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Fujifilm's slimmer Instax Mini 11 features automatic exposure
It's been a while since we heard anything from Fujifilm's Instax arm, but three years after the launch of the colorful, selfie-friendly Mini 9, its successor has arrived. The Instax Mini 11 (it's not clear why they jumped the 10) offers up the same fun instant-photography experience, but with a few notable improvements.
Google's quick-loading webpages are getting a better name
When you see "AMP" next to a search result on mobile, it means that page will load quickly on your phone -- much faster than a page without the label. "AMP" sounds too cold and technical, though, so Google seems to be thinking of using a name that's much easier to understand: Instant. Twitter user Jonathan Jones has spotted the new label and posted a screenshot on the social network. We weren't able to replicate it, but that's not exactly surprising. It's most likely an experimental feature that won't be widely available right now.
Google can help you avoid downloading apps you'll only use once
If you use a smartphone, you've surely gone through this experience: Someone shares something with you, or you click a link somewhere, and before you know it you're prompted to install an app. You're in a generous mood, so you go through the whole process, log in to the app, and then you're met with a welcome screen that isn't even the content you originally wanted to access! Apps are great, but the install process is sometimes pretty painful.
Google brings fast-loading articles to your phone
If you perform a Google search on a mobile device today, you might notice some pages are a little snappier than they used to be. That's because the search giant today switched on its Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) Project, allowing you to load news stories and other web pages up to four times faster than before.
Prynt's smartphone instant selfie printer lands on Kickstarter for pre-orders
Is 2015 the year that we start rolling back the progress of the last 20 years? In addition to dressing like extras from The Facts of Life, we've started buying Vinyl again and people are even discovering the "joys" of instant photography. In fact, it's not just Polaroid that's getting back in on the act, either, since French startup Prynt is hoping to sell you a smartphone case with a built-in photo printer.
Amazon bolsters UK streaming library ahead of tomorrow's relaunch
Tomorrow, Lovefilm becomes Amazon Prime Instant Video, and unless you take advantage of the various early adopter discounts, it'll cost you an up-front annual fee of £79. On the upside, the company is pushing to add more TV shows to the service in the hope of clawing back some of Netflix's lost ground. First up, Amazon has signed a deal with Warner Bros. that'll see the first seasons of Arrow, The Following and Revolution appear on UK Prime within the next few days. The agreement will also see Hostages and The 100 appear in 2015, with subsequent seasons of all five shows added afterward. At the same time, the retailer has confirmed that UK users will be able to watch its original TV comedy Alpha House, which is a bit like House of Cards, but with more jokes.
Impossible Instant Lab iPhone photo booth hands-on (video)
Life's hard when you're an analog enthusiast in the early 21st century. Thankfully, however, you're not alone in this world -- there are fellow travelers like the folks behind The Impossible Project, folks who bought a Polaroid factory to continue production on the company's famed instant film. As we noted roughly a week ago, the company's also launched a Kickstarter to create an iPhone-friendly gadget to go along with it. It's since handily met its goal and is still chugging along at around $440,000 (from a proposed $250,000), with a full 19 days to go. The company also made an appearance on the show floor here at Photokina to show off what its been working on. The Impossible Instant Lab is still in the prototype stages, as with a number of devices we've seen here today -- though it's fully operational. We got a demo of the thing from one of the folks at Impossible -- just load the film into the rollers on the bottom, extend the old timey accordion top, choose the proper settings in the company's iPhone app and place it in the holder.
Netflix and Twentieth Century Fox ink deal to bring additional Instant content to Latin America, Brazil
Twentieth Century Fox and Netflix have announced a partnership that will bring additional television and movie content to avid streamers living in Latin America and Brazil later this year. Beginning on July 15th, TV mainstays -- including 24, Prison Break, Bones and Glee -- will be available via the movie rental company's Instant service in the aforementioned geographies. What's more, Twentieth Century's classic films division will add several movie titles, including cult-classics like Office Space and Wall Street, to the streaming menu. If you currently reside in Latin America or Brazil and are itching to know more, mosey on past the break and have a look at the full press release.
