Apple has pulled Camera+ from the App Store. Its only sin: Allow iPhone customers to press the volume button to take photos. But why are they taking away a feature that everyone has been demanding since the JesusPhone was introduced? More »
A ride to the stratosphere and back has now become a rite of passage for smartphones.
Space enthusiasts are attaching devices such as the Motorola Droid, G1, HTC Evo and Nexus One — not to mention an array of digital cameras — to weather balloons or rockets, then sending them high into the stratosphere and beyond.
With integrated GPS systems, cameras and fast processors, smartphones are computing devices available to all. That’s why space enthusiasts are turning to them to do things that would have otherwise required custom components or a number of specialized devices.
“What you are seeing is a grass-roots initiative to reach for the stars,” says Bobby Russell, founder of Quest for Stars, a nonprofit organization that works with high school students to promote science and technology.
Driving the interest of hobbyists are the latest crop of smartphones and even digital cameras because the devices are cheap and fairly rugged.
“Now, it’s all there off-the-shelf for the taking,” says Russell. “So why reinvent the wheel?”
Photo: A Google G1 phone gets ready to head into the atmosphere, surrounded by members of the Noisebridge hacker space. Photo courtesy: Mikolaj Horbyn, Andrew Gerrand, Christie Dudley.
Have you tried to launch a gadget into space? Submit a link to a photo and website where we can learn more about it. If we get enough great submissions, we’ll publish a gallery of your submissions! Your photo needs to be on Flickr, Picasa or another website. Give us the URL of the image file (.jpg, .gif or .png), not the webpage containing it.
While you can submit as many links as you want, you can only submit one every 30 minutes. No HTML allowed.
Camera+, the iPhone camera app of choice for many people, has snuck a rather handy feature into the latest version, 1.2.1. You’d better grab it while you can, as it uses a hack to add back in a feature that Apple rejected.
The app’s developer, TapTapTap, thought that it might be useful to add a hardware shutter button to the iPhone, a much easier way to snap a picture than tapping on the screen. The developers repurposed the volume switch to trigger the camera. Apple, rightly citing possible user confusion, said no.
So TapTapTap put the feature in anyway, although you need a kinda cheat code to activate it. Just type this URL – camplus://enablevolumesnap – into Mobile Safari and the volume switch shutter release is enabled. To switch it off again, type – camplus://disablevolumesnap.
This has nothing to do with the PDF exploit that allows users jailbreak their phones. Instead it uses the URL to pass an instruction to the app, a standard procedure on the iPhone. It reminds me a little of the “defaults.write” terminal commands which access hidden preferences in Mac OS X.
Who knows if this is enough to trigger an immediate Apple takedown? We’ll see soon enough. In the meantime, grab this app while you can.
Camera+ [iTunes]
Enable The Camera+ Volume Shutter Button via Safari [Uneasy Silence]
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Given that even the professionals are swapping in DSLRs for those bulky, pricey camcorders, it’s about time Intuitfocus solved a century-old problem: touching the focus ring to focus. In an effort to eliminate the focus puller from your payroll while also placing more control of a shot in the hands of a single filmmaker, the HF-IF1 handsfree, electro-mechanical follow-focus system enables DSLR focus to be altered by simply thumbing through a wheel. The rig can be used to dictate focus, zoom or aperture on all DSLRs with lenses from 14mm to 600mm, though the company does mention that not every single lens will play nice. As you’d expect, this essentially eliminates shake introduced by having to touch the focus ring, and it ships with a foursome of various rubber belt sizes for various lens diameters. It’s scheduled to ship next month at an undisclosed amount, and we’re desperately hoping that the company chooses Dancing Pigeons to showcase its magic. A boy can dream, right? Promo clip follows the break, should you find yourself interested.
Continue reading Intuitfocus HF-IF1 enables ‘handsfree’ follow-focus on DSLRs
Intuitfocus HF-IF1 enables ‘handsfree’ follow-focus on DSLRs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Frankly, you could’ve stopped at “Mercedes SLS AMG” and “Isle of Man,” but toss in ex-Formula 1 driver David Coulthard, a litany of 3D cameras, helicopters and a closed section of the Mountain Road… and well, you’ve got magic in the making. The crew here set out to create the “world’s fastest 3D film,” and honestly, we aren’t in any position to doubt ’em. We’re also guessing that this 4 minute and 2 second masterpiece will be looped in Benz dealerships around the world, and for good reason. Word has it that the clip will be shown on Sky 3D across the pond, but there’s no telling when it’ll grace three-dee screens in North America and beyond. While we wait, feast your senses on the 2D version just beyond the break.
