Hacking Emperor

Next year, fans of Mario Kart will be able to experience the game in real life with the assistance of augmented reality. On Feb. 4, 2021, Universal Studios Japan in Osaka City will open its Super Nintendo World mini-park, which will immerse visitors in all things Mario. Don't Miss: Nintendo Crafts AR Content for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp The main attraction of the park is "Mario Kart Bowser's Challenge," a rollercoaster that pulls riders through a physical replica of the villain Bowser's castle. To add realism to the experience, riders will wear AR headsets (adorned with Mario's familiar... more http://dlvr.it/Rmk1zK

The movie theater business is hurting due to the pandemic, but that hurdle is actually the perfect set of circumstances for movie studios to lean hard into augmented reality marketing. That's what's on the menu this week as Dreamworks teamed with Snapchat to launch a special Lens for the sequel to the blockbuster animated hit The Croods. • Don't Miss: Snapchat Gives John Wick Fans the Tools to Build Their Own AR Effects via Lens Studio The Croods: A New Age, hit theaters on Friday, and in conjunction with the release, fans have been given the ability to take AR selfies with the franchise's... more http://dlvr.it/RmRPN5

In the realm of social media, all roads lead to one destination: cracking the code of continuous partial attention dopamine hits. We learned this back in the days of Vine, before Twitter foolishly killed it. And I pointed my lens at the emerging trend back in 2016 when I highlighted Musical.ly for Mashable, just before it was snapped up by China's Bytedance for $1 billion and merged into what is now TikTok. What isn't often mentioned is the fact that, after Twitter dropped the Vine ball back in 2017, Snapchat was left as the lone, most prominent purveyor of sticky, addictive multimedia mobile... more http://dlvr.it/RmQcbt

The Pixel 5 is the first mainstream phone with perfectly symmetrical slim bezels. Most other "bezel-less" phones have had a disproportionately large bottom bezel, and while the iPhone's side and bottom bezels are symmetrical, there's a huge notch across most of its top bezel. The downside to the Pixel's approach is it has a pretty big display cutout for the front camera. The cutout itself isn't bad, but the way Google has accommodated it in software UI elements is a bit of a problem. The top of the punch hole is about 2 mm below the top bezel of the phone. So for symmetry's sake, Google... more http://dlvr.it/RmQcYB

Imagine tilting the top of your phone away from you — it becomes a bit of a trapezoid, right? The top will appear smaller since it's further away, and the bottom will appear larger since it's closer to you — in other words, the perspective is all off. The same can be said of the pictures you take with an awkwardly-positioned phone. Google Photos now has a tool to help fix perspective after the shot's been taken. It's not your standard crop or rotate function — this new utility behaves more like the "Skew" tool in Photoshop's Free Transform mode, so you'll be able to warp slightly crooked... more http://dlvr.it/RmMbv9

Quietly, while the rest of the world was engaged in pandemic and political concerns, a few weeks ago Facebook casually upgraded its Spark AR platform with what it calls Unified Effect Publishing. The change now enables developers to submit AR effects once for publishing to both Facebook and Instagram. On the surface, this is an improvement to be celebrated. "Now you can submit your effect once, and upon approval, publish it simultaneously across Facebook and Instagram. That's right — one submission, one review process, and you can then publish your effect to all supported platforms in the... more http://dlvr.it/RmLHrJ

With the new season of The Mandalorian underway, Google has launched a new AR app that enables some Star Wars fans to connect with virtual characters in between new episodes. That is, as long as you have an Android smartphone. Check that...a 5G Android smartphone. Don't Miss: The Porgs from Star Wars Are Coming to Magic Leap One Available now in the Google Play Store, the app puts the titular character in your physical environment. The app is compatible with 5G Pixel devices and other select 5G Android devices from Samsung, LG, OnePlus, Motorola/Levovo, Oppo, Sharp, Sony, and Xiomi. The... more http://dlvr.it/RmGb7b

In this year of everything going virtual and remote, it makes even more sense now that Hollywood is leaning heavily on augmented reality. In this case, it's HBO using AR to promote its highly-acclaimed original programming. After developing a series of AR experiences via Snapchat to promote Season 1 of His Dark Materials, HBO has tapped Yahoo to create a web-based AR campaign for the second season of the show. Don't Miss: Magic Leap Releases Game of Thrones Experience for All Magic Leap One Users The web-based AR experience is fairly straightforward. Scan the QR code below (or just click... more http://dlvr.it/RmGb55

