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Aug 06

Snapzoom and Shuttr Allow Smartphones To Take Clear High-Resolution Macro and Long-Distance Shots

Last week I wrote about Shuttr, the tiny Bluetooth remote control for smartphones that lets users take better self-portraits and group shots. But Shuttr can be used for more than just selfies. Other accessory developers have been experimenting with Shuttr to see how far it can extend a smartphone camera’s capabilities. For example, when Shuttr is combined with adapter Snapzoom and an optical scope, it creates an inexpensive and portable way to take clear, high-resolution macro and long-distance shots.

Snapzoom is a universal adapter for iPhone and Android devices that enables smartphones to take pictures through binoculars, telescopes and microscopes. Shuttr allows photographers to avoid camera shake and take better high-resolution photos with their Snapzoom/smartphone setup. The combo can be used for macro photography, give researchers an inexpensive and portable way to take microscopic photos or (on the other end of the scale) even capture detailed shots of the moon’s surface, including the one below by Snapzoom co-creator Daniel Fujikake.

“Even though I have a sturdy tripod the slightest shutter button touch can ruin the shot and the Shuttr helped me get my sharpest moon shots yet,” says Fujikake.

Snapzoom was created by Fujikake and his brother-in-law Mac Nguyen. The two live in Honolulu, Hawaii, and wanted to find a way to film their surfing sessions with wide-angle lens on their smartphones, but could not get close enough to capture good footage.

Then they figured out that using a pair of 10x binoculars as a telephoto lens with their smartphones magnified the image enough to fill the frames, with quality far better than the camera’s interpolated digital zoom. The Snapzoom was developed to work with almost every smartphone model, including Android, Windows and iOS devices (even with cases on) and most single and double eyepiece optical scopes.

Snapzoom was successfully funded on Kickstarter two months ago and is currently available for pre-order. The adapter’s pre-order price is $69.99 or $144.95 with a pair of 8×25 Nikon Trailblazer travel binoculars. Shuttr has also reached its funding goal, but its campaign is open until August 9. Both items are scheduled to ship in October.

Jul 17

Muku Labs’ Shuttr Is A Tiny Bluetooth Remote Shutter Release For Smartphone Cameras

Posted in: Today's Chili

Smartphone selfies come in a very limited variety of flavors: the arms-length shots that make your head look distended and blurry mirror pics. There are several self-timer apps out there, but it’s still difficult to snap natural-looking self-portraits or spontaneous group photos, especially if you are also trying to wrangle small children and pets. Now on Kickstarter, Shuttr is a tiny Bluetooth remote shutter release for iOS and Android devices created by Hong Kong-based Muku Labs to give smartphone photographers more control. It’s already met its funding goal, but the remote control, which starts shipping in fall, is still available for pledges starting from $29.

Shuttr was created by Hong Kong engineer Kevin Leung. When Leung was a small child, his family couldn’t afford a camera and as a result he has no family photos taken before he was a toddler. Leung’s mother died when he was a teenager, which makes him even more determined to capture as many snapshots of his wife and young daughter as possible.

Leung was frustrated when he couldn’t find a smartphone remote shutter release that he liked. Talking to his friends made him realize that there were plenty of other people who want to take better group shots and selfies.

“I quit my job to build the remote shutter that I believed was missing in the market,” Leung told me by email. The Oxford MBA graduate teamed up with electronic engineer Sea Zheng, industrial designer Boge Chen, production engineer Tom Zhao and logistic expert Scott Moore, and spent a year developing Muku Shuttr.

At 6-mm thickness, Shuttr is small enough to hide in your hand while posing for photos and can be stored on a keychain. The remote’s range is around 30 feet and no line of sight is needed, which means you can use Shuttr while it’s in your pocket.

Shuttr differentiates itself from competing products by manufacturers such as Belkin and Satechi in several ways. It’s smaller, less expensive and usually doesn’t need an app to pair with smartphones (though a Shuttr app is available for older versions of iOS or certain Android devices such as the new HTC One). The remote control is compatible with all iOS devices, Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4, Note 2 and Tab 10.1, LG Nexus 4 and many other Android 4.1+ devices with Bluetooth 3.0+. It also works with iOS apps Camera+ and 645 Pro so you can bypass the iPhone’s built-in camera.

“We did a lot of trial and error in testing almost all Bluetooth chipsets available to find the most compatible one, and fine-tune those firmware to maximize the compatibility and stability,” says Leung. “Shuttr is so rigorously tested in our approved modes we are confident that we can launch.”

Shuttr is the first product developed by Muku Labs, which Leung says will continue to create items that enhance the process of taking smartphone photos. The team is currently planning a line of snap-on lenses.

“We know that there are already lots of them in the market,” says Leung. “But we know that we can beat them by quality.”

Apr 23

Shuttr Remote Shutter Release For Smartphones

Posted in: Today's Chili

Shuttr Remote Shutter Release For Smartphones Yes, we have seen our fair share of offerings on Indiegogo before, which is a crowdfunding site, and here we are with yet another interesting idea that might change the way the world uses smartphones to capture photos on the go. I am referring to Shuttr (and no, there is no typo involved here), which is a remote shutter release for smartphones which can be hooked up to a user’s keychain. This would in turn make life a whole lot easier for impromptu shutterbugs to capture photos on the go. The Shuttr device will rely on Bluetooth connectivity to get the job of “communicating” with your smartphone across, and it will play nice with the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, iPad mini, Samsung Galaxy S3, both generations of the Samsung Galaxy Note, as well as other high end Android-powered devices that run on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or better.

Shuttr would come in handy to capture self-portraits, group photos as well as images of active kids, considering how it rests in your keychain, even letting you capture images discreetly. You can contribute $29 for the Shuttr’s march to reality.

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