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iSight is end-of-life says TUAW snitch
It's no secret that iSights have been scarcer than gold dubloons of late, with most stores completely out and many vendors reporting extended ship times, not to mention that it's gone from the online Apple Store. Now, a late-night tip to the TUAW Secret Squirrel Hotline from a self-proclaimed Apple employee tells us what we pretty much knew: the iSight has been discontinued.The question is, what next? A USB2, more compact version? No standalone unit, but built-in cameras for Cinema Displays? Dare we think it -- iSight HD? Perhaps by NAB 2007 in April we'll know.Thanks M!
ecamm releases iGlasses 1.4
iGlasses, the software-based iSight video enhancer, has been upgraded to version 1.4. iGlasses is basically a bundle of video filters that allow you to process the iSight signal to enhance brightness or add special effects (like "night vision"). There are several new features of note introduced in version 1.4. First is the iGlasses Manager. It allows you to switch iGlasses on and off on a per-application basis, so you can use the filters in, say, iChat, but not in iMovie. Second, you can now use iGlasses in many more applications. Version 1.4 includes support for Comic Life, Delicious Library, Camfrog, jmeeting, WebcamTweaker, CamSpinner, Funny Photographer, CamGrabber, and more. Finally, 1.4 introduces enhanced AppleScript scriptability. I'm sure you can use the scriptability for some sort of twisted April Fool's prank, but I'm unsure as to what else it might be helpful for. You can buy a copy of iGlasses for $8 at the ecamm website, which isn't a huge amount of money, but be aware that a lot of this same functionality looks like it will be built into Leopard's iChat when it bows later this year.
Time Magazine 'Person of the Year' cover redux, courtesy of that iSight trick
As you may know, Time Magazine recently declared you as the person of the year. While this is a mighty nice gesture on their part, Dan Wood has created a redux of the cover for iSight-enabled Mac users that truly resembles you as Time's award-winning person of the year. He's using that slick iSight trick that can turn on your iSight camera and place its feed on a web page, but remember: it isn't a security flaw, it's an actual feature. The trick doesn't send any video from your iSight over the web, it simply plays that video back through your web browser locally.As a side note: do any Mac users out there have a non-iSight webcam they can try this trick with? It would be interesting to see if it works only with Apple's camera or if everyone else can play along. That way, users with some kind of webcam have an easier way of adding themselves to Flickr's personoftheyear tag.[via Ranchero's blog]
WebcamTweaker
WebcamTweaker is sort of like PhotoBooth for video. It lets you create movies with a number of different filters. You can also use it to create timelapse movies. Today marks the release of a new version of Webcam Tweaker which introduces new filters and support for the Apple Remote.WebcamTweaker is a Universal app, requires Tiger, and costs $15.95 (though that includes free upgrades for life).
Lifehacker script to automate Project 365 with iSight-enabled Macs
Photojojo is a community focused on photography tips, tricks, DIY projects and other kinds of picture-taking goodness. Recently, they introduced Project 365, essentially coining a(nother?) term and offering tips for those take-a-picture-a-day-for-a-year-or-three projects that broke out on the interwebs over the last year or so.Inspired both by this Photojojo post and the recent 'snap a pic of users who commit invalid login attempts' hack, Adam Pash at Lifehacker penned a Photo projects for the New Year post in which he put together a script that can automate this process on iSight-enabled Macs, more or less taking the effort out of your own Project 365. The script can be set to run each time you login (properly, of course) or at a specific time of each day, and Adam includes instructions for tweaking them to your needs. By default, they're set up to snap the pic and save it in ~/project365/pics/, adding a timestamp to the name of each file to help you keep track of everything when you're ready to make your YouTube debut.I think this is a fantastic idea, and now that I have an iSight in both my MacBook and iMac, I think I might actually take a crack at this myself. A big thanks to Adam for putting together such a cool script, and be sure to check out Photojojo's original Project 365 post for tips, motivation and ideas on what to do with 365 pictures of you and/or your stuff.
Looking for iSight
Throughout the day, readers have been sending in tips about the missing iSight. When I checked this evening, Apple's store was willing to sell me an iSight Accessory Kit, or a Griffin SightLight, but the actual iSight itself was missing in action. Some readers have reported that their local Apple Stores are out of stock as well. Reader Richard Cook checked CompUSA, MacMall, MacZone and MacConnection. All out of stock with a 10-14 day wait. So why has the iSight disappeared? Could we be looking at a new product announcement? Might a new iSight be introduced soon? What do you think? Thanks everyone who wrote in.
