Some things never change. Other things never stay the same. Take the iPhone and Android. The iPhone is an iPhone is an iPhone. Android? It went from being the ugly stepsister to the belle of the ball. More »
A pair of jugs. Left shows the mask, right shows the rather nifty result
Your new iPhone 4S camera might be the best phone camera you ever owned, but there are still a few things it can’t do. One of those is that, thanks to its tiny sensor, it can’t throw a background out of focus whilst keeping the subject sharp.
These days, it’s the fashion to take shots with a super-shallow depth-of-field, and Big Lens is an app that will let you do that with your phone. Kinda. What Big Lens does is post processing, blurring the background and making the subject pop out. It works like this:
First, snap a photo (or open one from your photo library). Then paint over the subject roughly with your finger. Then hit the “auto” button, and Big Lens will attempt to make a mask that perfectly matches the edges of the subject.
Its success depends on how well the subject is separated already, but if the contrast and colors are fairly different, it works very well indeed. You can fine tune the selection manually with brush and eraser tools (hint: zoom in for fine detail control).
Once you have the mask, move on to the next stage. You can choose the aperture of the notional lens being used, and also the shape of the out-of-focus highlights (“bokeh”). And what photo app would be complete without Lomo-fication filters?
These filters can go one better, though. Because the app knows what is background and what is foreground, it can darken or lighten them separately.
The results are pretty great. Above you see a snap I took of a water jug in my office, using the terrible iPad 2 camera. I hand-tweaked the mask and added the “Lomo” filter. Now it’s ready to be sent up to Instagram.
The best part is that Big Lens costs just a dollar. If you are the kind of person that likes to play with their photos, you should go buy it now.
Big Lens product page [iTunes via iPhoneography]
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What does a Russian satellite system have to do with the iPhone 4S’ GPS capabilities? Allow us to explain. Russian site iPhones.ru recently noticed that the 4S’ spec page lists support for both assisted GPS and GLONASS — the Kremlin’s global navigation satellite system and acronym for GLObalnaya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema. The country launched GLONASS 35 years ago in the hopes that it would eventually provide an alternative to GPS and the EU’s forthcoming Galileo, thereby reducing Russia’s dependence upon US- or Europe-operated systems. The global system has since been beset by delays and budgetary setbacks, but last week, a Russian rocket successfully launched the 24th and final GLONASS satellite, completing the constellation and inching the infrastructure closer to full activation.
News of the iPhone 4S’ support has already elicited a delightfully surprised response from the Russian media, with daily Vedomosti writing: “If the iPhone 4S really does have Glonass navigation, this would be the first time the Russian system reached the world market.” (Nokia, it’s worth noting, announced in August that it would manufacture GLONASS-compliant handsets, while Samsung’s High Fidelity Position app offers similar compatibility.) In light of Russia’s economic and regulatory climate, however, the move may not seem so shocking. The Kremlin already imposes import taxes on handsets that don’t support GLONASS and, as Russia’s iGuides.ru points out, has even threatened non-compliant devices with an outright ban. Apple, meanwhile, has made no secret of its interest in expanding its influence within the country, with CEO Tim Cook recently referring to the Russian market as “more promising.” It remains to be seen whether this added support results in sharper navigation capabilities, or if it enhances Apple’s presence within Russia, but it’s certainly a compelling development, nonetheless.
[Thanks, AXR]
iPhone 4S supports GLONASS satellite system, much to the delight of Russia originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 07:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Want to write on your tablet without all of the requisite finger grease? How about a stylus? Too pedestrian? What about a Smart Pen? Better yet, what about the aPen A5 Smart Pen? eFun’s peripheral includes a stylus and a receiver that hooks into your iPad or iPhone’s 30 pin connector, digitizing your handwriting or drawings via a number of compatible apps, including the company’s own free Studio Basic Light. The A5 is set, broadly, for a release some time in 2012, and should run you around $99 whenever it actually hits the market.
