Sign Months

In the wake of the NSA scandal and celebrity-photo hacks, lots of people scrambled to find more-secure ways to send text messages, share emails, and surf the internet. Known for their incredibly secure data networks, Germany's email services saw a remarkable increase in new us ...more

Apple is bringing one of the biggest updates ever to its Messages app, including a feature that will allow users to send audio messages back and forth with the press of a button. Goodbye, voicemail. While we've reached the third beta version of iOS 8 already, the official con ...more

T-Mobile continues to make waves in the U.S. wireless market behind CEO John Legere's UnCarrier program. At the latest installment in a series of industry-challenging announcements, Uncarrier 5.0 unveiled Test Drive. The new program is set to allow would-be customers to try ou ...more

There are several ways to get around location restrictions on subscription sites like Netflix and Hulu using apps, extensions and proxies, but they tend to only work on laptops and computers. Users who want to access content from mobile devices and gaming consoles are usually ...more

Introducing a unique way to share photos and videos among friends and family, Snapchat was the big hit of 2013 (despite its many flaws). Thanks to its ephemeral nature and lack of third-party sign-in integration, it quickly grew into a multibillion-dollar company in the span o ...more

Initially introduced as an Easter egg deep within Android's operating system, the Daydream screensaver feature turned official in the release of 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. Now, it's been out for a few months, which means developers have already figured out how to take advantage of it i ...more

Free stuff is pretty cool. Free internet is even cooler—and free internet that is actually free is the coolest. If you would rather avoid sitting in a Starbucks and having to listen to hipsters discuss the proper length of cropped jeans, then this should be of interest. Freed ...more

The iPhone 5 will be here in no time. Pre-orders started at 12:01AM PST this morning and it's expected to start shipping in about two weeks. Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint are all handling unlimited data plans differently, so if you currently have an unlimited plan and are going to ...more

Most of the time, asking to borrow someone's car will elicit a really long string of excuses. But unlike letting your buddy use your car, which usually gets you nothing more than an empty tank, GM has found a way to make car sharing beneficial for everyone involved. If you're ...more

There's no doubt iOS 13 has dominated the talk around the Apple community this month. Since the announcement and release of the first developer beta, we iPhone users have had a treasure trove of new features and changes to explore and discuss. Now the fun continues with iOS 13 ...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

Silence spreads over these mountains like nothing I've ever felt. If I didn't have Moby blasting in my earphones, there'd probably be no other sounds around. Well, except for someone, Phil probably, murmuring in a nearby tent just low enough to make his words indiscernible. W ...more

Traveling abroad can be a hassle. Between the flight, hotels, food, and the languages barriers, it can be a lot to manage. There's one tool you have that can help with all of this — your smartphone. Fortunately, nowadays, you don't have to change your carrier to continue using ...more

Adobe Audition, Audacity, and other audio editing software have tools to isolate vocals and instruments in regular songs so that you can get an instrumental track for karaoke, vocals for an a capella version, or solo drums, bass, keys, etc. that you can use to learn the song y ...more

If you were upset about "Friends" leaving Netflix, fret no more. The entire series, all eight Harry Potter movies, as well as HBO's massive catalog, are now available as part of HBO Max. If you're already an HBO Now subscriber, however, it can be a bit confusing to know how to ...more

While tweetstorms were a part of Twitter since the beginning, threads, which makes tweetstorms more viable, didn't show up until late-2017. Still, threading multiple tweets at once to create long-form stories, opinions, tirades, and other lengthy Twitter posts, can be hard to ...more

Google pushed a new kind of augmented reality walking navigation to the mainstream last year, and now startup Phiar is hoping users will use its AR app in the same way for driving navigation. The company is currently inviting the public to sign up for its private beta launch, ...more

Last year, Readdle released a major update to their popular intelligent email client Spark, which brought a number of new features and improvements, including the ability for team members to collaborate on emails. You can draft new emails and privately discuss existing ones wi ...more

I go back and forth between two home screen apps: Nova Launcher and Action Launcher. While I prefer the aesthetics of Nova, I like Action's Quickpage feature since it puts some of my favorite apps just a swipe away. But now, I've found a way to replicate this feature on Nova ( ...more

Samsung's not one to make drastic changes to what already works. They've continued on with the IP68 rating under IEC 60529 first given to the Galaxy S8 all the way to the the Galaxy Note 10. If you're a little confused as to what this rating means, don't worry, it's actually p ...more

