Digital Accessories

Fremont, CA—ArcSoft, a software provider of multimedia technologies and cross-platform applications, released upgrades to both PhotoStudio 6 and ArcSoft Panorama Maker 6 applications, giving users tools to produce HDR and 3D panoramic images.

PhotoStudio 6 now offers HDR (high dynamic range) imaging, combining three photos with different exposure levels into a single eye-popping image. Updated tools are provided to manually improve the result with detailed adjustments.

Panorama Maker 6 now includes 3D panorama stitching to create 3D panoramic images from photos and videos. 3D panoramas are viewable with 3D glasses and the most popular 3D preview solutions are supported.

“ArcSoft is focused on providing powerful yet accessible tools to create vibrant and breathtaking images,” said Bill Chen , ArcSoft’s general manager of Digital Multimedia Services and Solutions Group. “By adding HDR and 3D panoramic capability to our already robust software applications, consumers have affordable, comprehensive imaging suites that are a one-stop solution for photo enthusiasts...

Get all the details on the ArcSoft PhotoStudio 6 and Panorama Maker 6 Software here>>>

San Francisco, CA—Joby launched three portable tripods in its GorillaPod product line: the GorillaPod Micro 250, GorillaPod Micro 800 and GorillaPod Hybrid. All three are designed to meet the needs of today’s digital camera consumer, whether an enthusiast shooting on the go with a point-and-shoot camera or a prosumer sporting the latest compact system camera.

GorillaPod Micro works with a point-and-shoot camera as an always-on tripod that Joby says offers “the stability, range of movement and versatility of full-size supports.” Concealed beneath the base of the camera, it is also convenient to carry and fits in any camera case or pocket. The aluminum and zinc alloy construction is engineered for dependable stability, quick deployment and precise ball positioning, while its colorful rubber grips help provide solid footing on any surface. The GorillaPod Micro series feature a machined aluminum positioning ball with 36° of movement in any direction.

The GorillaPod Micro 250, which supports point-and-shoot cameras weighing 8.8 ounces, is available in gray, red and blue ($19.95). The gray GorillaPod Micro 800 supports hybrid cameras weighing 1.75 pounds ($29.95).

GorillaPod Hybrid. Designed for compact system cameras, the GorillaPod Hybrid supports cameras weighing 2.2 pounds and features flexible, wrappable legs and an integrated aluminum ball head (±90° tilt, 360° pan) to enable precise positioning. It is available in gray and red for $39.95. joby.com

Framingham, MA—Staples is teaming up with Mario Armstrong , Emmy award-winning technology expert, to make it easy for consumers to find the best technology gifts and services for the holidays. Staples also announced its Tech’d Out Sweepstakes to help kick off the 2011 holiday shopping season.

“Staples is a tremendous destination for technology for the holiday season,” said Mario Armstrong. “As a Staples customer, I’m so excited to give their other customers easy solutions for their technology needs—and to surprise one winner with a complete tech makeover.”

From now until December 15, 9:00 a.m. EST, consumers can visit staples.com/techdoutsweeps to see the latest tips from Mario Armstrong and enter for a chance to win a technology makeover for their home or small business courtesy of Staples. The website features videos showcasing Armstrong’s selections for technology, hot products and EasyTech services available at Staples, as well as technology advice to fit everyone’s needs—from the small business professional to the busy mom. The winner will receive a prize package from Staples worth more than $2,700, including a new computer, tablet, wireless printer, e-reader, networking accessories and EasyTech services...

Get more details on the Staples Tech'd Out Sweepstakes here>>>

The fall is a great time to get out and make images of vibrant foliage offset against crisp autumn blue skies. It’s the most colorful season so it stands to reason that more images of trees are made in the fall than any other time of the year. The western US offers palettes of yellow aspens with occasional hues of orange and red while the east is more well known for its plethora of color that abounds from its hardwood maples, oaks and birches. Mix in a solitary evergreen as a focal point and the results can be very dramatic. To achieve the potential drama in fall color photos, there are three filters I carry all the time. I encourage you to do the same to increase your chances of coming home with a winner.
 
Polarizer: First and foremost on my list of filters I’d never leave home without in autumn is the polarizer.

Sky Benefit - A polarizer can help deepen a blue sky to increase its saturation and darken its color. This is beneficial in that on a color wheel, yellow and blue are on opposite sides. The advantage is the lighter color pops off the page. In that yellow abounds in the fall, the leaves become prominent. Maximum polarization occurs 90 degrees to the sun. If you try to polarize a front lit subject, you won’t see the filter’s effect. A polarizer also cuts through haze which otherwise reduces contrast in the image.
 
