Photography startup Light raises $25 million in Series B funding

Light, which wants to improve mobile phone photography, raises $25 million from Formation 8 Hardware Fund, StepStone Group LP, Bessemer Venture Partners, CRV, Foxconn's FIH Mobile Ltd., GlobalFoundries and CrunchFund. - Silicon Valley Business Journal

This Modern Masterpiece Is the Ultimate Tiburon Abode

Courtesy of Light

Dave Grannan, co-founder and CEO of photography startup Light

Photography startup Light raised $25 million in Series B funding Thursday to bring DSLR quality to mobile phone cameras.

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Formation 8 Hardware Fund led the round with participation from StepStone Group LP, Bessemer Venture Partners, CRV, Foxconn's FIH Mobile Ltd., GlobalFoundries CEO Sanjay Jha and CrunchFund. The company has raised $34.7 million to date.

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CEO Dave Grannan co-founded the Palo Alto-based company in 2013 to re-imagine photography on cellphones. The startup has developed camera technology for phone makers that will allow for a true optical zoom, better low-light performance and result in photos comparable to the ones taken on an expensive DSLR camera.

"Mobile photography has reshaped how we consume, share and create content and there's a huge opportunity to give consumers even better options," Grannan said in a press release. "This Series B round led by Formation 8 Hardware Fund is a pivotal moment for Light as we look to expand our team and bring our camera technology to market."

The cost will be at least $60 for phone makers to add Light's technology to devices, according to Forbes. But since it DSLR cameras can cost $2,000 even without a lens, the company believes consumers will be interested in paying extra.

Light and investor Foxconn have a deal for Foxconn to resell Light's camera technology to any of Foxconn's customers. Foxconn is a contract manufacturer that makes Apple's iPhones. Foxconn will also use Light's camera technology for its own branded phones in Asia, per the report.

The new funding will support the development of Light's patented camera technology and help scale production infrastructure. The company has doubled in size in the last three months and will likely double it again before the end of the year.

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This Modern Masterpiece Is the Ultimate Tiburon Abode

Source: Photography startup Light raises $25 million in Series B funding

DxOMark ranks Moto X Style as the third best camera phone

Hot on the heels of the Moto X Style announcement, DxOMark Mobile published an extensive review of the device's 21MP camera. With a score of 83, Motorola's brand new flagship is the third best camera phone according to DxOMark Mobile.

Moto X Style lags only behind Samsung Galaxy S6 edge and Samsung Galaxy Note 4 in the prestigious mobile photography rankings. The newcomers scored the same 83 points in both the still photo and the video section of DxOMark's test.

In the still photography section, DxOMark gave Moto X Style props for well exposed photos, accurate autofocus and white balance, as well as good deals and low noise in outdoor shots. The images' colors were also praised.

Slightly unstable autofocus and overexposed images with flash and saturation in photos of blue sky drag the device's score down. The same goes for occasionally clipped bright areas in an image.

The video capturing capabilities of the smartphone received high marks for detail preservation in all light conditions and fast adjustments of exposure and white balance. The video stabilization of the handset is also hailed as one of the best to date.

Downsides in the videography section came from slow autofocus in low light conditions, noticeable color shading in tungsten lighting, and stabilization artifacts. The latter appeared in an indoor walking test.

You can find out more about Moto X Style and its camera in our extensive hands-on from the device's launch.

Source

Source: DxOMark ranks Moto X Style as the third best camera phone

Serial entrepreneur rebounds from misstep, takes aim at mobile photography market

SEATTLE - After he was fired from the company he started, Marc Barros found therapy in writing.

The entrepreneur and co-founder of Contour, a Seattle action-video-camera company, wrote about meeting his wife, starting a company when he was 22 years old and watching that company fall apart because of a much larger competitor in the market.

Source: Serial entrepreneur rebounds from misstep, takes aim at mobile photography market

OpEd: The Failing of Modern Photography Education

At some early point in my 4-year stint as a film student at the University of Miami, in Florida, an advisor explained I'd have to dual-major in a field outside the school of communications. This seemed a perfectly reasonable request of the school to make; after all, the advisor said, as communication students we needed something to communicate about.The requirement was largely the reason, at some point during my sophomore year, I decided to double-major in Fine Art Photography. I aspired one day to be a director of photography, and figured that having an overwhelming command of cameras and how photography worked would be the most beneficial field of study for me. I also have always had a serious passion for technology, gadgets, and photography, so it seemed the most apropos fit.

Let me be clear in stating that I loved and still cherish the experiences and education I took away from collegiate-level photography courses. I made some of my closest friends and took with me knowledge that serves me to this day. The photography courses I took in college taught me the conceptual basis, science and history of photography. They forced me to get out and take pictures.

They did little to prepare me for the reality of the working photographer: how to market oneself, network with gallerists, send out press releases, file taxes or even just do simple invoicing for commercial clients. My courses were a proverbial cruise ship, taking me from port to port until I had to disembark, suddenly without much of a life raft or row-boat to call my own.

I've come to the conclusion over the last few years of thinking through this issue that it is probably not University of Miami's failing, but in how we come to think of art education on the whole. While in school, the vast majority of my time was spent learning to use, and using, a camera. Playing with camera equipment as much as possible makes a lot of sense on the surface; as a director of photography or photographer, the camera is your primary tool, right?

Having been in business for several years now (and experiencing the corresponding highs and pitfalls), I can assure you that the camera is not your primary tool as a photographer. Sure, some of the more seasoned, veteran film photographers offload more menial tasks to a stream of assistants, but starting out resources are limited. Instead, a connected computer, the ability to market oneself, and the will to continually execute thoughtful new projects vastly outweighs any ability to create and edit a perfect picture.

A 'perfect picture' is an oxymoron that escapes definition. With nearly 1 trillion photos estimated to be taken globally by the end of this year, one would have to imagine there would be at least a few, if not several million, 'perfect pictures' taken this year. Some of them may have been created on expensive DSLRs and manipulated by photoshop, but my guess is the majority were shot on the most popular camera choice in the world: the smartphone.

With the proliferation of mobile photography and video, and the corresponding plethora of accessories that accompany the field, it is less expensive and more accessible than ever to document the world around us. Ever since news organizations started paying for grainy, low-resolution natural disaster footage in the 2000s (think videos of Katrina and the Indian Tsunami that killed 300,000+ people), citizen journalism has become the broadcast de-rigour.

