PhotoGallery
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Dutch court bans sale of some Samsung products
According to an IDG news service report published by Computer World, a Dutch court has banned the sales of Samsung Galaxy products that infringe on an Apple patent. The patent in this case describes a method for scrolling through a photo gallery on a touchscreen device. The ban applies to Galaxy phones or tablets that run Android 2.2.1 and don't use Samsung's own photo gallery software. Samsung claims all its products in the Netherlands use the company's proprietary photo gallery software, but failed to provide the judges with evidence to support this claim. The Court of The Hague granted the ban and will fine Samsung 100,000 Euros (US$129,000) daily if it continues to infringe on Apple's patent. According to IDG, Samsung PR said the company was disappointed with the ruling, while Apple did not respond when asked about this decision.
Windows Photo Gallery and Movie Maker refresh: Vimeo integration, camera stabilization
Microsoft's stalwart Photo Gallery and Movie Maker won't be hitting high-end studios anytime soon, but a new refresh for Windows 7 and 8 adds useful features that the teeming masses might appreciate. Topping the list for Movie Maker is video stabilization, which fixes camera jitter and "wobble" or rolling shutter -- a desperately needed feature for free software chockablock with shaky soccer mom and skater videos. Redmond has also added audio waveforms and an extra narration track, simple audio cleanup tools and text effects to the video editor. As for Photo Gallery, the only new tool of note is "auto collage" which should let you create spectacularly cheesy montages using seven or more photos, regardless of artistic talent or effort. Finally, the software giant announced Vimeo as its new "publish partner," letting you upload your Gadget Cribs rip-offs from either program directly to the site. Let's see if the video hoster figures out a way to cordon off the onslaught of new freeware riff-raff from its regular hipster / film school crowd.
Facebook improves photo viewing with larger images, takes cues from Google+
Facebook has offered photo sharing in one form another since shortly after the site's launch, but while certain features have been added over the years, such as tagging and downloads, image formatting has remained mostly unchanged. Until today. Facebook has announced that it will roll out a new tool for thumbing through galleries across the site, presenting photos in a new square format with the option to "highlight" certain shots to increase their footprint on the page. Google+ users may recognize the format, which bears some resemblance to the tool on that site. We haven't seen the feature go live on Facebook just yet, but eager social networkers can preview it today at the source link below.
Scalado Album launches for Android, we go hands-on (video)
Scalado just released Album, its first ever Android app to land in Google's Play store. The company -- which is best known for imaging technologies such as zero shutter lag, Rewind and Remove -- usually provides software to device manufacturers instead of end users directly. Album is billed as "a simple to use, high performance, photo/video viewer with a clean and smooth user interface" that handles pictures up to 200 (!) megapixels in size. The app costs $0.99 and is available for both smartphones and tablets. It features some interesting touches, like the ability to browse geotagged images using a map view. We had the opportunity to take Album for a quick spin before launch and the app offers an intuitive and responsive user experience. Beyond organizing photos into the usual bins -- like the camera roll and the folders on your device -- the main screen lets you browse content by time (monthly) and location (including nearby). You can delete, share, rotate (in place) and crop pictures, plus display the file info and turn images into wallpaper. The grid view uses animated thumbnails for the videos and supports multiple selection. While not groundbreaking, Album is a solid app and the aforementioned map view is definitely worth checking out. Take a peek at our gallery of screenshots below (from our HTC One X) and hit the break for Scalado's demo video and PR.
Kodak agrees to sell Gallery online photo service to Shutterfly for $24 million
Remember that Kodak Photo Gallery online picture service that we didn't use? It appears that years of shipping packed-in with the company's cameras have netted it some 75 million users, making it an asset that now-bankrupt Kodak has agreed to sell off to Shutterfly for $23.8 million. The deal isn't quite done yet, with Shutterfly's offer entered as a stalking horse bid while other buyers may also submit proposals before the process is targeted to close in the spring. This is all a part of Kodak's pivot away from digital cameras and related products as it focuses on enterprise services and desktop printers instead. Under the current agreement, current gallery customers uncomfortable with being shipped off to Shutterfly will be able to opt out and either download their stored pics or buy them on DVDs. Otherwise, their accounts will be transferred in a way that is "preserved, and protected" -- that is to say, almost entirely unlike the way they're handled on iOS and Android.
