selfies
Latest
You can now delete your selfies from ID.me’s website
The IRS backed away from its requirement that taxpayers submit selfies to verify identity.
Fujifilm's $100 Instax Mini 40 offers vintage looks and simple features
Fujifilm has unveiled the Instax Mini 40, an instant film camera much like last year's Instax Mini 11 but with a new retro look and $30 higher price tag.
Adobe officially debuts Photoshop Camera for iOS and Android
Adobe's free Photoshop Camera app is officially available in the App Store and on Google Play.
Apple gets a patent for taking group selfies while you're socially distant
Apple has received a patent for creating group selfies when your friends are miles away.
Instagram's Layout feature adds collages to your Stories
Today, Instagram is rolling out new Layout feature that will let you include multiple photos in a single story. When you open the Stories camera and select the Layout option, you'll be able to choose between two and six photos to combine in a grid-based collage.
Snapchat makes your selfies more animated with new 3D effects
Get ready for your selfies to have a little more pop on Snapchat. Today, the company is introducing 3D Camera Mode, a new feature which lets you take Snaps that can change perspective and appearance as you move your smartphone around. To make this effect happen, Snapchat is taking advantage of Apple's TrueDepth camera system, which the Cupertino firm uses for features such as Face ID and Animojis. Naturally, this means the new 3D Camera Mode only works for Snapchatters with an iPhone X and above, although these three-dimensional Snaps can be viewed by anyone on the app. So, if you have an Android phone, you can enjoy your friends' 3D selfies, you just can't create any of your own.
Snapchat is in the middle of an identity crisis
There was a time a year or so ago when, if a friend wanted to send me a meme or a funny selfie, it would be on Snapchat. But I don't remember the last time that happened; at some point Instagram became our go-to messaging app. And apparently I'm not alone: Snapchat lost as many as 3 million daily users in 2018. Meanwhile, Instagram has grown so fast over the past two years that its Stories feature alone is much bigger than Snapchat, with more than 500 million daily users. This has arguably come at Snapchat's expense. But it's not as if Snap isn't looking to turn things around. The company wants to reinvent itself by trying a bunch of different things, like augmented reality shopping, being more open and teaming up with brands such as Nike on AR workshops.
Inside Nike's DIY studio for Snapchat selfie Lenses
Snapchat's Lens Studio, which lets anyone create their own augmented reality filters, has been a big hit for the company. There are now more than 300,000 Lenses created by independent users, and those have been viewed over 35 billion times. Still, Snapchat wants Lens Studio to get even bigger, and what better way to help it do that than by teaming up with one of the biggest brands in the world: Nike. At NBA All-Star Weekend 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina, Nike and Snapchat built a do-it-yourself studio for people to create AR Lenses on the fly.
The Pixel 3 and Galaxy Note 9 top DxOMark's new selfie camera scores
We use the selfie camera on our smartphones up to 40 percent of the time, yet most testing puts the emphasis on the rear camera. To address that issue, DxOMark has introduced scoring for front-facing smartphone cameras based on criteria like skin tone and color accuracy, sharpness, contrast, exposure and more. A number of cameras have already been tested, and the models on top, by a wide margin, are Samsung's Galaxy Note 9 and the Google Pixel 3, both with overall scores of 92. Rounding out the top five were Xiaomi's Mi Mix 3, the Apple iPhone XS Max and Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, with scores of 84, 82 and 81 respectively.
Sony's mid-range A6400 mirrorless camera is ideal for vloggers
Sony has boosted its mid-range APS-C lineup with the launch of the 24-megapixel A6400 mirrorless camera. It looks much the same as its predecessor, the A5100, but has much-improved specs and should be especially ideal for vloggers, thanks to 4K 30fps video and a flip-up touch screen. The A6400 is also getting a bunch of features from its full-frame A7 III and A9 siblings, like 425-point contrast- and phase-detect autofocus with the "world's fastest" .02 second AF speed, along with real-time subject tracking and eye AF.
LG imagines a smartphone with no less than 16 camera lenses
If the five cameras on LG's V40 ThinQ seemed like a lot to you, how about 16? The Korean company may be working on a smartphone camera with that many lenses, according to a recently filed patent seen by LetsGoDigital. Arranged in a 4x4 matrix, it's designed to capture a scene from multiple perspectives in a single shot. That will allow you to shoot 3D movies and manipulate shots by, say, moving someone's head around or replacing it completely.
