Apple has acquired SnappyLabs, the small startup behind the SnappyCam iPhone app, according to a report from TechCrunch. SnappyCam gave the user the ability to shoot 20 full-res photos per second with the iPhone’s camera. By comparison, Apple’s new Burst Mode on the iPhone 5s can only capture 10 photos per second.
The price Apple paid and exact date of the acquisition remain unknown, but the SnappyCam app was recently pulled from the App Store.
The iPad 5 is set to be unveiled on October 22nd, but thanks to all the leaks of rear shells, displays, and more, we pretty much already know what its going to look like when Cookie finally drops the curtain next week.
However, if you’re just dying for more glimpses of Apple’s new tablet before it comes out, our friend Martin Hajek has got you covered with these new renders that show what Jony’s latest slab of silicon, glass and aluminium will look like once its resting peacefully in the Apple Store sanctuaries.
Take a look:
Snapshots is a fantastic idea, and one I can see being used pretty heavily at weddings — or by, say, a gaggle of journalists who shoot an event and might need to pool their images.
Facebook for iOS has received another new update today, which adds a new “photo viewer button” which allows you to save and share images, and make them your profile picture. It also makes improvements to places editing, and more.
The Google+ apps for Android and iOS have today been updated with a number of new features and improvements. Both apps get user interface tweaks and the ability to re-share posts to communities, while iOS users will also see a number of Snapseed filters that will allow them to enhance their photos before they post them.
Meet Trygger, a new polarizing lens for the iPhone 5 that was born on Kickstarter and aims to provide you with better smartphone snaps. The device clips onto your handset in an instant, then removes unwanted glare and reflections and makes your images sharper and more vibrant.
One type of bag was conspicuously missing from the lineup when Pelican released its ProGear line a few months back. There was a smorgasbord-like selection of tablet- and laptop-toting bags — but nothing for camera gear. Now Pelican has filled that space, integrating their vault-like case technology in the new S130 ProGear laptop/camera backpack.
It’s always nice to be able to split the cost of something with a group of friends, except when it comes time to actually pay up. There’s always one or two people that suck at paying on time, but GroupMe’s got a great new feature for the app to help out with that.
GroupMe just released version 4.1 of their iOS that adds a couple of great new features, including the ability to split a bill with friends.
As an Apple guy with a whole lot of photography gear, I’m usually forced to slug my computing devices in one bag and DSLR and accoutrements in another while traveling. I hate doing that.
Think Tank’s new rolling camera bag, the Airport Navigator ($249), with two wheels, a telescoping handle, and space for a DSLR, lenses, and an iPad and Macbook Pro, seemed to be the perfect portable home for all my devices to live. But how well would it perform on the road? I decided to pack it full, take it to Vegas, and cart it around with me on the over-crowded floors one of the world’s biggest technology shows, CES 2013, and find out.
As a photographer, I love playing with new lights that can change the look and feel and my portraits. So when Adorama asked me if I’d like to review their new $99 Flashpoint Ring Light, I was intrigued.
Could such an inexpensive piece of lighting equipment perform as well as gear that costs hundreds more? I’ll answer that question in a moment, but before I do, let me tell you a little bit about what ring lights do.
One of the better Yuletide traditions is the venerable holiday Advent Calendar, in which each day of December leading up to Christmas is marked off on a special calendar by opening its corresponding door to find a small gift, toy or chocolate squirreled away inside.
This year, we here at Cult of Mac decided we wanted to give our readers their very own Apple-themed advent calendar, filled with the year’s best apps, gadgets, stories and other curios. So each day in December, we’re going to lovingly peel back the door on the Cult of Mac 2012 Advent Calendar to reveal another delicious morsel, something really special that came out this year that we think every one of you should enjoy.
It’s Day 12! That means KitCam, one of the best camera apps for the iPhone.
This may be too basic of a tip for most of you, but there’s bound to be a few folks out there who haven’t heard this one. I ran into someone in real life (gasp!) the other day who hadn’t known that he could hold his iPhone in landscape mode, like a real point and shoot camera, and click the button now located in the upper right of the iPhone to take a photo.
It was like a light went on over his head as soon as he tried this. If you haven’t heard of this great way to take a snapshot, now’s the time to give it a try.
Today Facebook launched its new Photo Sync feature for all users of its mobile applications. So if you have the official Facebook app on your iPhone, you now have Photo Sync. It’s been added to the app without an accompanying update in the App Store.
Photo Sync automatically uploads the pictures you take on your device and stores them in a private Facebook photo album. You can then choose to share, file away, or delete the photos within the Facebook app.
The iPhone is fast becoming one of the most – if not the most – used cameras on the planet. But serious photographers know that nothing really beats a DSLR in terms of quality – and any serious hobbyist knows that as well. So if you’re looking to get some superior shooting, then learning how to use a DSLR camera is a must. And for those who already have a DSLR camera, I’m betting that you’r probably not using it to its full potential.