And much like citizen journalism has become mainstream phenomena in the last ten years, so too has citizen fine-artist. Instagram, Facebook, and other social media have allowed those with a good eye and a smartphone to become instant, global sensations based on a thoughtful concept, some raw talent, and the will to execute.

The most recent example of this is Humans of New York, started in the summer of 2010 by Brandon Stanton. Brandon's pictures are good (some of them, magnificent), but his success lies in his authentic, accessible concept and ability to broadcast the stories of the people he captures. HONY has over 14 million followers on Facebook, raised $1 million for a Brooklyn school's art program, and been written up in any well-regarded news outlet. By all accounts, Brandon Stanton is one of the most successful photographers alive today. How much of that is due to his use of the camera, and how much due to his creativity, passion and drive?

Ultimately, photography education should focus less on the camera, the gadget itself. In fact, as the worlds' population becomes more digitally inclined and our cameras more intuitive, the less we have to focus on how to use the equipment.

There should still be study into this; I am by no means advocating the abandonment of proper composition, exposure, the basics of photo editing & manipulation. As our photographic technologies improve at such a rapid pace, we should continue to experiment with gigapixel-resolution images, virtual reality, and other forms of relatively so-far unexplored photographic territory.

However: the futures of photography and journalism, communication, art, on the whole, belong to those who have the ability to generate truly creative thought and broadcast that most effectively to a global audience. The future of photography education needs to be refocused on timeliness, relevance, and original creation, enabling the unique perspectives of the generation who dare create it.

About the author: Jay Hirschfeld is a photographer and founder of the digital marketing company Art + Design Lab. He can be contacted at j@artdesignlab.com. This article was also published here.

Source: OpEd: The Failing of Modern Photography Education

Costco, CVS, Rite Aid, Tesco Photo Sites Shuttered by Third-Party Data Breach

A breach at Staples subsidiary PNI Digital Media has impacted photo processing sites for major vendors across the U.S. and the U.K.

Following Walmart Canada's recent shutdown of its Photocentre website, several other leading photo processing sites are following suit, including those run by Costco, CVS, Tesco and Rite Aid.

The link between all of them? They're all clients of third-party service provider PNI Digital Media, which was acquired by Staples last year.

The Costco Photo Center website was recently taken down and replaced with a statement reading, in part, "As a result of recent reports suggesting that there may have been a security compromise of the third party vendor who hosts Costcophotocenter.com we are temporarily suspending access to the site. This decision does not affect any other Costco website or our in-store operations, including in-store photo centers."

Similarly, the CVSPhoto.com site was replaced with a statement reading, in part, "We have been made aware that customer credit card information collected by the independent vendor who manages and hosts CVSPhoto.com may have been compromised. As a precaution, as our investigation is underway we are temporarily shutting down access to online and related mobile photo services."

And Rite Aid's photo site now states, "We recently were advised by PNI Digital Media, the third party that manages and hosts mywayphotos.riteaid.com, that it is investigating a possible compromise of certain online and mobile photo account customer data. The data that may have been affected is name, address, phone number, email address, photo account password and credit card information. Unlike for other PNI customers, PNI does not process credit card information on Rite Aid's behalf and PNI has limited access to this information."

In the U.K., the Tesco Photo site has also been taken down and replaced with a statement simply reading, "Tesco Photo is currently unavailable. We are sorry the Tesco Photo website and apps are currently unavailable for you to browse and order. We are doing everything we can to get up and running again as soon as possible."

In a statement provided to Reuters, Staples vice president of global communications Kirk Saville said, "We take the protection of information very seriously. PNI is investigating a potential credit card data issue, and outside security experts are assisting in the investigation."

IDT911 chairman and founder Adam Levin told eSecurity Planet by email that businesses need to be sure to hire vendors with a clear track record of strong security practices. "When it comes to protecting consumer data, good cyber hygiene must be ingrained in a corporate culture and include everyone from the mailroom to the board," he said. "An organization must demand the same from its partners and vendors."

"A system is only as strong as its weakest link, and in incident after incident vendors are proving to be the weakest link," Levin added.

And Tim Erlin, director of IT security and risk strategy at Tripwire, said several recent breaches have made information security teams aware of the risks of working with third party service providers. "While outsourcing may provide a reduction in cost to the business, the potential risk has to be part of the overall calculation," he said.

"In these cases, where credit card data has been stolen from a third party vendor, it's the major brand that hits the headlines," Erlin added.

A recent Forrester Consulting survey of IT security and risk management decision makers found that 79 percent of respondents said ensuring that business partners and third parties comply with their security requirements is a top IT security priority over the next 12 months.

When asked what third party security information they would like to monitor, 68 percent of respondents said they wanted to understand third party threat and vulnerability management practices, 67 percent said third party encryption policies and procedures, 66 percent said security incidence response processes, and 64 percent said threat intelligence practices.

Still, only 37 percent of respondents said they track any of those metrics on at least a monthly basis.

A recent eSecurity Planet article examined several ways of minimizing the risks introduced by working with third-party vendors.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Source: Costco, CVS, Rite Aid, Tesco Photo Sites Shuttered by Third-Party Data Breach

CVS, Costco, Rite Aid photo centers breached?

Photo by AP

Online photo centers operated by CVS Health Corp., Costco Wholesale Corp. and Rite Aid Corp. may have been the victims of cyber breaches caused by an attack on a third-party vendor.

Cvsphoto.com, a unit of Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based CVS Health Corp., Costco Photo Center, which is operated by Issaquah, Washington-based Costco, and mywayphotos.riteaid.com, which is operated by Camp Hill, Pennsylvania-based Rite Aid Corp., have placed notices on their respective websites that there has been a possible compromise at PNI Digital Media, which is used by all three.

Rite Aid said in a statement on its website Friday that it has been advised by on-demand photo printing service PNI, a unit of Framingham, Massachusetts-based Staples Inc., that it is investigating a "possible compromise of certain online and mobile photo account customer data."

In a statement emailed Monday, a spokesman for CVS confirmed that PNI is the vendor that hosts CVSPhotos.com, but said CVS is unable to provide any additional details about the possible breach while the investigation is underway.

It could not be immediately confirmed as to whether Costco also used PNI.

"Recent media reports indicate that the third-party vendor who hosts our online photo center website has been involved in a security compromise," Costco said in a statement emailed Monday. "As a result, until we obtain more information, we have temporarily suspended access to our online photo sites in the United States and Canada."

Costco continued: "We cannot at this time confirm whether or not any members' information was involved, but are doing what we can to ascertain what might have occurred. We will re-open the online photo sites when we are comfortable that there is no threat to the security of our members' data. If our investigation confirms that member data has been compromised, we will reach out to affected members individually to let them know what happened."

