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Google's Lens AI camera is now a standalone app
Google has made good on its promise to release a standalone Lens app in the Play Store. The feature is already integrated on most Android phones, and the app doesn't come with any new features, so really it just serves as a quick launch for the platform. It's only available on devices with Marshmallow and above, and already many users are reporting that it's not working properly on some devices, but hey, it's Lens. The feature, which lets you identify artwork, landmarks and even dogs, hasn't always lived up to its promise as a computer vision platform. However, Google has recently launched a load of cool new Lens features, such as text integration and Style Match, so at least the separate app means that everyone will be able to play with them.
Snapchat launches its first Lens that reacts to sound
Snapchat has quite a few intriguing Lenses you can play with, including its body-tracking ones that can follow you around and its majestic sky whale Lens that uses sky segmentation technology. Now, it has rolled out the first ever Lens that reacts not just to what it sees, but also to what it hears. The ephemeral messaging app has just added the first Lens that reacts to sound to its carousel. It's a cute animal mask overlay for your face, with ears that pulse and glow and eyes that move based on the sounds it hears. While perhaps not as awe-inspiring as the sky whale, Snapchat says it's just the first of many: the company plans to launch more Lenses that react to sounds over the coming weeks.
Snapchat's latest AR trick turns Lenses into games
Snapchat's augmented reality Lenses are clever, but not particularly engaging. You probably won't use them outside of the occasional moment when they help express what you're feeling. Snap may have a clever way to keep you coming back, though: add a game-like element. It's unveiling Snappables, or Lenses that let you play AR games (and other interactive experiences) with friends. You can fight aliens, blow up virtual bubble gum, or jump into a world like a nightclub. You'll even get a score in some of these experiences, in case you want to challenge a friend.
Google Lens visual search rolls out on iOS
After making a slow march across Android devices, Google's AI-powered visual search is coming to iOS. Apple device owners should see a preview of Google Lens pop up in the latest version of their Google Photos app over the next week. In case you've forgotten how it works, the idea is that your camera will recognize items in a picture and be able to take action with tie-ins to Google Assistant. Of course, now that you can use the technology the question is whether or not you should.
Refine Pinterest Lens visual searches with text suggestions
2017 was a good year for Pinterest Lens users. Whether the feature helps you find recipes based on your brunch pics, offer style tips from the clothes you already own or gave you a hand with your Target shopping, the company's visual search is handy for a lot of things. In fact, Pinterest says Lens powers over 600 million of those searches monthly, and twice as many folks are using it every day compared to six months ago.
The ASUS 'Bezel-free Kit' is a messy multi-monitor solution
A quick trip to Asus' off-site location at CES 2018 revealed routers, gaming PCs, the NVIDIA Big Format Gaming Display and its new bezel-hiding kit. That last one helps gamers (or productivity hounds seeking an edge) to link monitors together while also using optics to hide the seam where each bezel meets. There are no filters, software or effects at play here: It's simply an optical device that refracts light around the monitors' plastic edges.
Snapchat has cute AR foam fingers for you to wave at NBA games
With its 2017-2018 season getting ready to tip off tomorrow, the NBA's been quite busy making tech announcements ahead of it. Not only did it reveal an augmented reality app for the iPhone yesterday, but now it's teaming up with Snap Inc. on a brand new Lens experience for Snapchat. Fans who are at or near an NBA arena this coming year will get access to special Lenses, which let you place a digital foam finger in a physical area around you. As you can see above, the cute character wears team jerseys and can show different emotions that you can share when you send snaps to your friends.
Google and Snapchat team up on geofilter coding contest for teens
Snapchat is teaming up with Google's Made With Code initiative to try and encourage teenagers to get into computer science. Teens aged 13 - 18 can build a Snapchat geofilter with Google's Blockly coding system for kids, then submit it to win a trip to the TEDWomen conference in New Orleans and mentoring sessions from Google and Snapchat engineers to create a Lens, an augmented reality filter for your photos. The five finalists' Lenses will be judged at the conference for a chance to go live in the Snapchat app, along with a trip to Los Angeles for a private tour of the Snap, Inc. and Google offices.
Snapchat adds 3D Bitmoji to its augmented reality features
Last year, Snapchat bought Bitstrips, the company behind those now-ubiquitous Bitmoji you see everywhere. And Snapchat has also been working on World Lenses, which use AR to apply filters and emoji to the world around you. Now, Snapchat has combined the two: Starting today, you'll be able to use Bitmoji with Snapchat's World Lens on iOS and Android.
Pinterest wants you to think of it as a visual search engine
Pinterest might have started out as a social network, but it's quickly moving into search engine territory. This week, the site announced that it's moving the "Search" and "Lens" features to a more prominent space in its mobile apps.