Discovery shows hit Amazon Prime Instant Video, because it's 'Dirty Jobs,' but someone has to stream it
Amazon today announced a deal that will bring a slew of content from Discovery Communications to its ever increasing selection of streamable Prime videos. The partnership includes content from such properties as the Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet, amongst a handful of others, with shows like Dirty Jobs and Whale Wars coming along for the ride. At present, the total selection of videos on the service is up to more than 17,000 titles, which can be viewed for free by Amazon Prime members in the US. Press info can be found after the break.
Google's Chrome 13 brings 'Instant Pages' to the masses, saves precious seconds of your life
Google just wouldn't be Google if it wasn't wringing out every last iota of performance from its products. The latest Chrome release is no different, ushering Instant Pages out of the dev channel and into the hands of the proletariat. The headline feature uses an algorithm to "guess" where you'll click next, pre-fetching and pre-rendering the result if it's confident enough. Mountain View says it's the only "high-profile" site to support the tech, but interested web masters can can partake of the instantaneous Google goodies by peeping the more coverage link below. Tweaks to the Omnibox -- which now returns URL and title history results based on partial queries -- and the addition of print previews for Windows and Linux round out the 13th version of the popular browser. Video of the über-swift search in action's below.
iOS Safari receiving Google Instant Previews support
Formerly only for desktop browser searches, 9 to 5 Mac is reporting that Google "Instant Previews" is being rolled out for mobile Safari users as well. This new service allows iOS Safari users to get a quick visual preview of sites within their search results without having to actually click through and wait for the pages to load. Previews of search results are displayed like a slideshow, allowing users to flick through the different pages in typical iOS fashion. Google has not formally announced the new feature yet and not every device has it as of this writing -- my own iPhone included. We first saw Google's Instant search service for iOS devices back in November, but this new "Instant Previews" version is definitely a step up from simply seeing textual search results appear as you type your queries. I am sure there will be fans and detractors of this new search preview, but do tell us -- is it live for you yet on your iOS device? [via Gizmodo]
Google Instant for mobile studies abroad: now in 40 countries, 28 languages
We'll keep it short and to the point: Google Instant for Mobile -- that is, for iOS4 and Android 2.2 devices and up, officially -- has taken an accelerated language program or two. Or 28, rather, representing 40 countries. Which ones? We'll let you find that out for yourself (which is a nice way of saying we don't know). Pick up your phone of choice, head to google.com, and let us know if you get the new option.
Google's new Instant Previews taste great with Instant Search and a slice of cheddar
In Google's unending quest to destroy all ad revenue and make sure its users never visit any of the websites they search for, the search giant is launching Instant Previews today. The feature, which adds large previews of websites along the right rail with a simple click of a magnifying glass, has popped up at random for various users over the past couple of months (Google's stealthy testing process), but now it's available to just about everybody. Once it's activated you can tab through the previews with your arrow keys, and Google automatically loads up all the preview images if you look just one (to aid with the "instant" aspect). Expect civilization to come to a grinding halt tomorrow or maybe the day after.
Google Instant for Mobile goes live on Android and iPhone (video)
We'd heard Google Instant was quietly popping up in mobile form for a lucky few, but it's officially widespread now -- the query-while-you-type search technology's just hit open beta on Android 2.2 and iOS 4. Just go to Google in your favorite mobile browser and press the "Turn on" link, and you'll be able to rush into the arms of your favorite technology blog with four fewer clicks. We maintain that it's nigh-useless on most standard-sized mobile devices, as you can only ever see the top result without scrolling up and down, but it won't cost you a penny to pick up your handset and form an opinion for yourself. Video demo after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Google Instant beta now available on iOS devices
[Changed screenshot to reflect Instant UI, sorry for the mixup. –Ed.] Google's Instant search service is now up and running on its mobile sites as well -- when you hit up google.com on your iPhone or iPad's Mobile Safari browser, you'll see search results appear as you type your query in. You may have to reload the page once or twice; when you see the line "Instant (beta) is off: Turn On" you need to click Turn On to activate Instant. As you may know from using instant search in other browsers, this is more of an average time saver than anything really revolutionary (and in some cases, I've even been bothered by early search results that weren't anywhere near what I was actually looking for). But anyone who really dislikes it can turn it off, and fans of the service should be happy to see it running on Mobile Safari. Happy, that is, when they use the actual site -- note that since this is only a feature on Google's site and not actually built into the browser's search field, you still won't get instant search results when searching from Safari's own title bar search. Still, if you happen to be searching Google after that initial search, it will probably be helpful to save that second and a half or so while you're still typing the query in.