Earlier this month, Walmart Canada Corp., a unit of Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., also reported that its photo website, which is operated by PNI, may have been compromised.

"We take the protection of information very seriously," PNI said in a statement emailed Monday. "PNI is investigating a potential credit card data issue, and outside security experts are assisting in the investigation. If an issue is discovered, it is important to note that consumers are not responsible for any fraudulent activity on their credit cards that is reported on a timely basis."

Source: CVS, Costco, Rite Aid photo centers breached?

Google’s Snapseed app update adds refined brush functionality and more language support

Google has been steadily at work improving its Snapseed mobile photo editor, and has just let loose additional enhancements.

In addition to some squashed bugs, the app's brush now lets you work with a finer tip size and deeper zoom. The app also now offers quick access to its own online resources in the Help & feedback menu, such as links to Snapseed's YouTube channel and Google+ page.

The new version of Snapseed also supports a host of new languages: Catalan, Greek, British English, Spanish (Latinoamérica), Finnish, Hindi, Croatian, Hungarian, Malay, Norwegian, Portugese, Romanian, Slovak, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.

This update to both iOS and Android versions is available on the App Store and Google Play store now.

➤ Snapseed [iOS/Android]

Read next: 10 Photoshop alternatives that offer powerful editing and photo management controls

Source: Google's Snapseed app update adds refined brush functionality and more language support

Popular Austin photographer rolls out new mobile photo studio

A popular Austin photographer is bringing the studio to you with her new mobile studio, Headshots Y'all.

"I saw a need for high-quality headshots in Central and South Austin, a growing trend in mobile retail businesses and Austin's love of food trucks," says photographer Korey Howell. "Headshots Y'all is my way of meeting local demand, in a very Austin way, while staying ahead of the curve in the photo industry."

Howell's vibrant pink trailer can roll up to your Austin-area business for corporate headshots or show up to your big event to snap memories of the affair. The converted FedEx truck is decked out with all the studio necessities, as well as a makeup station and beverage bar.

The Korey Howell Photography team, which currently operates out of a large studio space in Northwest Austin, has been photographing business executives, community leaders and media personalities for almost a decade. "[Howell's] passion for photography and making everyone look their best shines through, not to mention she is a blast to work with. She is a real pro," says Austin accessory goddess, Kendra Scott. 

In addition to serving local businesses and community events, Headshots Y'all will post up regularly at 1700 S. Lamar Blvd. Photo shoots are by appointment only, and packages start at $250. 

For a sample of Howell's work, check out the Headshots Y'all website or Facebook page.

Source: Popular Austin photographer rolls out new mobile photo studio

CVS Photo Site Suffers Possible Credit Data Breach

By MARK SCHIELDROP (Patch Staff)

CVS, based in Woonsocket, RI, is notifying customers of its online photo printing service that they've detected a possible data breach.

The photo service is temporarily shut down as they investigate, the company said, and credit card data and other personal information might have been stolen.

Customers visiting the CVSphoto.com site were greeted with a message Friday that said the credit card information was collected by an independent vendor who "manages and hosts CVSPhoto.com."

"As a precaution, as our investigation is underway, we are temporarily shutting down access to online and related mobile photo services," the message stated.

The customer information on the site is "completely separate" from CVS.com and the pharmacies. Purchases on CVS.com and in the stores are not affected.

For more information, call 1-800-SHOP-CVS.

--Photo via Morguefile

--Notice via CVS site

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Source: CVS Photo Site Suffers Possible Credit Data Breach

Popular Austin photographer rolls out new mobile photo studio

A popular Austin photographer is bringing the studio to you with her new mobile studio, Headshots Y'all.

"I saw a need for high-quality headshots in Central and South Austin, a growing trend in mobile retail businesses and Austin's love of food trucks," says photographer Korey Howell. "Headshots Y'all is my way of meeting local demand, in a very Austin way, while staying ahead of the curve in the photo industry."

Howell's vibrant pink trailer can roll up to your Austin-area business for corporate headshots or show up to your big event to snap memories of the affair. The converted FedEx truck is decked out with all the studio necessities, as well as a makeup station and beverage bar.

The Korey Howell Photography team, which currently operates out of a large studio space in Northwest Austin, has been photographing business executives, community leaders and media personalities for almost a decade. "[Howell's] passion for photography and making everyone look their best shines through, not to mention she is a blast to work with. She is a real pro," says Austin accessory goddess, Kendra Scott. 

In addition to serving local businesses and community events, Headshots Y'all has two rotating locations for photo shoots: 1700 S. Lamar Blvd. and Barton Creek Square Mall. Photo shoots are by appointment only, and packages start at $250. 

For a sample of Howell's work, check out the Headshots Y'all website or Facebook page.

Source: Popular Austin photographer rolls out new mobile photo studio

Mobile photo voter I.D. drive held in Chelsea

Published 4:44pm Friday, July 17, 2015

By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

CHELSEA – Alabama Secretary of State John H. Merrill's office held a mobile photo voter identification drive at Chelsea City Hall on July 13.

The drive was one of many scheduled this summer for each of Alabama's 67 counties to give residents an opportunity to apply for and obtain a free photo voter ID card if they do not have some form of a valid photo ID, such as a driver's license or non-driver ID card.

The Alabama Legislature ruled voters must present valid photo ID cards prior to voting starting with the 2014 primary election, making Alabama one of 34 states to require voter identification.

Clay Helms, supervisor of voter registration for Secretary of State John Merrill's office, was on hand to help people through the application process for obtaining photo voter identification.

"If they are a registered voter, the process takes about 10 minutes," Helms said. "We just do our best to notify the public. We want to be as effective as possible."

In Shelby County, voter registration forms are available at the Board of Registrars office in the Butch Ellis Building, 180 West College Street, in Columbiana.

Voter registration forms can be downloaded from Shelbyal.com.

To view the mobile I.D. location schedule or for more information, visit Alabamavotes.gov.

Source: Mobile photo voter I.D. drive held in Chelsea

Renowned Austin Photographer Korey Howell Launches First Mobile Photo Studio in a Truck in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas, July 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday, July 16, 2015, Austin photographer Korey Howell will launch Headshots Y'all—the first mobile photo studio in a truck in Texas.

"I am a photographer by trade, and an entrepreneur at heart," Howell said. "I saw a need for high-quality headshots in central and south Austin, a growing trend in mobile retail businesses and Austin's love of food trucks. Headshots Y'all is my way of meeting local demand, in a very Austin way, while staying ahead of the curve in the photo industry."

