Snap Inc.’s Spectacles comes with secret AR filter

We love a good Easter Egg in our tech products and it seems Snap Inc. has been able to hide a useful one in its wearable. The Spectacles have a hidden filter that’s basically an implementation of augmented reality. The tweet by Moshe Isaacian shows that once you point the glasses at the lettering on its protective case, it shows floating bubbles with what looks like snaps of other people or something that Snap Inc. has curated. While not groundbreaking, it shows what else Snap Inc. and Snapchat can do with the hard-to-find smart glasses.

Found a cool @Spectacles secret! If you point your Snapchat camera at package's lettering, it gives you a special filter!

How it works: pic.twitter.com/wPSVpQjk5T

— Moshe Isaacian 💡 (@MosheIsaacian) November 23, 2016

 Source: The Next Web

‘Avatar 2’ might be coming to theaters December 2018

Nine years after the original Avatar film came out might be the next release date for the upcoming sequel. Fox pegs the release date at December 21, 2018. This isn’t the first time it’s been rumoured that the film is coming out around Christmas 2018 and so far that’s when we really might see the movie. Director James Cameron has said it’s more important for him that the upcoming movies be released as close together as possible, so if this gets pushed back again, don’t be as surprised. “If it’s an annual appointment to show up at Christmas. I want to make sure that we’re able to fulfill on that promise.” Cameron is also pushing to release Avatar 2 and the other films using glasses-free 3D technology.

Source: GameSpot

Huawei takes Samsung’s crown as most profitable Android smartphone manufacturer

Apple dominates everyone with a staggering 91 percent operating profit market share but the very distant number 2 at 2.4 percent of the market share is Huawei. Samsung’s troubles with its Galaxy Note7 have given the Chinese brand the top spot in the Android device manufacturing game. Two other Chinese companies—Vivo and OPPO—have gained 2.2 percent market share each. Samsung has slipped to ninth in the third quarter, which is mostly attributed to the Note7’s troubles.

Source: VentureBeat

Watchmakers easing into smartwatch and fitness tracker market with a sense of style

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Two years ago, almost every smartphone or PC company had some sort of smartwatch in the market. The Apple Watch, a veritable latecomer to the segment, had yet to define its area of focus (something that's happened only in Q3 this year with watchOS 3 and Series 2 devices). 2016 saw smartwatch sales fall by up to 51 per cent according to some sources and various companies who were gung-ho on wearables have pulled out entirely.

This has made it possible for traditional watchmakers to move into the market but they have changed things up a bit by focusing on style and convenience over technological prowess. We now see companies like TAG-Heuer has a connected premium smartwatch, HP has teamed up with Movado, Michael Bastien, Tommy Hilfiger, Coach, Hugo Boss and Scuderia Ferrari to engineer various lines of fashion-first smartwatches that are aimed to entice traditional watch lovers.

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