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Neural net photography tweaks go mobile with Prisma on iOS
We've seen DeepMind's acid trip photo creations and what it looks like when algorithms colorize black and white photos. But you need to be near a computer for the former, and do some pretty heavy lifting, scientifically speaking, to set up the latter. But an iOS app is putting algorithm-based photo tweaks in your pocket. Dubbed Prisma, it takes a different approach than, say, Instagram. The app's filters are artistic, in the painterly definition of the word.
Photo contest awards $10,000 for finding 'everyday heroes'
Attention class, it's time to get your submissions ready for Mr. Jefferson's "Everyday Heroes" photo contest. Well, not really, but Life is Strange publisher Square Enix is bringing the sweepstakes from its tale of a time-traveling teen into the real world. Unlike in the game, you aren't competing for a trip to San Francisco to showcase your work. Here you're vying for a $10,000 scholarship while you hopefully "discover and capture how normal people make the world a better place," as a post on the Square Enix blog puts it.
Clever photog builds a fully-automatic photo processor
German photographer Lukas Fritz has spent the last year developing an easier means of processing his film negatives at home, without the need for a dedicated dark room. He recently published a video of his completed work, the Filmomat, and it is nothing short of genius.
The makers of VSCO Cam unveil an Instagram-like app for GIF making
Let's face it: GIFs continue to be a popular way of expressing yourself, no matter how you'd argue the word is pronounced. There are a number of apps that'll help you make your own animations, and now the folks behind VSCO Cam are joining the fray, too. The company built DSCO: an iOS app that lets you easily capture a few seconds worth of footage to create the moving image. If you're familiar with VSCO, you know that its mobile photography app allows you to apply a number of presets to achieve the look you're after before beaming them to a social network, posting them to the company's own portal or just saving them to view later. The same is true with DSCO. Once you have the video, you can employ a number of filters, including a collection of presets developed alongside MTV and others, to put the finishing touches on that all-important GIF. You can then send it to the aforementioned spots for sharing or safe keeping. The app is a free download, but like we've already mentioned, it's only available on iOS.
Instagram's Boomerang app lets you shoot 1-second video loops
Slowly but surely, the Instagram team is building a suite of apps to help you be more creative on its photo and video-sharing platform. Following Hyperlapse and Layout, we've now got Boomerang, an app for iOS and Android that lets you shoot one-second videos -- made from a burst of five photos -- that quickly play forwards and backwards. They're a little different to Vines and GIFs, given this "boomerang" effect means you'll see everything periodically in reverse -- presumably, it's this element which Instagram hopes will spark people's creativity. Like Hyperlapse and Layout, the app doesn't have a self-contained feed, so the idea is that you'll want to make these video snippets to share them on Facebook or Instagram. If enough people use it, these clips could diversify Instagram and make its feeds more interesting, pulling users away from rival apps like Snapchat.
Adobe ditches the Creative Cloud requirement for Lightroom mobile
Adobe's Lightroom mobile apps were already free to download. However, the software still required a Creative Cloud login or for you to own the desktop version to get any real use out of it. Well, that's not the case anymore. Adobe nixed the membership requirement for Lightroom on iOS this week, and it'll soon to the same for the Android version that debuted earlier this year. Now that the photo-editing app is really free to use on your phone or tablet, you're free to add it to your photo-editing arsenal. There's a smattering of new features as well, including a Dehaze filter to improve photo quality, Targeted Adjustment tool for focused tweaks, an in-app camera for snapshots and more. As we previously reported, you can also select photos for retouching in Photoshop Fix before easily returning to Lightroom thanks to the newfangled Creative Sync technology. New versions of both Lightroom mobile for iPhone and iPad are available in iTunes now.
Apple buys an AI startup with eye on better photo management
Apple's acquired a startup with a keen focus on developing artificial intelligence systems that run locally on your device rather than at an offsite server farm. In Perceptio's case (why does every start-up sound like Aviato now?), it's using deep learning for photo classification rather than other mundane tasks, according to both Bloomberg and ReCode. The latter notes that Facebook and the like do this with cloud processing but Apple is incredibly big on not storing user-data offsite. So it makes sense that the company would be interested in bringing this sort of imaging tech to its handsets and computers -- especially considering that new camera the iPhone 6s series is sporting.
