Google compete with Apple
Google has announced that it is adding augmented reality (AR) capabilities to its Android mobile operating system after Apple unveiled similar plans earlier this year. Phone-based augmented reality (AR), in which digital objects are superimposed onto the real world on screen, hit the mainstream last year following the runaway success of Nintendo’s Pokémon Go app. The game sent players into city streets, offices, parks and restaurants to search for and capture colourful animated characters. Analysts expected the game to make $3bn (£2.3bn) for Apple over two years as gamers buy “PokéCoins” from its app store. Google’s take on the technology will first be available on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Google’s own Pixel phone. The company said in a blog post that it hoped to make the system, called ARCore, available to at least 100 million users, but did not set a date for a broad release. In June Apple announced a similar system called ARKit that it plans to release this autumn on ...