selfies
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You can't stop the selfie
You can't escape the selfie. No one can. Celebrities do it; politicians do it; and it's likely you or someone you know has done it. Selfies have become so ubiquitous that it was dubbed Word of the Year in 2013, and it's even entered the Oxford Dictionary, where it's defined as "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website." The latter part of that description is why the selfie is more than just a simple self-portrait -- it's meant to be shared. One could argue -- and James Franco certainly has -- that the selfie is a window into one's personality. It's a quick way to show the world who you are on the internet -- like an online avatar if you will. I'll admit I've taken a few selfies myself, but always with a twinge of guilt that I was being shallow or vain. That guilt, however, is apparently not a concern for the majority of us. Selfies have well and truly permeated popular culture to, as you'll see in the gallery here, ridiculous levels. [Image credit: Shutterstock]
New photo app is all Selfies, all the time
We know what you're thinking, but a new app called Selfies is actually kind of fun, considering that it's a barely-promoted one-off from Automattic (the company responsible for WordPress). It told TechCrunch that Selfies was in development for eight weeks or so as part of the Gravatar universal avatar app before it became a separate thing. Trying the app showed that its basic-ness is part of the kick, since it let us post our own pic right after logging on. (We also found it to be a little rough around the edges with a few crashes.) Right now, there's just a single public feed showing ever photo, but the company has plans to filter the best content soon. You can try it now for yourself, but only on Android -- the company narrowly picked that platform to launch it first thanks to a user poll.
MIT project transforms selfies into pro-style portraits
As it stands, you can spice up your selfies with Instagram filters and other edits before beaming to the interwebs. But what about making a truly compelling smartphone self-portrait? Well, a team of researchers from MIT -- alongside folks from Adobe and the University of Virginia -- created an algorithm that could allow you to accurately apply the stylings of critically-acclaimed portrait photographers to everyday self-made snapshots. According to MIT grad student YiChang Shih, "style transfer" from the likes of Instagram and other filter-applying apps isn't well-suited for complementing facial features. Instead, this software uses existing works (Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, and Martin Schoeller are cited as examples) and makes an appropriate match with the captured image. Eyes, beard, skin and lighting are all compared to make an ideal pairing before applying the artistic details. "You can't get stylizations that are this strong with those kinds of filters," says Adobe's Robert Bailey. "You can take a photo that has relatively flat lighting and bring out portrait-style pro lighting on it and remap the highlights as well."
Flickr struggles to capture the selfie generation
Flickr's latest app is its best yet, but even that might not be enough to save it. I posted my first-ever selfie on Flickr on July 11, 2004. Taken with the rear camera of a Sony Ericsson T616, the photo was horrendously grainy at a resolution of 288 x 352. But at the time, taking a picture with my phone and uploading it to a website (via MMS, no less) was a strange and wonderful thing. I would soon grow to use Flickr for photos taken with a regular camera as well, but it was that initial brush with mobile technology that drew me into its fold.
SkinneePix trims some bloat from your selfies
How often do your hear that the selfie you did with your iPhone makes you look 'so much heavier'? It's not just a tired excuse. Often times a subject photographed at close quarters can elicit 'barrel distortion'. A majority or standard lenses aren't really optimized for extreme closeups, so your face can appear wider in the middle then at the top and the bottom. Just like a barrel. The iPhone cameras have the same issue. Pro photographers often use a zoom lens for photos, getting close and zooming out, which mostly negates the effect. SkinneePix is a US$0.99 app that un-bloats your selfie. Once you've snapped a photograph with the app, it does some face detection and gives you the option to take off anywhere from a notional 5-15 pounds. You can also change the photo to black and white or sepia. Of course if you are a bit overweight the app will help too. I tested the app on a few subjects and thought the results were quite good. There are several settings to try out, and the results can be saved to your camera roll or shared via email or iMessage. Some apps that purport to fix faces can get you looking pretty grotesque. I thought SkinneePix kept faces looking natural and un-manipulated. If you have photos that need more work, Perfect365 for iOS is worth a look. It can soften skin, highlight eyes, whiten teeth and more. SkineePix does what it claims to do at a low price. The app requires iOS 7 or later and it is optimized for the iPhone 5.
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for March 14, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
Instagram does your selfies a favor with an improved Lux feature for iOS
Go ahead, ask any youngster around you: selfies are serious business. No one is more mindful of that universal truth than Instagram, which is why it pushed out yet another iOS app update earlier today. No, there aren't any new filters (isn't 19 enough?) -- instead, the company brought some much-needed control to its Lux feature.
Canon's Legria mini camcorder wants to be best friends with your social media (hands-on)
It's a strange one. Canon's new pocketable camera certainly isn't your typical video camera. Aimed squarely at those looking to capture themselves, the Legria mini records up to 1080p video through a special wide-angle (170-degree) lens, ensuring you can fit your whole family (or dance crew?) into your clips. With a 180-degree flexible display on board too, you can adjust the camera's position as needed. When we tested an early unit in Canon's home turf in Japan, the combination of both a posable screen and a stand beneath the unit meant getting a good angle from the floor or work surface was a simple task. Behind that wide-angle f/2.8 lens, there's a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor, mechanical shutter, Canon's DIGIC DV 4 processor and (in case you needed it) a 12.8-megapixel sensor for stills. Looking to improve your video coverage of, well, you? We've got more details and impressions after the break.
Vine update brings support for front-facing camera, mentions
Couple of key updates for the 1.1 version of Twitter's pithy video app, Vine. First up is support for front-facing cameras, for those who can't get enough short web videos of themselves. Tap the icon in the lower-left corner of the app and it will toggle between your phone's cameras. Also new is mention support, so those tagged with an @ will get a notification when you drop their names into a post. The latest version is available now from iTunes -- perhaps a short video of you downloading the update is in order.
