looking glass

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New App Lets You See the World in a Whole New Way

Obviously, I'm all about apps.

Obviously, I'm all about apps. Apps that help me take better photos, look better, and even find a cab in New York (it's possible). So if I had an app that turned my phone into a virtual Looking Glass — that let me see anything from apartments for rent to how high a building is just by holding up my phone to the horizon — I'd be all over it. I'm sure you will share my enthusiasm when I tell you that this type of technology is totally within our reach with an app called Layar.

Layar allows you to see things like apartment rentals, ratings on restaurants, available jobs, and where you can go to get medical care within your preferred provider network, all just by holding up your phone in video mode. Points of interest pop up as you scroll from building to building. Really, it's kinda hard to explain this "augmented reality," so I will allow the video demo to take care of that.

To see more about how this groundbreaking new app works, just read more

Geek gear

I'd Take My "Looking Glass" With Me Everywhere

I have come to realize how handy it is to have an iPhone attached to my hip at all times.

I have come to realize how handy it is to have an iPhone attached to my hip at all times. Because of its fast Internet and cool apps, I can find almost anything, anytime, anywhere. But realistically, as awesome as it is, my iPhone can't tell me absolutely everything. It certainly can't show me how to get to my three o'clock meeting via a 3D-floor plan, scan objects for fingerprints, and wirelessly transfer photos from my computer.

But if this picture into the future above is any indication, we might be able to learn things we never have before with something called a "Looking Glass" – similar to the "Magical Windows" discussed months ago – which seems to be a mobile computer complete with a camera, scanner, touch screen, WiFi accessibility, and photo analysis — all in one sleek device in a form we all know and (most of us) love.

To see why I would be the first on my block to pick up my own "Looking Glass", read more