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Thanks, Obama: Now you can take selfies in the White House
We've seen President Barack Obama take a few selfies in the White House before, but until now the practice has been strictly forbidden for visitors on the public tour. Well, today that 40-year-old ban has been officially lifted. From now on, you can use a smartphone or a compact camera with a lens no longer than three inches to take photos inside the building. (Yes, this includes selfies.) While the rules have been relaxed somewhat, there are still plenty of gadgets on the "Prohibited Items" list. These include selfie sticks, tablets, GoPro-style action cameras and any snapper with detachable lenses. Texting, calls and livestreaming are also forbidden -- so no Periscoping while you walk down the entrance hall.
Facebook wants to give your photo uploads a Snapchat-like flair
Facebook may be not as in tune with the teen crowd as Snapchat, but that isn't stopping it from trying to fit in. TechCrunch has discovered that Facebook is testing an iOS photo uploader that lets you overlay Snapchat-like filters, stickers and text on pictures as you post them. While it's not exactly a subtle attempt at riding the coattails of a fast-rising rival, it does show that the social network has ditched writing me-too apps in favor of adding features you're more likely to use. Whether or not you see this uploader any time soon is another matter. Facebook regularly experiments with features, and it wouldn't be surprising if the revamped software sees a lot of tweaks (assuming it makes the cut) before you get to try it yourself.
Microsoft plugs OneDrive storage into your Chromecast
In case you needed another way to beam photos and videos to your Chromecast, the Android OneDrive app has you covered. The latest update for Microsoft's cloud-storage service will take all those gorgeously arranged images from your device running Google's mobile OS and put 'em on your TV via Mountain VIew's HDMI wunderstick. Pretty handy, right? Your Galaxy S6 (or any other Android device with the app installed) should see the update shortly if it already hasn't downloaded. As for iOS users, they'll likely have to wait a bit longer -- the last update only mentions bug fixes and stability improvements.
Google lets you hide unwanted web notifications
When you launch a Google service like YouTube or Gmail on the web, there's always a little bell icon in the corner hiding a bundle of notifications. For many people, this feed is a complete mess and full of alerts for services they rarely use. Well, now Google is making it a little easier to focus its notifications on the tools that really matter to you. As Android Police notes, it's now possible to hit the settings cog and toggle alerts for Google+, Photos and YouTube individually. Never use Google's social network? Now you can remain blissfully ignorant whenever someone adds you to a circle or gives your post a +1. Likewise, if you only care about knowing when people have replied to your YouTube comments, it's now much easier to keep those notifications front and center. At the moment only a handful of Google services are supported, but if enough people start using it, we suspect it'll only be a matter of time before the company bundles in all of its web properties.
Facebook algorithm can recognize people if it can't see their face
A number of companies have developed photo software for facial recognition, but what happens when your face is partially hidden? What if it's completely covered up? Facebook's artificial intelligence lab developed an algorithm that remedies the issue by picking out folks with other clues. Instead of using facial features, the software can identify people using things like hair style, pose, clothing and body type. Of course, a tool like this could lend a hand in a photo app like Facebook Moments or even Google's revamped Photos software. However, it also raises privacy questions when you can be identified in a snapshot even if your face is concealed, especially if you're trying to remain hidden on purpose. Facebook's algorithm is pretty good too, identifying people with an 83 percent success rate in tests, so we'll be curious to see if it makes its way into the social network's photo galleries in the future. [Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Share event photos with friends via another new Facebook app
Facebook's Creative Labs has produced yet another app that feels like it should be a feature within the main Facebook app rather than another icon taking up space on your smartphone. The new Moments app creates shared photo albums from a group of people at an event. Photos are curated using location information and facial recognition, individuals can share and see photos from friends that were at the same place at the same time. So instead of everyone taking a photo of a sunset, one person can take it and share it with the group via the standalone app. The technology used in the app is based on the Facebook AI Research (FAIR) team's work. While the pitch is to share photos privately, shared photos can be uploaded to Instagram and downloaded to a user's camera roll. So they're private until a friend decides to put that weird face you made on their Instagram feed. Moments is available today for iOS and Android in the United States and will be rolling out to other regions over time.
