A Hidden Setting Could Boost Your Mobile Video Quality
Plus: Snapchat's AR Glasses, Prime Big Deal Days, and Essential Tech Tips
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First Up
This week, I checked out some new augmented reality glasses from the makers of Snapchat.
If you’re not familiar, Snapchat is super popular with the younger set, who use it all day every day instead of texting. Its claim to fame are fun, wacky lenses that use augmented reality to change the way you look.
The glasses are big and bulky but gave me the best glimpse into the future yet.
While Apple’s Vision Pro and other VR headsets are even bigger and bulky, these look more like oversized sunglasses - and I know the technology will get smaller.
But I like that you don’t lose the ability to stay aware of your surroundings. The glasses have a tiny transparent screen in each lens that displays video and images superimposed on the real world.
They’re also self-contained. Everything from the Operating System to the speakers, cameras, batteries and microphones are all in the glasses.
I tried them in several ways. First, I played basketball. The glasses made an arc where I was supposed to toss the ball to get it into the basket. That didn’t work out so well, as I found it harder to make my shots.
Another way was to try the gestures and controls. You look at your palm to bring up the main menu and then flip your hand over to access other controls. Then, you can reach out and touch things in front of you to draw, select items, or make them bigger or smaller.
The best example I got was an art installation that takes advantage of the new tech. We all sat around a small rock formation in a quiet room and learned a bit about nature and the history of the world, seeing what the narrator was describing come to life in front of our eyes in the middle of the room.
The Spectacles, as Snap calls them, are currently available mostly to content creators and app developers so they can develop fun, useful, and creative software and uses for them. The cost? $99 a month to rent with a year’s commitment, and you don’t get to keep them after that unless you continue paying.
Bottom line: the reality we’ve been promised for so long—augmented reality vision—is finally coming to fruition. I envision a day when your sunglasses will show you the current temperature, map navigation, notifications, who’s calling, and information about the person you just ran into on the street.
I understand we are already spending too much time on screens, but this is a new and helpful twist, I’ll be curious to see where it goes.
Dealspotter
Amazon has set Yet Another Prime Day (YAPD). This time it’s called Prime Big Deal Days and it’s happening October 8 and 9. There are promises of millions of items on sale but really what matters is the stuff you actually want.
My advice, as always, is to add the stuff you want to your cart now or your saved later list. That way you can see if it goes on sale in the days leading up to the event and on those two days.
Also, Prime Days are a great time to get deals on Amazon products and services like Audible, Music Unlimited, Kindle Unlimited and more. There are free months offers happening right now, so check them out and just don’t forget to cancel right after you sign up!
TV Segment Recap
New iPhone 16 models are here! They have slightly improved cameras, better battery life, faster wireless charging and run cooler. But that Camera Control? Don’t get it for that. Here’s my full review of the iPhone 16 lineup!
Did you download iOS 18 to your phone? It’s got some pretty neat improvements to help you personalize your phone more and make things easier overall. I love how it includes a password manager. Although I’m not a huge fan of apps that don’t work across all platforms, there is a way to access your passwords in Chrome through an extension.
Tech News to Know
Spectrum is increasing download speeds for customers on two Internet plans: The basic plan gets a boost from 300 to 400 Mbps, and Internet Ultra goes from 500 Mbps to 600 Mbps. That’s great; however, if you check the Broadband Facts label, you’ll see that their upload speeds are still pretty slow—anywhere from 11 to 23 Mbps. My advice, as always, is that this is fine for most folks, but if you have an upload-intensive workflow (large photo, video, or other files), fiber might be a better bet since upload and download speeds are often the same.
Tech Q&A
John writes in...
"Rich, a friend lost all of her vacation photos from an SD card. What is your suggestion for a recovery program? Thanks as always."
I suggested Jon try an app called EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, which lets you recover up to 2 gigabytes of data for free on a Windows PC. The other app I like is called Disk Drill, which works for Mac computers.
