In a pair of new television commercials, Samsung is back at what it does best: bashing Apple's iPhone. Promoted under the tagline “six is greater than six,” the 30-second videos highlight three features of Samsung's Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge: wireless charging, a wider-angle lens on the selfie camera out the front and a curved screen which displays tidbits of information across the edges of Samsung phones.
I've included both ads for your viewing pleasure.
If Camera+ by Taptaptap is your daily driver when it comes to iPhone photography, you must have been yearning for a companion Apple Watch app, right? I know I have. Tankfully, today's update saw to that.
Camera+ 6.3 for iPhone adds a pair of interesting improvements. The first, as I mentioned, is a companion app for your Apple Watch for controlling Camera+ on your iPhone remotely, similar to the device's built-in Camera Remote application.
The other addition enhances the app's widget, injecting a handy selfie widget button into iOS 8's Notification Center.
Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony is a longtime supplier of best-in-class mobile cameras for iPhones and iPads. That said, it's hardly a surprise that the company is now rumored to retain its role as a sole supplier of CMOS sensor for the next iPhone's back-facing iSight camera, according to fresh news reports published in the Japanese media.
While the current-generation iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus feature Sony's eight-megapixel Exmor RS ISX014 sensor out the back with 1.5 Focus Pixel technology, the next iPhones are understood to incorporate a higher-resolution twelve-megapixel Sony module with RGBW subpixel technology that should improve the handsets' photography performance in low-light conditions.
Music identification app Shazam now lets you scan QR Codes thanks to the latest update with camera support.
Now any image that contains QR codes or the Shazam camera logo can be scanned within the app to unlock additional content, interactive experiences, special offers and other embedded content.
Joining its existing range of various lens attachments and special cases for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Olloclip on Wednesday announced a new Active Lens accessory that combines a telephoto lens with an ultra wide-angle lens.
The pocket-sized accessory requires no extra parts, can be snapped on both front and rear-facing cameras and ships with three wearable pendants to keep your lens safe and within arm’s reach.
Apple's forthcoming iPhone refresh — presumably an ‘iPhone 6s’ and ‘iPhone 6s Plus’ — is set for a major upgrade in the camera department as Apple has reportedly relented and decided to join the megapixel race with a twelve-megapixel iSight camera on the back of the new phone(s).
But the megapixels don't tell the whole story.
According to Kevin Wang, IHS's Technology Research Director for China, the pixel size will be smaller, raising questions about the camera' performance in low-light conditions.
Last year, car maker Bentley produced a documentary video to promote its $300,000 Mulsanne, using specialized accessories and a few App Store apps to shoot and edit the promotional film entirely on the iPhone 5s and iPads.
Now Bentley has upgraded to the latest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets to shoot a new short film, officially part of Bentley's 'Intelligent Details' series, with a little help from stabilized camera systems, professional lenses and filters and apps like FiLMiC Pro.
In a bid to potentially boost its mobile imaging prowess, Apple has purchased an Israeli camera technology company called LinX Imaging for a reported $20 million, according to a Dow Jones report cited in a tweet by CNBC and later confirmed by Apple.
LinX, which builds miniature multi-aperture cameras designed for mobile devices, could help improve imaging features of future iPhones.
And because its technology is also used in tablets and so-called ultrabooks (ultra-thin notebooks akin to Apple's MacBook Air), there's a reasonable likelihood that we may see significantly improved cameras come to Apple's Mac computers and iPad tablet lineup.
RecordPause is a recently released jailbreak tweak that allows you to pause and resume the stock Camera app while shooting video. Some of the more popular social media apps, like Vine and Instagram, have a similar feature. Now, thanks to RecordPause, you can pause and resume video right from within the stock iOS camera as well.
My favorite camera and photo-editing application, Camera+ for iPhone from Taptaptap, has received a long-overdue refresh Wednesday.
Now the app finally takes full advantage of the new screen resolutions provided by the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus because “there’s just no substitute for a pixel-perfect, custom UI designed specifically for your megaphone.”
The previous versions used automatic scaling, which resulted in a blown up interface that didn't feel at home on new iPhones. Also new in Camera+ 6.2: advanced white balance control using a dial.
You'll also love direct sharing to Instagram and a handy Today widget which not only lets you quickly open Camera+ from anywhere, but puts handy photo tips and inspirational photo quotes of the day right into the iOS Notification Center.
Every Mac that Apple ships, sans the Mac mini, comes with an iSight camera embedded in the bezel at the top of the display. If my memory serves me correctly, Apple's computers were one of the first to really popularize the standardization of built-in cameras.
I'm probably not alone when I say that I rarely, if ever, use my MacBook Pro's iSight camera. In fact, it's become more of a worry to me when thinking about the potential hacking and privacy concerns. I'm far from a tin foil hat wearer, but I have to be honest and admit that the thought has crossed my mind before... you know, the one where hackers view my iSight camera unbeknown to me.
With all of that said, wouldn't it be nice if you could disable your Mac camera with a simple software tweak? Inside, I'll show you how to do just that.
In some countries, like Japan for example, QR codes are prolific and people user them often. Although that's not the case in the United States, and probably never will be, it does seem like there has been an uptick in QR code usage in the last few years. A new jailbreak tweak called QR Mode will certainly help its cause, among jailbreakers at least.
QR Mode is by far the best looking and best functioning QR code reader on Cydia, and it's even better than standalone app offerings found in the App Store. Its feature set is well-rounded, its implementation seriously impressive, and it doesn't feel overly intrusive. Although it suffers from a few bugs, QR Mode is well worth its $1.99 asking price, especially if these bugs can be stamped out.