Howell invested $85,000 to turn a former FedEx truck into a luxurious photo studio on wheels, complete with a beverage bar, a makeup station and full Wi-Fi capabilities. Cruising Kitchens—the nation's leading custom food truck builder, located in San Antonio—procured the truck and completed its build out over four weeks. Howell also invested $20,000 to build the infrastructure of the new company, Go Headshots, Inc., which owns and operates Headshots Y'all.

"When Korey (Howell) presented us with the idea of a mobile photo studio in a truck, we were excited to build it and make it unique and the best of its kind—just like Korey," Cameron Davies, owner and president, Cruising Kitchens, said.

For close to a decade, Austin business executives, community leaders and media personalities have turned to Howell for headshots and studio photos.

"Korey (Howell) loves her work and it shows," Kendra Scott, chief executive officer, Kendra Scott Design, said. "Her passion for photography and making everyone look their best shines through, not to mention she is a blast to work with. She is a real pro."

To meet the anticipated demand for Headshots Y'all, Howell is doubling the size of her business and is currently hiring new staff members.

"I am so excited that Korey (Howell) is mobile," Lisa Copeland, managing partner, FIAT of Austin, said. "I constantly need updated photographs for press and speaking events, and I don't trust anyone but Korey and her team with my personal and professional brand!"

Howell got her start in the photography business 20 years ago with a glamour photography franchise company that she grew to 20 franchisees in shopping malls nationwide. After working in marketing, graphic design and leading networking clubs, Howell launched Korey Howell Photography in 2006 in a 100 square-foot studio. Today, the company is based in a large studio in northwest Austin with thousands of clients.

Headshots Y'all will provide mobile corporate headshots at select locations, with the first locations at 1700 S. Lamar and at Barton Creek Square Mall, as well as onsite at area businesses. The mobile photo studio is also available for fun photos at community events and galas. Photos are taken by appointment only, and photo packages begin at $250. For more information or to book an appointment, call 866-42-GET-SHOT or visit www.headshotsinatruck.com.

Media Contacts: Kristin Marcum or Katie McKeeElizabeth Christian Public Relations512.472.9599kmckee@echristianpr.com

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/renowned-austin-photographer-korey-howell-launches-first-mobile-photo-studio-in-a-truck-in-texas-300114434.html

SOURCE Headshots Y'all

Copyright (C) 2015 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

Source: Renowned Austin Photographer Korey Howell Launches First Mobile Photo Studio in a Truck in Texas

3 ways this tiny new SanDisk chip will significantly improve your next Android phone

One of the problems smartphone owners always complain about is local storage. We can't have enough of it, and handset makers aren't really ready to meet our needs, as they often cut corners on base models and employ all sorts of tricks to convince buyers to pay extra for more memory or cloud storage. However, SanDisk just announced a new flash memory chip that might help certain OEMs improve their mobile memory game when it comes to future flagship devices.

DON'T MISS: Prime Day: Everything we know about tomorrow's massive Amazon sale (including deal prices)

The iNAND 7232 is a new chip that has an embeddable flash drive that can offer users not just more storage, but also faster memory. Built on SanDisk's latest 15nm 3-bit-per-cell flash storage technology, the memory chip is available in capacities from 32GB to 128GB and is set to offer "terrific 4K Ultra HD video capture and digital photography experiences never before possible in flagship smartphones," according to the company.

Performance-wise, iNAND 7232 chips offer sequential write speeds of up to 150MB/s (a 25% increase from the previous model) and sequential read speeds of up to 280MB/s. Additionally, the chip is built on the eMMC 5.1+ HS400 specification with Command Queue support, which further enhances random read speed, resulting in faster responsiveness in apps. The chip also supports fast wireless data transfers via 802.11ad/ac protocols.

Increased capacity and speed aren't the only new features that SanDisk's iNAND 7232 chips will offer users. The memory chip is also very small, being just 0.9mm thin, which means OEMs will be able to further optimize battery design for future smartphones and tablets while keeping them as slim as possible.

The full press release follows below.

SanDisk Transforms the Mobile Experience with High Capacity iNAND 7232 Storage Solution

SanDisk Designs Advanced Embedded Storage Device to Meet Rising Demand for Digital Storage Capacity and Enhanced Smartphone Photography Capabilities

MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS SHANGHAI, China, July 13, 2015 – SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a global leader in flash storage solutions, today introduced the iNAND® 7232 storage solution, a new, advanced embedded flash drive (EFD) optimized to deliver best-in-class imaging performance and superior storage capacity in flagship mobile devices. Available in capacities up to 128GB1, the iNAND 7232 storage solution enables original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to introduce smartphones, tablets and other connected devices that feature ample storage to meet the needs of increasing consumer content while providing data-rich application experiences and next-generation digital photography capabilities.

"From North America to China, consumers are demanding higher and higher capacity storage," said Christopher Bergey, SanDisk's vice president and general manager of Mobile and Tablet Solutions. "Our iNAND 7232 storage solution not only enables mobile OEMs to cost-effectively deliver the robust storage mobile users want, it is also our most advanced embedded storage solution to date. It leverages new, innovative application-level storage architecture and SanDisk's latest 15 nanometer flash storage technology to enable outstanding application experiences, terrific 4K Ultra HD video capture and digital photography experiences never before possible in flagship smartphones."

"Smartphone and tablet users are maturing in how they use their devices. Therefore their expectations when purchasing a new smart device have also significantly risen. This puts immense pressure on mobile OEMs who must balance the need to innovate against managing their investments in order to deliver flagship devices at attractive price-points in a highly competitive market. This is particularly true in China and other high-growth markets," said Neil Shah, research director, Devices & Ecosystems, at Counterpoint Research. "SanDisk's iNAND 7232 EFD is the ideal solution to address this need as it enables OEMs to deliver what consumers want most outside of form factor: reliable high capacity, exceptional digital photography capabilities and great application experiences."

Enabling Next Generation Mobile ExperiencesThe combination of iNAND 7232's advanced application architecture and innovative storage technology both enhances popular current mobile photography capabilities and allows for breakthrough application experiences.

