The ability to connect your camera to your smartphone wirelessly is starting to really gather some steam. Unfortunately, up until now, that technology usually required a WiFi connection and an adapter that often cost some serious dinero. But if all you’re looking to do is share the photos you take instantly sans WiFi network, you don’t have many options. Enter CloudPic Mobile. Read more…
Shoebox is an app by 1000 Memories that lets you turn your iOS or Android smartphone into a scanner for digitizing old paper photos (the photos don’t have to be old, of course). The app goes far beyond manual snapping and cropping: it uses edge detection to help you crop, color balance to compensate for lighting, and auto-flattens the resulting image to adjust for your camera’s tilt. You can download it for free through the iTunes App Store or Google Play.
Shoebox [1000 Memories]
Here’s a brief glimpse showing Nikon’s new $59 WU-1a wireless adapter in action, being used to control a D3200 DSLR (the only camera supported at the moment) using an Android (the only mobile OS supported) smartphone. The video is in Chinese since it was created by Taiwanese website Mobile01, but it clearly shows the two main features of the adapter: transferring photos from cameras to phones and shooting remotely using the phone as a live view.
(via Nikon Rumors)
It’s been a long time coming, but today the popular photo snapping and sharing app Instagram finally launched for Android phones. While it offers the same filters as its iOS counterpart, the new app has a look and feel that’s geared towards Android’s interface. Some features are absent from the initial release (e.g. tilt shift, blur, live preview), but upcoming updates will bridge the gaps. The app is available as a free download from Google Play.
Instagram [Google Play]
Can’t wait to use Instagram on your Android smartphone? The company has put up a new “coming soon” page for the impending Android app launch, and submitting your email address will provide you with a notification the moment the app becomes available to the public.
Instagram for Android (via TNW)
Trigger Happy is a new product that lets you use your iOS or Android smartphone as a fancy camera remote. It consists of an app and a one-meter-long cable that goes from your phone’s audio jack to your camera. Besides acting as a simple remote shutter release for shake-free shots, the app offers bulb functionality for timing long exposures, an intervalometer for timelapse photography, HDR mode, and bramping. They’re also working on lightning detection, audio waveform detection, face detection, and accelerometer-based triggering.
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Back in January, Polaroid unveiled its SC1630 Smart Camera that’s powered with Google’s Android operating system. Now, more manufacturers may be gearing up to have the popular smartphone OS built into their cameras: Samsung and Panasonic are both reportedly exploring this idea. Regarding what this means for consumers, Engadget writes,
It could be a major breakthrough from a usability standpoint, opening up the in-camera ecosystem to third-party developers. We could see Twitter and Facebook apps that let you not only publish your photos directly with a familiar interface, but also see photos shared by your friends. A capacitive touchscreen would let you type in comments directly as well. You could publish to web-based services, utilize apps that enable post-capture creativity or receive firmware updates directly over WiFi. That hotshoe or USB port could accommodate a variety of different accessories, like a microphone or 4G modem that could be used with several models, including those from other manufacturers.
One potential downside to having an Android-powered camera may be stability — imagine having to regularly reboot your frozen camera.
Image credit: Samsung NX10 camera by liewcf
If you’re an Android user patiently waiting for Instagram to arrive on your phone, your wait may soon be over. Instagram founder Kevin Systrom showed off the company’s upcoming Android version at the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas this past weekend. The app is currently in private beta, and is set to be released soon. TechCrunch’s Kim-Mai Cutler writes,
Systrom also had one more thing up his sleeve — he showed off the company’s upcoming Android app. He waved it around very briefly on-stage, but he didn’t give a full demo. (That’s for later, and the company tells us they aren’t totally ready for a walkthrough yet.)
“In some ways, it’s better than our iOS app. It’s crazy,” he said.
He also states that they chose to stay exclusively on iOS until now to focus on scaling and innovating the app. The service just passed 27 million registered members and is rumored to be raising $40 million on a $500 million valuation.
(via TechCrunch via Gizmodo)
Image credit: The Secrets of Instagram’s Success, Kevin Systrom #FOWD by placenamehere
The private photographs on your phone might not be as private as you think. Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that iOS has a loophole that allows third-party apps who have access to location information to also access (and copy) your entire photo library without any further notification or warning. A couple days later, Android was also found to have a loophole that’s even worse — any app that can access the Internet can copy photos to a remote server! Both companies have acknowledged the privacy flaws and are currently working on fixes for them. Welcome to the scary world of Internet-connected cameras!
Image credit: iPhone Camera by Nico Kaiser
After announcing its impending arrival last year, Adobe today officially launched Photoshop Touch for the iPad and Android-powered tablets. The app offers many of Photoshop’s core tools:
Use Photoshop features designed for the tablet such as layers, selection tools, adjustments, and filters to create mind-blowing images. Use new Scribble Select to easily keep and remove elements of an image.
It’s priced at $10 and is available from the iTunes App Store and the Android Market.
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