Apple often cites its tight integration of hardware and software for its success. Startup Illumix is looking to do the same thing for AR gaming by building an AR platform for its apps. Emerging from stealth mode on Tuesday, Illumix has closed a seed funding round of $8.6 mill ...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
Smartphone games are getting pretty good these days, but they still can't beat the retro appeal of a good emulator. I mean, who wouldn't want to have their all-time favorite console and arcade games tucked neatly in their front pocket? Classics ranging from Super Mario Bros. t ...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
If you actually had to look up what "DS" stands for in Nintendo DS, that probably means you weren't a huge fan of the portable game system. To be honest, I never was. It's fairly bulky and has two tiny displays. Despite my hatred for the DS, Nintendo still delivered in the ga ...more
It's already been a banner year for mergers and acquisitions in the augmented reality industry, with WaveOptics and Ubiquity6 among the notable companies acquired. Two of the more active M&A players, Snap and Epic Games, continued their respective buying sprees this week with ...more
There's a new trend on Instagram Stories: People are making viral AR filters where images of popular characters from TV shows, movies, and other mediums shuffle above your head until one sticks. The filters range from Disney and Pokémon characters to Harry Potter and Friends, ...more
Because timing is everything, the latest entry in the location-based augmented reality gaming sweepstakes, Ghostbusters World, has arrived just in time for Halloween. Launched Monday on the App Store and the Google Play Store, Ghostbusters World shares its perfect timing with ...more
A new study published by American University demonstrates how Pokémon GO and other augmented reality games can help city governments bring communities closer together. An ongoing partnership between Pokémon GO developer Niantic and the community investment program of the John ...more
In the three years since Snapchat launched Lens Studio, developers and artists have created more than 1.5 million AR camera effects with the desktop tool. Beginning this week, AR Snap Shots will feature five augmented reality filters that showcase the innovative, trendy, or j ...more
Google recently started testing a new SafetyNet check that might spell trouble for rooted Android devices. It cross-checks your SafetyNet status with Google remote servers, making it impossible to fool by normal means. If Magisk shows you pass SafetyNet and you're still having ...more
Mobile gaming has exploded in recent years, with experts predicting 2.4 billion global mobile players by the end of 2019. It already accounts for 47% of the worldwide gaming market, besting console and PC. No wonder we've seen the rise of gaming smartphones, a class of phones ...more
After more than a year of teasing and testing, Niantic and Warner Bros. are finally ready to release Harry Potter: Wizards Unite to muggles of the world. Niantic has announced that the game will launch on Friday, June 21 starting with players in the US and UK, with other regi ...more
It may take practice to get to Carnegie Hall, but a new mobile app gives the average iPhone or iPad owner the experience of walking on stage with a live orchestra. Available now on the App Store, the Spatial Orchestra app brings music to life comes with augmented reality and ...more
Despite the popularity of Pokémon GO, augmented reality gaming hasn't quite caught on yet. The makers of the popular World of Tanks game aren't taking a shot at Niantic's crown yet, but they are looking at giving spectators a new way to watch the game. The game's maker, Warga ...more
While augmented reality experiences can already appear to be magical, particularly to the uninitiated, one developer is doubling down on its mystical potential for the ever-popular Magic: The Gathering card game. Available now in the App Store and Play Store, MTG Manager help ...more
Sony's Ghost Corps, the caretaker of the Ghostbusters franchise, just released some pre-alpha gameplay footage from the upcoming Ghostbusters World location-based AR game to whet the appetites of would-be hunters of the paranormal. Built on the new Google Maps API, the game l ...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
Harry Potter fans can set down their wands for a spell, as the highly-anticipated augmented reality game from Niantic based on the franchise won't arrive until after July at the earliest. In an interview with The Financial Times (subscription required), Niantic CEO John Hanke ...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
Pokémon GO updates will have new deterrents for cheaters, and these seem to use shame more than just prevention. The changes were mentioned by a Pokémon GO support account on Reddit. (There are other updates coming soon to Pokémon GO as well.) If the Pokémon GO app detects th ...more