The recent industry whispers in augmented reality are mostly about Apple and its rumored fashion-friendly smartglasses, but one company isn't waiting for the iPhone heavyweight to enter the fray. On Monday, a representative for Vuzix shared part of a recent investor presentat ...more

The annual Augmented World Expo (AWE) typically packs the front page of Next Reality with new products and services from companies in the augmented reality industry. However, this year, some of the biggest business news came from outside the conference, as ownership of two of ...more

Almost half a year after we broke the story about the demise of Meta Company, there's good news for fans of the augmented reality startup — a rebirth is at hand. As we reported months ago, a new owner, called Meta View, is in control of Meta's assets, but now the new group is ...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

Just months after we previewed the augmented reality, volumetric video conferencing powers of Mimesys, the company has undergone a major change — it's now a part of Magic Leap. On Thursday, Magic Leap announced the acquisition of the Belgium-based startup that allows Magic Le ...more

If Google hasn't already demonstrated that it is serious about augmented reality, then it made it abundantly clear at the Google I/O keynote on Tuesday. After opening remarks from Google CEO Sundar Pinchai, which included a preview of AR navigation included in the Google I/O ...more

Months after Next Reality broke the story surrounding the financial troubles at Meta Company, there's a new update in the company's ongoing patent lawsuit. On Thursday, Genedics, the plaintiff in the case, filed a new motion with the court requesting a "default judgment and p ...more

The long guarded veil of mystery surrounding Magic Leap for years was finally lifted last year when the company revealed its Magic Leap One device. But even now, as the company releases new apps and high profile partnerships, the company itself remains something of a cipher. ...more

In case you thought the long and unfortunate story of ODG was over, hold on, there's one last chapter to tell. As we reported in January, ODG's remaining patent assets were put up for auction, but the buyer was never revealed. However, we now have a pretty good idea of where ...more

Four months have passed since Mojo Vision emerged from stealth, and we are no closer to seeing exactly what its "invisible computing" technology looks like. But we do know that Google is impressed enough to back the technology from the startup, as the company's AI-centric ven ...more

Ten days after Magic Leap declared that it had selected the winners of its Independent Creators Program, the company has officially released an almost full list of grant recipients. For its first round of grants, the company filtered its submission pool of more than 6,500 app ...more

As the opening act to the grand unveiling of the long-awaited HoloLens 2 at Mobile World Congress Barcelona on Sunday, Microsoft showed off the standalone Azure Kinect time of flight sensor, which also happens to supply the improved human and environmental understanding capabi ...more

Smartglasses maker Vuzix has emerged with the first hardware powered by the Snapdragon XR1 chip, roughly nine months after Qualcomm introduced the chipset designed to drive augmented reality wearables at the Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara. On Monday, at the Mobile World ...more

While augmented reality made more of a cameo appearance during Samsung's official grand unveiling of the Galaxy S10 line-up on Wednesday, it's the company's move into 5G connectivity that has huge implications for AR. After the 2018 edition of Samsung Unpacked cast augmented ...more

Now that Lego Movie 2, a film about an imaginary world made of plastic bricks existing parallel to the real world, is in theaters, it's the perfect time to shop for Lego apparel at a store modeled after that world. As luck would have it, longtime official Lego licensee Kabook ...more

Stories are everywhere in social media today, but that wasn't always the case. In 2013, Snapchat introduced the world to these temporary windows into our daily lives. Since then, stories have infiltrated other popular apps. However, to stand out, you can't solely rely on the a ...more

The story of Meta and its Meta 2 augmented reality headset isn't over, there's a new development that could impact its ultimate fate. During the waning days of January, the US District Court of Delaware finally weighed in with an update in the patent infringement case against ...more

The era of smartglasses designed for consumers has officially begun, as shipments of North Focals began arriving at its stores this week. And the company now has plans to expand its retail footprint. Meanwhile, a new player is emerging in the 3D content creation market, curre ...more

If you've blocked out your calendar to watch the NHL All-Star Game this weekend, then you might be excited to know that USA Today has given its readers the opportunity to meet Washington Capital's John Carlson in augmented reality. And if you didn't know that the NHL All-Star ...more

Unlike past Pixel releases, it appears Google isn't done with their current lineup. Rumors have it that Google plans to put out two new phones that act as budget variants for their existing devices. And based on the leaks, it looks like one of these variants might be better th ...more

