When people work out, they want to get the absolute most out of their routine. Going on a run is great exercise, but finding an optimal route that works best for you can be difficult. Luckily, Apple's ARKit has the capability to make it much easier to get the most out of your workout. YouTube user napkinmoments has previously created ARKit demos including a way to learn the nutritional value of what you're eating when you point your smartphone at a food item. Now they've taken their ARKit skills to give you more stats on healthy living with their newest demo. The demo was created with... more
Apple AR: Get Real-Time Fitness Stats & Path Recommendations While You Run
SoundCloud 101: How to Repost Tracks to Populate Your Profile Stream
SoundCloud is a great place to gather all your different tastes in music and display them as representations of who you are. You can display things like your own tracks, albums, manually-curated playlists, liked tracks and playlists, and reposted content all from within your profile page. These SoundCloud features let people know what type of music you are into. It also gives other users a good reason to follow you. Besides displaying your playlists and liked tracks on your page, reposting tracks is another SoundCloud feature that can be utilized to let people know what you're about. So yeah... more
Today's Top News: A Multibillion-Dollar Investment by Softbank Could Revive Uber's Uncertain Driverless Program
The status of Uber's driverless program remains a big unknown amid the company's recent woes, but a reported multibillion-dollar shot in the arm by Japanese tech giant Softbank could change all that. Softbank has approached Uber unilaterally about offering to purchase a multibillion-dollar stake in the troubled ride-hailing company and is in direct negotiations with Uber about a potential deal, The Wall Street Journal reports. Citing unnamed sources, any deal with Uber is contingent on Uber finding a new CEO, following Uber's ex-CEO and founder Travis Kalanick's recent departure from the... more
Hulu 101: How to Customize Captions & Subtitles on Your Phone
We use subtitles when we can't understand what's being spoken on screen, but most of the time it seems like those subtitles are out of our control. Maybe we find them too small, or even too large. Maybe the color is too faint, or the background too distracting. If only we could change the subtitles to reflect our own needs and styles ... Well, you can! Whether you have an iPhone or an Android device, you have tools at hand to change the way subtitles and captions work in Hulu. No matter what show you want to stream, no matter where you are, you can control how you read your subtitles. Let's... more
Double Shot: New Class of Antibiotics Could Treat Plague & Multi-Drug Resistant Superinfections
Antibiotics are one of our main weapons against infections. The problem is that many bacteria are becoming resistant to most of the antibiotics we use to treat them, and those 'superbugs' have created an urgent threat to our global health. A research group found a new way to hit a well known bacterial target and have developed a drug to hit it. The new class of antibiotics hits an enzyme called LpxC that's critical to forming the outer membrane of some types of bacteria. An international team of scientists showed that a LpxC inhibitor could treat Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes... more
Super Mario Run 101: How to Earn More Toad Rally Tickets
One of the best features in Super Mario Run is a multiplayer race that lets you test your skills against other players. Toad Rally, as it's called, pits you against other players in a battle for Toads. The more Toads you collect, the easier it is to build your kingdom and collect more rewards on your Android or iPhone. But playing Toad Rally requires Toad Rally Tickets, so if you're short on those, you're out of luck. Thankfully, there are numerous ways you can obtain these awesome tickets, regardless of your skill level. We've detailed all the best methods to earn more Toad Rally Tickets... more
Spotify 101: How to Enable & Use Waze Integration
Who doesn't love listening to music while they're driving? The open road and an awesome playlist make for a perfect pairing, but it can become quite the challenge if you're trying to follow your navigation app at the same time. Do you watch the map to see where you have to turn next, or do you leave your music app open so you can skip and rewind songs? Well thankfully, we no longer have to choose now that Spotify and Waze have partnered up. While this only works on Android devices, it will surely please millions to know that they can now seamlessly follow directions and control their music... more
Review: Zenge Is a Puzzle Game with a Creative Twist
Zenge came to my attention as a free game on the Google Play store — it will remain free until midnight, so anyone catching this review on the 25th, download it ASAP — but I imagine it would be worth the typical $0.99. While it can be mentally-frustrating to purchase a game — I mean, who pays for games — Zenge is an effort deserving of reward. Charming, clever, and all-around calming, Zenge will have you solving puzzles as you unlock more of its interesting story. Gameplay With any puzzle game, gameplay is key. Well, I guess with any game, gameplay is key, but with a puzzler, it doesn't... more
Arvizio Adds LiDAR Point Cloud Support to MR Studio
Mixed reality developer Arvizio has updated its MR Studio software suite to integrate processing of 3D light detection and ranging (LiDAR) point clouds. The new capability makes the enterprise collaboration software for Microsoft HoloLens an attractive solution for architecture, engineering, and construction functions, as well as mining, oil, and gas industries. These industries typically use LiDAR point clouds to construct 3D models sites spanning several square miles. LiDAR point clouds encompass billions of data points, which HoloLens cannot process on its own. Arvizio developed an... more
Apple Removed Star Ratings in the iPhone's Music App Again ... But They're Easy to Get Back
I'm not sure how many more times I can deal with Apple's recent hatred for star ratings in the Music app, something iTunes has been built around since 2002, and something that's been possible on iPhones since day one. Apple gave star ratings the backseat in iOS 8.4 to promote their new Love/Dislike ratings for the Apple Music subscription service. Then they made star ratings trickier in iOS 9.3. After that, they completely removed the feature in iOS 10, but brought it back in iOS 10.2 after some serious user backlash (not just from me). Star ratings have been alive and kicking ever since... more