Color - Dependent upon the angle of the sun falling on the subject, glare can negatively impact the image. A polarizer helps cut through the glare to restore the true color of the leaves to the sensor. The result is a much more saturated looking scene.
 
Water - Reflections of the sky often form on a body of water. If the fall color is around a lake and the sky reflection causes a distraction, try spinning the polarizer. Depending on your angle to the reflection, the distraction can be totally removed. If you don’t see a change, walk around the lake and spin the polarizer at different points along the walk and you’ll learn the polarizer’s nuances regarding how the angle of the light determines if the reflection can be eliminated...

Read more about the best filters for Fall photography here >>>

Story by Russ Burden
Photos ©Russ Burden

Rochester, NY—For today’s mobile consumers and connected professionals, Kodak introduced Hero All-in-One inkjet printers that are Google Cloud Print Ready and Kodak E-mail Print ready, so consumers can send photos to their printers from anywhere, using any Internet-connected device. In addition, Kodak will enable Google Cloud Print and Kodak E-mail Print functionality for previous Kodak AiO printers, to provide cloud printing for its existing customers.

“With our new lineup of Hero printers, Kodak is helping to meet the needs of an on-the-go lifestyle by making it easy and convenient for consumers to print from any connected device, anywhere,” said Susan Tousi , general manager, Inkjet Systems, and vice president, Kodak. “With new features like Google Cloud Print and Kodak E-mail Print, we continue to advance our intelligent technology while also offering the exceptional quality consumers expect from Kodak and premium ink at an affordable price. With Kodak, consumers do not have to compromise between smart features, quality and affordability...

Learn more about the Kodak Hero Printer >>>

Milpitas, CA—SanDisk unveiled a broad lineup of retail products and introduced a new preservation solutions category. The new product portfolio addresses all market segments—from smartphones and cameras to notebooks and tablets—for users ranging from entry level to professional.

“Our flash storage solutions help consumers capture more photos, load their mobile apps faster, share exciting moments with friends and preserve their memories for generations to come,” said Bob O’Keefe, vice president, retail marketing, SanDisk.

Preserve the Memories
SanDisk Memory Vault. Tested to preserve images in their original quality for up to 100 years, SanDisk says its new Memory Vault “provides consumers with a convenient, reliable way to pass down their images for generations to come—a photo album for the digital age.” The Memory Vault was developed using Chronolock technology, which incorporates the key elements of advanced solid-state storage to create a proprietary memory management solution. According to SanDisk, “This allows the device to provide consumers with peace of mind that their precious photos and videos will be preserved for up to 100 years.” The SanDisk Memory Vault comes in 8 gigabyte (GB) and 16GB capacities carrying MSRPs of $49.99 and $89.99...


Read more about the new Sandisk products here >>>

The sweet screen spot for camera displays, however, seems to be 2.7 to 3.0 inches, and some have touch-screen capabilities. While this is not a huge difference, a consumer often perceives a device with a larger screen to be technologically superior to those with smaller screens.

Another factor that trumps quality is price. True, a consumer can now buy a positively loaded digital camera for $150. But a smartphone that also services as, well, a phone—with similar 5-plus MP still and 720p video capabilities—can be bought for less than $100.

But smartphones are more than just pocket convenient with bigger screens and greater technology value. Once consumers capture an image on their smartphones, they can now instantly share it: e-mail it, post it to Facebook or Twitter, upload it to a photo-sharing site, transfer it to another smartphone or a PC via Bluetooth.

It’s this wireless capability that poses the most perplexing problem for digital camera makers.

Digital Camera Advantages
Consumers still pack digital cameras for multi-photo taking special occasions such as vacations for one overtly obvious reason: digital cameras have lenses, which means they take much better photos, especially when optically zooming in. No smartphone has optical zooming skills.


Read more about cameraphone vs camera debate here>>>

Weymouth, MA— InfoTrends’ latest worldwide cameraphone forecast projects healthy growth in all geographic regions covered, including North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Japan and Rest of World (ROW).

The research firm projects an installed base of nearly 2 billion handsets by 2015 and attributes this growth in large part to the popularity of smartphones. Globally, smartphone shipments will rise from 306 million in 2010 to over 1 billion by 2015, according to the study’s findings.

