Gadget Gestures

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Saturday, May 15, 2021
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HTC Re Camera Revealed and It’s Quirky

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There are a lot of cameras that work with smartphones nowadays. Just a couple of months ago we took a look at the Flir One infrared camera for iPhone 5/5s; today we will take a look at the new HTC Re camera, which goes with pretty much any Android or iOS smartphone.

During their Double Exposure media event yesterday in New York, HTC revealed two impressive new products: the HTC Desire Eye camera (a new smartphone with the most powerful front-facing camera) and the HTC Re camera. Today we’re going to take a look at the latter and see if it’s worth buying.

HTC Re Camera

The purpose of the HTC Re camera is to allow your smartphone to catch its breath. It takes pictures, records video and it pairs up with iOS and Android smartphones. It’s not meant to be an action camera, like the GoPro; its target audience are the normal people who use their smartphones to take pictures and record videos of normal everyday things (cats, food and funny stuff, naturally!).

The idea is that you shouldn’t get your smartphone out of your pocket every time you want to take a picture of your plate. Instead, you should use the HTC Re camera. Its interesting design really does make you want to take it out and show it around!

HTC Re Camera

The camera costs $199 and features a front and back button and two LED lights. You’ve got no display or viewfinder, which can prove a bit of a nuisance, and no user interface. It’s a good camera, though: it has a 16 MP sensor and an ultra-wide 146-degree angle that can shoot HD videos (1080p) at 30 fps or slow motion videos (720p) at 120 fps.

After having tested the HTC Re camera we’re not really convinced. The thing that bothered us most was the fact that it took too long to wake up, take a picture and save it. Something that a good smartphone has no trouble with.

Are you interested in the new HTC Re camera? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.

Take Hands – Free Selfies with FaceSnap and Become a Selfie Guru!

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Everyone is taking selfies, in a pop – culture trend that conquered all corners of the world and all humans, from famous Oscar actors to presidents. In this line of thinking, making the process of taking selfies easier and more reliable was a challenge some app developers accepted and also translated into an actual product. World, now you have the opportunity to take hands – free selfies with FaceSnap, an iOS app which presents so many delicious features, you will soon wonder how you could live without it for so long! Let’s see what FaceSnap is about and what it can do for our vanity.

According to the AppShopper and other reviewers,

FaceSnap turns your iPhone, iPod or iPad into your personal camera assistant that automagically captures photos when faces are detected in front of the camera. FaceSnap is also your perfect tool for hands-free selfies or for room surveillance. In combination with Motrr’s Galileo robotic motion platform, FaceSnap will even spin around searching for faces and follow them once discovered.

facesnap

In other words, the FaceSnap is basically a timer for your iOS – powered camera phone which is capable of taking a series of selfies in a row, pause for a few moments and resume the process. This will definitely cut off the time and effort you spend on positioning the phone in the right angle, pose for an Oscar – worthy selfie and push the button, letting you focus more on the pose than on the other steps in the process. But the FaceApp gets even sweeter than this. Let’s take a look into the tech details it encompasses:

  • FaceSnap can capture a configurable number of images each time a face is detected. FaceSnap can even select automatically the best image of the series and discard for example blurred images.
  • It has a configurable timer to limit the rate at which pictures are taken.
  • Supports both front and back camera

If you are wondering why the app is so cool anyway (as there are some smartphones out there featuring camera timers, although the standard models don’t come packed with this necessary skill), there is more to the app that the eye can see at a first glance. Yahoo Tech specialists also let us know that

There are two settings that use a room-scanning technology called Galileo. Switch to Party Camera, and your phone’s back camera will slowly evaluate the room. When a face is detected, it’ll snap a series of five images. Move on to Room Surveillance, and the camera will randomly survey your space, snapping a single image when it recognizes a face.

Can you spy on people with this app? Given the recent news, you can actually spy on people with anything nowadays, so of course you can use the FaceSnap for nefarious purposes. But is this the reason why it was developed? Enthusiasts are all in favor of the possibility to take hands – free selfies with FaceSnap for all good, fun, innocent and heartwarming reasons.