FlickrBooth
Soon after the announcement of the MacBook Pro at Macworld San Francisco 2005, Chris Messina sent out a call to the Mac community to develop a hack for PhotoBooth that would allow him to automatically upload pictures to his Flickr account. Almost a year later, Tristan O'Tierney has answered that call in the form of FlickrBooth. The easily installed plugin enables not only the basic functionality called for originally, but has support for photo tags, title, description, privacy settings, and even sets. FlickrBooth is available as a free Universal Binary download.
YouTube QuickUploader compatible with Mac OS X
As if it wasn't already way, way too easy to get stuck in YouTubeLand... now there's an instant upload feature, for those moments when you've just got to make that video of your kitten right NOW. The upload widget is built in Flash, and seems to work fine with Safari (although be prepared to wait a while for the postprocessing step). Combine this with the Huckleberry and you can YouTube your life effortlessly.[via Lifehacker]
Neat iSight trick - Seeing you, seeing me
Caught this on MacInTouch and I'm still a little freaked out by it. If you have an iSight camera, check out this neat trick.It's not magic, really, it's just a QuickTime movie embedded in a web page, but the fact that it displays YOUR iSight, even though it's not your web page is a little disconcerting! As Chris says, it's pretty easy to do this yourself. Install Apple's Developer Tools if you don't already have them installed. Open Quartz Composer. Create a video input and a billboard. Then drag a line from the video input to the image option on the billboard. Now export it as a QuickTime movie and embed it into your web page.No need to fear it, however. No one else can see you. Everyone who views the page will only see themselves (assuming they have an iSight). I think it's still a pretty cool trick, however, you are free to disagree.
MacBook's iSight unknowingly photographs Apple repair center
Here's one that doesn't happen very often ever. As bad as we rumor mongers pry and pry to get inside of ole Steve's brain, sneaking a peek behind closed Cupertino doors is all but impossible (even for Mr. Dell). Nevertheless, a clever Mac user got numerous undercover photographs of the inside workings at an Apple authorized repair center (Flextronics International) in Tennessee. Rather than pulling out any MacGyver-based stunts, he simply wrote a script -- dubbed Walking Study -- that instructed his MacBook to snap a photo (and upload it to his Flickr account) with the built-in iSight each time it awoke from sleep. When his dear 'Book got sent out for repair, however, the fully-functional webcam continued to perform perfectly within the secretive confines, giving everyone a glimpse of an incredibly average looking warehouse. Although the stealthy camera didn't snap any shots of (potentially) forthcoming iPhone or widescreen iPod prototypes, we've got to give credit where it's due -- Toby Mckeys got closer to the Apple's core than we've seen in quite some time.[Via TUAW]
Cleverly revised iSight indicator in the new Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros
Apple has removed the obvious green "online" indicator dot and accompanying hole that used to be just to the right of the iSight lens hole on the MacBook Pro and replaced it with a subtle integrated green LED just under the surface of the bezel that only appears when the iSight is engaged.Nice touch. It's tiny little things like this that really set Apple apart when it comes to product design. Almost makes you want to give them a pass on some of the far more serious quality control issues they're having these days...More pics on nobilog.Thanks, Dane!
The case of the vanished iSight indicator
As some of our more astute and early-adopting readers have pointed out, new MacBook Pros have achieved another delectably admissible landmark in the stylish machine's symmetrical form. The iSight indicator -- the green LED that lets you know when your integrated camera is activated -- has now been integrated directly into the bezel. No more visible dot in the aluminum to constantly distract you from absolutely nothing; trust us, it's there underneath. Besides, it's not like Apple really wants to surreptitiously watch you read Engadget all day anyway.[Thanks, Dan & everyone who sent this in]
The iSight is Dead? Long live the iSight!
Hardmac reports that the stand-alone iSight as we know it has been given End of Life (EOL) status by Apple and that we should expect a new one within the next few months. While I can't currently find confirmation of that fact, I'd say it's a safe bet. The US and Canada Apple Stores do still list the iSight for sale, however, albeit with an estimated shipping time of 2-3 weeks. UK and European stores don't list the iSight for sale at all.So what can we expect in a new and improved iSight? Hardmac speculates that Firewire will be dropped in favor of USB 2.0, for better PC and Windows compatibility and that Apple will add IR and an Apple Remote "to bring FrontRow functionalities to officially not supported Mac models." Personally I'd prefer it remain Firewire and add Bluetooth, but we'll just have to wait and see what Apple has in mind.