Universal Studios and Cinemark Theaters have enlisted mobile augmented reality game Seek to promote The Mummy, a reboot of the action-adventure film franchise starring summer movie mainstay Tom Cruise. Available as iOS and Android apps, Seek is among a growing number of mobil ...more
Regular HoloLens developer and YouTuber Sky Zhou, a founding member of mixed reality studio Matrix Inception, has done it again. With an Xbox One controller in hand, watch as he makes these Pokémon battle it out Super Smash Brothers-style in his HoloLens app. Video: . I asked ...more
We've seen plenty of good, bad, and weird things that have come out of the worldwide augmented reality game Pokémon GO, including murder and location-based bans, but nothing on a large scale. That was, of course, until Iran decided to ban the game country-wide. Don't Miss: Po ...more
Pokémon GO has had an incredible impact on gamers in a way we've never seen before, but you can only do so much in augmented reality on a smartphone. It's clear we're headed for more immersive experiences, but the Amsterdam-based development studio Capitola VR already created ...more
Most newer Android devices manufactured in 2014 or later have a built-in pedometer for tracking your fitness activity. This step counter is a great way to keep yourself in shape and motivated, but developer Leonardo Cavaletti has come up with an even better way to put it to us ...more
After a relatively short beta-testing period, Pokémon Go is now rolling out to Android and iOS devices right now. If you want to catch 'em all in the real world, your wait is over. Video: . By now most of us know the details of the highly-anticipated, real-world Pokémon advent ...more
Facebook announced at its F8 Developer's Conference on April 12th that, in addition to the VR-ready Oculus Rift we have today, it plans to bring Augmented Reality (AR) into the fold of their social machine. The company is looking to dominate the 'new' reality market, no doubt ...more
First, they came for our Pokémon...now it's an emoji takeover. Adding to the flurry of Google related April Fool's Day jokes, Chrome for Android and iOS has a new hidden functionality: translating the web to emoji! If you haven't already, grab the Chrome Browser for Android o ...more
April Fool's has come early, with an update for Google's Maps application for both Android and iOS that's geared towards finding their next big hire: Pokémon Master. While we've been been collecting some of our favorite April Fool's Day Pranks to pull on your friends, co-work ...more
The Lens Studio community, now made up of more than 200,000 creators, has generated some impressive augmented reality effects in the last few years. Amazingly, the groundbreaking Lenses for Snapchat continue to come, often from the internal AR team at Snap. Take, for instance ...more
Apple's iOS 11 is finally here, and while they showed off several of the new features it brings to your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch back at WWDC 2017, they've only just touched the surface of what iOS 11 has to offer. There are a lot of cool new (and sometimes secret) feature ...more
Apple's Siri is well-versed in the spells of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but it's not like Android users are Muggles. Google Assistant, Android's virtual concierge, can cast a few spells out of the box, and it can learn the spells it doesn't know quicker than a year o ...more
The Pixel 5 is a great value proposition in this era of $1,500 phones. With its reasonable price tag, fully open-sourced software, and unlockable bootloader, it's also an ideal phone for rooting. The process of rooting the Pixel 5 is a tried and true method: Unlock the bootlo ...more
A little over a year after emerging from stealth, augmented reality gaming startup Illumix has launched its first title using a familiar formula, but with a new twist. On Monday, the company, working in partnership with Scott Games, launched Five Nights at Freddy's AR Special ...more
If you need to know whether you are really a Hufflepuff or a Gryffindor, then it's time to get yourself an augmented reality sorting hat. The sorting hat game went live for Harry Potter fans this week within Wizarding World, a new mobile app and website launched by Harry Pott ...more
Even three years after its initial release, Niantic's Pokémon GO is still going strong. If you're an Android user still on the hunt for your city's latest Pokémon haul, however, you'll want to listen up — Niantic is cutting support for aging Android devices, meaning soon your ...more
The perfect promotion for Pokémon: Detective Pikachu has finally come to fruition as Niantic has added some movie-related perks to Pokémon GO. Starting Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern time and continuing until the same time on May 17, Pokémon GO players taking photos with the enhan ...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
Location-based AR game Ghostbusters World is creeping closer to launch, and developer FourThirtyThree has released some new gameplay footage and a trailer to capture the interest of the living. As hinted by previous gameplay reveals, the game from Sony Pictures and franchise ...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
