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Google's new PhotoScan app makes it easy to digitize old prints
On the surface, Google Photos has a simple mission: to store all your pictures. Specifically, Google says it wants the service to be a home for all of your photos, and today that mission expanded to encompass the old photos you took on a point-and-shoot back in the '90s. The company just released an app called PhotoScan for iOS and Android, and it promises to make preserving the memories in your old printed photos much easier. Additionally, while Google was at it, it also issued several updates to its core Photos app.
Sanho crams 640GB of memories into your pocket with HyperDrive Album photo viewer
Photo viewers have been around for centuries (give or take a few score), but few have offered the capacity and speed found on the HyperDrive Album. Produced by none other than Sanho -- the same dudes and dudettes responsible for those spectacular HyperMac batteries -- this here device is essentially a 640GB pocket hard drive meant to suck down photos from your SD or CF card (it plays nice with both formats) as you shoot; it can either lighten the load on your memory card or act as on-site backup, and it's reportedly capable of downloading 2GB per minute with full data verification. Better still, it's capable of decoding and displaying RAW images on the 4.8-inch display (800 x 480 resolution), and the internal battery will last through 200GB worth of transfers. It's available now for $599.99 (or less if you opt for a smaller / empty model), but don't even bother if you're looking for SDXC compatibility.
Android photo backup app reveals burglars' identities, stupidity
Burglaries are an unfortunately commonplace event in daily urban life, but on some very rare occasions their outcomes give cause for celebration and maybe even a smile. Two young men from the Portland area, keen to get on the smartphone bandwagon without paying, broke in and stole a pair of Motorola Android handsets (along with other electronics) from a nearby household. What they didn't foresee, however, was that one of the phones would have the free Lookout app, which automatically backs up all photos taken with the handset to a user-accessible server every night. So, in the midst of testing out their ill-gotten loot, the criminals provided the phone's legitimate owner with enough visual clues for the police to swoop in and apprehend one of them. The search for his partner in crime continues, but the "gadget versus man" fight has already concluded with a clear win for what we presume was a Droid. [Thanks, John]
Ask Engadget: Best portable photo backup / storage device?
Coming to you live from left field, it's this week's edition of Ask Engadget. Once your done reading and replying (in comments below, naturally) to the question here, feel free to send us your own to ask at engadget dawt com. "I am looking for a portable hard drive with memory card slots so that I can save my photos onto it, straight from the memory card. It needs to function without the use of a computer. I have seen a few of these, but nothing name brand, and I was looking for some recommendations. A color screen to view photos would be nice, but not necessary. It doesn't need to be very large, 100GB should be more than enough." You're right Seth, most of these things do indeed come from relative unknowns. That said, we're sure a few of our readers have taken the plunge, so hopefully you'll find out who likes and dislikes the one they chose. Right, folks?
Sanho introduces HyperDrive COLORSPACE UDMA photo backup drive
It has been some time since we've seen a new competitor in the photo backup realm, so it's with a great sigh of relief that we pass along word of Sanho's HyperDrive COLORSPACE UDMA photo backup device. The unit is capable of sucking down 2GB of data per minute and claims to be "the only storage device in the market that can decode and display true RAW images from any camera on its 3.2-inch (QVGA) color LCD screen." Furthermore, it orientates images automatically depending on how it's held, and the included data synchronization functionality enables the drive to sync information with another external HDD or your main rig. Oh, and it can understand 14 different types of memory card, so you're probably fine on that front. Check it out next month for between $339 (80GB) and $599 (500GB), depending on capacity.
Digital Foci's Photo Safe II takes the load off of your flash card
Digital Foci didn't go out of its way to drastically redesign the original Photo Safe, but we 'spose that's alright in the grand scheme of things. Essentially, the Photo Safe II picks up where its predecessor left off by including a multicard reader (now with 100% more MS Duo and miniSD support) which automatically transfers photos from your flash card onto the built-in 80GB / 160GB hard drive. The integrated display tells you at a glance how much space is remaining and how much battery life is left, though it won't show your stored photos in slideshow (or any other) fashion. A touch steep at $139 (80GB) / $189 (160GB), but that's convenience for you.[Via jkOnTheRun]
Polaroid's CGA-02540 provides ClickFree backup for photos
For those aclimated just enough with technology to understand the basic functions of a point-and-shoot, but not intelligent enough to utilize a "My Pictures" folder or understand the concept of "one-touch backup," Polaroid's CGA-02540 is coming to the rescue. Designed for those who basically have a self-induced BSOD whenever they touch a mouse or keyboard, this 2.5-inch 40GB backup drive is programmed to work specifically (read: only) with photo files, and requires absolutely zero clicks to sniff around one's HDD, locate newly uploaded files, and backup only the latest pictures while leaving the originals in tact and in place. The ClickFree unit is so simple, in fact, that there's not even a single button on the enclosure, and if your PC sports a powered USB port, you won't even need to figure out how to utilize an AC adapter. Of course, clueless Mac users will certainly be in a quandary when trying to figure out why their machine isn't running "Windows XP or 2000," and we highly doubt 40GB is enough "for a lifetime of photographs," but nevertheless, the CGA-02540 should be available for purchase sometime this quarter for a currently undisclosed price.[Via EverythingUSB]
