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Facebook filing shows photo focus

February 3, 2012 By 1 Comment

Facebook filed for its initial public stock offering, and the forms reveal some interesting info on the social network’s use of pictures — starting with the opening picture in its filing, which emphasizes photography.

The company says it has “grown from our beginnings in a college dorm room in 2004 to a service that is fundamentally changing the way people connect, discover, and share around the world.” It had 845 million monthly active users as of December 31, 2011, an increase of 39 percent as compared to 608 million as of December 31, 2010.

Facebook reports it is “the most popular photo uploading service on the web. On average, more than 250 million photos per day were uploaded to Facebook in the three months ended December 31, 2011. Users can upload an unlimited number of high resolution photos, create photo albums, and share them with their friends or any audience they choose. Users can also upload and share videos. Users can set specific privacy settings for each of their photo albums and videos, making them visible to everyone, or only to certain friends. Users can easily arrange their photos, add captions, and “tag” people in a photo or video. Tagging allows users to identify a person in a photo or video as one of their friends.”

Facebook adds in its section on media storage and serving that it stores more than 100 petabytes (100 quadrillion bytes) of photos and videos, and has built its own storage and serving technologies “which allow us to efficiently serve and store the data.”

The complete filing is here.

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Mobile video spiked for 2011 holiday season

February 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Eighty percent of those surveyed took video via a mobile device at least once, and half used a mobile device to record video daily or multiple times per day.

That’s one of the main findings of the new survey from online imaging storage provider Photobucket — and it differs sharply from the Summer 2011 survey in which just 59 percent of participants used mobile devices for video at least once and 25 percent used mobile devices for video multiple times per day. “Although the time of year and the holidays are a factor, the trend is indicative of the overall rising popularity of mobile devices for video,” the company says.

Cameras down: The 2011 holiday survey showed a significant decrease in the number of consumers reporting use of standard cameras for capturing the majority of their images throughout the season: down from 82 percent in the 2010 holiday survey to 64 percent in the 2011 survey. However, 38 percent reported that they switched back to a camera for some holiday images.

App use is up, of course: While 43 percent of respondents have yet to try a mobile app for photos, those who use mobile apps at least once, if not multiple times per day doubled to 42 percent, up from 20 percent in the summer survey.
Photobucket’s internal data shows mobile app use has increased by 64 percent since the launch of Snapbucket, Photobucket’s own second mobile app.

Just as important for the company: “We are happy to see a trend toward consolidation,” Photobucket says. “Consumers, after trying multiple options, desire a single place in which they can store and share the story of their life in photos and video.”

The survey revealed only 33 percent of respondents had images on three or more sites; well down from 50 percent in the Summer 2011 survey, and 52 percent in last year’s holiday survey. Those reporting images on more than five sites have declined as well, from nine percent in both previous surveys, to just under six percent in the most recent holiday survey.

The 2011 Holiday Photo Usage survey tallies responses from more than 2,200 participants, as well as data garnered from Photobucket’s 100 million users and their nine and a half billion image uploads,

More information is here.

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Schneider adds optics to iPhone

February 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

iPhone 4 and 4S users can add a 2x telephoto lens from Schneider Optics to enable “professional quality photographic still and video imagery,” the company says.

The new $100 tele lens narrows the iPhone’s field-of-view by half, bringing objects closer, Schneider says. “Especially useful for headshots, the new lens reduces perspective distortion resulting in more pleasing portraits than those taken with the iPhone’s native lens. The iPro Tele covers the full still and video formats of the iPhone camera without vignetting. The result is a high level of picture quality across the entire image, not just in the center.”

The iPro System features a rugged black iPhone case with a bayonet mount, the company adds, to allow the lenses to be quickly mounted and interchanged.

Schneider already offers the iPro Wide Angle and Fisheye lenses “to expand the creative options for professional imagery with the iPhone.” The iPro Wide Angle lens increases the iPhone’s field of view by 35 percent, and the Fisheye provides a 165-degree field of view “for incredible panorama shots.” Both lenses come with the case for is $200.