The New Peek – I Lens Lets You Spy on People Like a True James Bond

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new Peek - I lens

Google can finally breathe with ease related to the widely spread hysteria and concern involving the spying capabilities of the Google Glass: the world is welcoming a small gadget that lets us discretely take pictures of people without them knowing for a second they were photographed. And, more to Google’s disdain, this new gadget is almost impossible to see, in comparison to the Glass which, more or less, adorns a  person’s entire face.

But in a world obsessed with privacy and militating against technologies that allow intruders to scoop around our personal lives and catch us on camera in no matter what contexts, how successful can another spying device become? Enter the new Peek – I lens, a small lens that can be magnetically attached to a smartphone camera allowing the user to take pictures of a person without being noticed by the “victim”.

How can this happen? It is easy: the new Peek – I lens works like a periscope, being able to spin at 360 degrees to take pictures at any angle and to reflect the image at a 90 degree angle, eliminating the drill of reaching out your arm, focus the image and push the button to take the pic. With this small spying gadget you can pretend you picture something else in the surroundings while covertly capturing your sweet, spontaneous child’s play without spoiling your intentions.

If you think somebody will notice you have some gizmo attached to your phone’s camera, don’t worry: the lens is small enough to pass unnoticed: it measures only 0.79 x 0.6 x 0.2-inches and looks stylish enough to be mistaken for some extra smartphone decoration.

The new Peek – I lens comes from an Indiegogo crowd funded project that exceeded its initial funding threshold, thus answering to the question about its future success on the market. Those who wondered about the utility of the lens on plastic cases need not to worry, as the developers announced recently that the ones concerned with smartphones’ plastic bodies not being compatible with the new Peek – I lens will

receive a a magnetically charged metal ring that could be attached to your phone with a sticky side.

Turning your smartphone into a spying device is not a new idea, as there is at least another similar project out there which allows users to snap photos of unknowing victims without disclosing their intentions. The COVR Photo is an iPhone 5 (and 5S) case that also relies on periscope features and which allows you to keep your phone in a flat position in your hand (like you would read a text message or look for somebody in the contacts list) and still take photos of people or objects in front of you.

Having these new gizmos available sooner than expected (the new Peek – I lens is expected to be delivered this month), the world might split in two combating factions: the ones using the available devices to have fun and not hurt anybody and the ones fearing their own shadow as, at some point, we won’t be able to tell friend from foe and let’s be honest: everybody is holding a phone in their hands!

Dropcam Cameras Will Soon Have People Recognition Features

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dropcamIt is hard to believe that there still are people unfamiliar with Dropcam, the Wi – Fi camera security system that allows live streaming directly from your house to your phone, tablet or computer, no matter if they are powered by iOS or Android, but in case you don’t know exactly what Dropcam is and does, let’s review a little its history.

Dropcam is a start-up that has the high purpose of offering us a reliable home security system by providing us with real – time streams of whatever happens in our houses, so we can be sure no intruder disturbs our comfortable lives. However, Dropcam cameras became so frequently used that the whole system can be considered a video – streaming social network, growing in popularity and even topping You Tube. How can that happen? It’s simple actually: people are uploading videos from their homes at a fast rate. A recent report made available by Web analyst Mary Meeker shows that users are uploading more Dropcam videos per minute than YouTube users, making Dropcam the next big thing in video sharing.

But it’s more to Dropcam than the eye can see: Dropcam comes with a feature called Talk Back that allows parents, for instance, to see and talk to their children or other family members in real time while they are not at home. In the past, we have talked about other revolutionary home security systems that aim big and play wonderfully the technology card, but recent reports coming from Dropcam make us very curious and interested in this system.

