HTC

This awesome ARKit app uses HTC Vive to bring mixed reality to iPad

Unlike virtual reality which completely immerses you in computer-generated images, augmented reality superimposes virtual objects on top of your world rather than close it out.

Mixed reality, on the other hand, (sometimes called hybrid reality) merges the two worlds so that physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time.

A new recently published demo combines an ARKit-driven app running on the Unity 3D engine on an iPad Pro with real-time input from HTC's Vive virtual reality headset and controller. Created by NY-based virtual reality developer Normal VR, the app features a cute avatar drawing a virtual painting in the middle of the company's office.

What's really interesting about it is the fact that a person wearing a HTC Vive is revealed when the camera pans right, proving that the app captures the moves of the person in real-time and projects the resulting actions in their real world through augmented reality.

“This is going from East Coast to West Coast (server) and back. We definitely do some extrapolation to account for ping,” developers wrote. You could easily imagine the possibilities for remote interactions between people across the globe in mixed reality.

Blobbing in the studio today w/ the Vive + ARKit. Definitely some huge mixed reality potential here. #arkit #vr #indiedev #gamedev pic.twitter.com/C1zANBuSrx

— Normal (@normalvr) July 10, 2017

Not sure about you, but I'm really impressed by this demo.

There's a lot going on here as this app brings objects from the virtual world into the real one, in real-time—not only does the avatar realistically replicates the person's actions, it shows the digital painting on top of the real world as it's being created, updating it constantly.

Welcome to the future of mixed reality!

We showed you many demos powered by Apple's ARKit framework for building augmented reality apps on iPhone and iPad, ranging from a simple but awesome measuring tape to home decor shopping, accurate room measurement, Tic Tac Toe, food ordering and more.

Even Ikea has jumped on the AR bandwagon by partnering with Apple on an ARKit-powered app that will let you try out virtual furniture in your home, with support for in-app ordering.

The beauty of ARKit is that it does all the heavy lifting, allowing developers to focus on app design rather than deal with things like plane detection, lighting estimation, tracking, etc.

Using computer vision and other techniques, ARKit does all that by analyzing live camera feed and data from iPhone or iPad's built-in sensors. ARKit requires the A9 or A10 chip, meaning augmented reality apps will require an iPhone 6s or newer or one of the latest iPad models.

The new HTC 10 is the first Android smartphone with native support for Apple’s AirPlay technology

HTC's latest flagship smartphone, the 10, supports Apple's AirPlay right out of the box. Celebrating the tenth year since the Taiwanese handset maker's been making smartphones, the new HTC 10 was unveiled this morning and is the world's first Android device with built-in native support for Apple's wireless media streaming technology.

Owners of the new phone can swipe with three fingers up anywhere on the screen to bring up HTC’s Connect overlay, which allows them to choose AirPlay as their streaming destination for photos, music and videos.

HTC’s One A9 ad takes cues from Apple’s famous ‘1984’ commercial

HTC and its latest One A9 flagship smartphone have been accused of copying the iPhone 6 design and its much criticized antenna bands on the back (HTC, needless to say, begs to differ).

But now, the ailing Taiwanese handset maker has taken things to the next level with a brand new advertising campaign that revolves around the tagline 'Be Different'.

In a 90-second commercial posted to HTC's YouTube channel, a young and hip runner is portrayed in a dystopian-like world where everything is white and clean, unified and supposedly Apple-like. To make it perfectly clear who the Big Brother is this time around, HTC's hero can be seen kicking a bunch of white apples, apparently to stand up to the Man and make a point.

HTC: Apple ripped off our unibody phone design and antenna bands, not the other way round

Two days ago, HTC unveiled a new flagship phone, the $399 One A9, with most of the headlines calling the device an iPhone lookalike due to its two-tone design, the antenna bands and a protruding camera lens on the back. The device indeed bears a striking resemblance to Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s smartphone series.

In an effort to set the record straight and maybe get a little more free press, the Taiwanese handset maker said that “it's Apple that copied” its antenna design and unibody construction as HTC first released a smartphone with these features about three years ago.