Instagram introduces 30-second video ads
For the better part of two years, Instagram has been experimenting with ads inside its app. It's a tricky balancing act -- working out which formats will work for businesses while simultaneously keeping users on side. Today, it's clearly decided those sponsored snaps are worth it, because it's making them available in more than 30 new countries including Spain, India and South Korea. If you live inside one of these nations, you can expect them to appear in your feed from September 30th. If you're already seeing the occasional ad, however, the Instagram experience is changing for you too. The company now offers video ads that are up to 30 seconds in length -- double that which regular users can upload -- as well as landscape photos and videos. Finally, advertisers can pay for a service called "Marquee," which expands the reach of their sponsored images and clips for a short period of time. Ads are never a welcome sight, but as we've seen with Facebook, Twitter and even Tinder, they're a seemingly inevitable part of making money on mobile now.
Indian probe captures 3D image of vast Mars canyon
India's space agency revealed new photos of a prominent canyon on Mars and showed that it's getting a lot out of a cheap, experimental mission. Images from the nation's Mars Orbital Mission, aka "Mangalyaan," show part of the 62 mile wide and 317 mile long Ophir Chasma canyon. On top of the photo (below) taken from an altitude of 1,857 km (1,154 miles), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) created a 3D render of the landmark (above, and bottom). The probe has already taken numerous thermal and full-color images and monitored the atmosphere and radiation levels on the red planet.
Google's upcoming Nexus phone might look like this
We know another Nexus smartphone is coming soon, but built by whom? Both Huawei and LG are rumored to be making Google's reference device for Android M, and we now have pretty solid evidence for LG. A picture of the device from an Indonesian G+ user spotted by blogger Marques Brownlee shows the back of an LG Nexus device. Size-wise, it appears to line up with the 5.2-inch rumors and also features a rear fingerprint scanner, bulging camera, laser focus, dual-LED, iPhone 6-style flash and plastic galore.
Microsoft's OneDrive gets better at showing and sharing your photos
Microsoft has long wanted you to use OneDrive to store your photos, but actually viewing those photos isn't ideal -- you're ultimately using a file browser that just happens to have some photo-related features. That's going to change in the next couple of weeks, though. The folks in Redmond are rolling out a photography-focused update to OneDrive that gives your image library some TLC. You can organize photos into albums with edge-to-edge photo collages and larger single-picture views. It should be much easier to find and share your snapshots, as well. OneDrive now draws on Bing image recognition to give your pics basic tags (like "beach" or "dog"), and PCs running Windows 7 or 8 can automatically sync photos from devices as soon as you plug them in. Only web and iOS users will see the new photo tricks right away, but they'll reach Android and Windows Phone in the days ahead.
Gifx adds animations to your photos to create movies, GIFs
Gifx grants anyone the ability to create animated movies and GIFs using a photo or video, plus custom animated effects that the app includes. Overlay one or multiple animations and play around with the opacity to get the desired result on the content you imported. Plus, optionally resize and rearrange the effects to fit specific portions of the image or add masks for more decoration. The app is free with in-app purchases for the iPhone. Animated GIFs were originally popular in the far earlier days of the Internet - I'm talking in the 1990s, but they were basic compared to what they are now. They've been slowly making a comeback for the past few years and now it's hard to visit a popular website without seeing one. Gifx is pretty bare bones in terms of functionality but it does have over 200 animated GIF effects to apply to your photos and videos. This is not the type of GIF creator for making short films or loops. Rather, Gifx is more like an enhancer, turning ordinary photos or footage into something a bit more decorative and flamboyant. Start off by importing an existing photo or video or snapping a new one with the camera, then head straight into the GIF creation process. For testing purposes, you're better off tapping "Free GIFs" to browse the preloaded selection. Most of the options are just wavy, trippy designs that loop continuously over the media in the background. The pink slider adjusts the transparency. Dragging all the way to the right completely hides the underlaying media, which arguably defeats the purpose. I found that in most cases, applying an effect with just about 10 percent opacity makes for a masterful look. It's as if an image itself has movement, as opposed to blatantly appearing as a random effect laid on top of it. Many of the effects have either Instagram icons or locks on them. That's because many of the effects require an in-app purchase to unlock. However, the Basic pack and Mixed pack are free to obtain by completing tasks like following Gifx on Instagram. Otherwise, to get the most bang for your buck, chances are you should take the plunge and buy the "Unlock All" pack, currently 50 percent off at US$3.99. The pack is both a curse and a blessing. It's a curse because many of the features it unlocks should really already be in the app. For instance, to save the images as animated GIFs of high-quality, you need to purchase the pack. For free, Gifx just saves the animations as low-quality, 15-second movies. Even masks cost money. It's almost a bit misleading that the title of the app has "GIF" in it, yet in order to authentically create one you have to pay up. Gifx works well and has decent animations, but most of its potential is hiding behind the in-app purchase. Without that, you get a few effects and the ability to essentially create movies. Gifx is really only worth your time if you splurge on unlocking everything it offers. It's available in the iPhone App Store.