Apple wins German photo gallery lawsuit against Motorola
Apple won a significant legal victory when a German court ruled that Motorola Mobility violates patent EP2059868, says a report at FOSS Patents. The patent details a "portable electronic device for photo management" and covers the photo gallery implementation used by Motorola on its mobile devices. Apple has the option to enforce an injunction, which would be unwelcome news for Motorola. The company would have to develop a new photo gallery that would skirt the patent. Apple could also force Motorola to recall all infringing devices on the shelves of German retail outlets and destroy all the infringing products in their possession.
Apple wins injunction against Motorola in Germany
Today the Munich I Regional Court handed down a decision awarding Apple an injunction against all Motorola products that violate a patent on "portable electronic device[s] for photo management." That overly broad-sounding claim appears to apply specifically to the bouncing over scroll animation found in the company's photo gallery application, so a small tweak to the existing software could quickly and quietly put this issue to rest. Still, according to FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller, there is a small (and we do mean small) chance that Apple could choose to enforce the ban, which could require Motorola to destroy all existing products that violate the claim. This includes items already on shelves, which would have to be recalled. More likely though, despite Apple's victory regarding the zoomed-out in view in the Android gallery app, Motorola will continue to be able to sell the Xoom and two infringing phones. On a somewhat related note, is it safe yet to officially dub Germany the successor to Texas' Eastern District -- patent trolling capital of the world?Update: We erroneously stated that it was the zoomed-out view that was found to be in violation of the patent, when in fact it was the zoomed-in one. Motorola successfully defended itself against claims the zoomed-out interface also infringed on Apple's patents. Motorola reached out to us with the following statement: "Today's ruling in Munich, Germany on the patent litigation brought by Apple concerns a software feature associated with performing certain functions when viewing photos in a 'zoomed in' mode on mobile devices. We note that the Court ruled that performing the functions in a 'zoomed out' mode does not infringe on this patent. We expect no impact to supply or future sales as we have already implemented a new way to view photos on our products that does not interfere with the user experience."
Apple shows off iPhone 4S camera with new gallery
The 8 MP camera is one of several new hardware features present in the iPhone 4S. It's a significant upgrade that'll entice many shutterbugs to drop their current phone and switch to Apple's latest handset. If you are on the fence or are just interested in seeing how the 4S camera performs, then you must check out this sample gallery of photos on Apple's website. Yes, the gallery is chosen by Apple and it has the best of the best photos, but still it's nice to examine the quality of images that this new shooter is capable of producing. To check out these photos, point your browser to Apple's website and click "view the gallery" on the right side of the page. Drool over the images for a while and let us know what you think in the comments.
Windows Live Essentials 2011 gets another Beta release, Facebook and Flickr video integration
Just a quick note, true believers: If you've been all over the Windows Live Essentials 2011 Beta that's been making the rounds (and who hasn't?) you might want to keep an eye on those updates. And if you're not? Hit that source link, 'cos Microsoft has done gone and refreshed aforementioned beta, as of 11 am (Pacific time). If you're brave enough to take the leap, you can look forward to: Facebook Chat Integration in Messenger, Bing Maps Geotag integration in Photo Gallery, and Flickr video publishing in Movie Maker, according to the kids at ZDNet. So what are you waiting for? Go, get!
Windows Live Essentials beta is ready for your downloading delight
Could Windows Live Essentials really be "better than Mac for photos, hands down," as per the gauntlet Microsoft's Brian Hall tossed earlier this month? There's only one way to find out, and that's by trying it out yourself with the free download at our source link. The software suite just hit beta with not only the face-recognizing, photo-stitching new rendition of Photo Gallery, but also new versions of Mail, Movie Maker, Messenger, Writer and a Mac-friendly version of the Dropbox-like Sync (no, not that Sync) as well. So... what are you waiting for? Oh, you're still "awwing" at the image above, aren't you?