Android's hidden Developer Options menu, sometimes called "Developer Mode," has a ton of cool settings inside of it. You can enable wireless ADB, spoof your geolocation, make the Pixel 5's screen always run at 90 Hz, or even force incompatible apps to work with dark mode. But the thing is, it's hidden away by default. Google doesn't want novice users stumbling across this menu and turning off an important feature, nor do they want to confuse some folks with the long list of powerful options. So you have to take a second to unlock Developer Options if you want to do some tinkering. Don't... more http://dlvr.it/Rm6xs0

The Animal Crossing series has been a big hit for Nintendo, so in a bid to enhance the experience even more for users, the game is getting the augmented reality treatment. The latest update for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp adds two new features for iOS and Android smartphone users. Don't Miss: What the New AR Mapping Task in Pokémon GO Means for the Future of Augmented Reality Gaming First, there's an AR Camera that brings characters and furniture from the game into your personal space using ARKit on iOS and ARCore on Android. Once placed in your environment, you can take pictures of the... more http://dlvr.it/Rm6djX

When Treasury Wine Estates released 19 Crimes Snoop Cali Red this summer, named for its new partner in wine, rapper Snoop Dogg, it already came with the brand's signature AR-enhanced label. Now, with an assist from creative studio Tactic and the web-based AR platform from 8th Wall, Snoop Cali Red has a new (and, arguably, more impressive) AR experience featuring the dee-oh-double-gee. Don't Miss: 8th Wall's Web AR Brings Album Art of Pink Floyd to Life Like other products from Treasury Wine Estates, such as The Walking Dead and Brazen, the likeness of Snoop comes alive when scanned with the... more http://dlvr.it/Rm6Dbp

Not only has Google released a completely new Google Pay app for US users on both iPhone and Android, but the've also minted a new mobile banking service. Called Plex, it provides online bank accounts at one of 11 partner banks and credit unions, with no minimum balance requirements, overdraft charges, or monthly fees. Aside from those, the primary advantage is that Google Pay gets access to your banking transactions, which means you can get AI-powered financial insights if you're comfortable with Google having access to that data. Plex isn't live just yet, but you can sign up for the... more http://dlvr.it/RlzqFn

Not only has Google released a completely new Google Pay app for US users on both iPhone and Android, but the've also minted a new mobile banking service. Called Plex, it provides online bank accounts at one of 11 partner banks and credit unions, with no minimum balance requirements, overdraft charges, or monthly fees. Aside from those, the primary advantage is that Google Pay gets access to your banking transactions, which means you can get AI-powered financial insights if you're comfortable with Google having access to that data. Plex isn't live just yet, but you can sign up for the... more http://dlvr.it/RlzVD6

Amazon has joined the ranks of film and TV studios using the power of augmented reality to engage fans looking to go behind passive screen viewing. To that end, Amazon has quietly launched the Amazon AR Player app. Don't Miss: Snapchat Gives John Wick Fans the Tools to Build Their Own AR Effects via Lens Studio The free app, which is available on iOS and Android devices, allows users to experience a personal introduction to the furry cast of Amazon's new streaming TV series The Pack. Hosted by Olympic gold medalist and multiple World Cup champion ski racer Lindsey Vonn, The Pack follows a... more http://dlvr.it/Rlz82t

Google's version of Android is best described as AOSP with extra features. But while the Pixel's UI is rightfully praised for its simplicity, those "extra features" aren't as numerous as they are on other OEM skins like Samsung's One UI. Case in point, there's no real system-wide audio EQ. In the past, getting a true system-wide audio equalizer on your Pixel meant flashing a root mod like Viper Audio, but new Android APIs have allowed apps to do this without superuser access. And while there are several new EQ apps that can do the trick, this is one category where there's a very clear... more http://dlvr.it/RlvFFh

If you're a man and subscribe to podcasts or YouTube channels that cater to masculine interests, then you've almost certainly encountered sponsorships from Manscaped. And that means I don't have to explain what the company is selling you (for the uninitiated, it's a company dedicated to helping you trim your body hair—most notably, your nether regions, in addition to other areas). Now, the brand has let the vines of its advertising reach grow into the augmented reality realm with a Sponsored Lens on Snapchat for iOS and Android. Don't Miss: This Viral Instagram Augmented Reality Filter Will... more http://dlvr.it/RlvF9Y

