“The best camera is the one that’s with you” is attributed to Chase Jarvis and that has never been more true with the quality of camera that are now in cell phones, specifically the iPhone 4S and of course the just released iPhone 5.
There’s no disputing how good the photos are that the latest generations of iPhones produce, however there are times when you want to be in the photograph. If that’s the case you currently only have a couple of options. You could do one of those at arm length self portraits or you’ll either need to trust your iPhone to someone else to take the photo for you.
Now, though there is ClickStik, a bluetooth remote for your iPhone’s camera and a tripod for your iPhone which allows you to remotely take photographs with your iPhone while being up to 30ft away.
Pairing your device with the ClickStik takes just seconds and with only one button on the remote it’s very self explanatory whether you take the time to read the instructions or not. The tripod is a little trickier to configure.
Firstly it comes in two pieces, the stand collapses for easy travelling and is secured in place when not in use by a velcro strap that doubles as a binding should you want or need to strap the stand down if you are taking pictures under conditions that require it.
Secondly the phone is held in place in a three point holder which will hold your device both with and without a case which can then be screwed to the tripod base. Your iPhone can also be accurately positioned based on your need thanks to two hand bolts that allow you to loosen, move and tighten with ease.
The product is made of plastic and overall the build quality is pretty good. The only piece I have questions about is how strong the phone holster is as it feels that any over zealous usage could result in a break.
Using the Bluetooth adapter to take your pictures couldn’t be easier either. The remote won’t work with the stock camera app so after downloading the free ClickStik app from the App Store and launching it, taking pictures is only a click away.
There is little if no lag between pressing the remote’s button and the photograph being taken and the pictures are automatically saved to your Camera Roll to.
Obviously as the pictures are saved to your Camera Roll you can use them with any app you like but the ClickStik app does include photo editing options itself in which you can add effects, frames, stamps, text and other effects directly in the app. Now, while this is no Instagram it does provide nice options and allows you to share directly to Facebook, Twitter and email should you want to.
At $49.99 the ClickStik offers great value for money, infact with both the tripod and the Bluetooth remote you are getting to tools for the price of one and if you take a lot of photo’s with your iPhone this would be a great tool to add to your iPhone’s Camera accessories.
[rating: 4/5]
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The iPad was introduced by Apple as not only a consumption device but also a creation device and there are many apps that certainly provide that functionality. However none do it with quite the ease and impressive results that Echograph for iPad achieves.
Echograph is part photograph, part video and it gives you the ability to manually control which part of the image is still and which stays in motion by simply touching the screen with your finger.
Each new project starts with a video, you can capture this using the iPad camera or use one that is already on your camera roll, this means that while Echograph is not a universal app you can still use movies captured on your iPhone by transferring it to your iPad.
After grabbing your video you are limited to using a maximum 4 second snippet and so your next task is to confirm which 4 second section you wish to use. Again this is very easy and is completed using 2 slider controls along the bottom of the screen.
Next up you need to select a still image from the video that will act as the canvas for your creation, again this is easily completed by using the slider control.
Finally you are ready to animate the areas of the picture you wish to have motion. This is down by simply rubbing your finger across the screen to bring that portion of the image to life. You can control the size of your brush by pinch the screen so that you can be as accurate or as broad as you like.
The image that you are working with will dictate how much brushing you’ll need to do but with the brush size control it’s never going to take too long. However having multiple brush shapes or the ability to draw and cut sections out of the image would provide greater accuracy.
The resulting image then has to be produced and you can do this either in high or low definition depending on the quality of the results you require. You can then share your results via Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr, or submit it to Echograph, (registration is required).
You can view both your results, and those picked by the Echograph staff and some pretty impressive results can be seen here to enjoy and inspire.
At $3.99 it’s not the cheapest photography app in the App Store but with impressive results it’s certainly worth it if you enjoy getting creative with your photography and animation.
[rating: 4/5]What we like
What to know
We recently reported that Apple Inc. (AAPL) was opening their new Barcelona Retail Store on Saturday at 10:00AM. The wall outside of the Passeig de Gràcia store consists of Gaudi-influenced design, with iOS icons arranged to resemble the modernista style of the popular Catalan architect. On Thursday, Cult of Mac was given access to take photos of the interior of the Passeig de Gràcia store.
Although the initial photographs of the exterior hinted at a very artistic interior, it now appears that the design is unchanged from Apple’s other retail locations and uses the same typical stone, wood, and metal designs. This latest location in Barcelona has a grand three floor structure, consisting of a full fledged theatre, a range of product displays, as well as a large Genius Bar.