Microsoft updating Live app suite, declares Windows 'better than Mac for photos, hands down'
Looks like it's blowhard season up in Redmond these days, as the latest word from Microsoft on its Live Essentials suite of apps has been accompanied by the brash pronouncement that it's now markedly superior to Apple's efforts in Mac OS X -- at least when it comes to photos. This verdict was delivered by Brian Hall, General Manager for Windows Live, and is backed by a laundry list of new features we can expect by the holiday season of this year. Windows Live Photo Gallery and Movie Maker will soon be able to link up directly to sites like Flickr, Facebook and YouTube -- which will allow for painless uploads as well as pulling in any additional tagging done on Facebook. New photo stitching and retouching abilities, along with face recognition (rather than mere detection) are also being touted, but the ultimate arbiter of the new software's utility will obviously be the real hands-on experience for users. We shouldn't have to wait too long for that, as a beta version of the freely downloadable (on Vista and 7, XP holdouts are no longer being served) suite should be making the rounds in the coming weeks.
Sony ushers in change, hope with upcoming PS3 2.60 firmware update
Sony just dropped some details on its upcoming 2.60 firmware update for the PS3. The big thrust of the update is a new Photo Gallery app, which can sort by various EXIF data, but also the actual content of the image itself, including colors used, number of people in the photo, how old they are, and facial expressions they used when you pulled out your powdered-blue Kodak to take a few historical snapshots. Naturally you can build slideshows with music and the like. Sony's also adding with this update guest access to the PlayStation Store and DivX 3.11 support. If that's not enough magic to get you riled up, Sony's also pushing out a PSP update, firmware 5.03 that addresses "security vulnerabilities" (we wonder what that could be?) and some stability issues. There's a video walkthrough of the PS3 update after the break.Read - PS3 v2.60Read - PSP v5.03
Official Slacker player pics
The upcoming Slacker player from Broadband Instruments is never gonna win any fashion shows -- it's not ugly, per se, but that big ol' screen makes for a device the size of a late 90's PDA -- so we're more interested in hearing about the functionality than watching it strut its stuff in front of the cameras. Still, the innovative features and copious storage options mean that this chunkster is likely to make some waves in the market, so we're sure that those of you considering a purchase want to peep all the angles. With that in mind, Cnet's got a bunch of press shots of the satellite radio-playin', internet radio-streamin' DAP; hit up the Read link if you think you might be interested in getting your slack on sometime.
Live shots of the Black Diamond $300,000 smartphone
We've managed to get our hands on some live shots of a prototype Black Diamond smartphone, a handset that's gained publicity not because of its feature set (WM5, 400MHz CPU, WiFi, quad-band GSM) or its design, but thanks to a $300,000 bank-busting pricetag and an exclusive five unit manufacturing run. Subtlety and style seems to be the main theme here, with the designers avoiding the obvious temptation to stick thousands of diamonds on the case. Click on for comparison shots with AXIA's EMXI 700, and for pictures of our lucky insider cradling the most expensive hunk of plastic he'll ever hold.
Shutterbug receives major overhaul
Shutterbug by xtralean software allows you to make online photo galleries (and more) easily. Construction is drag-and-drop simple and the supplied templates don't scream "I'm using a default template!" Alternatively, if you're the type that likes to design things yourself, you can do that too.Last week, Shutterbug 2.0 was released with more than thirty new features and several new templates (including one that looks a lot like iWeb's "watercolor" theme). Some of the big changes include: Support for QuickTime movies and Mp3 files The ability to create contact forms, page counters, HTML snippets and external HTML pages Thumbnail rollovers Layered images There's more, of course, and you can get the full run-down here. Shutterbug requires Mac OS 10.3.9 or 10.4.3 or later. It's universal, and a single license will cost you $50US.
Handy iWeb tip on the .Mac blog
I believe I've found the perfect use for iWeb. I've used it to create a family site for all of my far-flung relatives. They couldn't care less about trackback pings, comments, validation or any of that stuff. They just want to see cute pictures and videos of the kids, and I want to spend as little time as possible maintaining the "kids' site." iWeb is the perfect answer.Up until now, I've been manually deleting the caption under each new photo that I add (usually something like "IMG003.JPG"). Thanks to this tip from the official .Mac blog, I don't have to do that anymore. Select a photo in an image gallery and open the inspector. A slider appears under the heading "Caption Height." Slide it all the way to the left and the captions are gone. I like it.