So far, Dropcam cameras, just like other similar systems on the market, can only detect motion and alert about some possible intruders. But they can’t differentiate among a real intruder, the family’s pet or the family’s child, an issue about to get solved in the nearest future, as official announcements suggest that Dropcam cameras will soon be provided with people recognition features. This means that Dropcam users will get a break from being alerted all the time about all the motion going on in the house, but have a clear image of the persons who might actually invade their homes. According to the news,

You can also pay $10 per month or $99 per year for an extra service that continuously records the last seven days of video. The new people detection feature will only be available to customers who pay for the recording service too. Dropcam cameras start at $149. The best model, the Dropcam Pro, costs $199.

The software update that aims to let users know the difference between friend or foe roaming around their houses is promised to become a valid option sometime this summer. Are we going to witness a boom in video sharing via Dropcam? Chances are big, but until the time comes, let’s see how Dropcam evolves and delivers its new features.

Sony announces CES press conference on January 6

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sony-cesSony has been the first big tech company to get its CES plans out of the door, in preparation for a rather large event at the grand stage on January 6. The Japanese company will be bringing 15 devices from all its different product sectors to reveal at Las Vegas, where CES 2014 will be held.

The event may be on for two days, as Sony is preparing to push out all types of devices. There is no news on new smartphones from Sony, even though rumor has it there will be a few Xperia Z1 variants coming soon and the possibility of the Xperia Z2, slightly upgraded from the current flagship.

On the Sony schedule devices include tablets, netbooks, photography equipment and accessories, e-books, 3D video, portable and high-performance audio. There is a distinct lack of “smartphone” but we are excited about the new tablets Sony is bringing to CES.

Photography equipment is likely to be a few new cameras and Sony will officially release an e-reader of some kind, alongside a few new netbooks. We are hoping for a Sony Chromebook, it would most definitely be one of the better designed Chromebooks on offer if it actually made real.

There may be a good reason for no smartphone coverage at CES, the fact that MWC happens a month later. Mobile World Congress is more focused on smartphones and it is expected Samsung, LG, Nokia, HTC and ZTE will arrive with new flagships to show off at the event.

 

Oppo R1 teased as the “reinvention of night shots”

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oppo-r1Oppo is still trying to grab media attention internationally as it prepares to launch the Oppo N1 with CyanogenMod and a new teaser is showing the next generation smartphone, the Oppo R1, apparently made for night shots and fitted with the best design and care.

The Oppo R1 is still unknown even though a few Sina Weibo accounts in China are leaking documents on the new smartphone. Oppo has said it will “reinvent night shots” meaning they are going to add a new imaging chip and some impressive focus and flash to get the best in the dark.

Cameras have always had a rough time in the dark, but smartphones like the HTC One and the iPhone 5S have clocked an impressive low-light solution. The Oppo R1 hopes to replicate this success and may feature OIS (optical image stabilisation) to make sure there is no blur or noise on the photo.

On the design side, the Oppo R1 will be fitted with an all glass design, something we have not had the best of times with on the iPhone and many Sony products. Glass has become more resilient to breaking in the years since the iPhone 4, but we still would prefer solid aluminium over it.

The phone still looks incredibly impressive on the teaser shot, coming in white or black. The camera is placed in a normal position without the odd 180 turn functionality on the Oppo N1 and the screen looks almost edge-to-edge, along with three capacitive keys.

Oppo will be announcing this device sometime this month, the same month they ship the Oppo N1 out to the US and Europe. The Oppo R1 will probably come in as another flagship in the line, like the Find 7 when it finally arrives sometime next year.

We have no details on pricing just yet or what software it will be running, we doubt this will be a partnership with CyanogenMod.

Samsung Galaxy S5 may not come with OIS camera

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galaxy-s5The next generation of the Galaxy S may be the most prominent yet, but one big feature may be missed out by Samsung on the camera, OIS. Short for optical image stabilisation, this is the next step in making mobile cameras as powerful as a more expensive point-and-shoot.

The LG G2 and some other devices already have OIS and the difference is pretty remarkable when it comes to having a stable image. The quality of the photo doesn’t really change that much, but the precision and stabilisation improves massively with this feature.

This feature was almost on the Galaxy Note 3 according to some rumors prior to release, but Samsung scrapped it due to not having the necessary components and scope to actually add the feature, it may be the same case for the Galaxy S5.