If you are an active player of Pokémon GO, you may soon be capturing more than just virtual pocket monsters. When it comes to mapping the world, Niantic does not have the fleet of mapping cars that its former parent company, Google, has at its disposal. But it does have a com ...more
Ever since the announcement of The Walking Dead: Our World game last fall, publisher AMC and developer Next Games have been quiet about the title. Almost too quiet. That silence has now been shattered with the release of a gameplay trailer (see bottom of this page) for the ga ...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
If you bought your first mobile phone in the early-to-mid-2000s, there's a good chance that it was a Nokia and it had the game Snake preinstalled. While mobile gaming has moved on to bigger things, those who still yearn for simple games with a dose of the future can now play ...more
Just in time for a new season of professional basketball, the National Basketball Association (NBA) has released a new app for iPhones and iPads built on ARKit that turns your driveway into a basketball court. The setup is simple. Select your favorite team and then scan the g ...more
Niantic pioneered location-based augmented reality gaming with Ingress and popularized it with Pokémon Go, but others have attempted to replicate the model without reaching the level of success that Niantic has garnered. Cable network AMC may have cracked Niantic's formula wi ...more
You know the drill. It's time to d-d-d-duel! This time you're a part of the Shadow Games in a way you've never been before, thanks to Micorsoft's HoloLens. YouTube user MicrowaveSam posted a taste of what fans will one day be getting in terms of an augmented reality Yu-Gi-Oh ...more
Niantic announced today that all gyms in Pokémon GO will be closed while the company prepares to celebrate two major anniversaries for the game. There will be updates, in-game celebration, and the first ever real-world Pokémon Go event. Updates will arrive shortly after the a ...more
Despite a round of updates to Pokémon GO that patched and eliminated location spoofing, the game still has a difficult time dealing with the most hardcore cheaters. Like weeds on a grassy lawn, third-party bot makers still remain the biggest thorn in Niantic's side and continu ...more
A scary piece of malware just got a lot more terrifying this week. Security firm Comodo reports that "Tordow," a banking Trojan first uncovered in September 2016, received a massive update this December. The new "Tordow 2.0" hack stands out among other types of malware becaus ...more
Google I/O may still be a couple of months away, and although we don't expect anything groundbreaking—no new Android versions, just fixes to KitKat—we could be treated to some new apps. No, not Pokémon inspired Maps, rather new versions of Google's Calendar and Gmail apps. Ge ...more
The "what (blank) are you" augmented reality filters on Instagram have become so popular that more and more Hollywood giants are following the augmented reality-powered social media meme train, with the latest example coming via Snapchat. The trendy camera effects that starte ...more
Magic Leap and Samsung are putting their money where their augmented reality plans are, with the former acquiring an AR collaboration technology and the latter funding a waveguide display maker. Meanwhile, Lenovo and startup Tilt Five are preparing their own augmented reality ...more
As promised with its teaser from Build 2019, Microsoft has unveiled the details for its augmented reality version of Minecraft for smartphones. The company published a new trailer for the game, which has a rather similar feel to the trailer Niantic originally produced for Pok ...more
Hollywood has already proven that it's on board with augmented reality, with examples ranging from Avengers: Infinity War to Ralph Breaks the Internet. But one startup wants to make the augmented reality content that's being used to promote TV and film entertainment smarter. ...more
Fresh off shipping an augmented reality game for Magic Leap, Resolution Games has farmed another $7.5 million in funding through a Series B round. The round was led by MizMaa Ventures, with new investors including venture capital firms GP Bullhound and Fly Forever, as well as ...more
Location-based gaming pioneer Niantic has offered a preview of its augmented reality cloud platform that could change the immersive content game yet again. Previously disclosed by Niantic CEO John Hanke in an interview, the Niantic Real World Platform for mobile apps enables ...more
While you were slaving away at work or school or whatever you were so busy doing over the last seven days, people have been hard at work creating a variety of new Snapchat lenses for your enjoyment. These lenses are hot off the presses, and I'm honestly really impressed with t ...more
With the Super Bowl just days away, it seems appropriate to draw parallels between football and the professional sport of technology business, or, more specifically, the augmented reality segment. Like the Patriots and Eagles, businesses have to deal with the media, as Apple ...more