In a follow-up, John let me know it worked!
"Sure did - lots of photos brought back to life!"
Tech Tidbits
Our long national messaging nightmare is finally over. With the update to iOS 18, iPhone users can finally exchange high-quality photos and videos, see typing indicators, and read receipts with Android users. You can make sure RCS is enabled on your iPhone by going to Settings > Apps > Messages > RCS Messaging. Your phone’s messaging window will show iMessage, RCS or SMS depending on who you’re texting.
Speaking of video quality… Take a moment to check your streaming video settings if you’re paying for a pricey unlimited plan on a major carrier. To save money, carriers typically default your resolution to DVD quality when it can be Blu-ray. I know, old comparisons but I’m trying to get my point across. You can go into your account and change it to a higher resolution, and it doesn’t cost you a thing. Instructions for AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
Instagram has new protections for teen accounts that are enabled by default.
Download This
Remember the magic of disposable cameras? If you were going on vacation, you would buy a one-time-use camera at a drugstore. Then, when you got home, you would develop the pictures. This is so different from today when you take a dozen pictures and examine them on the spot to ensure you get a good shot.
If you want to bring back a little photo mystery, check out the new Party! Disposable Camera App for iPhone.
Download the app, set up a camera, take some photos, and “wait” for them to develop after a certain amount of time.
The neat thing is that this is fully optimized for parties and weddings, so various guests can download the app and all easily contribute to a shared camera roll.
And yes, the photos have that retro aesthetic feel. Basic features are free, but you will have to pay for more options.
Bookmark this
Eyeing the new iPhone? It’s no secret that carriers advertise major deals for a “free” phone.
But you know nothing is free in this world. The way many free phone offers work is that you get a big discount off the phone prorated over 36 months. You must stay on one of the carrier’s pricey unlimited plans during that time.
It might be cheaper to buy the phone outright and go with an MVNO like Mint or Visibile.
WalletHub has a free calculator that can help you figure out the details.
Cybersecurity Corner
LinkedIn quietly added a toggle that lets them train AI on your data, including profile info, posts, and more - and it’s turned on by default.
If you don't want LinkedIn using your data to train AI, you can turn it off using the instructions below or by going here.
* Log into LinkedIn and click Me
* Click Settings (Settings & Privacy on Desktop)
* Click "Data privacy"
* Click "Data for Generative AI Improvement"
* Turn off switch that says "Use my data for training content creation AI models"
This Week’s Podcast Episode
This week on the podcast, I detail my first impressions of the new Apple Products, especially the hearing aid feature on AirPods Pro 2 and the sleep apnea feature on new Apple Watches. I also chat with iJustine to get her thoughts on the new products and what keeps her going after many years of making YouTube videos.
New for my paid newsletter subscribers: You can access a high-quality, ad-free version of my weekly podcast. You can listen on the podcast page directly, through the excellent Substack app, or pop your private RSS feed into your favorite audio app. It’s a fantastic new benefit and you should take advantage of it! Let me know if you have any questions.
Gadget of the Week
Anker makes my new favorite portable charger, which can charge both my phone and Apple Watch. The Anker MagGo Portable Power Bank has a place to charge your Apple Watch and a built-in USB-C cable to power your phone, which also doubles as a carrying strap.
But what I really love is the tiny display on it that not only shows you how much charge you have left but also the speed at which it’s charging your device! Genius.
It’s a bit pricey at $80, but my advice is to put this in your Amazon cart now and check the price over the upcoming Prime Day and during the holiday shopping season.
Throwback Tech
This week, I visited a used video game store to look at the retro gaming trend. What’s driving it? A combination of nostalgia, influencers and proven games.
Feedbag
Sylvia writes
"Thank you Rich for all your research & insights to everything in the Tech world. Your hard work is truly appreciated by everyone. "
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That’s all for now. Have a great weekend.
Rich
I have learned so much from your segments. Thank you.