Huckleberry iSight periscope
The inclusion of iSight cameras in Apple portables starting with the MacBook Pro was an exciting prospect for many users; just think about how useful it would be to have the ability to video conference wherever you had your notebook without having to lug around extra gear! But the secondary use of the built in iSight to take quick candid shots of one's environment is becoming more and more popular. The only issue with this is the requirement that you flip your MacBook around to take the picture; something which is decidedly less than elegant. Fortunately for people who practice this secondary use-case often, Charlie Dancey and Mungai Mirrors will release the Huckleberry mirror system at the upcoming Mac Expo London later this month. Although sexy and probably pretty high build quality, the $28 price tag for a piece of glass and some plastic might cause more mechanically inclined prospective buyers to make their own. I'm sure it won't be long before someone posts an Instructable on how to make your own (if you do, send it in as a tip and we'll post it).
The "Duh" factor: glossy, iSight Cinema Displays up next
Saw this on digg: Dennis Sellers, a writer over at Macsimum News writes:"Now that the MacBook Pro, MacBook and iMacs all have built-in iSights, it makes sense for Apple to revamp its display line and include the same feature" and "if such updated monitors are in the works, it will be interesting to see whether Apple offers them with glossy and non-glossy screen options as it does with the MacBook."Now, a bunch of -- what I can only assume to be matt screen loving/iSight hating -- digg users have reported that the story may be inaccurate, but how far from the truth can it be? You don't need to be a genius to see MacBooks with iSights and glossy screens and think "hey, maybe Apple will make new Cinema Displays with those features!" We even guessed this in the latest edition of the TUAW podcast just over a month ago -- if we could guess it, everyone and their dog should be able to! Yet more evidence that the majority of Apple rumors consist of Mac users looking at Apple's current line-up and letting their mind wander into the land of obvious features.When was the last time there was a factual Mac rumor about something that wasn't immediately obvious? Or, for that matter, the last time that an obvious Mac rumor was inaccurate?
Mount an iSight on a telescope
Aaron Adams (yes the switcher) is both a Mac geek and an astronomy buff so it makes perfect sense that he would want to combine the two into an unholy amalgam of telescope and iSight.Ok, so it is a little more elegant than that. Aaron was nice enough to post directions and example shots that he took using this rig. It looks pretty sweet to me. Now if only I had a telescope and didn't live in the middle of Philadelphia.
New patent covers wireless iPod video conferencing
These iPod-related patents get more outlandish by the minute, and this one might not even be from Apple, but we thought we'd run it by you all the same. The patent seems to refer to what could at least be an iPod accessory. It isn't filed by Apple, but since it continuously refers the the iPod specifically, it seems the device is somehow closely related. Clearly evident is an ability to do iChat AV-style video conferencing over a wired or wireless connection. References to "wherein the handheld video device is an improved iPod" give us hope that this device will work with some sort of next-generation wireless iPod, possibly even a phone version. The patent also covers the use of the iPod as a video server or to receive video streams from the Internets (World Cup, anyone?) which we're sure quite a few fans of the little device could find useful. There's also the chance that these pictures that include a phone are merely the dreams a patent squatter, or that the bare-bones approach of plugging in an external camera and headset will be as far as anybody goes with these video capabilities. But we can always dream, right?[Via Macsimum News]
Found Footage: Use iSight as an IR detector
Here's a useful tip for those that want to test the batteries of their Frontrow remote, or any IR remote for that matter. Use your iSight! Just fire up Photo Booth (or a test video window in iChat), aim the remote at the lens and press a button. The iSight can detect the infrared light just like other video cameras.
Rig of the Day: I like TV redux
One Mac mini attached to a massive TV deserves another mini attached to a massive TV. What we especially like about this shot is the iSight on top of the television. Very cool."Spot the Mini" posted by ICULOOKNIf you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We select one image to highlight each day, and crown a Rig of the Week on Sundays.
"Undercover" software helps recover your stolen MacBook
So you coughed up some dough for that iAlertU program to protect your MacBook, but wouldn't you know it, your laptop got jacked anyway by a clever thief who simply removed the battery before taking off. Luckily for you, all is not lost, at least not if you'd installed another program called Undercover on your machine, which not only sends out an IP-address-containing SOS if it's reported stolen, but actually uses your machine's built-in iSight to snap a photo of the perp before simulating a screen failure that makes the Mac unusable. Every six minutes, Undercover pings a database maintained by developer Orbicule to check if the machine it's installed on has been stolen; a positive reply from the server initiates a sequence of events that hopefully ends with law enforcement officials breaking down the door of the nefarious Macjacker's pad and recovering your beloved notebook. In case the crook was smart enough to never reconnect to the Internet after the heist, however, you'll still need to file an insurance claim and head down to the old Apple store -- looks like they still haven't found a software solution that beats the trusty Kensington Lock.
