"Pokemon Go" is moving into a different dimension on the iPhone, thanks to software that allows the game to play new tricks with its menagerie of digital critters.
An upcoming game update relies on built-in Apple software called ARKit that gives the iPhone's new ways to serve as a portal into augmented reality.
AR is a technology that projects life-like images into real-world settings such as parks and streetscapes.
The new approach, announced Wednesday, adds depth to the playing field and lets Pokemon monsters grow or shrink to fit their environment. The game's creatures will now flee when they detect sudden movement or if players approach too quickly.
John Hanke, CEO of "Pokemon Go" creator Niantic, believes iPhones equipped with Apple's AR software now offer the best way to play the game.
That's an ironic twist because Niantic spun out of Google, whose Android software powers most of the smartphones in the world. Hanke played a key role in build Google Maps, one of the most frequently used apps on Android phones.
Apple's AR technology works on iPhones dating back to the 2015 iPhone 6S, a line-up that encompasses an estimated 200 million to 300 million devices, including iPads.
"Pokemon Go" has offered an AR option since its release 17 months ago, but Apple's technology is more advanced than what the game has been using.
Apple is hoping app makers will find compelling ways to deploy its AR tools, helping to hook the masses on a technology that so far has been embraced by a sliver of smartphone users. If AR takes off, many analysts believe Apple will branch out in a few years and release a new line of devices designed specifically for AR.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More