Instagram tidies up web profiles with bigger pictures and less clutter
It may be a tad late for spring cleaning, but Instagram redesigned profile pages on the web to cut down on the clutter. On both mobile and desktop, profile pages, hashtag collections and your home feed are all getting tweaks to make things a bit neater. Desktop profiles, for example, nix the rotating image header up top and display larger images in rows of three instead of five. The changes get rid of the added boarders, button styles and more that the mobile app's redesign already updated in favor of a cleaner, flatter look. Not seeing the new design yet? Don't worry, it's rolling out now and you should be seeing it by the end of the week.
Internet pictures can hide code that leaves you open to hacks (update: criticism)
You might want to be more cautious the next time you click on an internet image link sent by a stranger -- much like the pirate cat photo you see above, that adorable picture could be hiding something sinister. Security researcher Saumil Shah has developed a security exploit that uses steganography to slip malicious JavaScript code into an image file. If you happen to view the picture in a vulnerable web browser, it opens the door to installing malware or directly hijacking your computer. And this sort of attack is definitely usable in the real world, as Motherboard found out first-hand.
Google Photos cuts out Plus to make the app we really wanted
The most striking part of the just released (on the web, iOS and Android) Google Photos is how familiar it feels if you've already been using Photos in Google+, or before that, Picasa. The biggest change I noticed early on is that by separating Photos from its attempt to launch yet another social network, Google is starting focus on stuff that both benefits its users, and that it does well: cloud storage and using information to narrow down searches. Now, it's a perfect fit for how most people use cameras everyday, from the ones in their phones to point-and-shoots (but maybe not your DSLR). With unlimited storage and machine learning that can link photos by the people in them or where they were taken it's ready to make sense of your massive image library.
Google Photos offers unlimited storage for mobile and web
Google today launched a standalone, unlimited photo and video service called Google Photos. Google Photos is a free -- and, again, unlimited -- storage, sharing and editing service, and it should be available today on Android, iOS and the web. However, do note that the unlimited storage only counts if you're okay with a little compression -- your photos will be downsized to 16-megapixels and your videos will have to be 1080p or worse. You can certainly upload original resolution photos and videos too, but they'll count against your Google Drive storage limits. Update: The Photos app is out, and we've given it a test run, check out our impressions right here.
Android's stand-alone Photos app will give you more creative control
Wondering what will happen when Android's Photos app finally makes a clean break from Google+? You should now have a pretty good idea. Android Police has peeked at a leaked copy of a reworked Photos app, and it's clear that Google is using the service split as an incentive to shake things up. The highlight may be Assistant (below), an effective substitute for Auto Awesome that gives you more creative power -- you can produce more content yourself (such as Stories) instead of waiting for it to show up. The interface should also be more intuitive across the board, with more options for viewing your photos, a better editing interface, privacy-minded sharing and pinch-to-zoom gestures for opening pictures. There's a chance these features could change or disappear before they're official, but it won't be surprising if you see this Photos redesign on the Google I/O stage this week.
Mapping project catalogs Instagram sunrises from around the world
Have you noticed the wealth of sunrise and sunset photos on Instagram? Michelle Chandra certainly has, and her project offers a look at the sun's activity around the world in real time. "All Our Suns" gathers snapshots upload with either the #sunrise or #sunset hashtag, using the posts to populate a set of data-driven maps. Two of the crowdsourced cartography pieces catalog every image that's uploaded during the course of a 24-hour period -- one for sunrises and one for sunsets based on a user's location. What's more, you can click on a location marker to view the photo. A third map notes times when two people are posting at the same time, with one updating the beginning and the other observing the end of a day. The whole thing is a study on how our lives literally revolve around the sun and how social networks illustrate time as a never-ending loop.
Adobe says goodbye to its Photoshop Touch app, hello to Project Rigel
Adobe's been keen on new mobile apps as of late, but today it announced the end of the road for one of its more popular pieces of software. As of next week, Photoshop Touch will no longer be available in iTunes, Google Play and other app libraries and the creative software company will not push new updates. Photoshop Touch was a bit of a tough sell at $10, especially when the new round of apps began rolling out for free. The last major update to Touch came in late 2012, and and in the time since, Adobe announced Photoshop Mix alongside its Ink and Slide drawing accessories. And there's a mobile version of Lightroom now, too. With its big mobile push, the company has focused on a stable of apps dedicated to specific tasks, rather than an all-in-one solution like Photoshop Touch.