On the ground floor of the Barcelona Apple Store, about half of the available floor space is taken up with iPhone and iPad displays, spread across twelve tables in three rows. The other half of the floor is taken up by various models of MacBooks, with only a single table devoted to iMacs.
Higher up, the glass staircase leads to the Genius Bar, as well as an in-house theater.
In the basement is where Mac and iOS accessories are stored, which Apple retail employees are now hard at work filling the shelves.
Apple’s Passeig de Gràcia location is the company’s second store in Barcelona and eighth and most recent retail store in Spain and opens at 10:00AM on Saturday, July 28th.
{via MacRumors — Image Credit: Cult of Mac}
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The London 2012 Olympics are under one week away now and if you’re not able to take the time off of work and sit down to watch 1,000’s of hours worth of sport spread over the two weeks then you may want to look into some of the iPhone and iPad offerings that are available to you to consume the games while you are out and about.
First up is the official results app which is a free app for both the iPhone and iPad which will enable you to keep track all the events as they happen.
The schedule page promises to keep you up to date with what’s happening and when including what’s coming up next. If you have a specific sport that you want to follow you can to and even set yourself reminders to be alerted before they start.
Full medal stats will be available here too and you can view the overall count, individuals and by specific sports. Also included is an extensive athlete database where you can view your favorite athletes, although if you are a fan of some of the smaller countries their teams are not currently updated, hopefully this will get updated. [App Store]
If you are more interested in competing, virtually, in some of the games yourself then the Official Mobile game may be for you. There are two versions of the the game a free version that allows you to progress using in-app purchase of a paid version where stars and stamina are pre-included, although you may still need to purchase more.
9 events are covered and as with many games of this type a combination of repeated tapping and timing is required to succeed in all of the events. You build up your athletes stats across 6 different categories and these in turn help improve your athletes results.
The game is fun and has its own built social aspect so that you can compare your best results with your friends, however it doesn’t use GameCenter so you’ll have to find and add your friends again.
The London 2012 Offical Mobile Game can be a little sluggish at times and the use of stamina will prevent you from playing the game as much as you would like, unless you are willing to purchase more via in-app purchase. [App Store]
If you are one of the lucky ones that will be attending the London 2012 games then the London 2012: Official Join In App for the Olympics and Paralympic Games app for the iPhone and iPad is a companion app for you.
This app will show you what is going on and where and not only includes the sports but also other events that are taking place in each area for when you aren’t watching the sports.
There is a lot of information in this app including information of travelling, safety, tickets and much more. If you’re going to be in and around London for the 2012 Olympics then this is a must have app. [App Store]
For our readers that want to follow Team USA you have an app just for you. 2012 Team USA Road to the London Olympics for the iPhone and iPad is the one stop shop for everything you need to know about your athletes.
With a frequently updated news stream you’ll always be up to date with what’s going on in all the sports that Team USA are taking part in helping you to keep you patriotic fever at a maximum level at all times.
The app is a little sluggish due to the frequent refreshing of data but the benefit of that is that it’s always up to date. You have access to the Team USA shop and in-depth biographies of all the athletes. [App Store]
Talking of the USA, if you are in the USA then NBC and their family of TV stations will be televising the London 2012 Olympics and they have a couple of apps for you to consume their coverage.
NBC Olympics is a app for everything about the olympics and including news, videos, photos, athletes and sports with a USA focus. There’s no live coverage in this app though, for live coverage you need to use the separate NBC Olympics Live Extra app.
The NBC Olympics Live Extra app allows you to watch the the events as they happen providing that you have cable or satellite at your home which includes the NBC family of channels.
Only time will tell how well the the app works when the live events start but one of the great looking features is the ability to set reminders to the live events so that you won’t miss out on them wherever you are especially as the video will stream over the cellular network but will obviously use a lot of data! [App Store]
For those of you in the UK you can download the BBC app which will include up to 24 live video streams of all the events as well as news, live text updates and details on all the sports.
The app is beautifully presented but at this moment is only available for the iPhone and not the iPad which considering that it includes live video streams is a little disappointing.
No separate TV subscription is required for this app but you will need to be based in the UK to watch the live streaming. [App Store]
If you want to enjoy the London 2012 Olympics along with the sports stars themselves then SportsStars is the app for you as it contains all of the social savvy athletes who are active of Facebook or Twitter.