Schneider says its iPro lenses “are designed by the same team who are responsible for the world-renowned Century television and motion picture optics. These superior optics feature multi-element designs, top grade optical glass and high efficiency multi-layer coatings which increase light transmission and reduce lens flare. iPro lens housings are precision machined from aluminum alloy and anodized for durability.”

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Google offers businesses “Trusted Photographers”

February 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Last year Google officered “Street Views” of indoor businesses: click in a web browser to see inside a stores or restaurant. Now the company is connecting businesses with pro shooters who can make the 360-degree images for them.

When it first announced the Business Photos pilot program, “we wanted to give business owners an easy way to get customers in the door online using interactive, high-quality, 360-degree images,” Google says. “With thousands of businesses under our belt — from salons to gift shops — we’ve been hearing the same question again and again from both business owners and photographers alike: How can I participate? Well, with the overwhelming success of the first pilot, we’ve decided to unveil a complementary initiative that will help us reach more interested business owners, more quickly.”

The “Trusted Photographers” program lets anyone use phone or email to set up a photo shoot. “This self-serve model makes for easier scheduling and quicker turnaround, while also supporting the local photographers in your community,” Google says. The photographer will upload the images, “and shortly thereafter, you’ll see 360-degree panoramic views of your business on Google.com, Google Maps, and your Google Places listing.”

“Trusted Photographers” are now available in 14 cities. “Don’t see a photographer in your area?” Google asks. “Let us know, as that will help us determine where more Trusted Photographers are needed.”

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Google improves image stitching on its Earth

February 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Google says its “taking bird’s eye view to a whole new level” with the latest edition of its Google Earth world viewer.

Version 6.2 is “the most beautiful yet,” the company says, “with more seamless imagery and a new search interface.” The Google Earth globe is made from a mosaic of satellite and aerial photographs taken on different dates and under different lighting and weather conditions. Because of this variance, Google says, views of the Earth from high altitude can sometimes appear patchy.

A new way of rendering imagery “smoothes out this quilt of images,” the company says. “The end result is a beautiful new Earth-viewing experience that preserves the unique textures of the world’s most defining geographic landscapes—without the quilt effect.”

The update also adds the option to share a screenshot of your current view in Google Earth through Google+, as well as images of the places you’ve virtually traveled to with your Circles, such as family, friends or your local hiking club.

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RIM replaces co-CEOs

January 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion replaced its co-chief executive officers with Thorsten Heins, now president and CEO.

Those hoping for big changes at RIM might be left wanting, however: Heins joined RIM in 2007, and was last chief operating officer.

As for the former co-CEOs: Mike Lazaridis is now vice chair of the board, and chair of the board’s new Innovation Committee; Jim Balsillie remains a director.

Research In Motion was founded in 1984 and is based in Waterloo, Ontario.

The full announcement is here.

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Nokia Lumia 900 to debut on AT&T’s 4G LTE network

January 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

With the largest display available from Nokia — 4.3-inches — the Lumia 900 “delivers a rich content experience from a phone that still fits easily in your hand.”

Nokia and AT&T announced the latest Lumia 900, saying it is the first of Nokia’s Windows Phone-based line to feature high-speed LTE connectivity.

The primary camera includes Zeiss optics, with an F2.2 aperture and 28mm wide angle focal length, the company says.

AT&T adds that its 4G network “really amplifies the benefits of the Nokia Lumia 900. Sharing high quality images and videos with its integrated social networking functions is faster than ever.”

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Schneider adds optics to iPhone

January 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

iPhone 4 and 4S users can add a 2x telephoto lens from Schneider Optics to enable “professional quality photographic still and video imagery,” the company says.