However, InfoTrends believes mobile phones are a mature market segment and “feature cameraphones” will begin a downward trend during the forecast period. The study further indicates that smartphone shipments will surpass basic cameraphone shipments in 2012.



“The evolution of the feature phone to the smartphone has had many positive impacts on the mobile imaging experience. One major development is the increase in screen size. Gone are the days of a tiny 2.0-inch screen as was seen on candy bar or flip phones of the past. Today, LCDs on handsets, particularly smartphones, are getting bigger with each new model introduced. The most popular size seems to be 4 inches. This makes on-screen viewing of photos much easier on the eyes and greatly improves the user experience,” noted InfoTrends.

Another factor adding to the popularity of smartphones is that they are all-in-one devices that enable users to talk, text, listen to music, browse the Web, take photos and video, and get directions via GPS. Smartphone owners now have the ability to instantly sharing their photos via text, e-mail or social networks all from within their phones.

The availability of higher resolution cameraphones is also encouraging picture taking:  “The mobile imaging experience has benefited tremendously from recent improvements in cameraphone and smartphone technology,” said Carrie Sylvester, a senior research analyst at InfoTrends. “The continued evolution of these products will stimulate use of photo-related features. It will also encourage upgrades and purchases of newer and better devices as they hit the market.” infotrends.com

Nashville, TN—Legacy Learning Systems, a multimedia and new technology company, released Learn & Master Photography, the sixth edition to its instruction courses.

The Learn & Master Photography is a 15 instructional DVD set that contains 24 sessions, two photography sample CDs with high-res images for editing, a lesson book highlighting each session and access to a free online student support site.

    The course takes users through step-by-step video sessions with renowned photographers Vince Wallace. It starts with the beginner skill level and moves to advanced techniques used by professional photographers.  The interactive course gives instruction on how to best capture light, emotion and imagery. Key elements include understanding how to create 3D illusions, composing photographs and taking in-studio shots.

“We are delighted to be working with nationally recognized photographer Vince Wallace on this exciting new edition to the Learn & Master series,” said Gabriel Smith, CEO of Legacy Learning Systems. “We are confident Learn & Master Photography will give new meaning to the saying ‘a picture paints a thousand words’ and look forward to many success stories from our users.”

    Many sessions include assignments to apply the skills learned, and the course covers all the elements of photography, including design elements, color theory, capturing movement, lens types and the components of a DSLR. $249. learnandmaster.com

Direct Mode and Eye-Fi Mobile Apps Available as a Free Upgrade to X2 Cards

Mountain View, CA—Eye-Fi Inc., makers of wireless memory cards, launched the Eye-Fi Mobile X2, an 8GB wireless memory card that provides cameras with immediate uploading capabilities, even when there’s no wireless network available.

The Eye-Fi Mobile X2 provides instant uploads anywhere by wirelessly connecting the camera to a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet.

“Direct mode helps us bridge the gap between classic digital imaging and the exploding world of mobile devices,” said Jef Holove, CEO of Eye-Fi. “With Direct mode, the pervasive connectivity of mobile is made available to existing cameras.”

Later this week, Eye-Fi will be releasing its Direct mode and accompanying iOS and Android apps as free upgrades to its Eye-Fi X2 cards. With Direct mode, the Eye-Fi card can now establish a direct connection to a mobile device by creating its own Wi-Fi network anywhere users capture memories, even if that is miles from a Wi-Fi hotspot. Whether hiking or at the beach, consumers will be able to send photos and videos directly from their digital camera to the Eye-Fi app on their smartphone or tablet, enabling them to back up, edit and share their memories in the moment.

“When we undertook a redesign of the Eye-Fi card line a little over two years ago, the new X2 card platform promised users the potential for new, exciting capabilities over time. Today we see another one of these revolutionary capabilities come to life: Direct mode,” added Yuval Koren, cofounder and chief product officer of Eye-Fi.

Direct Mode benefits extend beyond device-to-device transfers. Whether users want to edit their memories using the apps on their mobile devices, back up those memories on their home computer, or save them in a private Eye-Fi account, they now have control of where, how and when the media is stored, edited and shared.

Eye-Fi Mobile X2 is currently available for preorders on Amazon.com and will be offered at Apple and Best Buy stores for $79.99 on April 17, 2011. Direct Mode will be available as a free upgrade to all Eye-Fi X2 cards later this week, along with accompanying free mobile apps for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. The Eye-Fi Pro X2 will be reduced from $149.99 to $99.99 starting this month. eye.fi