March 10, 2011

If you had a camera the size of a grain of rice, that would be considered extremely small, but researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany have created a camera the size of a grain of salt. The world's smallest camera measures 1x1x1 millimeters, shoots 0.1 megapixel photographs (250x250 pixels), and is so inexpensive to make that they're disposable. Potential uses for the camera include photographing the inside of human bodies (AKA endoscopy) and being used as rearview cameras on cars.

The blogosphere is abuzz today over a rumor that Canon and Apple may be planning to collaborate on an upcoming project. Craig over at Canon Rumors started it yesterday when he wrote, …

Instaprint is a neat wall-mounted printer that fuses old-school Polaroid-style instant photos with social media (namely Instagr.am). Basically it's a box you rent for events that contains a modified, Internet-connected Zink printer. It uses the Instagr.am API to constantly scan for a specific location or hashtag, and when new photos are found they're automatically printed and pushed out the bottom.

The UN01 is a Kickstarter-funded iPhone 4 case that makes it look like some kind of Apple-designed futuristic camera. The middle of the case features a pseudo-lens bulge that is actually a locking mechanism that secures the two halves of the case. They're looking to raise $23,000 to bring this case to market in 7 colors, and a pledge of $30 will pre-order one for you in black or white.

Update on 12/18/21: This video has been removed by its creator. It originally showed a man shooting hockey photos with his lens cap still on his lens.

For a Yahoo HackU programming competition, a group of students at the University of Washington created FlickrMosaic, a simple app that creates photomosaics from Flickr photographs. The website randomly selects a Creative Commons-licensed photograph from Flickr, then begins transforming it into a photomosaic by adding other photos as small squares.