One of the bigger keys in Apple’s move into China for iPhone retail sales in China Mobile has signed their final deal: they’ll begin orders this week. There’s little doubt now that Apple will be making big plays for the international market with their iPhone devices, especially now that China sales are ramping up. China […]
About a year ago, we wrote about a Kickstarter project for an iPhone lens called the HiLO lens. The compact add-on lens allows you to snap photos at unusual angles that might otherwise require you to hold your device in an odd position. I’ve had the chance to play with one of these little lenses, and it’s pretty neat.
The machined aluminum accessory itself is about the size of the tip of your pinky finger, and can attach to the iPhone using either the included sticky pad, or better yet, attached to a minimal 3D printed plastic case, which provides easier removal and swiveling of the lens. The HiLO lens comes packaged in a nifty aluminum keychain holder for protection, which also has a tiny lens cloth inside to help you keep things clean.
Inside the lens are four lens elements which turn your iDevice’s camera 90 degrees, as well as adding a wide-angle lens. This allows you to shoot images without the screen blocking your view of the subject. In addition, the ability to turn the lens to different positions lets you capture images at some really creative angles, while you still keep the screen straight. This lets you really see what your finished image will look like without having to your head to match the angle of your phone.
When used with the included reusable 3M sticky pad, you can manually place the lens at any angle, but it’s a little tricky to align it just right. On the other hand, if you go with the case attachment, the lens is perfectly aligned, and it’s easy to swivel it. The only downside to this setup is having to remove and throw out the sticky pad, which leaves a bit of residue on the HiLo itself. Also, I did find that swiveling occasionally disconnect the lens from the case if I moved it without a firm grip on the phone.
One thing to keep in mind is that the images captured with the lens are upside-down and backwards, so you’ll need to use the free HiLO lens app to snap pictures without having to flip them in an image editor later. The app seems responsive and offers some neat controls for setting exposure and focus. However, it doesn’t have all the filters and whiz-bang features found in iOS 7′s native camera app nor some of the other photo apps out there. Not a huge deal, since pretty much every image editor allows you to flip and mirror images.
Here are a few unretouched sample images I captured with the HiLO and its companion app on my iPhone 5. Most frequently, I found that it was much more natural to use it to shoot items that were above or below my field of vision – like a pet lying on the floor, or an object that I wanted to get an angled shot from below. I can imagine how handy it would be for capturing images of tall buildings and statues.
The HiLO lens is currently selling for the introductory price of $69.95(USD), and is compatible with the iPhone 4,4S,5,5C and 5S. Trust me when I say you’ll want to spend the extra $9.95 on the HiLO X Grip case, which not only provides an easily adjustable mount, but gives your phone a little extra grip surface without covering up Apple’s industrial design.
Rumors have been swirling for months that Apple and China Mobile are set to kick off a partnership. A partnership between China Mobile and Apple would allow the iPhone to have access to the largest number of mobile users on any network in the world. An ad turned up on the China Mobile website advertising […]
This article was written on December 21, 2010 by CyberNet.
I’ve been using Google Latitude with some friends and family ever since it was released last week for the iPhone. I noticed that it used very little battery on my phone, which made me wonder how frequently it actually sends updates. To get this information I went ahead and enabled the history functionality that keeps a log of all the coordinates that your device has sent.
I found that if I was relatively stationary for a period of time, such as being at home, that no updates would be sent to Google. In that respect it is pretty smart. That got me curious as to the logic that Latitude uses on my iPhone to determine when to send updates. After a little searching around I came across this article that explains the update interval for the different platforms. Interestingly enough Latitude takes into account how fast your moving, how much battery life is left, and whether you’re switching between cell towers. Here’s a breakdown of how it works on your device:
The background location update frequency isn’t a fixed amount of time. The update frequency is determined by several factors, such as how much battery life your phone has, if you are moving, or how fast you are moving. Background updating will only use cell ID or WiFi location detection depending on your device. GPS will not be used in the background to preserve battery life.
