It irks me a lot to think that Apple's Camera app for iPhone and iPad still lacks the Pause and Resume features when shooting video. That being said, Apple could address this glaring omission in the coming weeks, as first noted by iOS developer Daniel Niyazov.
iPhone 8 may become the first smartphone to provide its owners with the ability to capture video in 4K resolution at a silky smooth sixty frames per second via both front and rear cameras, as per code strings uncovered from the HomePod firmware by Brazilian outlet iHelp.
iOS developer Guilherme Rambo has unearthed (from Apple's botched HomePod firmware release) curious references to some smart camera features that might be coming to iPhone 8.
Prolific leaker Evan Blass on Tuesday morning published on his Twitter account a purported high-resolution press rendering of Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note 8 phablet.
Vic Gundotra, Google's former Senior Vice President of Social, wrote in a Facebook post today that, in his personal opinion, Android is years behind iPhone in terms of photography, adding that his iPhone 7 Plus's dual-lens camera prompted him to replace his DSLR camera.
Fast Company is out with a new report that basically reiterates what Barclays and KGI Securities said before: that Apple's OLED iPhone will actually feature two 3D sensors, one on the front and the other out the back. In addition, the device could feature completely waterproof buttons on its side that respond with haptic feedback.
According to the publication's sources, the rear 3D sensor will help iPhone 8 provide improved camera autofocus and enhanced augmented reality features, likely stemming from even more accurate object tracking and better depth detection in ARKit-powered apps.
Like the front-facing 3D sensor, the rear one is said to use a vertical-cavity surface-emitting (VSCEL) laser system that also includes a lens, a detector sensor and a dedicated chip. The VCSEL system would map objects in 3D by calculating the distance the light travels from the laser to the target and back to the sensor, using so-called time-of-flight measurement.
Suppliers Lumentum, Finisar and II-VI will reportedly be providing the VCSEL lasers for the device. STMicro, Infineon or AMS should provide the time-of-flight sensor. Apple could buy the whole modular system from either LG Innotek, STMicro, AMS or Foxconn, added the source.
The system costs about $2 per phone, as per the publication.
The laser-based sensor will also enable a faster and more accurate autofocus than the phase detection autofocus used on current iPhones. That's because the dedicated rear 3D sensor will determine precise object depth by measuring the time it takes the laser light beams to bounce off objects and return to the sensor.
This will let iPhone 8 focus the camera lens on the desired object in milliseconds. Laser autofocus systems are already used in phones from Google, Huawei, OnePlus and Asus.
Apple yesterday shared a short “Shot on iPhone” film, titled “Détour”, by French Oscar-winning director Michel Gondry who is known for such independent movies as “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “The Science of Sleep”.
The eleven-minute video was posted to the Cupertino company's YouTube channels in France and the United Kingdom as part of its focus on producing local video content that can be shared online rather than the more traditional broadcast ads.
The film runs eleven minutes long and features original soundtrack by indie composer Étienne Charry. It follows the adventures of a small tricycle as it sets off along the French roads in search of its young owner, a nice take on the lost-and-found theme.
And here it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrN1ytnQ-Tg
Along with the short film, Apple also shared a series behind-the-sccenes videos, seen below.
The clips show Gondry at work, explaining his approach to shooting films on iPhone and detailing some of the equipment used for “Détour”, which includes a multi-iPhone rig, Lightning-compatible microphones, a BeastGrip professional gimbal system and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuDUqqFzELk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPdwbvJCqfY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jYI10yT07c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXgyX6cc5eE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIW5qChZJPg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vInEUWuRq_Q
Gondry won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his work on “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”. The director is scheduled to discuss the film and his career while sharing some of the tips for achieving cinematographic results on Apple's devices in a “Today at Apple” session at Apple March Saint-Germain on June 30.