HMD hopes Zeiss can restore 'Nokia' phones to their former glory
Nokia's strong reputation in phone photography stemmed in no small part from its use of Carl Zeiss optics. Whether you had an N95 or a Lumia 1020, you knew the glass wouldn't let you down. But what's happening now that HMD Global is the one making Nokia-branded phones? Are they doomed to photographic mediocrity? Apparently, you can relax. HMD has struck a deal that will see Zeiss' imaging tech used in Nokia handsets. It won't just be limited to lens design, either. The two plan to work together on "standard-defining imaging capabilities" ranging from software to screen quality.
Caltech's 'lensless camera' could make our phones truly flat
Even as our phones get thinner, there's one spot that keeps sticking out: the camera lens. Taking good pictures and being able to focus at multiple distances requires a layer of glass that's a certain size, but there's really no getting around it -- or is there? Researchers at Caltech have devised (PDF) an "optical phased array" chip that uses math as a substitute for a lens. By adding a time delay -- down to a quadrillionth of a second -- to the light received at different locations on the chip, it can change focus without a lens.
Pinterest Lens makes fab outfits from clothes you already own
Putting outfits together is fun, but it could also be irritating to do every single day. Something like Cher's virtual wardrobe in Clueless could help -- or Pinterest Lens, which the social network has just upgraded to be a much better stylist. The company says it made major improvements to give its image recognition tool the capability to make outfits based on specific pieces of clothing or accessories you already own. If you have a denim jacket that you don't know what to do with, for instance, you can upload a picture and look at the sample OOTDs Lens shows you. The tool can also recommend new clothes to buy based on what you usually wear.
Pinterest Lens finds recipes based on your weekend brunch pics
Pinterest announced its image recognition tool back in February, but the company has already added a number of improvements since then. Today, the company is revealing the latest addition to Lens: full dish recognition. This means that when you snap a pic of your plate with the Pinterest app, the software will find full recipes for complete dishes rather than just options based on single ingredients. This update to Lens isn't all the company is doing for aspiring cooks though.
Pinterest's app can identify multiple items in one photo
Last year, Pinterest started encouraging its users to buy things with just a photo. Last February it gave everyone in the US access to its new Lens beta, which lets you search for pins of cool things with a snapshot. Today, Pinterest continues to improve its Lens feature with a new update that gives you the power to "lens" more than one thing at a time, snap QR codes and use app shortcuts on the iPhone, along with improvements to Lens' analysis.
Pinterest gives everyone in the US access to its Lens tool
Pinterest's visual search tool isn't quite ready to hop out of beta yet, but the company is giving a lot more people the chance to try it out. The new feature, called Lens, is now open to all Android and iOS users in the US after a month-long trial with a small group of testers. Lens is pretty much the app's version of reverse image search, created so that you can easily shop for items on Pinterest by taking their photos.
Pinterest uses AI and your camera to recommend pins
Last year, Pinterest introduced the possibility of shopping for things just by taking a photo of it. Today, the company is ready to announce that feature to the world. It's called Lens, and as you might expect, it uses your phone's camera. Tap the camera icon in the Pinterest app, snap a photo of something you dig -- say, your friend's cool mid-century dining table -- and it'll be smart enough to churn out a list of pins with similar-looking tables.
Olloclip's new lenses attach quickly to your iPhone 7
Now that there are new iPhones with revised cameras, many smartphone photographers are going to want new Olloclip lenses. Thankfully, they've arrived... and Olloclip didn't just tweak the connectors and call it a day. Its new Core, Active and Macro Pro lens sets not only have improved optics ("premium multi-element coated glass," Olloclip says), but an improved interchangeable lens system. Called Connect, it separates the frame on your phone from the lens housings. This lets them quickly attach to and align with your iPhone's camera, even if you have a screen protector. You should spend less time swapping lenses and more time shooting, in other words.
Canon's latest EOS M lens has a built-in ring flash
Canon's first EOS M may have landed with a thud, but things are getting much better for the mirrorless system. The company launched the excellent EOS M3 late last year, and just revealed a very interesting lens, the EF-M 28mm f/3.5 Macro IS STM. It's the first EF-M macro lens, and only the eighth native model in the family so far. What's more, the lens is has a very unique design with a dual "ring flash" attached to the end.
Scientists create a tiny, flexible lens modeled on insect eyes
Science seems obsessed with creating tiny objects that can do big things. Like a team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison which has created a new microlens with a 170-degree field of vision. Modeled after an insects multi-faceted eye, the flexible lens is roughly the size of a pinhead. Where typical lenses refract light, this one focuses using diffraction, which bends it as it passes over the folded barrier. Each of these bendable structures look like bullseyes because the lens is made up of both light and dark regions. The distance between these concentric circles determines how far the lens can see and the best part is, because they're flexible, the field of vision can be easily altered.