You’re not alone…I’m in the same boat. That’s why this latest Cult of Mac Deals offer is so huge. You’ll get two online courses that will help you achieve DSLR mastery and take your digital photography skills to new heights – and all for just $39!
You know how some ideas sound really good conceptually but end up not panning out in reality? Color was such an idea. The iPhone app received a ton of hype originally with its $41 million in venture capital funding. The premise was to create a location-based, crowd-sourced photo stream from people’s smartphone cameras that was shared publicly for everyone to see. After that idea failed, Color tried to reinvent itself into a photo sharing service by partnering with Facebook. Now the app is positioned as an internet broadcasting tool.
With recent rumors that Color Labs was considering closing its doors, a surprising report today claims that Apple is in the process of acquiring the startup.
Yesterday, sky adventurer Felix Baumgartner hurled himself out of a 30 million cubic foot helium balloon hovering at the edge of outer space and fell 24 miles down to the earth, making him the first human outside of a vehicle to break the sound barrier. What else is there to say except the man has balls of steel?
Well, maybe this: Felix Baumgartner uses a MacBook. And like everything else he does, he does it like a boss.
Mixel, a wonderful collage and photo sharing app for iPhone designed by Khoi Vin, has just received what is quite possibly its best update yet. In addition to support for the iPhone 5’s larger display, Mixel boasts a number of new features, the biggest of which is the ability to send real postcards, including your own photo collages, from right within the app.
Complaining about Apple gypping you by changing its terrible, bulky, hard-to-use 30-pin dock connector for the sleek, double-sided Lightning connector? Then take a look at the alternative from Samsung. One of the few things it didn't copy from Apple was the giant connector, but that's not to say it got anything right.
Gura Gear’s Kiboko 22L+ ($379) can gulp down multiple DLSRs, two or three lenses, your multitude of other photo accessories, and oh yeah, a 17-inch Macbook Pro, but still fit in the overhead bin of almost any aircraft in the world.
But its tricks don’t stop there.
Most camera bags today offer a big pocket or pouch you can use to keep safe your motley crew of memory cards and batteries, but I really hate digging through a man-purse full of photo nicknacks just to find the SD card I need. Worse, in my years as a photographer, I can’t count how many times I’ve misplaced or lost entirely items from my conglomerate of memory cards because I end up just throwing them somewhere in my bag.
The SD Pixel Pocket Rocket (PPR for short, $15.75) and DSLR Battery Holder 4 (DBH 4, $16.50) from ThinkThank Photo aim to fix those storage woes by keeping your ample nacelles and secure disks stored and stashed in their own teensy little wallets.
Hmmpph! Their own wallets? It’s a wacky notion, to be sure — but I think it’s working!
Have you ever been browsing through your iPhone’s camera roll and stumbled across a photo that you don’t remember taking? Or would you like to know how old that picture of your sister’s cat is? Then you need Dater, a new tweak for jailbroken iPhones that adds timestamps and dates to the pictures stored on your device.
We’re all familiar with just how stringent Apple’s App Store approval process is, but the journey iOS apps take between submission to Apple and finally reaching the App Store is a mystery to most of us. However, one Facebook profile gives us a sneak peek into Apple’s testing lab.
Dive Apple, a female who lives in San Francisco and looks like an upside-down cat, is an App Store reviewer whose Facebook profile reveals a lot about unreleased iOS apps and life behind a desk in Cupertino.
Don’t have fun and beautiful pictures on your company’s website? Tired of the dull album your using for your blog? Don’t even have a website?
The latest Cult of Mac Deals offer has got you covered.
For only $59, The Phenom Photo Bundle will grant you unlimited access to hundreds of ad-free skins with the jAlbum Pro license, and you’ll also get you up to 20 GB of photo storage with jAlbum’s Power Storage. That’s enough space for 40,000 photos — so even the biggest photo snappers can take advantage of this special offer.
The International ($350), from Think Tank Photo, is similar to every other piece of rolling luggage you’ve probably used, with a retractable handle and rolling wheels, but on the inside, instead of keeping your dirty drawers stowed, it secures treasures of a different kind: your plethora of expensive camera gear. And it does so admirably.
I love the look of old canvas camera bags; they have a style and charisma that the bags of today can’t touch. But the problem is, canvas bags often aren’t comfortable to wear, and they also lack the padded protection of today’s more modern sacks.
With the Retrospective 5 ($137.50), ThinkTank aimed to blend the vintage look of yesteryear with the comfort and protection of today’s modern bags. They were trying to meld the best of both worlds when they created the Retrospective 5, and I think they succeeded.