Saving a chat's history is useful for finding valuable information later on or just reliving a favorite conversation from the past. Sometimes, however, it's good to delete chat threads, and it's even better to have them auto-delete right after you see new messages. While some apps have had disappearing messages for some time (e.g. Snapchat), Facebook Messenger now has it too with "Vanish Mode." Like all optional features, Vanish Mode is not enabled by default, but it also isn't obvious to enable. It's likely once Facebook completes the feature's full rollout on both Messenger and Instagram... more http://dlvr.it/RlqMk6

The true crime genre has long been popular on television and more recently on podcasts with shows like Serial. Now, one developer is further banking on the fascination with true crime by bringing the experience to augmented reality via the CrimeDoor app. • Don't Miss: Oscars Fashion History Lives via New LA Times Mobile AR Experience The app, which was launched as an iOS-only app this month (Android version coming later) literally gives you an AR door into historic crime scenes as detailed by major reports throughout history. Although the app is free, you'll need to access in-app purchases... more http://dlvr.it/RlqMjr

Pixels don't have a "Download Mode" like Samsung Galaxy phones, so there's not an easy, point-and-click way to send firmware files and low-level commands from your computer. What they do have is an even more powerful tool: Fastboot Mode. Also known as Bootloader Mode, this is a way to interface with your device before it boots into Android. This is important because, once the main OS is booted, all of its security checks are firmly in place and it's practically impossible to modify the firmware to get things like root or custom ROMs. But people are often intimidated by Fastboot's command... more http://dlvr.it/RlqMgK

On a PC, you can play sound from multiple apps at once. It's great, but it can also be confusing — there's a volume slider in each app, then the system-wide one, and probably another knob on your speakers. To avoid this dysfunction, Android only has one sound stream for media. But that has its own problems. Let's say you're keeping an ear on your newborn with a baby monitor app, but you also want to listen to music. Nope, it's one or the other. Or maybe you're watching something visually oriented on Netflix or YouTube and you want to give it your own soundtrack with Spotify. Sorry, you're SOL... more http://dlvr.it/RlZKB1

Last year this guy made his own smartwatch from scratch, so in 2020, naturally, he decided to give making smartglasses a try. And it worked! Nashville, Tennessee-based electrical engineer Sam March is the kind of DIY guy we love. He realized he had a problem he wanted to solve and came up with his own tech-enabled solution. The problem? Walking navigation assistance without staring down at his smartphone like millions of other mobile zombie-like pedestrians stumbling around the planet. Don't Miss: Hands-On with North's New Focals Smartglasses & Flagship Store in New York City But rather... more http://dlvr.it/RlYwcr

What was edge automobile technology just a few years ago is now clearly mainstream, as Cadillac just demonstrated via its new 2021 Escalade. The latest version of the popular SUV comes equipped with standard augmented reality navigation that brings the same kind of directional overlays we're used to on Google Maps' Street View to your dashboard. • Don't Miss: Augmented Reality in Cars — the Companies & Tech Driving Us into the Future Those directions come with audio navigation prompts, just in case you are truly among the navigationally-challenged drivers out there. The best part is that... more http://dlvr.it/RlYRvh

What does it mean when a software company obsessively focused on innovating the way we use our mobile devices to see and communicate with the world adds virtual voice agents? Possibly e-commerce magic, with a powerful layer of augmented reality. That's what may be in the offing with the recent acquisition of Israel-based Voca.ai by Snap, the company behind Snapchat. • Don't Miss: Snapchat Extends 3D Camera Effects from Spectacles 3 to iPhone's TrueDepth Camera The deal was first reported by Israeli tech news site CalCalist, which claims the price was $70 million, however, neither party... more http://dlvr.it/RlV3f2

Instagram isn't as link-friendly as other social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Still, when you do find and open a link, whether it's for a petition or a product, you may want to find it again later. That's why Instagram keeps track of every link you've ever opened. That way, if you ever need to revisit a webpage, you don't have to find the original post or account from last time. Where you tapped the link from doesn't matter — it could have been from somebody's bio on their profile, a sponsored post or story, or even a private direct message someone sent you. It will all show up... more http://dlvr.it/RlQZHp