Your location will only update in the background when you’re moving (exceptions: when you switch the app from foreground to background mode, or go from a “moving” to a “stationary” state, the app will continue to update your location for a few minutes).
The background location update frequency isn’t a fixed amount of time. The update frequency is determined by several factors, such as how much battery life your phone has, if you are moving, or how fast you are moving. Background updating will only use cell ID or WiFi location detection depending on your device. GPS will not be used in the background to preserve battery life.
Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com
Remember when we used gadgets called “tape recorders?” Well, now you can relive the prehistoric era of portable cassette tape recorders, but with your iPhone in place of the cassette.
The iRecorder looks like one of those old luggable cassette recorders that predates the seminal Sony Walkman. Like it’s distant relatives, the battery-powered iRecorder sports a speaker and buttons that actually work. But in this case, the buttons control playback of your iPhone 4, 5 or 5S, and the volume of the speaker. It’s even got one of those pull-out handles for carrying it around.
Ironically, the one thing iRecorder doesn’t do is offer a record button. Instead, the red button is now the play button. I’m assuming that’s because they couldn’t figure out a way to trigger recording through the iPhone’s headphone jack. Still, we get the point, and the iRecorder is a fun gadget for those looking for a retro gift for old fogies like me.
You can grab the iRecorder from CraziestGadgets for $49.99 (USD). I wonder how well the window on the player lines up with this app.
SkyGuide’s creator Nick Risinger had to travel more than 60,000 miles by airplane and car to collect 37,000 individual photos to create this single image, the largest true-color image of the entire sky ever made: 100,000 by 50,000 pixels.
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If you’re in the mood for an above-average strange and positive learning tool for kids this season, creators Gauri Nanda and Audry Hill have a project you might want to take a peek at: ToyMail. Using handheld toys called “mailmen”, this project allows the user to record a message in an iPhone app and subsequently […]
The team behind Inbox Cube are not satisfied with the way email looks and functions on mobile devices. They’ve decided to create their own unique interface, one that centers not just on the user’s ability to customize the way they recieve emails, but in the way the whole experience is unleashed. Here the folks at […]
The iPhone and iPod touch do come with above average camera sensors where a smartphone or smart mobile device is concerned, and we have seen some pretty stunning image compositions captured in the hands of a skilled photographer. The thing is, what would happen if you had additional tools to help you out so that you can increase the quality of your shots even further? This is where the olloclip Macro 3-in-1 photo lens solution comes in handy, where you can now shoot great looking close up shots with the iPhone 5s as well as 5th generation iPod touch, all for $69.99 a pop.
There will be a trio of different macro lenses available – 21x, 14x, and 7x macro magnification, so that you will end up with the right kind of detail level that you have always wanted. After all, looking at things from a different perspective will more often than not open up your mind to something new and fresh. With the olloclip Marco, you will be able to examine small objects such as coins, stamps, rocks, relics, insects, plants, gems, circuit boards, and even your own skin, looking at those with a renewed sense of wonder. It is also tiny enough to be stashed into your pocket or palm of your hand, and will play nice with a host of popular apps where among them include Instagram, Facebook and iPhone’s Camera, iPhoto and iMovie built-in apps.
The trio of high-powered macro lenses found in the olloclip Macro happen to be engineered with a grand total of half a dozen elements, allowing it to deliver additional edge-to-edge clarity, greater depth of field, nicely diffused light on the image, less pincushion distortion and a higher degree of bokeh, which is also better described as aesthetic blur in out-of-focus areas. The extremely high magnification will be able to let you focus in on details and textures which are not seen with the naked eye easily. Any takers?
Product Page via Press Release
[ Olloclip 3-in-1 photo lens for your iPhone 5s and iPod touch copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
When it comes to properly spreading holiday cheer, an ugly Christmas sweater just isn’t enough anymore. You’ve got to up your game, and nothing guarantees gameupmanship like floating around your office holiday party brandishing these festive light-up iPhone cases. They’re not only a classy way to protect your device, they also don’t require their own power or light source.
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