Gallery: eFun aPen hands-on
Zach Honig contributed to this report.
eFun announces aPen A5 Smart Pen for all of your iPad / iPhone writing needs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Microsoft’s President of Windows Phone, Mr. Andy Lees, just wrapped up a diverse interview with Ina Fried at AsiaD, in which he took the chance to gloat on Nokia’s behalf about the impending launch of its wide array of WP7-based smartphones. Moreover, he proudly responded to claims that WP7 sales have been suboptimal by clarifying that Windows Phone 7 sold more in its first 12 months on the market than did Android. Granted, the smartphone market was entirely more prepared for another entrant when Microsoft arrived, but we digress. He also held no punches when asked to opine on Andy Rubin’s swings at Windows Phone from last night’s interview, noting that “Android is very techy,” and that it’s a great OS for a certain population. He stated that Android hits you “with a grid of apps,” instead of taking a “people approach,” which WP7 presumably has. Of course, we all know how The Social went over…
All jesting aside, he responded to Ina’s questions surrounding hardware choices with this: “We wanted to stop problems with fragmentation, so we’ve locked a lot of things down. We want partners to add value, but not in a way that’s chaotic. As an example, we do hardware acceleration of the browser — no matter which WP device you choose, it all works in a consistent way. Some things in 2012 will extend that.” Moving on to more competitive questions (surrounding Siri, mostly), he affirmed that users can indeed talk to their Windows Phone handsets, but that the kind of implementation seen in Siri isn’t “super useful.” He also — oddly, we must say — noted that WP7’s voice implementations rely on Bing, which harnesses “the full power of the internet, rather than a certain subset.” Last we checked, Siri and Wolfram Alpha were connected to the internet, but we get his point — in theory, at least. He confirmed that speaking to one’s phone was practical in places like motorcars, but he seemed to imply that barking commands to a phone in public wasn’t something that Microsoft was inclined to ask its users to do.
On a hardware-related note, Andy affirmed that NFC chipsets will indeed ship on WP7 devices within the next year, and while Microsoft’s not interested in competing with Google and the like from a platform standpoint, it’s more than happy to enable mobile payments via services that already exist. To quote: “Microsoft is providing technological building blocks so payments can be done on the phone — we aren’t competing with other people providing services. We’ll have a platform approach.” Finally, he also alluded to the inclusion of LTE as the infrastructure behind WP evolves, leaving us to wonder if it’ll be Apple (or someone else entirely) as the final 4G holdout.
Microsoft’s Andy Lees: talking to your phone isn’t super useful, NFC coming soon to Windows Phone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 23:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple will be expanding its iPhone 4S availability to another U.S. carrier in the next few weeks. No, it’s not T-Mobile, but rather C Spire Wireless, a small, regional carrier that’s popular in Mississippi and pockets of the Southeast. It’s hard to resist that Southern charm.
C Spire, which runs a CDMA-based network like Verizon and Sprint, will begin selling the iPhone 4S “in the coming weeks.” C Spire hasn’t released many details about the announcement, but Jim Richmond, director of corporate communications, said that interested consumers can sign up on the C Spire website to find out more information as it becomes available.
The C Spire announcement comes as a surprise to most Apple enthusiasts, as C Spire isn’t as well known as other national carriers, such as T-Mobile, or even Cricket Wireless. But maybe all the surprise stems from a likelihood that most Apple watchers are concentrated in large, metropolitan markets.
“C Spire offers Apple access to a region typically neglected by the larger carriers and provides the potential for additional growth away from the urban centers Apple already dominates,” John Feland, CEO of analytics firm Argus Insights, says.
Another reason so few people have heard of C Spire Wireless: The company used to be known as Cellular South. The privately held regional carrier primarily has store locations in Mississippi, along with a few locations in neighboring regions of Alabama, Tennessee and Florida.
The iPhone 4S originally launched on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint on Friday, Oct. 14. The handset promises to be a big money maker for carrier partners, and has already sold more than 4 million units in its first weekend alone. In the past, the iPhone was exclusive to AT&T, and then Verizon began supporting the iPhone 4 in January of this year.