The Top 5 Home Remedies for Treating Poison Ivy & Poison Oak Rashes
Summer is the best friend of poison ivy, oak, and sumac. When the weather is hot outside, people spend more time in the great outdoors, which means more people accidentally running face first into some poisonous shrubs, leaves, and vines. If that sounds like you, instead of suffering through the itch or spending money on expensive pharmaceutical solutions, try some of these home remedies out. Why You Get a Rash from Poison Ivy, Oak & Sumac For all three, urushiol is the culprit behind those itchy rashes and blisters, and you can actually get infected year round, not just in warmer months... more
How to Drag & Drop Photos on Your iPhone in iOS 11
One of the more interesting improvements to the Photos app in iOS 11 includes a way to drag and drop a photo from one album into another album. In fact, you could even drag and drop multiple photos at the same time. And this is not an iPad-only feature — it works just as well on an iPhone. In the Photos app, the process for dragging and dropping just one photo or multiple photos simultaneously from one album to another is very similar to dragging and dropping app icons and folders from one page to another on your home screen. Note that this feature does not replace the "Add To" one already... more
Bacterial Bugs in Your Eyes Help Fend Off Infection
Not all bacteria in the eyes cause infection. A group of researchers from the National Eye Institue has shown that not only is there a population of bacteria on the eyes that reside there but they perform an important function. They help activate the immune system to get rid of bad, potentially infection-causing — pathogenic — bacteria there. The studies, done in mice, found that when Corynebacterium mastitidis (C. mast) bacteria isolated from the eye surface was mixed with immune cells, the cells produced interleukin 17 (IL-17), a protein already known to defend against invading bad bacteria... more
Today's Top News: Tesla Discretely Preps Autopilot Gearshift for Level 4 Ahead of Everybody Else
Tesla's Autopilot self-drive interface in its new Model 3 signals the carmaker is already prepping its cars for Level 4 driving years ahead of the competition. The incremental-yet-revealing modification consists of the Model 3's Autopilot gearshift option. Unlike the cruise control-like Autopilot in the Model S and X, the Model 3's Autopilot is activated with the gearshift, according to spy shots taken of the interior ahead of the launch (a Tesla spokesperson told Driverless the company will officially disclose the vehicle's specs during the "coming days"). This does not mean too much for... more
University of Washington Students Preview New Computer Science Building in Augmented Reality
It's fitting that students at the University of Washington can catch a glimpse of the new, 135,000 square-foot computer science building in augmented reality before construction is completed. The university's contractor for the project, Mortenson Construction, has built a mobile app for iOS and Android devices that allow users to view a 3D model of the $105 million CSE2 building while work progresses. Augmented reality view of the new CES2 building.. An artist's rendering.. With the Mortenson AR/VR app, students can point their smartphone at the construction site to view a 3D rendering of... more
Apple AR: Demo Gives a Glimpse at a New Way of Sharing Art
Most people say art is meant to be seen. Museums are a good way to do that, but they aren't always accessible to everyone. Those who miss out on the chance to see fantastic pieces of art at museums might now be able to get close to them thanks to Apple's ARKit. BEEVA Labs, a technology and innovation company, released the demo on their Twitter. They specialize in bringing AR and VR innovations to businesses, and now it seems those businesses include museums. The video demo shows a list of the art pieces that you can choose from, who created them, and what the inspiration comes from. The demo... more
Today's Top News: Tesla Discretely Preps Autopilot Gearshift for Level 4 Before Everybody Else
Tesla's Autopilot self-drive interface in its new Model 3 signals the carmaker is already prepping its cars for Level 4 driving years ahead of the competition. The incremental-yet-revealing modification consists of the Model 3's Autopilot gearshift option. Unlike the cruise control-like Autopilot in the Model S and X, the Model 3's Autopilot is activated with the gearshift, according to spy shots taken of the interior ahead of the launch (a Tesla spokesperson told Driverless the company will officially disclose the vehicle's specs during the "coming days"). This does not mean too much for... more
FaceTime 101: How to Take or Disable Live Photos During a Video Call
Nothing has stopped you from taking a screenshot of a funny moment in a FaceTime video call before, and nothing probably will. In fact, Apple has made it even easier — and more lively — to take FaceTime screenshots on your iPhone. Unlike Snapchat and Instagram, FaceTime does not have any regular screenshot restrictions. This means that whenever you take a quick screenshot of a friend or family member using your sleep/wake and home buttons, they won't receive a pop-up warning saying you did so. Better yet, Apple included a Live Photo shutter button directly in the app, so regular old... more
Apple AR: Step into A-ha's Classic 'Take On Me' Video with ARKit
Augmented reality has produced some incredible innovations that have revolutionized modern technology. From helping with live surgery to changing the game in marketing and businesses. But without a doubt, the most important thing that augmented reality and ARKit has ever brought us is an AR version of A-ha's iconic "Take On Me" video. The video demo was posted by Chicago-based TRIXI studios, and I couldn't be more grateful. According to an interview with TRIXI founder at The Verge: We had portals in PHANTOGEIST on Project Tango last year and instantly thought of the 'Take On Me' video... more
Ancient Fungus Gives Trees a Better Chance at Surviving Hotter Temperatures
A 6,000-year-old forest inhabitant awakens to find life in the forest around it in crisis. Plants, trees, animals, and birds are moving north to escape increasingly heated air, even as mass extinctions take place around the world. The inhabitant stirs and remembers it has lived this before and knows what to do. Sci-Fi? Not really. A pair of researchers from Canada and England suggest ancient fungi could colonize the stressed roots of struggling trees to increase their survival during this time of enormous climactic change. The theory, called the "paleosymbiosis hypothesis," is discussed in... more