The iNAND 7232 storage solution features SanDisk's second-generation SmartSLC technology, an innovative new storage architecture that quickly and intelligently responds on demand to mobile users' changing needs. iNAND 7232 is SanDisk's fastest embedded flash storage device to date. It boasts sequential write speeds of up to 150MB/s2, a 25 percent increase from the previous generation product3. The sequential write speed can further increase in the intelligent iNAND 7232 storage solution to an impressive 1.2 gigabit (Gb) per second and beyond when application performance demands it. This helps to provide fast, responsive mobile device experiences, including easy 4K Ultra HD video capture, quick downloading via 802.11ac/802.11ad and RAW photography capture even under low-light conditions. It also enhances the performance of multi-camera and depth-sensors, such as 3D, virtual reality and more.

The iNAND 7232 storage solution is built on the e.MMC 5.1+ HS400 specification, which includes Command Queue functionality. This further enhances random read speed, which results in faster responsiveness in data-intensive applications.

Advanced Memory-Level TechnologyiNAND 7232 is built on SanDisk's 15-nanometer (nm) 3-bit-per-cell (X3) NAND flash storage, the most advanced NAND flash process node in the world.

AvailabilitySamples of the iNAND 7232 storage solution are currently available to customers in capacities of 32GB to 128GB.

Specific features and specifications include:• Latest e.MMC Specification: Built on the e.MMC 5.1+ HS400 specification, which features Command Queue• Designed for the Latest Wi-Fi Standards: Fast transfer speed to support gigabit wireless performance; 802.11ad ready; supports 802.11ac two-by-two rates• Significantly Enhanced Speed Over Previous Generation: Sequential read speeds up to 280 MB/s; sequential write speeds up to 150 MB/s2• Incredibly Thin Form Factor Enables Integration In Slim Host Devices: Available in packages just 11.5mm4 x 13mm in size and as thin as 0.9 mm• Easily Integrated and Optimized to Support Fast Mobile Device Product Development Lifecycles: The iNAND 7232 storage solution is supported by advanced simulation, trouble-shooting and engineering tools that enable mobile manufacturers to quickly and easily integrate the device into mobile device designs. This offers the potential to significantly reduce the time from product development to product av ailability.

SanDisk at Mobile World Congress ShanghaiSanDisk also announced separately today that it has shipped more than two billion microSD™ cards since it started commercial shipment of the technology ten years ago. Invented by SanDisk in 2004, the microSD format was initially known as TransFlash™. In 2005, SanDisk contributed the technology to the SD Card Association who renamed and released the final specifications for the microSD format on July 13, 2005. This format has become the most popular removable memory card in SanDisk's history. Collectively, SanDisk's two billion microSD cards could store an estimated 11,103 billion megabytes (MB) worth of memory – the equivalent of more than 100MB of flash storage for every man, woman and child that ever lived on Earth.

SanDisk will be displaying its complete line of embedded and removable mobile memory solutions, including the new iNAND 7232 storage solution, in the company's Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2015 booth (Hall 5, Booth #W5 G.90).

About the iNAND Family of ProductsSanDisk iNAND storage solutions have made incredible mobile experiences possible on hundreds of millions of devices. The SanDisk iNAND product family offers an embedded storage solution for every performance segment and comes in capacities from 4GB to 128GB. The SanDisk iNAND EFD product family includes iNAND 7132, iNAND 7232, iNAND 3120, iNAND 5020/5130, and iNAND 7030 EFDs. SanDisk's iNAND storage solutions, available in EFD and MCP (Multi-Chip Package) forms, provide tablets, smartphones, e-Book readers, personal media players, personal navigation devices and other connected smart devices with fast system responsiveness, improved multitasking and browsing performance, long battery life and an enhanced user experience.

SanDisk works with all major smartphone and tablet manufacturers worldwide. SanDisk optimizes its iNAND portfolio of solutions to seamlessly work with industry-leading application processors to enhance performance in Android™, Chrome and Windows® based smartphones, tablets and connected devices.

About SanDiskSanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company, is a global leader in flash storage solutions. For more than 27 years, SanDisk has expanded the possibilities of storage, providing trusted and innovative products that have transformed the electronics industry. Today, SanDisk's quality, state-of-the-art solutions are at the heart of many of the world's largest data centers, and embedded in advanced smartphones, tablets and PCs. SanDisk's consumer products are available at hundreds of thousands of retail stores worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.sandisk.com.

1 – 1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes. Actual user storage less.2 – 1MB = 1,000,000 bytes3 – Based on internal testing; performance may vary depending upon drive capacity, host device, file attributes, OS and application.4 – MM = Millimeters

© 2015 SanDisk Corporation. All rights reserved. SanDisk and iNAND are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. Android is a trademark of Google Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including expectations for markets and customers that are based on our current expectations and involve numerous risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate. Risks that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate include among others: the market demand for our products may grow more slowly than our expectations or our products may not be available in the capacities that we expect or perform as expected, or the other risks detailed from time-to-time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including, but not limited to, our most recent annual report on Form 10-K. We do not intend to update the information contained in this news release.

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Source: 3 ways this tiny new SanDisk chip will significantly improve your next Android phone

Rewind -- Mobile Storytelling Application -- Released With Major Updates Transforming Photo Sharing

ENCINITAS, CA, Jul 13, 2015 (Marketwired via COMTEX) -- NumberStation, Inc. today announced major enhancements to its recently launched Rewind, a new mobile social networking platform that allows users to share and experience an individual's most recent 24 hours through visual narratives. Now Rewinders can turn photos of their day into a moving picture -- a GIF -- that they can share on Facebook or via SMS or email (Example http://getrewind.co/examples).

Rewind offers a new approach to social networking by providing a quick and easy way to capture, share and view daily happenings -- to tell a story. Users now have a new way to communicate using targeted, personalized and relevant visual content presented in a way people prefer (still or video-like images). A Rewind stream consists of dynamic visual content that creates an experiential and engaging way for people to partake in other people's lives in context.

"We created a way for people to share what they feel, and to express themselves in a fun way," says Rodney Rumford, co-founder for Rewind. "Users post with no fear of oversharing. In fact, with Rewind, the more users post, the better their Rewind becomes and the more people feel they are truly experiencing someone's day as it happens."

Traditional photo sharing applications contain never-ending, disconnected photo streams. Rewind makes frequency of photo sharing relevant and engaging -- current photos and text replace stale 24-hour old posts. Rewinders decide how much and how often to share, and within the application viewers control "consumption" (sliding back and forth through friends' Rewinds and revisiting Rewinds throughout the day) and "engagement" (pausing to comment or like posts).