The new $100 tele lens narrows the iPhone’s field-of-view by half, bringing objects closer, Schneider says. “Especially useful for headshots, the new lens reduces perspective distortion resulting in more pleasing portraits than those taken with the iPhone’s native lens. The iPro Tele covers the full still and video formats of the iPhone camera without vignetting. The result is a high level of picture quality across the entire image, not just in the center.”

The iPro System features a rugged black iPhone case with a bayonet mount, the company adds, to allow the lenses to be quickly mounted and interchanged.

Schneider already offers the iPro Wide Angle and Fisheye lenses “to expand the creative options for professional imagery with the iPhone.” The iPro Wide Angle lens increases the iPhone’s field of view by 35 percent, and the Fisheye provides a 165-degree field of view “for incredible panorama shots.” Both lenses come with the case for is $200.

Schneider says its iPro lenses “are designed by the same team who are responsible for the world-renowned Century television and motion picture optics. These superior optics feature multi-element designs, top grade optical glass and high efficiency multi-layer coatings which increase light transmission and reduce lens flare. iPro lens housings are precision machined from aluminum alloy and anodized for durability.”

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Sony improves back-illuminated CMOS sensor

January 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Saying they’re aimed at future camera phones, Sony developed next-generation “stacked” back-illuminated CMOS image sensors with RGBW coding and HDR movie functions to “realizes higher image quality and superior functionality in a more compact size.”

Sony says its RGBW coding function “allows images to be captured with low noise and high picture quality even in low-light conditions,” thanks to a white pixel added to the conventional RGB array; its HDR function “allows brilliant color to be captured even in bright settings.”

The three new sensor models, with resolutions from 8 to 13 megapixel, will begin sampling in March 2012.

More information is here.

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Connected Cameras arriving now

January 18, 2012 By

For many years, camera manufacturers announced entry-level and affordable compact cameras at the CES tradeshow, and then, a month or two later, enthusiast and professional cameras at PMA.

This year, even though the two trade shows were held together, there were fewer camera announcements, overall, than in previous years.

Perhaps more new models will be announced at the upcoming CP+ show in Japan — or perhaps the major camera makers have learned that more is not always better.

We cover many of the new models in this week’s news, following on the Nikon D4 and others last issue. [A good complete list of new cameras is here at CNet.]

While there was not one overwhelming trend in this year’s new models, a few themes stand out:

1. Premium models both bring prestige to the brand, and higher profits than a line of all but indistinguishable entry-level cameras.

Fujifilm is claiming great success with its “X” signature line, and garnered a great bit of attention with the latest model in that premium family, the company’s first mirror-free interchangeable lens camera.

2. Bigger sensors and longer zooms continue to improve — and to differentiate standalone cameras from phones.

3. Connected cameras are arriving.

As noted here in previous weeks, as standard cameras compete with camera phones, they have to begin to better match the image sharing and visual communications capabilities of a smart phone.

Many companies have offered cameras with built-in Wi-Fi for quite a few years, and this year is no exception — but now that connectivity provides more than uploading images to a computer without a cable. For example, Kodak’s new camera sets up its own Wi-Fi hotspot, one that a phone can connect to — which enables the camera to send photos to the Internet through that phone using its data connection.

Most notably, Polaroid displayed a device that blurs the line between camera and phone: the new model runs the Android operating system and will work with the many imaging and other apps available for that OS. It also has Wi-Fi and perhaps a data connection. Does this make it a “smart camera” that can also make phone calls? Or is it “merely” a smart phone with a 16 megapixel sensor and a 3x optical zoom?

We and many other industry observers have long suggested that a camera company market a camera phone that is a good camera with connectivity and calling — not just a phone with a lousy camera crammed in. but in the intervening years phones have offered increasingly satisfying cameras, so perhaps this is no longer as imminent an issue. Also, mobile imaging senior analyst Tony Henning points out that while we may often want an optical zoom, having a mechanical, intricate glass system in the phone that we always bang about in our pockets might not be the most practical option…

In the case that the Polaroid camera does function as a phone — or if not, that some other similar device soon will — what do we call it? Does it suffice to say, “If it makes calls, it’s a phone”? Even if it is a great camera… What else do you call something that makes calls?
As said many years ago: We will have a device that makes calls, takes pictures, is connected, and a computer, etc. — and we will call it our “phone.” The usage/nomenclature is locked in.
We are not going to call it our “connected camera.”
No one will say “I have a camera that also makes calls.”
They’ll say, perhaps, “My phone takes better pictures than your phone.”