The release of Avatar Chat for Magic Leap One and Spatial for HoloLens during the fourth quarter of 2018 appeared to revolutionize video calling via augmented reality. But a new startup called Mimesys, which is showing off its software at CES this week in Las Vegas, has upped ...more

Spotify integration in Bumble has been around for a few years now, allowing prospective matches to view the artists you listen to the most on the popular music streaming service. It definitely helps people connect, but sadly, it doesn't work as well as it should because it rar ...more

Location-based gaming pioneer Niantic has been preparing its flavor of AR cloud, the Niantic Real World Platform, to bring more realistic and interactive augmented reality experiences to mobile apps. And now the company is looking for a few good developers to help execute its ...more

Despite funding difficulties that forced Meta to place employees on temporary leave in September, the augmented reality headset maker is reminding enterprise companies that it remains a viable option for visualizing and working with 3D design models. Earlier this month, Amar ...more

In 2015, MyFitnessPal launched its premium service, an ad-free subscription for $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year which provides food analysis, deeper nutrient tools, more goal options, and exclusive content. After giving MyFitnessPal Premium a shot on your iPhone or Android phon ...more

With an iPhone that includes a digital eSIM option aside its standard Nano-SIM card, you can have two cellular service accounts. One can be your primary line with your main wireless carrier, and the other can be from your main carrier or another provider. The eSIM account can ...more

Augmented reality optics maker WaveOptics has just infused its operations with a fresh round of funding to facilitate its objective of bringing consumer-grade smartglasses at a $600 price point to market in 2019. On Tuesday, the London-based company announced that it has clos ...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

One the leading game developers for the PlayStation 4 and Oculus Rift platforms, Insomniac Games, is finally releasing its first major augmented reality title: Seedling for the Magic Leap One. Back in November, we gave our impressions of the game after sampling it at the L.E. ...more

The company behind augmented reality's first real gaming hit, Pokémon GO, is quietly making moves toward supporting the rapidly growing smartglasses space that may one day move its content away from smartphones and tablets and onto AR lenses positioned on your face. On Friday ...more

Another contestant has emerged in the race to deliver a mainstream augmented reality car navigation system, with Silicon Valley-based Phiar picking up $3 million in seed funding to launch its own artificial intelligence-based mobile app by mid-2019. The Venture Reality (VR) F ...more

Thanks to leaks that let us try out the latest Android Pie beta on the Galaxy S9, we already have a good idea of what the update has in store for Samsung's flagships moving forward. As we've come to expect, Android 9.0 brings a slew of notable updates, such as the addition of ...more

According to Google's new Android ecosystem transparency report, you're eleven times more likely to be infected by malware if you're running Android Lollipop (5.0) as opposed to Android Pie (9). The same report shows that if you sideload apps, you're almost seven times more li ...more

Overall, iOS is more impressive than ever with its stability enhancements, security tools, suite of apps and services, and intuitive user interface. With each passing update, things just get better and better for iPhone users. But don't think for a second that this is all beca ...more

It turns out that attending the L.E.A.P. conference last month may have mostly been best for demoing the Magic Leap One in person, as the company has now uploaded the majority of the insider panels held at the event in Los Angeles. Just a day after releasing an initial set of ...more

One of the funniest scenes from the teaser trailer for the Wreck-It Ralph sequel is the basis for the new pre-show augmented reality experience via the Noovie ARCade app. Arriving in theaters on Nov. 21, Ralph Breaks the Internet finds the titular character expanding his digi ...more

Apple released the first major iOS 12 update Tuesday, Oct. 30, just hours after the company's iPad and Mac presentation. While iOS 12.1 is the first official update to hit iPhones since iOS 12.0.1, beta testers had enjoyed an exclusive first-hand look at all the new features t ...more

A major obstacle to the mainstream acceptance of smartglasses is the current inability able to smoosh processors, sensors, and batteries into a pair of frames that look cool. Wearables maker Thalmic is hinting that it may have figured it all out. North is Thalmic's consumer s ...more

After announcing the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max, one thing was noticeably absent from Apple's Sept. 12 event — the iPhone SE 2, the long-awaited upgrade to 2016's niche yet popular 4-inch model. Not only does Apple have no apparent plans for an update, it has also officially dr ...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