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Google Photos will hide pics of your ex on Android
An unfortunate part of the future we live in is photos surfacing in our digital history of people we'd rather not see again. Google has a way around that with the latest update to its Photos app on Android. Now you can hide a specific person under the People tab. As the Google+ post tells it, that'll keep the new grouped photos tool from resurfacing in those people under the "rediscover this day" tab as well. It isn't quite the level that Lacuna, Inc. works at but, combined with Facebook's similar tools, it could help save some heartache. It's rolling out to folks running Mountain View's mobile OS right now, with iOS and web updates coming "very soon."
No thanks: JPEG images may soon have copy protection
So much for hopes that the tech industry would back away from copyright protection any time soon. The Joint Photographic Experts Group recently launched a Privacy & Security initiative that potentially brings digital rights management (DRM) to regular JPEG images, not just the specialized JPEG 2000 format. The proposal could protect your privacy by encrypting metadata (such as where you took a photo), but it could also prevent you from copying or opening some pictures. Needless to say, that opens up a can of worms when it comes to fair use rights. If someone slapped DRM on a photo, you couldn't use it for news, research or remixed art -- many of the internet memes you know wouldn't be possible.
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.
Adobe teases 'Monument Mode' for better photos of crowded landmarks
During its Max design conference this week, Adobe previewed a number of features that are currently in the works. For example, the company is building a tool called Monument Mode that'll allow you to remove unwanted people, cars and other objects from those vacation photos with a single click. The idea here is that when you visit a popular landmark (or monument), it can be difficult to snap a good photo in a crowd. Monument Mode employs an algorithm that distinguishes between moving and stationary objects, so if someone walks in the frame, you can make the necessary edits quickly. The tool actually captures live footage, nixing those moving objects to create the shot you can actually use.
The Hubble Telescope's breathtaking views of space
We already showed the Hubble Telescope some love back in the spring when it turned 25. However, since it's Space Week, we thought we'd revisit some of its amazing space imagery once more. Since it launched aboard the Space Shuttle discovery in 1995, Hubble has captured breathtaking views of planets, galaxies and more for us to enjoy. That being said, let's get started with the telescope's most recent work: a photo of spiral galaxy NGC 613.
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.
Google Photos gets updated with improved sharing features
Google is adding three new features to its Photos platform that are designed to make sharing pictures easier. The first is to tackle the problem of wanting to share a cool image with your friends in a living room setting. Currently, you'd be forced to pass your smartphone from person to person, but that's all about to change. Now, as long as there's a TV with a Chromecast plugged in, a user can push the shots straight to the big screen. Rather than just mirroring the device's display, however, the feature enables you to choose what you want your friends and relatives to see. That way, if you'd rather not run the risk of sharing an inappropriate notification or not-safe-for-work background image, you can run the show as if it was an old-school slide projector.
Flickr's new image compression was almost invisible, until it wasn't
Ugh, it's all pixelated. Ugh, artifacts. Compression is otherwise a pretty useful trick for squeezing more stuff (photos, video and more) into less space, but something typically gets lost in the process. Sometimes it's indistinguishable, other times it screams at your eyes, offending your gentle sensibilities -- or something. Usually, however, it's somewhere in the middle, which was Flickr's problem. The photo service offers users 1TB of free storage at original resolution -- which is still good going, but users started to notice a change in compression used for the various image sizes it also offers: smaller files but bigger issues with artifacts and details lost. That said, Flickr made the changes in late 2014, but it wasn't until much more recently (alongside a recent redesign) that eagle-eyed users began to notice that something had changed.
New Horizons offers a closer look at Pluto's desolate surface
When NASA's New Horizons spacecraft shot past Pluto, the agency released some stunning photos to celebrate the occasion. The last couple of months have been quiet, however, because the spacecraft has only been sending back data collected by its energetic particle, solar wind and space dust instruments. While this has led to some new discoveries, many of us have been itching to see a little more of the icy dwarf planet. Well, good news! NASA now has a fresh batch of photos for us to drool over. The most eye-catching one is a mosaic (above) that shows what the planet would look like if you were stood 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) above the equator. Looking north-east, you can see a cratered region called Cthulhu Regio and some icy plains named Sputnik Planum.
Instagram no longer thinks it's hip to be square
Ask any photographer: good composition is essential to capturing a great image. Ask that same photographer the most frustrating thing about Instagram, and they'll probably say "aspect ratio." Since its launch, every image or video uploaded to the service has been restricted to a limited square format, but today that changes. As of right now, you can upload landscape and portrait videos and photos to Instagram.
Infltr gives Instagram addicts millions of editing options
Photo-editing apps like Instagram are great, but usually the options are limited to a couple dozen or so filters. That's not the case with Infltr, a $2 iOS app that claims 5.1 million unique hues. With this piece of mobile software, swiping across the edit screen traverses through the color wheel, applying various shades to your photo until you arrive at the perfect combo. There's no tapping on presets here. Instead, the user interface relies on those swipes around an invisible color map to make edits to your snapshots. To keep track of what's being applied as you move across the display, a small color bubble appears under your fingertip. What's more, you choose a color to apply before you capture an image for a more accurate preview of the final result. Sure, it costs a couple bucks, but if you're super into mobile photos, the app certainly offers a few more options to drive those creations.
