The 5 megapixel, dual LED flash Verizon/Motorola Droid camera beats the iPhone 3GS 3 megapixels on specs alone, right? Not according to the Chicago Sun/Times’ technology columnist, Andy Ihnatko, who put some side-by-side comparison shots up on Flickr.
Ihnatko also seems to share many of my opinions about the Droid’s dubious introduction commercial, though he writes it out ever so much better. About the camera specifically, he says:
But does the Droid actually take better pictures than the iPhone? Overall, no. Over the past few days I’ve shot lots of scenes with both phones and the iPhone consistently produced prettier images. Where software inside the Droid is easily bamboozled by uncooperative lighting, the iPhone’s camera app almost always finds a workable and attractive solution.
Droid Day in November 6th. Android Central has one in the house, and Casey’s already crowing about it, so stay tuned for more!
[Via Daring Fireball]
Everyone, including Steve Jobs, has very reasonable sounding theories as to why the third gen iPod touch camera was removed. Rather than rehash it again, however, we thought we’d let our minds wonder into parody, and consider what might have happened in a world only slightly more cartoonish than ours…
Steve Jobs, fresh from his recent leave of absence, comes crashing back into Apple’s Cupertino campus, and after fixing the typography on the iPhone 3G S 3GS, tweaking some pixels on the Snow Leopard UI, and spending time meditating deep in the iTablet vault, he heads over to the scorched closet that used to be reserved for iPhone A2DP testing…
Read the rest of this entry »
Yesterday we heard a rumor that Apple may be experiencing problems with the iPod’s new camera feature, and those problems could cause a delay.
Today, Hardmac [via MacRumors] threw in some rumored details about the rumored problems:
The issue would be linked to the new camera module. We did not get any further details, but the problem has been spotted in the first dozen of thousands units produced. Those units have been put aside.
Again, even if true, this would likely only cause a delay in the release of the third generation iPod touch, not its announcement at tomorrow’s “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it” special music event. This has happened in the past when products weren’t quite ready or had last minute spec changes necessitating a delay.
Still, we’ll only know for sure when Apple hits the stage.
The iPod touch, iPod nano, and now it sounds like the hard-drive based iPod classic are all set to receive cameras, presumably at Apple’s September 9 music event. We’ve heard rumors of the iPod touch before, of course, and even the iPod nano, but the iPod classic as well?
That’s what Digitimes (via MacRumors) is reporting:
OmniVision will be the sole supplier of 3.2-megapixel CIS products for new iPod nano, iPod classic and iPod Touch models which will be launched in September, the sources indicated.
So, the take away — if these rumors pan out — is that those of you who want apps (touch), portability (nano) and now, massive storage capacity (classic) might all have uber-convenient picture snapping in your future.
It was just over a year ago that the iPhone became the undisputed champion of cell phone cameras on Flickr. Without a doubt, the modern day cell phone camera has become a serious photographic tool and thanks to the release of iPhone 3GS, the iPhone has stepped into 1st place in upload popularity of all cameras just ahead of Cannon’s Digital Rebel XTi.
Now we all are aware that the three megapixel camera on the iPhone 3GS is not the best out there but it does it’s job fairly well. The main reason for it’s popularity on Flickr is convenience. Not only do you carry your iPhone everywhere you go, unlike a regular camera, you also have the ability to upload directly from the device. Convenience reigns supreme.
It was only a matter of time before iPhone was crowned the undisputed overall champion of the Flickr world.
[Via Electronista]
Does the iPhone 3GS camera constantly buffer live video data, in effect pre-caching the images you want before you take them? Birdhouse developer Adam Lisagore thinks so, and says so via his Lonely Sandwich blog:
from the moment you launch the Camera app, data is not only streaming to the viewer, but being cached to memory at full resolution, much like a TiVo with a live broadcast. Where there’s been latency in previous versions of the iPhone hardware/software due to processing limitations, those limitations have been overcome in the iPhone 3GS, closing the gap between intention and result by processing the streaming input from a microsecond before the shutter was released. In essence, the iPhone is constantly storing the picture you want before you even take it.
Daring Fireball confirms this, and after-the-fact, it lines up with a lot of our experiences here at TiPb as well.
Clever indeed, Apple…
Rumors of the third generation iPod touch getting a camera — even video camera — is nothing new, however Wired.com now claims they may be getting a built-in microphone as well:
A well-connected source tells us those rumors are on the money, and that Apple’s factories in China are already manufacturing iPod Touch models with integrated cameras and microphones. An Apple spokesman declined to comment when reached by phone.
With the addition of video to Camera, and the Voice Memo app, combined with a built-in mic making VoIP even easier, we’ll come out and say it — ultimate non-phone handset is nigh.
Apple typically unveils new iPod touch models once a year at their special music event, alongside other iPods and related announcements — which last time, at Let’s Rock included the iPhone 2.1 firmware and iTunes 8.
[via MacRumors]
AutoStitch Forum Review by msbaylor. For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum Review Index!
AutoStitch is the only application in the App Store that gives the ability to stitch multiple rows of photos in any orientation in creating your panorama, meaning you don’t just get the normal one row, 360 degree view that Pano or the Panorama apps produce.
I was completely taking off guard when I found how utterly simple it was to use the application! Literally you “select & stitch” that all you do, no take one photo, stitch, take another photo, stitch, etc.
Read the rest of this entry »
Could the iPod touch and iPod nano also be getting in on the camera action? We’ve heard the rumor before but evidence continues to mount with Techcrunch claiming:
One of our sources in Asia say that Apple has placed an order for a massive number of camera modules of the type that they include in the iPhone. These are inexpensive cameras, in the $10 range. And the size of the order, our source says, means they can only be used for one thing – the iPods.
As Dieter mentioned on iPhone Live! a camera is such a natural fit for the iPod touch that it’s hard to imagine Apple not doing it at this point. Adding video recording, editing, and sharing (along with the beefier chipset) also seems like a no-brainer port from the already-enabled iPhone 3GS. Even if Apple sticks with VGA resolution, users who want highly portable video recording might easily take the iPod integration over the better quality of a dedicated device like a Flip Mino HD.
Macrumors is also showing off a case that, if real, re-enforces the iPod nano camera rumors as well. Absent the iPod touch interface and processor power, however, it’s hard to see that being functional for anything but still photography. That being said, it remains a great way for Apple to keep moving the traditional iPod line forward even as it approaches market saturation.
Anyone eager to get their iPod camera action on?
We’d heard rumors about the iPod touch getting a camera already — makes sense and would tie it even more closely to the iPhone OS. HardMac (via MacRumors) is now saying the iPod nano will as well.
Sounds plausible as it provides an easy way for Apple to both strengthen ties within their ecosystem and incrementally update both platforms in time for the holidays.