As well as direct links to their social pages you can also view current news on each specific athlete and view the timetables for their events so that you know when to tune in to watch them. However, with around only 40 of the athletes being included in the app there’s no guarantee that your favorite athlete is going to be included. [App Store]
There are many iconic moments that happen in global events and the full impact of these moments can’t always be fully appreciated in video. However, photojournalists continue capture beautiful moments which can speak a 1000 words.
The Reuters Olympics London 2012 app collates these pictures into a single application for the iPad which groups these photographs by day and event and is visually stunning.
The pictures also have additional information alongside them and can also be shared via your social networks. [App Store]
It’s no surprise that there are multiple ways to get involved with the London 2012 Olympics and with this handful of iPhone and iPad apps you are never going to be too far away from the action.
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When Facebook purchased Instagram for $1 billion recently the questions were about why and how much and it was easily argued that it was about the user base rather than the technology.
That’s not to say that Instagram isn’t a great app, it is, but there are better apps out there and Wood Camera for iPhone is certainly one of them, do read on though and I’ll tell you why.
Lenses are one of the main things users of camera apps like to use and Wood Camera has 23 of these, they’re your standard lenses but something that is unique about them is the ability to take pictures with the filter enabled. This can save you a lot of time if you have a lot of pictures that you want to take and add lens effects too.
Applying filters is just one of many adjustments that you can make to your pictures with 17 different textures, 12 frames and my favorite features of the vignettes which enables you to highlight specific areas of the photographs.
All of these features come with the ability to apply how big the effect is via a slider which puts you in control of how your photographs looks. Applying all of these features is easy to do with all the options available along the bottom of the screen.
You can also easily take a quick full screen view of your creation via a switch at the top of the screen and from a technical perspective Wood Camera will import your iPhone 4S pictures at the full 8 mega-pixel resolution to ensure that your pictures can look as best as possible.
Of course it’s no good creating this these pieces of art if you can’t share them with the world and there are no shortage of options there either. All of the major social networks are there from Twitter and Facebook to Flickr and even Instagram as well as to your camera roll or via email.
One final nice option is the ability to have Wood Camera launch to the photo taking screen meaning that it can be a true replacement to the stock camera application.
So if you are one of those people who wasn’t happy when Instagram were brought by Facebook or are just looking for a great camera / picture editing app then Wood Camera for iPhone could be just the app for you and is available for $1.99 from Apple’s App Store.
[rating: 5/5]What we like
What to know
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Facebook, one of the world’s leading social media websites has moved ahead with plans to solidify their efforts in the editing and distribution of photos by purchasing photography app, Instagram.
Instagram, a popular iPhone app, recently added to Android as well was introduced in 2010 for iPhone, and has since grown to include over 30 million registered accounts.
Facebook announced on Monday that they are buying out the company for $1 billion USD and will be bringing the 13 employees over to Facebook to help the social network with other image and photography solutions.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the new acquisition in one of his blog posts, noting that Facebook will be “keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.”
We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.
That’s why we’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.
Instagram has gained lots of attention since its introduction, being named Apple’s iPhone app of the year for 2011. The company has achieved great milestones, specifically in adding new users, creating new features, and devising a simple and easy to use software to edit photos and share them. This is exactly what Facebook has been looking for, and this acquisition will likely benefit them greatly.
{via MacRumors}
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There are times when two things that you hold dear collide and instead of becoming even greater than the sum of their parts they become a monster. Take my love of all things deep fat fried and Cadbury Creme Eggs, put them together and it becomes a sickly sweet mess. But then you can take miniature things and ponies and you get miniature ponies which are simply delightful.
Therefore when I saw that Lego had brought out a game that included physical Lego blocks and an iPhone app I was hoping that it would fall under the latter category rather than the former. The iPhone / Lego combination has come together in ‘Life of George’ a $30 Lego set that works with a free iPhone app with the same name.
George is a frequent flyer and on his travels he takes a lot of pictures of the things that he encounters and he presents these things via the Life of George app in the form of photo albums. Each set of pages consists of 10 hidden items and by tapping on any of the 10 blank pictures reveals the image that you have to build out of the real Lego bricks that come as part of the set.
You are up against the clock and things can get a little tricky especially with the smaller pieces and in your hurry you can often find that what you are building falling apart. As soon as you have built your matching creation you can tap the screen, place the creation on the supplied display board and snap a picture.