Facebook's Snapchat competitor wants your evaporating photo stories
Notice anything new with Slingshot recently? Well, if you haven't used it in awhile, Facebook's ephemeral photo app has gotten an overhaul. The outfit says that refining isn't about what you add to something, but what you remove. In this update's case, that's seemingly quite a bit. Instead of the one-to-one photo-messaging tool it launched as, now Slingshot is a single-function app that's aping perhaps Snapchat's most social feature, Stories. Pictures and videos you share now go into a preview grid (above left) that gives a peek at all your friends' updates simultaneously -- instead of Stories' person-by-person list. Sending a photo or video clip is much more streamlined, too, with it only taking two taps to go from capture to upload. What hasn't changed is that your captures still only last 24 hours. Want to share your daily pics outside of Slingshot's user-base? You can export your content directly to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter now as well. Update: In the previous version of Slingshot, media lasted for up to 30 days. With the latest update, your shots and reactions only last 24 hours or until someone swipes past them.
Fireside's smart picture frame melds machine learning and good looks
Digital picture frames seemed like all the rage back in 2007, but let's be real: did anyone really like them? They were small, clunky, not terribly high-res, and sort of a pain to actually get photos onto -- long story short, they had plenty of potential that was marred by lame execution. That's where a startup called Fireside comes in. The bi-coastal team didn't just spend the last two years trying to build a better picture frame -- they wanted to get people rethinking how they interact with all those encapsulated memories of the past.
Taste the Apple rainbow
The Apple logo is a fairly common subject of custom pastry artists -- the Apple pie jokes write themselves -- but rarely do any intrepid chefs attempt to recreate the colorful retro look. Flickr user Pingiwingi knocked it out of the park with this cake, which looks almost too good to eat. Bravo! [Photo credit: Pingiwingi]
Flickr chooses a great time to launch its iPad app
Apple has chosen to focus on the iPad's camera abilities with the upcoming Air 2 (we wish they wouldn't) and apparently, finally snagged Flickr's attention. Yahoo's photo sharing service somehow managed to beat Instagram to the punch so perhaps the introduction of its first iPad-ready app (four years after Apple's slate arrived) isn't that late. So what's in the (now universal) Flickr iOS app? iPad-optimized layouts for members to browse pictures whether their own or others that "cascade in a lovely waterfall format." If you must take a picture with your tablet, the app can record photos or videos with live filters and a full suite of editing tools. It requires iOS 8 to work, and some of the upgrades that stretch across devices include support for the new sharing extensions, photo detail editing and a new unified search. The update is live in the app store now, and of course there's no time like 3AM ET on a Saturday to give it a try.
Keep personal photos out of collections with iOS 8's "hide photo" feature
Apple's Collections feature for photos in iOS is a wonderful way to keep track of your memories and easily present them when it's time to show off. Photos are automatically sorted into smart groups based on the time and location they were taken, making it a breeze to quickly find every picture you've taken in Florida or during December. Of course, there are certain pictures you probably don't want people to see. Let's be classy and just call them "personal" photos. Thankfully iOS 8 makes keeping your personal photos out of your Collections quick and easy. All it takes is two quick steps. Locate the photo you want hidden, select it, and hold down your finger on the image. When the "hide" option pops up press it, and confirm that you'd like to hide the image. Now the "hidden" image is left out of your Collections folder while still being viewable from the Albums portion of the Photos menu. You can rest easy when displaying your Collection over AirPlay during the Holidays. If you take care to hide the right (or wrong, depending on your perspective) images, your family never has to know what you really did in Vegas.