Is this merely a semantic argument? Or does its indicate who will drive the device? 6Sight president Joe Byrd thinks if it is a “phone,” it will be driven by the carriers. If it is a camera, it is driven by independent consumers (who still need a carrier system to connect to.) “I suspect carriers will not be as active in driving a better camera as consumers,” he says, “and their suppliers will be in driving a connected camera.”

What do you think? Join us in this discussion here, or on our Facebook page.

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Polaroid makes connected camera smarter with Android OS

January 18, 2012 By

 

 


Polaroid debuted an innovative camera that duplicates many of the capabilities of a camera-equipped mobile phone — because it’s a camera equipped with the Android operating system used in many phones.

The Polaroid SC1630 “makes snapping and sharing high definition digital images an instant experience,” the company says. It has a 16-megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom lens, touchscreen, and WiFi, “making uploads to social networks as easy as the touch of a button.”

As it “merges the optics of a digital still and video camera with the limitless power of the Android platform, the Polaroid SC1630 Smart Camera evolves the process of clicking, editing, uploading and tagging to an instant experience on one device” the company adds. “You will no longer need to choose between your smart phone and your point and shoot camera because it offers the best of both worlds.”

Pricing was not announced.

Polaroid debuted an innovative camera that duplicates many of the capabilities of a camera-equipped mobile phone — because it’s a camera equipped with the Android operating system used in many phones.

The Polaroid SC1630 “makes snapping and sharing high definition digital images an instant experience,” the company says. It has a 16-megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom lens, touchscreen, and WiFi, “making uploads to social networks as easy as the touch of a button.”

As it “merges the optics of a digital still and video camera with the limitless power of the Android platform, the Polaroid SC1630 Smart Camera evolves the process of clicking, editing, uploading and tagging to an instant experience on one device” the company adds. “You will no longer need to choose between your smart phone and your point and shoot camera because it offers the best of both worlds.”

Pricing was not announced.

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Xperia ion is Sony’s fastest camera phone yet.

January 18, 2012 By

“For photo enthusiasts, Xperia ion features a new Fast Capture innovation to make sure life’s unexpected moments are not missed,” Sony says. “The HD camera goes from standby mode to first shot in 1.5 seconds.”

The latest Android smart phone from Sony Ericsson combines a 12 megapixel rear camera, HD front camera, and 4.6-inch HD display. The 1280 by 720 pixels screen “provides a visual brilliance for superior viewing experiences” the company says.

The phone also has a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, and 16GB flash storage.

The Xperia ion is the first LTE smartphone from Sony. It will be available exclusively in the U.S. from AT&T in the second quarter.

More information is here.

 

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Ambarella to make phones, cameras work together

January 7, 2012 By

 

Ambarella says consumers can benefit by combining the advanced photographic capabilities of a dedicated still camera or a ruggedized sports camera with smartphones that enable remote control, viewing, playback, and Internet video sharing.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based video compression and image-processing solutions provider’s Wireless Camera Developer’s Kit enables the design of cameras that combine exceptional still photography and full HD video with wireless video streaming to smartphones.

The company says sports cameras are designed to perform in challenging conditions and often require the camera to be mounted where image preview and camera control are impractical. Its video streaming technology “enables the camera’s image to be previewed on the smartphone, so the camera can be optimally set-up and controlled remotely.”

Standalone cameras enabled with the remote viewfinder and control capability would allow users to “take family portraits while remaining in the shot, to record staged performances from the audience, or to do stealth wildlife photography.”