Samsung’s small problem when adding features is they need to be able to scale the production above their target range of sales, for the Galaxy S5 this may be fifty million units in one quarter. This means features that are new and not exactly the most readily available cannot be implemented.

Another example of this is the fingerprint sensor Samsung was apparently thinking about adding to the Galaxy Note 3, but since the scale of that device needed to be around 20 million a quarter, they could not work to make that number viable on the time they had to implement.

We are not sure if the Galaxy S5 will have a fingerprint scanner, our gut instinct is yes or in some way Samsung will upgrade security. Apple has obviously shown the demand with TouchID and shown they can scale this project to the mass-market.

OIS is not the biggest feature we are desperate for on the Galaxy S5, the metal body, higher-resolution display and new possible software enhancements are more exciting and more relevant to a users experience and love of the smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy S5 to come with 16MP ISOCELL technology

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samsung-galaxy-s5-isocell-16mpSamsung has announced next year over ninety million smartphones will come prepackaged with a 16MP camera of some kind. The company is preparing to adopt 16MP cameras across the board, from cheap to high-end device getting the upgrade.

This fast move has happened for two reasons, Samsung needs to compete more heavily against camera phones like the Xperia Z1 and Nokia Lumia 1020 and the manufacturer has been creating different sensors for their camera, almost all around the 16MP range.

The Galaxy S5 should still be Samsung’s main flagship for the year – this will come with a 16MP ISOCELL sensor, capable of wide dynamic range and auto-focus. The ISOCELL technology is also capable of grabbing incredible shots in low light, it works similar to the Nokia Lumia 1020.

Samsung cameras have always been hit-and-miss, the Galaxy S4 had a pretty impressive sensor but it failed in low light and would produce average photos. The push for extra megapixels is great but we hope Samsung work on the software and speed on the camera, to make it a better experience.

This is not the only thing Samsung is promising in the next few years, the company is looking to add a new 64bit ARM octa-core processor by next year onto the Galaxy S5 and have a 2K screen (2650 x 1600) by the end of 2014, moving to a 4K screen by 2015.

Samsung has always worked on power and raw benchmarks, the polar opposite of their main competitor Apple, who have been trying to blend hardware, software and services in a cheaper and less powerful package, with optimisation to keep it competitive against Samsung.

The South Korean manufacturer has surpassed Apple in terms of sales but they do sell a lot more smartphones, the Galaxy S4 has almost surpassed the iPhone 5 in sales, but we will have to wait until the Galaxy S5 is announced to see who is the true winner.

Leica M for (RED) announced with Jony Ive’s design help

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leica-m-(red)Jony Ive has one of the best reputations in the world when it comes to design, as the lead on many of Apple’s stellar projects in the past decade, including the original iMac, MacBook, iPod, iPhone and iPad.

As the lead Industrial Designer at Apple, Ive works primarily on the hardware side of the product, but has taken over as lead UI designer for Apple’s iOS range, with iOS7 all to do with Ive’s vision on how to redesign the operating system.

Ive has teamed up with Mark Newson, to create the new Leica M for (RED), Bono’s AIDS charity that Apple has sponsored for a few years now, adding cases and colors to their iPod, iPhone and iPad line in support of the cause.

The Leica M camera will be auctioned off in a charity event alongside some other prised pieces, including 18 carat gold Apple earpods and other once in a blue moon type items – this means the Leica M is unlikely to reach a global audience.

It has design touches Ive is well known for, including the machined aluminium body and outer shell made of anodised aluminium. It comes with a CMOS sensor, high performance processor, and the brand new Leica APO-Summicron –M 50mm f/2 ASPH lens.

Ive and Newson went through thousands of prototypes and eventually picked the one design for the Leica M, showing the commitment Ive takes to almost all design projects.

It is nice to see Ive’s work outside of the Apple aesthetic for a change, with the executive being loyal to the bone for Apple, we doubt we will see any more work from him outside Apple in the near future, unless their is another charity event coming soon.