Continue reading Mercedes SLS AMG and Isle of Man take center stage in ‘world’s fastest 3D car film’
Mercedes SLS AMG and Isle of Man take center stage in ‘world’s fastest 3D car film’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Samsung’s been dishing quite a few pocketable cameras of late, but it seems as if its NX100 may have slipped out a few moments before showtime. The screen capture you’re looking at above was snagged from the end of a new National Geographic promo video — one that was uploaded on August 5th but has already been pulled back. Rumor has it that the white device there on the right is a forthcoming NX100, which would make it the latest in Sammy’s promising NX line of interchangeable lens cameras. There’s obviously no telling what kind of components lie beneath the shell, but the grab does give us reason to believe at least a few new lenses are also on the horizon. We’d say that this lines up nicely for an official reveal at Photokina, but you already knew that, didn’t you?
Update: And now we’re hearing that the NX100 will make its official debut at IFA in just under a month. Huzzah!
Is this the Samsung NX100 interchangeable lens camera? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It’s still not as widely available as we would like, but Nikon’s D3S has finally moved from “this thing simply has to be vaporware” to “I may catch one in stock if I stay up all night clicking around.” Without a doubt, it’s one of the most impressive leaps in digital imaging at the $5k DSLR level that we’ve ever seen, and it has become next to essential when dealing with tragic lighting conditions on trade show floors. But as with every gem, there’s a flaw or two be found somewhere. For those who plunked down thousands to bring home Nikon’s low light monster, how would you change things if given the opportunity? Would you have bumped the movie mode to 1080p? Put a few more buttons on the rear? Lightened the load a bit? Go on and spill your guts below — you’ve earned the chance, chief.
How would you change Nikon’s D3S? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 22:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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A number of people already post photos of their daily activities to their blogs, or have a specific photo blog they upload images to whenever the mood to take a snapshot strikes. With the Vicon Revue, you won’t need to remember to take a photo every time you see something interesting and then upload it to the Web. The Revue comes with a neck strap so you can hang the camera around your neck, and it takes photos passively without the user having to push a button. This means that as long as you’re wearing it, you’re recording every moment of your day without any effort on your part.
The Revue wasn’t designed for blogging: it’s a product of Microsoft’s Research group to help people with memory loss or Alzheimer’s disease see where they’ve been, or give their family or caretakers a way to find out where they’ve been when the individual can’t remember. It uses Microsoft’s SenseCam technology, which takes wide-angle photos instead of flat, narrow ones. It is available now for 500 British Pounds, the equivalent of approximately $793 US Dollars.
[via Gajitz]
You may or may not be aware, but Apple has a penchant for announcing new iPods in early September, as it has for years. With just over four weeks to go before the most likely (but nigh confirmed) press event week is upon us, expect the rumor mill to ratchet up appropriately. Here’s one care of Mac Rumors; the gang’s been sent some pictures from parts supplier iPhonerevivers that allegedly show a new iPod touch LCD screen And sure enough, in place of an earpiece is a slot perfectly suited for that oft-rumored (and possibly email-based) front-facing camera. It’s not the first time we’ve seen this piece — the resemblance to early July’s leak doesn’t escape us — but these photos are decidedly fresh and from a different source. Mounting evidence… or are we all just being had? Wouldn’t surprise us if we found out for sure before ides of September.
Apple iPod touch LCD screen with front-facing camera slot spied? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Convergence. The buzzword of the past decade is still working its magic across the consumer electronics industry, this time unleashing hot fury on Samsung‘s freshest point and shoot. The simplistic PL90 touts a 12.2 megapixel sensor, 4x optical zoom, a 2.7-inch LCD around back and a VGA (640 x 480) movie mode with 30fps and 15fps options. The real kicker here is the integrated USB plug, which eliminates the need to tote around a USB cable, a (presumed) SD card reader or a machine with an inbuilt memory card slot. Newcomers to the digital world will likely appreciate the heavy amount of automated features meant to make the best of your terrible photo shoot selections, but considering that Sammy doesn’t even mention what breed of flash card this thing accepts, we suspect the pros should keep on keepin’ on. Everyone else can get in next month for $149.99.
Gallery: Samsung PL90 point and shoot camera
Continue reading Samsung’s 12.2MP PL90 point and shoot packs inbuilt USB plug, 4x optical zoom
Samsung’s 12.2MP PL90 point and shoot packs inbuilt USB plug, 4x optical zoom originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 11:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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