Apple's YouTube channel was updated Wednesday with a new commercial in the company's “Shot on iPhone” series. Titled “A Portrait of Canada”, it features words by Humble the Poet plus videos and depth-of-field photographs made possible by iPhone 7 Plus's dual-lens camera.
The photos and videos featured in the ad were snapped by photographer Caitlin Cronenberg and Canadians in locations across the country, ranging from Toronto to the Canadian Rockies.
The ad, according to the description on Apple's Canadian website, was meant to serve as “a portrait of Canada's inclusive spirit shot on iPhone, brought to life by three Canadian artists as well as Canadians across the country.”
And here it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpREAlYHiMU
Song: “Suplex (feat. Northern Voice)” by A Tribe Called Red
Canada turns 150 years old next week and Apple is joining the celebrations with a new “Unapologetically Canadian” page on the Canadian App Store.
“Canadians may be famous for saying we’re sorry, but when it comes to building great apps, there’s no need to apologize,” reads the page's description.
“Canada is home to some of the world’s greatest talent, and we’re thrilled to celebrate these inspiring creators as part of Canada’s 150th birthday. Scroll down to explore the list of Canadians’ 150 most-downloaded apps and games of all time.”
How do you like Apple's new ad that celebrates Canada's cultural diversity?
Let us know by posting a comment below.
It bothers me from time to time when I watch videos on social media or YouTube and realize just how many people record their videos while their smartphone is in portrait orientation.
These services are formatted for computer screens, which naturally have displays longer than they are tall, so recording videos in this way usually degrades the viewing experience for the viewer. That’s why a free jailbreak tweak called VerticalVideoSyndrome 2 by iOS developer Andreas Henriksson is now available.
The Camera app in iOS has a host of different shooting modes that you can switch between by swiping left or right in the viewfinder frame.
The carousel selector just under the frame displays the shooting mode you’re currently using, but iOS could do a much better job communicating this information with the user, especially in the wake of accidental swipes. Developer Cole Cabral agreed, and so he made a new free jailbreak tweak called CamMode.
Torch on Focus is a new free jailbreak tweak by iOS developer Guy Kaplan that improves your iPhone photography in low-light conditions, which make it more difficult to focus on your subject.
The tweak manages this by turning on the LED flash on the back of your iPhone from the moment you begin to focus on an object with your camera, so your focusing never skips a beat.
Taiwanese vendor Largan Precision, which supplies lenses for the dual-camera iPhone 7 Plus, recently confirmed it would start shipping facial recognition 3D sensors in the second half of this year, in time for iPhone 8.
The company is currently in the process of expanding production capacities. They'll be hiring a cool 4,500 workers for its new production facility, or nearly double its current workforce. Apple's OLED-based iPhone 8 is said to use 3D sensors to capture a user's face and iris, even in low-light conditions.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that a next-generation FaceTime camera on iPhone 8 would augment standard RGB sensors with infrared transmitting/receiving modules and include a bespoke 1.4-megapixel sensor capable of detecting changes in light signals.
The next-generation camera would apparently use lasers invisible to the human eye for advanced features such as 3D selfies, accurate depth mapping, 3D modeling and more.
iPhone 8's image sensors should be built by Sony, like before.
Largan CEO Adam Lin said in a press conference this week after the company's annual general meeting, as reported by Nikkei, that they will have lenses for a 3D-sensing module “used in a smartphone ready to ship in the second half this year”.
No phone vendor has officially announced a device with 3D lenses, leaving only iPhone 8 as the most likely phone with 3D lenses that'll be ready to ship in the second half of 2017.
Jeff Pu, an analyst at Yuanta Investment Consulting, estimates that Largan will supply 90 percent of rear-camera lenses for 2017 iPhones, around half of the 3D-sensing lenses and up to one-third of the front camera lenses. Foxconn-controlled Genius Electronics Optical and Japan's Kantatsu are said to compete for the rest of the iPhone 8 orders.
Image: iPhone 7 Plus dual-camera system with Largan-made lenses.