Disrupting the mobile photo sharing industry is Rewind's newest enhancement that lets users export their entire Rewind stream or parts of it to create a shareable GIF. "With Rewind, users become storytellers with photos or moving stories created by stringing together single images," says Anthony Duca, co-founder & CEO. "What's really powerful is Rewind's ability to compress time and consumption in a way that no other photo sharing or video application allows. Users view what they want as quickly or as slowly as they want. Bringing this capability to the mobile market is a game changer."

How Rewind Works and What's New After its invitation-only beta test, Rewind 1.0 opened to a public beta on April 24, 2015 in an unprecedented step available simultaneously for both iOS devices and the Apple Watch. Within the first day, the application became one of the top 10 highlighted social networking applications in the Apple Watch App Store. It quickly made appearances at TechCrunch Disrupt NY, The Startup Conference in Redwood City, and at the AWS Activate Startup Pitch event in Austin where Rewind won audience favorite.

Rewind v1.3 includes new features and enhancements designed to improve the user experience. These include:

-- Invite and find process - easily find or invite people from your address book -- Explore - find people near you, view featured Rewinders or events -- Camera - improved zoom, focus and speed; pinch to zoom and swipe down to un-zoom; swipe up to capture and send a photo in one motion; hold the Rewind button for "rapid fire mode" for stop motion or time-lapse effects -- Photo optimization - photos load more quickly -- Navigation - slide or tap Rewind bar to quickly and easily move through timelines -- Loves - see who loved posts, double tap to love -- Mentions - tag people in a post or comment, and if you follow them simply type @ and their name to autofill -- Text and emoji - enhance photos with the addition of text and emojis, or tell a story with text-only posts -- Notification - double tap a user's name to Ping them -- New on-boarding demo

Interesting Facts

-- Rewind users spend 53% more time (49 sec/session) on Rewind than users of other social networking applications (average of 32 sec/session) -- Rewind has 70% more daily active user sessions than average social applications -- 60% of active Rewind users post 8-9 times/day

Availability and Compatibility Rewind is available now as a free download. It requires iOS 7.0 or later, and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Apple Watch. An Android application is in development.

About Rewind Rewind is a social networking platform for sharing and experiencing an individual's most recent 24 hours through visual narratives. This unique sharing paradigm is designed for connectedness and avoids the noise associated with traditional never-ending social media feeds. Instantly and in real-time, users create, distribute, engage, and discover personal visual content -- images and texts -- that disappears after 24 hours. Rewind provides a spontaneous, fun and effortless way for users to connect one-on-one by sharing "all the things" in their life with the people who matter most. Download from www.getrewind.co. Follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/getrewind and Twitter @getrewind.

Contact: Lauren Curley 617 529 6463 Email Contact

SOURCE: Rewind

(C) 2015 Marketwire L.P. All rights reserved.

Source: Rewind -- Mobile Storytelling Application -- Released With Major Updates Transforming Photo Sharing

SanDisk Transforms the Mobile Experience With High Capacity iNAND 7232 Storage Solution

SanDisk Transforms the Mobile Experience With High Capacity iNAND 7232 Storage Solution

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), a global leader in flash storage solutions, today introduced the iNAND® 7232 storage solution, a new, advanced embedded flash drive (EFD) optimized to deliver best-in-class imaging performance and superior storage capacity in flagship mobile devices. Available in capacities up to 128GB1, the iNAND 7232 storage solution enables original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to introduce smartphones, tablets and other connected devices that feature ample storage to meet the needs of increasing consumer content while providing data-rich application experiences and next-generation digital photography capabilities.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150713005491/en/

SanDisk (News - Alert) introduces the iNAND(R) 7232 storage solution, an advanced embedded flash drive (EFD) optimized to deliver best-in-class imaging performance and superior storage capacity in flagship mobile devices. (Photo: Business Wire)

"From North America to China, consumers are demanding higher and higher capacity storage," said Christopher Bergey, SanDisk's vice president and general manager of Mobile and Tablet Solutions. "Our iNAND 7232 storage solution not only enables mobile OEMs to cost-effectively deliver the robust storage mobile users want, it is also our most advanced embedded storage solution to date. It leverages new, innovative application-level storage architecture and SanDisk's latest 15 nanometer flash storage technology to enable outstanding application experiences, terrific 4K Ultra HD video capture and digital photography experiences never before possible in flagship smartphones."

"Smartphone and tablet users are maturing in how they use their devices. Therefore their expectations when purchasing a new smart device have also significantly risen. This puts immense pressure on mobile OEMs who must balance the need to innovate against managing their investments in order to deliver flagship devices at attractive price-points in a highly competitive market. This is particularly true in China and other high-growth markets," said Neil Shah, research director, Devices & Ecosystems, at Counterpoint Research. "SanDisk's iNAND 7232 EFD is the ideal solution to address this need as it enables OEMs to deliver what consumers want most outside of form factor: reliable high capacity, exceptional digital photography capabilities and great application experiences."

Enabling Next Generation Mobile Experiences

The combination of iNAND 7232's advanced application architecture and innovative storage technology both enhances popular current mobile photography capabilities and allows for breakthrough application experiences.

The iNAND 7232 storage solution features SanDisk's second-generaion SmartSLC technology, an innovative new storage architecture that quickly and intelligently responds on demand to mobile users' changing needs. iNAND 7232 is SanDisk's fastest embedded flash storage device to date. It boasts sequential write speeds of up to 150MB/s2, a 25 percent increase from the previous generation product3. The sequential write speed can further increase in the intelligent iNAND 7232 storage solution to an impressive 1.2 gigabit (Gb) per second and beyond when application performance demands it. This helps to provide fast, responsive mobile device experiences, including easy 4K Ultra HD video capture, quick downloading via 802.11ac/802.11ad and RAW photography capture even under low-light conditions. It also enhances the performance of multi-camera and depth-sensors, such as 3D, virtual reality and more.

The iNAND 7232 storage solution is built on the e.MMC 5.1+ HS400 specification, which includes Command Queue functionality. This further enhances random read speed, which results in faster responsiveness in data-intensive applications.

Advanced Memory-Level Technology

iNAND 7232 is built on SanDisk's 15-nanometer (nm) 3-bit-per-cell (X3) NAND flash storage, the most advanced NAND flash process node in the world.

Availability

Samples of the iNAND 7232 storage solution are currently available to customers in capacities of 32GB to 128GB.