Check out One A9, HTC’s $399 iPhone lookalike

Taiwan's embattled handset maker HTC today introduced a new phone, called One A9. The $399 Android Marshmallow device was “inspired by nature,” as HTC puts it, but technology blogs were quick to point out its striking resemblance to Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s smartphone series.

The A9 One is just 0.1mm thicker than the iPhone 6s, which measures in at 7.1mm.

The One A9 fits a five-inch 1080p AMOLED edge-to-edge screen protected by Corning's 2.5D Gorilla Glass 4 inside an enclosure that falls somewhere between the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6/6s.

Review: HTC One M9 from an iPhone user’s perspective

The HTC One M9 is the latest flagship phone from HTC and it doesn't divert from what has made the HTC One line stand out among other releases from Android OEMs. If the all metal Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge didn't exist, then the HTC One would stand head and shoulders above the rest of the Android competition from a design standpoint. But even with Samsung's recent change in design taste, the HTC One M9 is one of the, if not the best looking Android smartphone that money can buy.

As a full time iPhone user, I feel like I have a unique perspective to lend to those of you who may be interested in the M9, or those of you who just want to know how other flagship phones are doing outside of the Apple ecosystem. In this post, I'll discuss 5 features that I love about the HTC One M9, and 5 features that aren't so hot. Be sure to tune in to our full video review as well.

HTC rap anthem takes ad wars to the next level, disses Apple and Samsung

Somebody thought a rap music video about HTC would be a nice excuse to blast Samsung and Apple. In what could quite possibly mark the worst Apple ad attack ever, the cringeworthy hip hop anthem titled “Hold the Crown” sings praise to the HTC M8 handset while dissing competition.

“Your phone was all glass, why you changed your tune now?,” hip hop artists Greg Carr aka “Doc G” of the musical group P.M. Dawn raps in the video.

“Your chip is slower, but you'll never touch our BoomSound,” the lyrics continue. Accusing “more than a few clowns” who stole “what we originated”, the music video goes on to proclaim HTC as the master of the universe and paint “your Galaxy” as “overrated”.

Google roundup: Android Lollipop, Nexus 6 phone, Nexus 9 tablet and Nexus Play streamer

With less than 24 hours left until Apple's “It's been way too long” iPad and Mac media event, the Internet giant Google in a pre-emptive strike Wednesday officially unveiled the next major version of its mobile operating system, Android 5.0, along with the newest Nexus-branded hardware devices: a Motorola-made smartphone, a HTC-made tablet and an Asus-built game console and media streamer.

“A sweet new take on Android,” Android Lollipop is actually the Android L software the search giant teased at its Google I/O conference back in the summer. Containing over 5,000 new APIs for developers, Lollipop has been designed to be flexible to support all screen sizes and devices while taking Android's customization to the next level.

HTC launches iPhone-compatible Wi-Fi camera and ultimate selfie phone with dual 13MP shooter

Wednesday, Taiwanese handset maker HTC at its 'Double Exposure' media event in New York City unveiled an iPhone-compatible waterproof Wi-Fi camera and the Desire Eye, a brand new handset with a 5.2-inch full HD (1,920-by-1,080 pixels) screen and BoomSound dual front-facing stereo speakers.

More than anything, however, the Desire Eye is aimed at improving the quality of users' selfies by putting a powerful 13-megapixel sensor on both the front and back side.

That's right, you get dual-color LED flash and wide angle lenses on each side. As a bonus, the Android-driven device is water and dust proof.

New videos highlight iPhone 6’s faster Wi-Fi and real-world multitasking performance

A pair of videos have surfaced this week offering a good look at real-world multitasking performance of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus relative to competition, while demonstrating the speedy 802.11ac wireless networking Apple's implemented on both devices.

The results suggest that the new iPhones offer nearly three times faster Wi-Fi performance than the iPhone 5s while beating out Samsung's Galaxy S5 and HTC's One M8 handsets in app loading times and task switching.