A smart phone can also be used to playback the recorded video, stream live video action to websites, or to upload photos or video.

“Users can now capture their experiences with a high-quality, dedicated camera while utilizing their smartphone’s network connectivity for instant sharing and personal broadcasting,” Ambarella adds. “The Ambarella Wireless Camera Developer’s Kit enables the camera to become the ultimate smartphone companion.”

More information is here.

 

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Mobile Phones Take a Leading Role in Video Capture

January 7, 2012 By

Mobile phones are now the primary video capture device used by many consumers, reports market researcher Infotrends. Their popularity has increased 13 percent since 2010.

InfoTrends’ end-user survey respondents cited mobile phones as the device that they use most often to capture video. “This is the first year that mobile phones have taken the leading role in video capture,” the firm adds. Vendors must recognize the shift towards cellular devices and “direct their efforts towards smartphone/ camera phone video usage.”

More information on InfoTrends’ 2011 Videography End-User Survey is here.

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Panorama add-on for Android

January 7, 2012 By

More smartphone users can soon capture the entire world around them and share panoramic video: Kogeto is bringing its iConic optical technology from its Dot panoramic video camera accessory for the iPhone to Android in the first half of 2012.

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the first Android model supported by the company.

The lens is a simple optical attachment and does not require batteries or external power, the company says, resulting in an unobtrusive design that adds no significant weight to the phone. The iConic technology integrates the full 360-degree video into an easy-to-share format without stitching frames together. Also, Kogeto’s catadioptric optical system provides the best color fidelity in mobile panoramic video, the company claims, and offers the highest resolution on the market today.

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Phones snap up photo usage from cameras

December 23, 2011 By

More than a quarter of all photos taken are now captured with a phone.

The share of consumer photos captured in the U.S. taken on smartphones has grown to more than a quarter of all shots snapped, while the camera proportion has declined, reports market research company NPD Group.

In its Imaging Confluence Study, the firm says the share of photos taken with a smartphone went from 17 percent last year to 27 percent this year, while the share of photos taken on a camera dropped from 52 percent to 44 percent.

NPD adds that moms, who traditionally are the primary camera users, saw smaller drops in camera usage and smaller increases in smartphone capture: Camera usage among moms went from 55 percent to 49 percent and smartphones increased from 22 percent to 31 percent.

However, cameras haven’t lost their core place in the eyes or hands of mom as the core memory keeper, nor the imaging enthusiast,” NPD reports. “Consumers who use their mobile phones to take pictures were more likely to do so instead of their camera when capturing spontaneous moments, but for important events cameras are still the device of choice.”

Lower-end point-and-shoot cameras appear to have taken the brunt of the movement to smartphones, NPD says. Its retail tracking service shows the total camera market was down 13 percent in units and 6 percent in dollars for the first 10 months of 2011.

However, interchangeable lens cameras increased by 15 percent in units and 14 percent in dollars over the same time period, with an average price of $878; and point-and- shoot cameras with optical zooms of 10x or greater grew by 11 percent in units and 10 percent in dollars, with an average price of $264, NPD says.

 

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AT&T ends T-Mobile acquisition

December 23, 2011 By

The deal is off: AT&T withdrew its takeover bid for T-Mobile USA.

 

The $39 billion deal, proposed in March, would have created the U.S.’ biggest cellphone service provider.

Instead, AT&T will pay Deutsche Telekom $4 billion in cash and wireless spectrum as a break-up fee.
The announcement is here.

 

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ProCamera app adds QR code reading

December 23, 2011 By

The new Codescanner feature in ProCamera 3.5 will scan bar-codes, QR-codes and DataMatrix codes to retrieve detailed product or service information on an iPhone.

“We have no doubt that, very soon, the majority of smartphone owners will be scanning QR and DataMatrix codes,” the developer says. “If you want to learn more about a product, a service or an event, there will likely be a QR code on display… Simply point, and it will deliver pertinent info directly to your iPhone.”