Specific features and specifications include:

Latest e.MMC Specification: Built on the e.MMC 5.1+ HS400 specification, which features Command Queue

Designed for the Latest Wi-Fi Standards: Fast transfer speed to support gigabit wireless performance; 802.11ad ready; supports 802.11ac two-by-two rates

Significantly Enhanced Speed Over Previous Generation: Sequential read speeds up to 280 MB/s; sequential write speeds up to 150 MB/s2

Incredibly Thin Form Factor Enables Integration In Slim Host Devices: Available in packages just 11.5mm4 x 13mm in size and as thin as 0.9 mm

Easily Integrated and Optimized to Support Fast Mobile Device Product Development Lifecycles: The iNAND 7232 storage solution is supported by advanced simulation, trouble-shooting and engineering tools that enable mobile manufacturers to quickly and easily integrate the device into mobile device designs. This offers the potential to significantly reduce the time from product development to product availability.

SanDisk at Mobile World Congress (News - Alert) Shanghai

SanDisk also announced separately today that it has shipped more than two billion microSD™ cards since it started commercial shipment of the technology ten years ago. Invented by SanDisk in 2004, the microSD format was initially known as TransFlash™. In 2005, SanDisk contributed the technology to the SD Card (News - Alert) Association who renamed and released the final specifications for the microSD format on July 13, 2005. This format has become the most popular removable memory card in SanDisk's history. Collectively, SanDisk's two billion microSD cards could store an estimated 11,103 billion megabytes (MB) worth of memory - the equivalent of more than 100MB of flash storage for every man, woman and child that ever lived on Earth.

SanDisk will be displaying its complete line of embedded and removable mobile memory solutions, including the new iNAND 7232 storage solution, in the company's Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2015 booth (Hall 5, Booth #W5 G.90).

About the iNAND Family of Products

SanDisk iNAND storage solutions have made incredible mobile experiences possible on hundreds of millions of devices. The SanDisk iNAND product family offers an embedded storage solution for every performance segment and comes in capacities from 4GB to 128GB. The SanDisk iNAND EFD product family includes iNAND 7132, iNAND 7232, iNAND 3120, iNAND 5020/5130, and iNAND 7030 EFDs. SanDisk's iNAND storage solutions, available in EFD and MCP (Multi-Chip Package) forms, provide tablets, smartphones, e-Book readers, personal media players, personal navigation devices and other connected smart devices with fast system responsiveness, improved multitasking and browsing performance, long battery life and an enhanced user experience.

SanDisk works with all major smartphone and tablet manufacturers worldwide. SanDisk optimizes its iNAND portfolio of solutions to seamlessly work with industry-leading application processors to enhance performance in Android (News - Alert)™, Chrome and Windows® based smartphones, tablets and connected devices.

About SanDisk

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company, is a global leader in flash storage solutions. For more than 27 years, SanDisk has expanded the possibilities of storage, providing trusted and innovative products that have transformed the electronics industry. Today, SanDisk's quality, state-of-the-art solutions are at the heart of many of the world's largest data centers, and embedded in advanced smartphones, tablets and PCs. SanDisk's consumer products are available at hundreds of thousands of retail stores worldwide. For more information, visit www.sandisk.com.

1 - 1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes. Actual user storage less.

2 - 1MB = 1,000,000 bytes

3 - Based on internal testing; performance may vary depending upon drive capacity, host device, file attributes, OS and application.

4 - MM = Millimeters

© 2015 SanDisk Corporation. All rights reserved. SanDisk and iNAND are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. Android is a trademark of Google (News - Alert) Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including expectations for markets and customers that are based on our current expectations and involve numerous risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate. Risks that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate include among others: the market demand for our products may grow more slowly than our expectations or our products may not be available in the capacities that we expect or perform as expected, or the other risks detailed from time-to-time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including, but not limited to, our most recent annual report on Form 10-K. We do not intend to update the information contained in this news release.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150713005491/en/

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Source: SanDisk Transforms the Mobile Experience With High Capacity iNAND 7232 Storage Solution

Why Android and Windows should embrace RAW photography before Apple catches up

RAW files can dramatically improve photography on the go, but Android and Windows need to push for stronger mobile support first.

Apple dominates mobile photography. A quick look at Flickr's camera finder shows Apple devices are far ahead of any other brands for image uploads, including traditional camera makers like Canon and Nikon.

But that's not because Apple makes the best cameras. Nokia, LG, Samsung, Oppo and others all deliver photos just as good or better, but Apple has built a strong reputation over the past few years, going so far as to print full size billboards in its "Shot with iPhone" campaign.

If Android and Windows manufacturers and developers want to catch up to Apple's mindshare in the space, its cameras have to beat theirs by a wider margin.

The good news is that many Android and Windows devices already support a powerful feature to help solve that problem: RAW photography. The bad news is that hardly anybody uses it.

What is RAW and how is it different from JPEG?

RAW files are essentially uncompressed and unprocessed image data from your camera. They contain a lot more information than JPEGs, but need to be run through a process called demosaicing with special software before they're usable.

Because they need to be processed, RAW files may look slightly different from software to software. It's similar to how websites can look slightly different from browser to browser due to variations in code interpretation.

RAW files are also much larger. JPEGs save space by getting rid of most of the information your camera originally captured – it keeps only what's necessary to display the final image. A 16 megapixel photo may be around 3-5 MB as a JPEG, but is closer to 20 MB as a RAW file.

More specifically, JPEGs work with 256 shades per of red, green, and blue channel to form a final image. RAW files, on the other hand, typically contain 4,096 per color, sometimes more on high-end cameras.

So RAW files look better, right?

They can, once you put the work into them.

A JPEG's 16.7 million colors (256^3), are more than enough to create a realistic photo. But manufacturers tune JPEGs to their own ideals about what makes the best image, so the colors on your photos aren't determined nearly as much by the hardware on your phone as by the software running through it.

Because of this, JPEGs look as good or better straight out of camera – again, it depends on the software reading the RAW file – but the advantage for uncompressed files is that they can be edited more extensively before deteriorating to the point of being unusable.

Manufacturers can embed image profiles onto RAW images to approximate their own tastes, but the point is you're not limited to pre-programmed settings about how to make an image look good.

For examples, here's a photo straight out of my LG G4:

Here's the same photo after taking a minute to adjust the RAW settings:

After a minute or two in Lightroom

I lifted the shadows and strengthened the colors. I also decided not use noise reduction at full blast to maintain more detail in darker areas.

Once you tweak the images to your liking, you can save it as a JPEG to "lock" in the look in a smaller, more shareable compressed file.

What exactly can you do with a RAW file?

RAW files are most useful when your photo doesn't come exactly right. For example:

White balance can be set manually after a shot is taken.