Mirage is yet another Snapchat rival with 15 second video
Mirage is a free app for iPhone that lets you send photos and videos to friends that disappear after a few seconds never to be seen again. One tap on a friend and the photo or video is sent out, no questions asked. Does this sound a bit familiar? Yes, it's another app taking on the concept that made Snapchat so famous. Mirage adds a bit of its own flair, but what's important is if it is able to stand out from the crowd. It requires iOS 7.0 or later. Sign up is relatively easy, requiring just your cell phone number (for verification) and a username. A profile photo is optional. The main Mirage screen features a perfectly square camera view and a list of friends toward the bottom, a bit reminiscent of Shoutout's design that we reviewed about a week ago. Mirage lacks any buttons and instead relies on quick, instinctive use. Tap once on the camera view to flip the camera from the front to back and vice versa, double tap to add a caption and swipe to apply various filters. Then, just tap a person's thumbnail to snap a photo and send it all at once. Again, like Shoutout, there's no ability to actually preview the image you captured before it sends. You won't get to see videos either, because to record a video you tap and hold the person you want to send the video to and lift your finger for it to automatically send. This is definitely a turn off for some people, but this method makes using the app faster - and notably faster than using Snapchat. There aren't any settings to play with, not even to change the amount of seconds it takes for a photo you send to vanish. That's a bit disappointing. Videos are up to 15 seconds in length, which is a welcome increase from the 10 seconds Snapchat allows. 10 seconds very often feels like it's just under what's necessary to capture an entire thought, but then again, sometimes so does 140 characters on Twitter. Mirage also has a few unique filters which some other apps lack - mainly the unique part. After using this app for just a small period of time, it became clear to me that sadly Mirage doesn't have anything really in particular to set itself apart from Snapchat. To be successful, it's going to take a lot more than what the current version of Mirage offers. An extra five seconds of video and the ability to send a photo to someone in one tap isn't enough. Mirage does import your existing contacts, but if they haven't signed up for Mirage in place of the photo or video you send is a text message to them inviting them to join and view it. By no means is Mirage a bad app. It's dead simple to use and has a great design, but what it also has is potential. In a world where Snapchat's closest competitor doesn't even manage to put a dent in Snapchat's own user base, Mirage needs to fulfill that potential in order to compete. With that said, I look forward to what the future holds. As of right now, Mirage is available for free in the App Store. Update: Mirage released version 2.0 of its app to the App Store, which adds group messaging that disappears like the standard function as well as Broadcast to share a disappearing message to multiple contacts without creating a specific group. Plus, the update includes a new Inbox view, contact rearrangement and a search bar. This helps Mirage set itself apart more from other Snapchat competitors.
Lensbaby LM-10 Sweet Spot lens for iPhone
Portland, Oregon-based Lensbaby has been making specialty lenses for professional photographers for years. When the iPhone came out, they recognized a good thing and started designing lenses that would work with the most popular camera in the world. One of the latest is the LM-10 Sweet Spot lens (US$69.99), which works with an iPhone some amazing visual effects with the help of an app. So what is a "sweet spot lens"? Think of an image with a single spot of focus that is surrounded by blur. Why would you want to do that? It directs the viewer's eye directly to the point that you want them to look at. It also can create a dreamy mood or even add a feeling of motion to your photos. I had a chance to put one of these lenses through its paces along with the accompanying free Lensbaby Mobile app. You'll want to download and install the app prior to doing any photography with the LM-10 Sweet Spot lens, as the two go together hand-in-hand. The Lensbaby LM-10 was created through a Kickstarter project. So let's take a look at their pitch video: The lens itself is really well made: no cheap plastic for these guys. The lens barrel is anodized aluminum, and the lenses are glass -- other magnetically mounted lenses will stick to the LM-10, so you can use your other wide-angle or telephoto lenses to create some very special effects. As you can see in the photo at the top of this post, it comes with a double-ended rubber lens cap. To install the lens, you need to attach an adhesive-backed magnet to the iPhone. Note that at this time, the Lensbaby LM-10 doesn't work with the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, which both have that little protruding lens. It will work with an iPad - all of the photos taken for this review were done with the app and lens on an iPad Air. It's quite simple to use the app to set a fixed or movable sweet spot, auto-focus lock or exposure lock, white balance, and even add filters. Pro or dedicated amateur photographers will appreciate the fact that you can add a rule of thirds grid to the app for setting up your shot. Conclusion While the Lensbaby LM-10 isn't a special effects lens that everybody will want or use, it and the accompanying app do a wonderful job of allowing photographers to do sweet spot photography. It's nicely constructed and should make a nice addition to the kit of any advanced iPhone photographer. Rating: 3-1/2 stars out of 4 stars possible Giveaway If you've ever wanted to take sweet spot photos like those you see here, be sure to enter our giveaway of this Lensbaby LM-10 lens. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before October 10, 2014 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected in a random drawing and will receive a Lensbaby LM-10 lens valued at US$69.99 Click Here for complete Official Rules. CLICK HERE IF ENTRY FORM IS NOT VISIBLE BELOW Loading...
The Mac II Book
I'm going to go ahead and assume that this isn't an officially licensed Apple product. I have to admit, my favorite feature is the fact, while it's a laptop, it has a built-in wired mouse. Now that's some serious innovation! Think different, after all. [Photo credit: MJHagen]