Given lowered price points for the iPhone 3GS and 4, it’s clear that Apple is trying to branch out and make its smartphone accessible to more customers. The majority of cellphone owners aren’t yet smartphone owners, whether due to tight personal budgets, network coverage issues, or because they feel they don’t need smartphone features. But partnering with a carrier in an under-served area where smartphones don’t yet rule the roost could provide Apple with a large number of potential new adopters.
Indeed, the location of C Spire’s customer base offers a number of benefits for Apple that may not be immediately obvious. First, Southerners are typically regarded late technology adopters, says Feland (and as a Texas native who spent several years in Tennessee and Mississippi, I can attest to this as well). This means C Spire has strong potential in converting “feature phone” users to iPhone users. What’s more, thanks to an improved broadband infrastructure and the exploding popularity of social media platforms like Facebook, technology-averse Southern customers might now be more easily swayed to purchase an iPhone, confident that (a) they’ll actually have reliable network service, and (b) they’ll have something really fun to do with their new devices.
But what of T-Mobile? Well, it’s a large national carrier, but already has a presence in the same places as AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. Because of this, “there are marginal additional unit sales available” for Apple to leverage, says Feland. And, of course, adding a heavyweight like T-Mobile to the mix could anger Apple’s existing iPhone partners. Working with C Spire, the nation’s 8th largest carrier, meanwhile, shouldn’t give anyone much of a scare.
“C Spire’s strong regional presence offers Apple more bang for their buck as they continue to push off an iPhone in every hand and an iPad in every home,” says Feland. “The Southern market is ripe for Apple’s picking.”
Whether C Spire will sell the iPhone 3GS or 4 isn’t yet known. Nor are the carrier’s pricing plans. However, C Spire could potentially offer unlimited data, as the company has an “80/40 plan” that offers unlimited minutes, data and messaging for $80 per month for the first line on a plan, and a mere $40 for additional lines. Currently, Sprint is the only carrier that offers an unlimited data plan for iPhone 4S owners.
Updated 3:38 P.M. with information from C Spire.
The iPhone 4S’s Siri is sassy and she’s everybody’s new favorite toy, but it turns out she’s leaving the door open for strangers to access information on your phone even when it’s passcode locked. Siri! How could you? More »
We promised you some unexpected surprises, and it’s time that we delivered. Distro’s very first special edition is ready for download (and yes, it’s available on PDF too). This one’s all about a device that’s never failed to get folks talking. Yup! It’s the iPhone special issue. Love it or hate it, Apple’s flagship phone has had an undeniable impact on the mobile space. In this issue, we’ll dive deep into Cupertino’s latest with our iPhone 4S review and shed some light on the phones that came before with The Evolution of the iPhone. So hop on that iPad, or hit the link below, and download Distro’s very special new issue.
Distro Special Edition PDF
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Engadget Distro’s first special edition traces the origins of the iPhone 4S originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Whoa, stop the presses — we’re not sure if this is officially in the pipeline or if it’s just a matter of wishful thinking, but Sprint may not be the smallest carrier in the US to offer an iPhone 4S for much longer. That’s right: regional carrier C-Spire (formerly known as Cellular South) has the iconic device splattered front and center on its home page, stating that it’s coming soon. We’re not certain if the iPhone 4 will be offered as well, and no specific availability or pricing is given yet, but you can sign up to be notified as soon as more 411 is ready. The possibility of one of the little guys getting the iPhone is an exciting prospect, since it may lead the charge for more regional service providers to get Apple’d up. We love rooting for the underdog, after all.
Update: And just like that, it’s official, folks! C-Spire just reached out to us to confirm that iPhone pre-registration begins today, with the device launch in “the coming weeks.” Needless to say, if you’re a C-Spire customer, your holiday wish list may have just grown.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Is C-Spire getting the iPhone 4S? Its website says so (Update: confirmed) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue reading Audyssey’s Lower East Side Audio Dock Air: square to be cool
Audyssey’s Lower East Side Audio Dock Air: square to be cool originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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