Pixels don't have a "Download Mode" like Samsung Galaxy phones, so there's not an easy, point-and-click way to send firmware files and low-level commands from your computer. What they do have is an even more powerful tool: Fastboot Mode. Also known as Bootloader Mode, this is a way to interface with your device before it boots into Android. This is important because, once the main OS is booted, all of its security checks are firmly in place and it's practically impossible to modify the firmware to get things like root or custom ROMs. But people are often intimidated by Fastboot's command... more http://dlvr.it/RlLdsv

Android's hidden Developer Options menu, sometimes called "Developer Mode," has a ton of cool settings inside of it. You can enable wireless ADB, spoof your geolocation, make the Pixel 5's screen always run at 90 Hz, or even force incompatible apps to work with dark mode. But the thing is, it's hidden away by default. Google doesn't want novice users stumbling across this menu and turning off an important feature, nor do they want to confuse some folks with the long list of powerful options. So you have to take a second to unlock Developer Options if you want to do some tinkering. Don't... more http://dlvr.it/RlLFfj

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 bootloader, patch the stock boot image with Magisk Manager, then flash the patched image in Fastboot Mode. But there are some new hurdles if you still want to pass all the latest SafetyNet checks, so I'll cover every step of the process in detail to help you avoid any issues. On Your Phone? Open These Instructions in... more http://dlvr.it/RlKnT1

If you're in the market for a new house, how do you know what your commute would be like if current traffic is unseasonably low? Or if you're considering a new job across town and want to weigh the pay raise against the extra time stuck in a gridlock, how do you measure the discrepancy? Google Maps can help. It's a pretty simple process. Start by entering the address of one location in the search bar at the top of the screen. Next, hit the "Directions" button at the bottom, then your current location will automatically populate as the address of origin. If this is what you wanted, cool... more http://dlvr.it/Rl5LmH

They say you're supposed to keep your kids away from screens until they're at least three years old. They say a lot of stuff, but then real life happens and your toddler watches a little TV while you're working from home during a pandemic. Confession time, that happened to me. So the next step was to hide the remote to make sure the kiddo wasn't watching too much TV. Then he found all the handy hiding spots, so I had to either lock it away somewhere even I couldn't use it ... or come up with a different approach. Harmony remotes don't have a built-in "Childproof Mode" or anything like that... more http://dlvr.it/Rl4Wks

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 bootloader, patch the stock boot image with Magisk Manager, then flash the patched image in Fastboot Mode. But there are some new hurdles if you still want to pass all the latest SafetyNet checks, so I'll cover every step of the process in detail to help you avoid any issues. On Your Phone? Open These Instructions in... more http://dlvr.it/Rl4Wfs

You have an assignment due, whether it's homework for school or a project for work, but you've only got a few hours left. There's no way you're going to finish in time and do a good job, and you don't want to turn in anything incomplete or half-assed. While it may seem you're out of luck, there's a simple way to buy yourself more time. This trick may work if you're supposed to be giving a presentation in person or over a video call on Skype, Zoom, or another video conferencing software. And it may also work if you have to turn in a document or file of some sort. What it comes down to is the... more http://dlvr.it/Rl0Ysn

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 bootloader, patch the stock boot image with Magisk Manager, then flash the patched image in Fastboot Mode. But there are some new hurdles if you still want to pass all the latest SafetyNet checks, so I'll cover every step of the process in detail to help you avoid any issues. On Your Phone? Open These Instructions in... more http://dlvr.it/Rkw5g6

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 bootloader, patch the stock boot image with Magisk Manager, then flash the patched image in Fastboot Mode. But there are some minor hurdles along the way, so I'll cover every step of the process in detail to help you avoid any issues. On Your Phone? Open These Instructions in Split-Screen View Requirements Google Pixel 5... more http://dlvr.it/RksdKX

Dark mode is simply a way of life these days. Android led the night theme charge for years before Apple finally added system-wide Dark Mode support in iOS 13 and later. With that, most major apps these days have some dark mode support. But there's one holdout that makes browsing your various social media outlets in the dark a genuine pain. Facebook, we're looking at you. Right now, all of Facebook's other properties have dark mode features to some degree, including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. While it took some of those apps longer than others to add support for a dark appearance, the... more http://dlvr.it/Rkrm9c