I didn’t expect to cry when I stepped into a demo suite in a hotel mid-afternoon on a Thursday to try a new VR/AR headset. I rarely get emotional in demos anymore. But then I was invited to look at what appeared to be a massive 4K TV in the room I was sitting in. …
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For years, Snapchat’s been an app interested in pushing the boundaries of augmented reality through its camera lenses. As more AR-powered apps and headsets push into the competition, Snapchat’s parent company, Snap, has been continuing to develop its AR through artists, brands, developers and influencers who have making even more evolved AR creations, games and possibly collaborative art, too. The …
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Augmented reality on phones means layering virtual things on top of real ones, but the distinctions might get harder to tell apart. An update to Google’s ARCore technology can sense depth in a room and hide virtual objects behind real ones using just a single phone camera… and the early results look promising. Apple’s newest augmented reality toolset, ARKit 3, …
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There’s a race for the next great pair of smart glasses. Apple is reportedly working on a pair. So is Facebook. And Niantic Labs, creator of AR phone games Pokemon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, said Thursday it’s collaborating with Qualcomm on a reference design solution that will mix hardware, software and cloud services, using a just-announced ARVR Snapdragon …
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VR headsets take you places and AR headsets show you things in the real world that aren’t really there. The next step is likely to be a wave of camera-filled VR headsets that are going to blend the real world with the virtual. They’ll also be able to track your room and your face at the same time. Call it …
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Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 augmented reality headset, which was introduced at Mobile World Congress back in February, is now available to buy, the company announced Thursday. Earlier this year, Microsoft showed CNET the next-generation headset up-close. The self-contained, comfortable flip-up device has no controllers. It uses hand and eye tracking, and slides over glasses. I was impressed how easy it was to use. …
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This story is part of The 2010s: A Decade in Review, a series on the memes, people, products, movies and so much more that have influenced the 2010s. When I started at CNET 10 years ago my beat was laptop reviews. I admitted, even then, that I wasn’t terribly interested in laptops, and I’m still not. What I was excited …
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What began as a way for Google to compete against Facebook’s high profile Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, Sony’s PlayStation VR and Samsung’s Gear VR came to an end Tuesday, when the search giant admitted its Daydream VR program wasn’t popular among consumers and would be ending. Google’s original vision for Daydream was to let people take high-end phones like …
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Voice recording is about to get a little easier with Google’s Pixel 4 phone, which will record and transcribe voice memos using a built-in app and without the need for an internet connection. The search giant said Tuesday its newest phone, which will cost $799 when it launches Oct. 24, has a new version of Google’s voice recognition software designed …
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Update, April 22: Read our iPhone SE 2020 review. Original story follows. Those looking for a better, cheaper iPhone may find what they’re looking for early next year. According to a new report from noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF Securities, the iPhone-maker is indeed prepping a new phone for the “first quarter of 2020.” Kuo’s latest report, shared by …
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