Snap is bringing augmented reality Lenses to the desktop
Fresh off its Q3 2018 earnings report, in which it broke a revenue record, Snap Inc. is making another major announcement. Meet Snap Camera, a standalone application that will bring the company's popular augmented reality filters, aka Lenses, to the desktop. Interestingly enough, the new app won't require a Snapchat login, a move Snap says is part of its vision to expand the Lens ecosystem beyond mobile.
Selfies are shifting our definition of beauty
Selin Pesmes says she uses selfie filters because they smooth out her skin and present a "better-quality version" of herself. That's likely the same thinking for the millions of other people who regularly post edited pictures of themselves on social media, which are often created using selfie-enhancing tech from apps like Instagram, Snapchat and FaceTune. While some of these filters are fun or creative (for example: They can give you dog or bunny ears), many of them are simply there to make you look prettier. With a quick swipe, they can get rid of blemishes, fix the nose you don't perceive as perfect or give you lips that resemble Kylie Jenner's expensive fillers. Some people love these selfie filters so much that they're going to plastic surgeons and asking for cosmetic procedures that'll make them look like a software-enhanced version of themselves.
Selfies become public art in 'As We Are'
Selfies can be a small act of self-promotion, but it's nothing compared to what artist Matthew Mohr can do for you. He has built a sculpture called As We Are that projects your face onto a 14-foot high interactive sculpture at the Columbus, Ohio convention center. "It is an open-ended, conceptual piece that explores how we represent ourselves individually and collectively," Mohr said in an artist's statement. "As We Are presents Columbus as a welcoming, diverse culture where visitors and residents can engage on multiple levels."
Apple invests $390 million into Face ID and AirPod tech
Apple has made another investment with its Advanced Manufacturing Fund (AMF), awarding Finisar $390 million. If the name doesn't sound familiar, its work will. Finisar is the company behind the iPhone X's Face ID, Animoji and Portrait mode for selfies -- all of which rely on vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL). It's also responsible for your AirPods' proximity sensing tech. The investment means Finisar will set up shop in a 700,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Texas in addition to expanding its research and development team.
The best devices and apps to up your selfie game
The first time a stranger on the train told me I had a nice smile, I didn't believe her. Back then, I hadn't yet had my crooked teeth fixed, and my self-esteem wasn't anywhere as high as it is today. I was an ugly kid, and it took a shocking number of selfies to convince myself that I'm not an ugly adult. It may seem like a superficial pastime, but selfie-taking has real benefits.
Researchers think algorithms can improve your trash selfies
Whether we take selfies to match our own perception of what we think we look like or trying to understand how others perceive us, there's no doubt that the self portrait is the defining photographic trend of our time. Chances are, we could all use a little help in upping our selfie game, which is where new research and the resulting algorithm-powered smartphone app comes in. Computer scientists at the University of Waterloo in Canada asked thousands of Mechanical Turk workers to rate artificial selfies to find the best choice across three dimensions: lighting direction, face size, and face position. They had workers rate the selfies and then created an app that acts as a "director" for selfies, helping you get your best possible self-portrait. The researchers then had real people take photos with and without the app and submitted the selfies to raters from Mechanical Turk. They found a 26 percent improvement in the ratings of self-portraits taken with the app than those taken without direction.
DJI's palm-sized Spark drone delivers epic selfies
Everyone loves taking selfies, even if they don't like to admit it. And if you're looking to take those snaps of yourself to the next level, DJI's new, cutesy Spark drone may be just for you. The company's latest drone is designed to fit on the palm of your hand and can be controlled with motion gestures, letting you take some over-the-top pictures and videos without much effort. You can wave your hand to have move it up or down, right or left and pull it toward or away from you, while a quick gesture that resembles you taking a picture will trigger the camera's selfie mode. The only drawback to this is that the Spark can only go up to 10 feet away from you, and that's where the Spark's companion app and remote control come in.
Amazon's Echo Look app is ready for your fashionable selfies
Amazon still hasn't said when it plans to ship its new Echo Look camera, but it appears that will be happening very soon. The company has started rolling out companion iOS and Android apps for the device, which costs $200 and is only available via invite to Prime customers -- at least for the time being. To refresh your mind, Echo Look is an Alexa-powered camera for people who want to take pictures or videos of their daily outfits, enhanced by an artificial intelligence algorithm that'll learn your habits and make clothes recommendations based on that.
The internet knows how unattractive I am
Honestly, I'm fine with being unattractive, because owning your flaws is the best way to avoid becoming defined by them. But if the subject comes up in conversation, I'll joke that, on a hypothetical scale, I'm a "four ... in bad light." The internet, however, has enabled me to find out precisely how other people rate my attractiveness. It's been a fun week.
