so it's launching its headset on Kickstarter. The company claims that its new Mix AR device has a field of view that surpasses the Meta 2, the HoloLens, and others withi ...more
Augmented reality headsets with depth sensors, like the HoloLens, offer a much more immersive experience than the average smartphone at present, and one app demonstrates that in a uniquely entertaining fashion. ZOOO, currently available on the Microsoft Store for $4.99, uses ...more
A company known as Cyanogen, Inc. has been in the news numerous times over the past year, and almost every time their name is brought up, it's amid reports of an impending doom. The writing is on the wall for the makers of Cyanogen OS, as it appears that there is little that c ...more
We're all for heaping piles of shredded cheese on our tacos, but what if all that cheese could actually be the taco shell instead? Since this was perhaps one of the more profound food questions we've had in a while, we wasted no time getting to the kitchen and tackling this ch ...more
Peanut butter cookies may not have as big a fan base as their chocolate-chip counterparts, but their distinct flavor is loved by many a cookie enthusiast. Don't Miss: 10 Tips for Making Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies Peanut butter cookies do have one giant advantage over cho ...more
Unless you're in law enforcement, you won't usually have a flashlight on hand for those rare moments when you need to sift through the dark. However, it is very likely that you will have your phone on you, so you'll have fast access to a bright light with just a few easy taps. ...more
T-Mobile's credit-checking system was recently hacked, and this one is about as bad as it gets. The names of 15 million customers, their date of birth and social security number, as well as driver's license numbers and additional information was illegally accessed, meaning the ...more
Normally, when you open applications on your Samsung Galaxy device, you do so from one of three places—your home screen, the app drawer, or from the list of recently used apps—but it never seems fast enough when it comes to opening your favorite and/or most-used apps. There a ...more
If you ever find yourself in a car that's submerged under water, your first instinct should be to try and open either the window or the door in the first few seconds of touching water. Unfortunately, if you wait any longer than that, the lopsided ambient water pressure subject ...more
When you want a helpful task manager on your iPhone or iPad, any of the nine apps in this guide should be at the top of your list. But we'll review each app's features to help you determine which one might be best for your workflow. Using a task manager on your iPhone or iPad ...more
Apple pushed out 31 new emoji with iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4, but it somehow forgot to add ten of those — all skin-tone variations for the new leftward and rightward pushing hand characters — to the iOS keyboard. Here's how to unlock and use them. UPDATE: Apple issued a keyboa ...more
Unless you have unlimited cellular data, you probably connect your iPhone to every Wi-Fi network you come across. It could be a local coffee shop, public library, or just a friend's place. Wherever it is, you'll need to ask for the access point's password if it's a secured net ...more
Notifications keep us connected to our apps and contacts, but sometimes, they just get out of hand. While you can make blanket adjustments to your notifications with iOS 15's new Focus modes, you don't have to go that extreme — if there's one app bugging you right now, you can ...more
Two brands with affinities for augmented reality, Marvel and the NBA, joined forces to inject some AR superpowers into Monday night's matchup of the Golden State Warriors and New Orleans Pelicans. While ESPN carried the traditional broadcast of the game, ESPN2 delivered a spe ...more
Among the various components of the emerging augmented reality space, the most lucrative is the advertising market. The prospect of turning every object, every location, ever signpost in the real world into a discount code or virtual transaction interface is why AR will ultima ...more
The year 2020 was a pivotal span of time during which the word "virtual" took on a brand new meaning. Instead of referring to VR or augmented reality, the term was hijacked to describe meeting across long distances through a variety of software tools, most often through video. ...more
It's been a while since Android got a true Easter egg with a new software update. Remember when Google added Marshmallow's Flappy Bird-style mini game? For Android 11, we get a new game, and like Android Nougat, it revolves around the infamous Android Neko cat. Google's appar ...more
If you spend most of the time on your iPhone shooting photos and taking videos, you'll be happy that Apple has improved a few aspects of its Camera app in iOS 14. Even if you're just a casual photographer or videographer, you'll benefit from the new changes to the default came ...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
With high-resolution photos and 4K videos being standard these days, it's no surprise that media hogs most of the storage space for many iPhone users. If that's you, there's always iCloud, but you only get 5 GB free, and a paid 50 GB or 200 GB plan can fill up fast. To save mo ...more
When it comes to cybersecurity, one layer isn't enough. A complex password (or one created with a password manager) does a good job of protecting your data, but it can still be cracked. Two-factor authentication strengthens this by adding a second layer of security, giving you ...more
I'm a new parent and I just moved into a new home. The first thing I wanted to do was ensure my toddler's safety in his new digs. That meant buying a bunch of baby-proofing products from Amazon, realizing most were junk, then buying some more until I found solutions for all my ...more
When it comes to augmented reality (AR) on Android, you might be wondering how you can get those cool new games and apps on your unsupported phone. Google has an officially supported device list for its ARCore platform, which usually consists of the more modern devices. You wo ...more
If you record yourself for a vlog or story post using your selfie camera, it can be challenging to stay on message. You might worry too much about the way you look or sound to focus on what you want to say. Using a script can help, but looking away from the camera to read is u ...more
Nowadays, our phones are capable of just more than 30 fps video. Phones like the Galaxy S10 can shoot 4K at 60 fps, even on the front camera. Slow motion functionality has recently started to appear on more and more devices — but as you may have noticed, the quality of the fea ...more