Other new features in the iPhone camera app include zooming in videos, a “Preview View” with 8x zoom, and a visual timestamp.

Previous functions include antishake stabilization, a self timer, burst mode, a full-screen trigger option, and separate focus and exposure settings.

The app is here.

 

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Animoto updates app on iPhone

December 23, 2011 By

“Creating videos on the go just got easier,” says imaging developer Animoto. “We have a new mobile app that lets you create professional quality videos, share with your family and friends, and watch them all from your mobile device.”

The free Animoto Video Slideshows app combines photos with text, video styles, and songs users can select from a library of more than 1,000 commercially licensed tunes.

The completed video can be easily shared via email, text, Facebook and Twitter, the company says.

Animoto adds its Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology “thinks like an actual director and editor, using the same sophisticated post-production skills and techniques that are used in television and film” to time photos with a music score.

More information is here.

 

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Customizable iPhone camera app: TapShot

December 23, 2011 By

“Touch screens have completely redefined the user interface,” asks developer Two Teeth Technologies. “Isn’t it about time someone rethought the camera?”

TapShot does just that, the company claim: it “uniquely combines gesture based control with full featured customization that lets you build your own camera to give you the best possible chance of capturing the moment.”

It also adds a burst mode to the iPhone: hold the volume button down to rapidly burst a set of full-resolution photos directly to your camera roll, the company adds.

TapShot works with gestures like swiping and pinching rather than onscreen buttons.

Also, its face detection feature will automatically shoot when a face is detected.

The $1 app is here.

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Hipstamatic iPhone app does… disposable?

December 23, 2011 By

Billed as “the world’s first social camera,” a new camera phone app comes with virtual rolls of film — but rather than the old standard 24 exposures, the app instead connects up to 24 people on a social network… and the multiple shooters divvy up 24 captures, as if sharing a single-use film camera.

Most strikingly: just as with an old film camera, no one sees the photos until the entire camera is shot, at which time the 24 images are “developed” and sent to everyone who installed the app and joined that particular camera’s grouping.

iPhone app maker Synthetic gained popularity with Hipstamatic, an iPhone application that was among the first to start the craze for retro filter looks. It’s new app, Disposable, emulates a single-use film camera. “The new Hipstamatic Disposable-series camera makes it a snap to create and share a camera with your friends,” the developer says. “From the first snap to the last, everyone shoots to one album, and at the end photos are magically exchanged to all of the camera’s contributors. You’ll never have to swap doubles or email from your friend’s phone again. Sharing a roll of film has never been this much fun.”

The initial “films” are labeled “infinite D-Fault Cameras” that the company says “regenerate after each use.” Connecting to Facebook installs a second infinite camera – the Megazuck 84, featuring unsaturated duo style tones with a thick white border. “This camera adds a touch of 1984 to any social network,” Synthetic adds.

More virtual cameras are $1-2 varying by amount of shots. That’s right: the app charges per capture — or at least, by emulated single-use camera.

While we salute new ideas for monetizing digital imaging, we are unaware of any enthusiasts who were as nostalgic for the old cost model of film as they were for the looks and filters the company based its earlier success on… (Actually, we’re pretty sure *no one* was looking for a way to pay per-picture.)

However, the overall platform allows for offering project-based public cameras/virtual film rolls, or versions limited to a specific location, as well as other possibilities,

 

More information is here.

An explanatory animation is here.

 

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Boosting exposure on the iPhone and iPad 2

December 23, 2011 By

Some of the most popular cameras out there don’t allow much control over the basics of exposure that photographers expect: the iPhone and iPad have locked-in automatic settings that the device’s primary apps don’t affect, and which most other third-party apps have also been unable to alter. Until now, when two new tools both address the low-light capabilities of the tiny camera modules in the mobile devices by boosting exposure times.