Your photos are more popular when you use filters, according to Yahoo
Whether or not you think photo filters represent creative assets or the death of photography as we know it, one thing's becoming increasingly clear: they're your ticket to popularity. Yahoo and Georgia Tech researchers have learned that filtered photos (at least, on Flickr) are 21 percent more likely to get views, and 45 percent more likely to receive comments. This doesn't mean that you can throw on any effect you like, mind you. Warmer-looking filters usually get the best results, while colder examples have less of an impact. In short, feel free to tweak your Instagram shots if you feel they lack a certain oomph that will draw in the crowds -- just don't try to be overly dark and edgy.
RealNetworks' next app makes sense of your photos and videos
The company that gave us RealPlayer is now targeting something else entirely: All of the media that we take that never sees the light of day. RealTimes, the next flagship app from RealNetworks, automatically backs up your photos and videos into the cloud and sorts them into easily shareable montages. Because if you're like most, you probably end up shooting plenty more media than you know what to do with. That's especially the case with parents, a demographic that RealNetworks is determined to crack. The app, which is available for iOS, Android, Windows PCs, Roku devices and Chromecast, automatically chooses the best photos and video selections for its montages. Your montages can also feature soundtracks based on built-in tracks or your own tunes. You can store up to 2GB of media and create 30 second montages for free, or pay $5 a month for 25GB more storage and longer montages, or $10 a month for completely unlimited storage.
Instagram dives into curated content with a dedicated music account
Instagram uses its official account to promote notable snapshots on the social network, and has been doing so for quite some time. But now, the filter-driven app will serve up a daily look at music "around the globe." Through the @music stream, the folks behind the software will highlight music photographers, designers working on album art, instrument makers and fans in addition to current stars and emerging talent. It'll even offer 15-second lessons from time to time. Musicians are a big part of Instagram's user base, where artists can share updates and connect with fans, so it makes sense that the subject would get its own channel. In fact, BuzzFeed reports that around 25 percent of the app's 300 million accounts belong to those folks.
Adobe Lightroom quickly makes HDR and panoramas from multiple photos
Since the switch to Creative Cloud, Adobe has been rolling out major updates to its core software regularly. Today, Lightroom is the recipient, gaining a handful of tools that will speed up workflows on the desktop and across mobile devices. First, HDR and Panorama Merge create a single image from multiple RAW shots in a matter of seconds. As you might expect, there are a number of options for fine-tuning what Lightroom builds, but the new tools will save time spent manually creating a wide view or high dynamic range visual. There's also a video slideshow option that can employ a combination of snapshots, video and music to lend a hand with a presentation or scrapbook file. To keep things organized, facial recognition helps find and sort the folks in your photos. Adobe says the software performs better too, claiming that it'll handle edits up to 10 times faster than before.
Snapseed 2 delivers new tools and non-destructive photo edits
It's been a while since Google nabbed Snapseed developer Nik Software, and after a handful of updates, the second version of the photo-editing app is rolling out. There are a load of new features for both iOS and Android, including non-destructive editing. Thanks to Stacks, you can undo and re-edit any image, in addition to copying tweaks from one photo to another -- a feature we've seen in Adobe's iOS software. As far as added tools are concerned, Lens Blur, Tonal Contrast, Perspective Transform, and Spot Healing bring handy desktop editing to mobile. There's a new Brush tool too, allowing edits to be applied to only a certain part of an image. Last but certainly not least, a redesigned UI provides a major aesthetic upgrade over previous versions. If your trusty device hasn't alerted you to the update yet, or you're looking to try it for the first time, the latest version of the free app is available at Google Play and iTunes.
Apple's Photos app is now available to all OS X Yosemite users
You no longer have to be a beta tester (or work at Apple) to give the new Photos app a spin. The Cupertino crew has released the finished version of its OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 update, which centers around the more powerful and iOS-friendly picture management hub. Yes, you can now kick iPhoto to the curb and rely on iCloud Photo Library to sync your images. There are also a few things you might appreciate even if you're not a shutterbug, such as support for more diverse emoji and Spotlight suggestions in Look Up. While this isn't a gigantic update, it's definitely worth grabbing if you think that the Mac's official photo software is overdue for a tune-up.
Flickr gives you the choice to put photos in the public domain
Flickr has long had ways to let others use and tweak your photos, but if you want to give up your copyright altogether? You can now do just that. In the wake of Elon Musk releasing SpaceX's photos to public domain, Flickr has added options for public domain and Creative Commons 0 ("no rights reserved") licenses. Choose them and others can do whatever they want with your images, free of charge or even credit. If you see your photography as more of a service for the greater good than a closely guarded treasure, you can loosen the restrictions today. [Image credit: SpaceX, Flickr]