Google Photos will now automatically surface pictures you took in years past
The revamped Google Photos service that was introduced at I/O this year is already one of our favorite ways to manage our ever-growing image collections, and Google keeps on adding features to make it better. The latest is a new tool that lets you walk down memory lane, so to speak. The Google Photos "assistant" will now show you cards that contain images that you shot on the same day in years past, letting you reminisce about whatever exciting things you took pictures of way back when. It's not clear yet if this new feature will show you every single photo you snapped on a given day or just a curated selection, but either way it sounds like a smart way to surface images that you may have forgotten you ever took.
Google Photos lets you tell it when your pictures were taken
Google just announced that it has pushed live a host of user-requested features for its Photos service. These include the ability to edit an image's timestamp, rearrange the image order in albums, change an album's cover photo and remove inaccurate results from searches. What's more, the company is also launching an improved community product forum, staffed in part by members of Google's Top Contributors program, that will help confused Photos users better navigate the site.
ICYMI: Drone goes fishin', reflection fix for photos & more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-30983{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-30983, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-30983{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-30983").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: A $200,000 drone is helping wildlife officials protect fish from poaching and it looks super cool too. A new algorithm to eliminate reflections, raindrops and chain-link fences from photos is being tinkered with and we'd like it on all our photos now, please. And researchers at the University of Tokyo have a new prototype 3D projector that can project onto moving surfaces, no matter how much they shake.
VSCO Cam adds Collections to curate photos from other users
VSCO Cam has offered some community features powered by its Grid tool on top of its regular photo-editing chops for some time now. Today, though, the company added a new way to interact with your fellow VSCO snapshot enthusiasts. With updates to both the iOS and Android apps, VSCO Cam delivered Collections: a feature that allows you to curate your favorite photos from other users. Grid provides a place to share your images in a minimalist format for all to see, but with Collections VSCO pulls in snapshots you like from other photographers to build a separate library. When you're scrolling through the photos in Search or Explore, simply double tap to save one before publishing it to your Collection.
Google+ Photos is dying to make way for Google Photos
Google announced today that its legacy Google+ Photos app will soon go the way of Picasa (that is, obscurity) in favor of the company's newer Google Photos app which launched in May. According to a post on Google+, Google+ Photos will begin shutting down -- first on Android, then on the web and iOS -- beginning August 1st. Users can easily port their existing photos to the new service using the download link from their Google+ Photos page. Even if you don't immediately switch to the new, standalone app, Google+ Photos will continue to store your photo and video content at photos.google.com until you are ready to. Users also have the option to export that data using Google Takeout. [Image Credit: Jeff Chiu/AP]
Adobe Lightroom for Android will let you copy and paste edits
Back in February, Adobe updated the iOS version of Lightroom to include a number of handy features. While the mobile-editing software has been on Android since January, today's update brings it up to par with the version for Apple's devices. This means that the ability to copy and paste edits from one image to another without having to retrace (retap?) your steps is now available for the Android faithful. There's a new crop tool as that makes quick alignment tweaks and auto-straightening a breeze. A segmented view in Collections allows for easy search and browsing of all your images, too. Of course, in order to get the most out of Lightroom mobile, you'll want to use it alongside a Creative Cloud subscription -- especially when it comes to syncing previews and changes from the desktop version. If you're ready to give it a shot, the update is available now from Google Play.
Instagram's handy search tool arrives on the web
Last month, Instagram redesigned the discovery section of its photo-sharing app to make it easier to spot what's trending and leverage search abilities. Now, that revamped search function is arriving on the web. If you'll recall, the option for browsing filter-draped photos in a browser received an update last month too, and now you'll be able to do more than peruse images. Using the search tool, you can hunt for user profiles, hashtags and locations in order to see what's happening at a particular event or in a specific place. There are also landing pages for hashtags and locations -- similar to the mobile app -- allowing you to scroll through a collection of images before clicking to nab the details for each. This is the latest in a number of steps the photo app has taken to embrace browsing on the web, following embeddable posts, timelines and more over the years. This doesn't mean Instagram is taking its eye off mobile by any means, but adding the web-based tools as a complimentary piece is certainly a nice touch.
Deleting Google Photos won't stop your phone from uploading pictures
Google Photos is pretty amazing. Not only does it offer free, unlimited back-up space for your photos and memories, it also automatically creates collages, slide-shows and movies from your uploaded library. I loved it from the first moment I installed the app--but if you don't, watch out: uninstalling Google Photos won't stop your phone from uploading pictures to your account.
Instagram's storing HD images but won't let you see them (update)
According to The Verge, Instagram has begun storing images at 1080 x 1080 pixels, far larger than the standard 640 x 640 pixels they are stored as now. The thing is, you can't actually see the larger images natively in either the web version or the apps. They actually only show up as recently uploaded photos and even then, you'll need to dig around in the source code to actually see them. To do so, go to the desktop version of Instagram and navigate to any of your recently uploaded images. Open the page source code, invoke the Find function and search for '.jpg". That URL will lead you to a 1080 x 1080 version of the image. Huzzah? Still, the larger photos could portend a bigger, better viewing experience in future versions of the app -- or at least HD advertising.