“We all know that cameras struggle in low light,” says developer Chris Wood at Interealtime. “”As the sun sets your photos become dark and grainy — especially with the tiny cameras in the iPhone.”

The solution, he adds, “is to give the camera time to catch more light: longer exposures.”

NightCap brings genuine long exposure to the iPhone and iPod Touch for the first time: up to 20 times longer than the built-in camera app. “The improvement to photos can be breathtaking!” he concludes.

The $1 NightCap takes full resolution photos with a choice of fully automatic or manual operation.

The iPad 2, however, has a mere 0.7 megapixel CCD, and still photo resolution is 1280 by 720. New from the same developer is Camera Boost, which also prolongs the shutter opening time to improve a dark image.

Exposure time is really the big limiting factor for the iPad 2, says Interealtime. The CCD is very small, and not all that sensitive. In poor light it needs either longer exposures or high ISO to compensate. The exposure times are limited heavily by the OS — to keep the display updating smoothly. But in poor light, it ramps up the ISO level, and then we get a very noisy signal. In Camera Boost’s new Night Mode, the company says its figured out how to extend the exposure time, so it can now exposure for up to 1/3 sec — over 6x longer.

The $3 app also provides noise reduction, exposure compensation, and a light/contrast adjustment control pad.
As well, there are a HDR for video, dynamic noise reduction, special effects, and filters.

 

More information is here.

Available now on the App Store

A detailed review of Camera Boost is here.

 

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Nokia’s Salmelin awarded by i3a

December 23, 2011 By

The International Imaging Industry Association presented its annual Leadership Award to Eero Salmelin, Nokia’s imaging director.

Salmelin joined Nokia as a camera design engineer in 1999. Nokia would come to be the world’s largest camera manufacturer, in volume, shipping more than two billion camera components to consumers inside Nokia products. In 2011 Mr. Salmelin was appointed Director, Head of Imaging.

Salmelin’s leadership during the past decade “have made a significant impact on the mobile imaging industry” says I3A president Lisa Walker, as it grew “from insignificance to one that touches the lives of billions of people around the planet daily.  It’s no exaggeration to say that Nokia and Eero’s work there pushed the capabilities of mobile imaging and helped bring a camera into almost every pocket. “

“During my career at Nokia so far, there have been huge technological challenges as well as challenges in manufacturing camera components in volumes never before possible,” Salmelin says.  “We are still just in the beginning of the mobile imaging journey, and I believe the greatest innovations are still to come.”

 

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Shutterfly adds Facebook sharing to iPhone app

December 14, 2011 By

Personal publishing service Shutterfly updated its iPhone app with “more features for preserving and sharing photos.”

The tool for uploading, viewing and sharing photos on-the-go will now also post pictures from Shutterfly or its Share sites directly to Facebook from an iPhone or iPod; automatically prompt users to upload new pictures from their iPhone or iPod camera roll to Shutterfly; provide the ability to view, comment and like pictures on their Shutterfly Share sites; and to upload pictures directly to Share sites, as well as the ability to download Share site pictures to an iPhone.

“The holidays are a great time of year to both capture and share photos,” the company says, “and these new features along with tighter integration with Facebook and our Share sites will create a seamless mobile photo sharing experience for our customers all year long.”

More information is here.

 

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White-label app makes photo books on Facebook

December 14, 2011 By

Ecce Terram has developed a white-label application that enables Facebook members to create photo books directly from a Facebook photo album, and order “from their favorite photo services provider.”

The custom brandable application “clears the way for large retailers and photo services to generate new photo book orders from a so-far underdeveloped source,” the company says. “Facebook has become the premier destination for consumers to share and store their photo memories.” For retail chains and photo processing services, “the photo book app could well be the key to unlock the huge potential of this market.”

Facebook members can select an album on their Facebook page, choose a background color, and pick an image frame. Once they have chosen the pictures to include, added short text comments (optional), defined the sort order and determined the cover photo, they can order the photo book, all from within Facebook.

 

 

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