You need to make sure that the board is positioned correctly and that there is no glare on the picture to ensure that the app can compare it correctly, but given that you’ve done that then you are scored based on speed and accuracy.
With 13 different locations and 10 creations per page there is a lot of building to be done and that’s before you include the 30 levels that have been added with the Christmas update and 50 spaces that are made available for you to create you on creations to play with. These My Life creations are great fun and really bring out the creativity in the ‘child’. The only tricky part is getting the lighting right when taking the photograph to add your creation to album. The accuracy is pretty great but if there is any glare in the picture it can be seen as there being no block there at all.
Of course all the creations are flat 2D creations, and while I would love it to be possible to include 3 dimensional creations to build I don’t see how an app would be able to record the accuracy of that!
There is also a two player option where you can go head to head on a single device on 5 randomly selected creations taking it in turns to see who has the overall best speed and accuracy. It would be nice if you could share your own creations with other players either via a code or uploading them a website as would GameCentre integration to compare your high-scores with other players around the world.
If you are a fan of Lego and have an iPhone or iPod Touch then Life of George is an excellent combination of the two and well worth the $30 price point. Life of George is available at all good Lego stores and re-sellers and via the Lego Website.
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We’ve all see wooden iPhone 4S cases before, maybe not in person but certainly in magazines and on gadget shows. They make seem great in theory but are they really practical or should they just remain a novelty item?
Well about 10 days ago I recieved a wooden iPhone 4S case from Photojojo, a company more renowned for its camera accessories than its iPhone cases, and I’ve been using it ever since.
The twist with this case that enables it to fit in with the other items sold at Photojojo is the fact that the case is modeled to look like a camera.
The case comes in two parts, the top half slides down over the top of the phone while the bottom slides up and interlocks with the top piece. It’s a snug fit and the lining on the inside of the case ensures that the case doesn’t easily slide off.
The finish is smooth and the whole case is lighter than I expected to be and if you’re worried that you may get a splinter I don’t think you have anything to worry about.
The case provides easy access to all the ports and buttons including the camera lens. The camera design on the back acts as iPhone camouflage when taking pictures making it look like, from some angle at least, like you are using an old school camera.
If you’re concerned about the environment then there is no need to be as the trees used in these cases come from sustainable forests and while at $42 it may not be the cheapest case you can get its certainly eye-catching and unique. You can purchase the case from here plus they’ll throw in a free screen protector too!
The wooden iPhone 4 / 4S camera case from Photojojo is both quirky, unique and practical in equal measure making it an easy decision to purchase if you want to stand out from the crowd, especially if you have a passion for photography.
[rating: 4/5]What we like:
What to know:
When the iPhone 4S was released with its improved rear facing camera it quickly become one of the most popular devices for taking pictures. Of course that’s also due to the fact that as Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist Barry Staver once said in regard to what’s the best camera, “It’s the one you have with you.”.
There are now multiple accessories that you can add to your iPhone 4S to enhance its photo taking qualities and the latest is the Olloclip a three in one pocket sized kit that includes a Fisheye, wide-angle and macro lens.
One of the great things about the Olloclip is it’s size and the fact that all the lenses are in one piece with the macro lens being accessed by unscrewing the wide-angle lens. This means that it’s very easy to carry with you especially given that it comes with it’s own little carrying case.
The lens fits the top left corner of the iPhone, coincidentally exactly where the iPhones camera lens is! It slides into place with a slither cut out to fit over the sleep button and while it fits tighlty enough to stay in place while taking photo’s you won’t want to throw your iPhone around too much as the Olloclip may fall off.
With the lens in place you are ready to take your pictures, presuming you’ve remembered to take the lens cap off of course! The results are pretty impressive, using my beloved Mini Cooper as my inspiration I first took a picture without a lens and then two shots, one with the wide-angle lens and another with the fisheye, the results of which you can see attached, and both impressed me very much, especially the additional real estate that was added to the wide-angle photograph.
Some additional shots from closer up emphasized the fisheye results and all of these were taken within seconds of each other thanks to how easily the Olloclip is to switch out. I then moved inside to take some shots with the macro lens.
Using a dime I took a picture as close as I could both with and without the Olloclip macro lens and considering I was inside using artificial light I was still impressed with the the results especially considering the slight camera shake! I look forward to attempting to getting some closeup shots outdoors of some wildlife once the weather warms up a little.
The Olloclip retails at $69.99 and is available via their website given the impressive results that it produces it’s well worth it. It a pocket sized powerhouse that really packs a punch.
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