Google Instant showing up on some Android devices in beta form?
If you believe the good readers of Droid Life (and there's no reason why you shouldn't), Google has started sneaking out its Instant search option to Android phones in the USA. So far, reports include the original Motorola Droid, the Droid X, and HTC's Droid Incredible. Lest you've been enjoying a lengthy holiday in the tropics, Google Instant throws up search results as you type your query, delivering either much faster results or a much more annoying search experience, depending on how you look at it. Reported operation so far aligns with our early hands-on, with Instant taking a bit of time to get its bearings, but the software is still at the beta stage, after all. Why not jump into your browser this morning and tell us if your Android's answering your questions before you even hit the Enter key?
Google announces Google Instant search, available now for desktop, mobile this fall
We're reporting live from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where Google's just taken the wraps off its latest software product. The announcement itself is taking its time right now, with background facts like Google recently crossing the one billion users a week milestone, but the Google Instant service has been activated and you can see details about its immediate result delivery at the source below. Basically, the Goog no longer waits for you to hit Enter while searching and starts updating its results page Instantly as you type. Google describes it as a fundamental shift in seach and you can find more details along with its warm and fuzzy video introduction after the break.%Gallery-101726%%Gallery-101727%
Impossible Project's color Polaroid film finally going on sale, shipping August 2nd
Remember back in March when the Impossible Project rolled out its Sepia Polaroid PX100 film for the SX-70 and PX-600 cameras? Well, we heard then that color film was in the pipeline and that it would hit this summer. Well, here we are, and you can definitely order the film as of quite recently, and it looks like its got a ship date of August 2nd. Now, you probably won't be surprised to hear that the film isn't cheap -- $44 for a Starter Pack of 3 packs of 8 shots each -- but if you're into the instant photo game, you'll want to scoop it up, because we have a feeling the film might be a hot item in the coming days.
Polaroid returns to instant photography with the 300, thinks you'll pay a premium for it
When Polaroid left the instant film market back in 2008, it left a gaping hole that Impossible Project has attempted to fill with its overpriced reproduction paper. We're guessing someone at Polaroid saw that and thought: "Hey, why don't we charge too much for instant film, and make an overpriced camera to use it in?" And thus the $90 Polaroid 300 was born. Yes, $90 for the sort of instant point-and-shoot that, a few decades ago, you could pick up for under $20. And the film? Ten shots for $10. Nostalgia don't come cheap, people. The camera and the film release in May, and if this is how the reborn Polaroid is hoping to stay afloat we're thinking the death of instant film is at hand -- again. Update: As Peacock has pointed out in comments, this isn't even an original product. It's a rebranded Fujifilm Instax Mini 7 -- which costs a slightly less egregious $67 at various online retailers.
Polaroid PoGo instant digicam on sale next week, toilet graffiti will never be the same
We still don't have the European or US release dates for the Polaroid Pogo instant digicam but they can't be far behind the February 26th date just announced for Japan. Looks like we might see a price cut too, given the ¥10,000 (about $110) price in Japan compared to the $199 price announced at CES. Of course, you still have to shell out for the ZINK instant photo paper 10-packs scheduled to run for $4.99, or $12.99 for the 30-pack variety. As a camera, it's not much with its 5 megapixel sensor, SDHC storage, weak-sauce LCD, and 0x optical zoom as we discovered during our hands-on. What it lacks in specs, though, is made up for by its novelty. 2-inch by 3-inch photo stickers in 60 seconds? Urban ego tagging just got a brand new playbook. Also announced is a bevy of forgettable budget shooters, including the 12 megapixel t1235, 12 megapixel i1237 with touchscreen LCD, and 9 megapixel a930. Lady GaGa must be so proud.
