15
May
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Recon Instruments Looks To 'Jet' Over Google Glass With New Heads-Up Display Running Jelly Bean

Posted by in News

Heads up, Google, Glass is about to get some serious competition. Recon Instruments, a Canadian technology company known for athlete-focused heads-up display products, is looking to expand into general-purpose HUD technology. The company's prototype device - dubbed Jet - was officially unveiled today, and Recon Instruments hopes to release a retail product by the end of this year.

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At first glance, the Jet looks like little more than a pair of sunglasses with an attached LCD screen; you won't be mistaking Recon Instrument's HUD for Google's anytime soon. On closer inspection, though, the Jet has promise. Boasting a dual-core CPU, HD camera, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, ANT+ and a myriad of sensors, Recon Instrument's glasses look to account for every augmented reality scenario imaginable.

10
May
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Tek Recon NERF-Style Guns Use Smartphones For Radar And Scopes, Kickstarter Campaign Now Live

Posted by in Accessories, News

In many ways, the proliferation of the Call of Duty generation is just an extension of ye olde Cops and Robbers, traditionally played with cap guns, rubber bands, or NERF darts. The Tech 4 Kids company is trying to bring kids' games full circle with Tek Recon, a series of toy guns. What makes these toys unique is the video game-style smartphone HUD, enabled with a docked phone and an Android or iOS app. The Tek Recon Kickstarter campaign started this morning, and it looks like it won't have any trouble meeting the reasonable $50,000 goal.

Tek Recon functions well enough as a toy gun alone.

26
Mar
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Here's Why You Need To Download Duck Retro Hunt Right Now: Do It

Posted by in Games, News

If you're old enough to have been around for the coolest parts of the 20th century, you know Duck Hunt. I don't need to explain this, do I? No. You know all about the bright orange gun and that annoying little dog and getting frustrated and walking right up to the screen and shooting an 8-bit duck point blank in the pixel. This is your childhood. And now, it's on your phone in a fantastic clone that utilizes the gyroscope in the best possible way.

Ignoring for just a moment the silly AR mode (which actually didn't work very well when I tried it), Duck Retro Hunt has one advantage over the myriad of Duck Hunt clones on the Play Store: instead of using a touch screen, you have to aim your phone in a gyroscope-powered virtual world to shoot the little birds.

08
Mar
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NASA Releases Augmented Reality App With 3D Models Of Real Spacecraft Like Curiosity

Posted by in Applications, News

NASA is kind of awesome. In case you live under some red rocks, the organization sent this crazy robot to Mars that sends us back high-resolution photos. The future is amazing. Of course, there's nothing the space administration loves more than curiosity (which is why they named the Mars rover after it), and it's aiming to fuel yours with this 3D model explorer.

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In a somewhat odd move, instead of simply providing the 3D models themselves, the app requires you to print out some markers. Then, as you've seen in other AR apps, you point your camera at the page and the model appears.

01
Mar
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[Editorial] Here's Why All The Google Glass Skeptics Are Wrong (And A Few Ways It Might Fail Anyway)

Posted by in Accessories, Editorials, News
Last Updated: March 3rd, 2013

I'm going to be up front: I want Glass. I'm thoroughly intrigued with the idea, I love the possibility of having an always-available camera that sees whatever I see, and completely hands-free Google sounds like a perfectly natural progression of the things like Google Now and voice actions. In the world where personal digital assistants seem commonplace, why should we not expect those things to be always accessible and visible?

Well, apparently there are a lot of reasons. And don't get me wrong. There are many legitimate causes to be skeptical. As is typical of the tech community, however, some things people have focused on are completely silly.

09
Dec
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Here Are Our Seven Picks For Best New Game From November 2012

Posted by in Games

Just like its collection of new apps, the Play Store made a strong showing in the game department last month. From Ingress to Clay Jam, there were plenty of great new games to choose from in November. With games, as with apps, there are often too many to download and try each one. To that end, we've rounded up the top seven games every Android gamer will want to take a look at from November 2012.

Ingress

Ingress was and is a big deal. A cursory search for "Ingress" on Google+ will reveal huge demand for the game (since it's a closed beta), and some impressive enthusiasm, and it's this community's hype that makes the game great.

20
Nov
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[Review] Ingress Is, By Far, The Best Augmented Reality Game A Curious Explorer In The City Can Play

Posted by in Games, News, Reviews

If you've been paying attention to the news cycle lately, you've probably heard that Google—by way of the obscure "Niantic Labs"—released a game of some kind. You saw a trailer that depicted people discovering hidden energy fields within statues, landmarks, and artistic sculptures. You had no idea what was going on. You signed up for an invite anyway, because like any other weird Google product, you want in regardless of what it is. Well, I got my invite a couple days ago, and I'm happy to tell you, it's absolutely worth it.

To say that Ingress is amazing would be an understatement.

06
Nov
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[New Game] Ghostbusters: Paranormal Blast Lets You Bust AR Ghosts From The Comfort Of Your Couch

Posted by in Games, News

Just in time for Halloween election night, the original paranormal investigators are ready for another round on Android. But hold on, would-be busters: this ain't no ordinary mobile cash-in.  Ghostbusters: Paranormal Blast is an augmented reality mobile cash-in. The core gameplay is finding ghosts though your smartphone camera (AKA Ecto Goggles), zapping them with your handy dandy nuclear-powered Proton Pack until they're weak enough to catch in a regulation Ghost Trap. For proper ambiance, try to find a high-class but antique hotel, or an abandoned firehouse.

The more interesting bit comes from the game's integration with Google Maps: calls for ghostbusting come from real addresses in your area, as if you were a Ghostbusters, Inc.

09
Sep
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[New App] HandsonAR Uses Augmented Reality To Display How The Galaxy Note II, Optimus VU, Nexus 7, And More Will Look In Your Hands

Posted by in Applications, News

We've seen some really cool things come along with augmented reality technology. In fact, just a few days ago the Chestburster app made its way to Android, allowing users to finally see what it's like to watch a baby alien tear its way out of things (up to and including actual chests). Now, however, we see augmented reality used in a much more practical manner with a new app called HandsonAR.

With the recent phablet movement and announcement of Verizon's LG Intuition and Samsung's Galaxy Note II, many people are curious about super-sized phones. The main question is: how much larger than my existing phone is it?

06
Sep
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Chestburster Arrives On Android, Lets A Baby Alien Violently Emerge From Your Chest Cavity With Augmented Reality

Posted by in Applications, News

If you always dreamed of reliving Kane's experience in Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror flick Alien, now's your chance. Chestburster uses a custom t-shirt and augmented reality to bring your own baby alien to life at the expense of your chest, minus the blood, guts, pain, and, you know, dying. Yes, it is as awesome as it sounds.

Badass, no? The companion app just landed in the Play Store for free today (you can't see the goods without the app), but the shirt will set you back $30. A small price to pay for your own alien chest baby. <3

Update: I didn't realize it initially, but you can also grab the image from here and put it basically anywhere you want.

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