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 app for Android and iOS, Aparna Chennapragada, vice president and...
Tag: #augmentedreality
Pikachu Celebrates New Movie by Photobombing the AR Camera in Pokémon GO
The perfect promotion for Pokémon: Detective Pikachu has finally come to fruition as Niantic has added some movie-related perks to Pokémon GO. Starting Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern time and continuing until the same time on May 17, Pokémon GO players taking photos with the enhanced GO Snapshot camera may encounter Detective Pikachu, complete with...
Microsoft’s Live HoloLens 2 Apollo 11 Demo Didn’t Take Flight, but You Can See It Thanks to Unreal Engine’s Video
On Monday, the Microsoft Build conference kicked off, showcasing a series of demos that went off without a hitch — except for one big one. At the start of the show, the company was meant to show off the capabilities of the HoloLens 2 by highlighting a look at the historic Apollo 11 mission as...
Microsoft Adds Spatial App Functionality to Office 365’s Teams App, Android & Web Interaction Demoed
Months ago, we showed you some of the powers of Spatial, the HoloLens app that allows groups of workers to collaborate in augmented reality using 3D avatars. On Monday, the company boosted its profile by taking the stage at Microsoft Build to show off its new integration into Microsoft Teams, a workplace chat application that...
Takeaways from F8 and Facebook’s next phase
Extra Crunch offers members the opportunity to tune into conference calls led and moderated by the TechCrunch writers you read every day. This week, TechCrunch’s Josh Constine and Frederic Lardinois discuss major announcements that came out of Facebook’s F8 conference and dig into how Facebook is trying to redefine itself for the future. Though touted...
Microsoft announces the $3,500 HoloLens 2 Development Edition
As part of its rather odd Thursday afternoon pre-Build news dump, Microsoft today announced the HoloLens 2 Development Edition. The company announced the much-improved HoloLens 2 at MWC Barcelona earlier this year, but it’s not shipping to developers yet. Currently, the best release date we have is “later this year.” The Development Edition will launch...
Microsoft brings Azure SQL Database to the edge (and Arm)
Microsoft today announced an interesting update to its database lineup with the preview of Azure SQL Database Edge, a new tool that brings the same database engine that powers Azure SQL Database in the cloud to edge computing devices, including, for the first time, Arm-based machines. Azure SQL Edge, Azure corporate vice president Julia White...
Microsoft Launches HoloLens 2 Development Edition, Offers Free Unity Pro & PiXYZ Plugin Trial Package
Much of the excitement around the HoloLens 2 has moved on to many wondering when we’ll finally be able to get our hands on what is now the best augmented reality device on the market. In the meantime, Microsoft has decided to introduce a new package called the HoloLens 2 Development Edition, which comes bundled...
Africa Roundup: Jumia’s IPO, DHL launches Africa e-Shop, Cathay’s $168M VC fund, ConnectMed acquired
The biggest news in a month of weighty African headlines was Jumia listing on the New York Stock Exchange. After filing SEC IPO docs in March, the Pan-African e-commerce company’s shares began trading on the NYSE April 12, opening at $14.50 under ticker symbol JMIA. Jumia stock rose north of 70 percent on its first...
‘Detective Pikachu’ Pokémon Pop Up in Augmented Reality via Google’s Playground App for Pixel Devices
The Avengers aren’t the only shiny new toys available to Pixel handset owners, as the animated stars of the upcoming Pokémon Detective Pikachu movie have arrived in the Google Playground app. Just weeks after bringing the headlining characters of the box office-owning Avengers: Endgame to the AR app, on Thursday, Google published a Playmoji sticker...