Highlight recovery is much improved. You have a better chance at turning that blown out white sky back to a natural blue, for example.

The same goes for shadow recovery – you can pull out details from dark areas you didn't even know was there.

If your photo is under or over exposed, you can brighten or darken without introducing as much noise as on a JPEG.

Sharpening can be tuned properly for the individual image. For example, some phones tend to oversharpen, and portraits generally look better with less sharpening than landscapes, for instance.

Noise reduction can also be set manually. Some shots work fine with more grain, whereas others you'll want to clean up more. Noise reduction in RAW apps also tends to be far better, as they can afford to take a few seconds longer to process details

Color adjustments are much more accurate without the normal artifacts that comes from messing with images. This is particularly crucial for skin tones, food photography, and nature shots.

Filters look better, as they have more color information to work with before an image gets degraded.

Combined, these add up to seriously improved potential image quality. I would argue a well-processed RAW file from an older camera will outclass a generational leap in sensor technology.

Moreover, images can take on your own aesthetic, rather than your phone maker's. A JPEG is like taking your photo to be developed at your local pharmacy; a RAW file puts you in the darkroom.

So why isn't everyone using RAW?

While professional photographers shoot RAW all the time, on mobile, the files have traditionally been too cumbersome to work with. They take up more space, require more processing power, and don't always appear to be better until you need to perform tweaks. . JPEGs are 'good enough.'

There's also the catch-22 of adoption. Few mobile imaging apps support RAW, so few people shoot RAW. Few people shoot RAW, so few apps support it.

What's different now?

The hardware limitations are relics of the past. Phones today are more than powerful enough to handle RAW processing; Lightroom Mobile already does with aplomb. And with greater onboard storage and better access to the cloud, space limitations shouldn't be a concern either.

But more importantly, the way we interact with images is different. Applying editing tools and filters to our personal photos on social media is no longer an exception limited to obsessive enthusiasts, but rather expected, as evidenced by continually more sophisticated image manipulation features built into everyday software like Instagram.

Why does it matter?

Mainly, because it's a darn shame. Sticking with JPEG is like watching The Lion King on VCR when it's available on Blu-Ray.

Not everyone cares about taking better photos, but it's clear many do. Just take a look at apple's "Shot with iPhone" campaign; advertising for flagship phones centers around cameras, flaunting things like resolution and aperture when a more substantial improvement lies with a feature right under our noses.

For Android and Windows Phone, investing resources into making their RAW files more accessible can help give them a big head start over Apple. RAW support on its own is awesome, but software developers and manufacturers need to make it easy to use before the masses adopt it. I should be able to upload a RAW file straight onto Instagram, not be forced to buy a Lightroom Mobile subscription or load it onto my computer.

In any case, it's likely RAW will come to iOS too. With cellphones replacing more dedicated cameras every day – and more accessories to make them even more powerful – it's only a matter of time until the format becomes more commonplace. It might take more space on your phone and a bit longer to process, but if you care at all about mobile photography, the improvement is worth the switch.

Read next: 13 tips for shooting low light photos on your phone like a pro

Source: Why Android and Windows should embrace RAW photography before Apple catches up

Brendan Ó Sé finds magic in the iPhone 6 one split second at a time

This scene from Copenhagen photographed last year by Brendan Ó Sé has been featured prominently in Apples "Shot on iPhone 6' ad campaign.Photo: Brendan Ó Sé

Cult of Mac's Photo Famous series introduces you to the groundbreaking photographers featured in Apple's "Shot on iPhone 6' ad campaign.Brendan Ó Sé aimed his iPhone camera, composed on screen the wavy painted lines on a Copenhagen street and snapped the photo as four people entered the frame from different directions.

For reasons Ó Sé cannot explain, he titled the photo, God will send a sign. When he does, be prepared.

Not long after, Ó Sé received widespread attention for the photo after it was selected by Apple to be part of its "Shot on iPhone 6' advertising campaign. There were billboards in several countries, magazine ads, an international award and interview requests.

Ó Sé was not prepared. He was kind of floored.

"The whole experience has made me believe in dreams," said Ó Sé, who teaches English to foreign students at a university in Cork, Ireland. "I am not a religious man . . . But something magical, undreamt of happened. A fraction of a second captured on my iPhone became something global, a part of something huge. Dreams that may have appeared foolish before, now seem less improbable."

Brendan Ó Sé

That Apple's ad team found his work may not be so improbable when you consider Ó Sé's has growing recognition in the mobile photography community, which started in 2012 when he discovered the capability of the iPhone 4 camera while on a trip to Asia.

He then joined mobile photography groups on Flickr and posted to Instagram. His followers grew as they began to take notice of his vibrant street photography and abstract motion studies.

In 2013 and 2014, he received honorable mentions for several images in the Mobile Photography Awards and this year, he received the Mira Mobile Photography Prize for the same image that landed him in the Apple campaign. With a different iPhone image, he won Best in Show honors at the 2015 Florence International Photography Awards.

He also is regularly asked to speak about his iPhone photography and give workshops. In April, he spoke about his work in London as part of Apple's "Meet the iPhone Photographer" series.

At some point, we will stop differentiating between photography and mobile photography. Being amazed at the quality of an image from a smartphone will wear off and it will all be photography, regardless of the tool used.

Besides, cameras have mostly always been mobile, Ó Sé says.

But even Ó Sé believes the iPhone is a game-changer, one that eliminates most technical barriers with abilities to instantly process a finished artistic image.

"The iPhone is the greatest camera ever made, a bold claim but one I fully believe," he said. "It has revolutionized the photographic process. All stages are possible with this one device. Having it with us means we become more aware of and more sensitive to photographic opportunities."

Ó Sé shoots a lot of photos on his travels around the world but finds equally fresh opportunities in the ordinary hallways at his work. For a series of photos he calls The Corridors, Ó Sé turns the repetitive and mundane motion of people walking into ethereal shapes that could just as easily be mistaken for black ink bleeding across wet paper.

From Ó Sé's series of blurred figures.Photo: Brendan Ó Sé

What looks like a dark, strange dream is created by a flick of the wrist to create blur in the figures. He then uses the app SnapSeed to blow out the highlights and pump up the contrast of the people in motion.

The images are abstract and the figures appear to be walking into something endless. In the blur, Ó Sé sees only clear possibilities.

Source: Brendan Ó Sé finds magic in the iPhone 6 one split second at a time

Olloclip Studio a strong case for turning your iPhone into a mobile-photography rig

Olloclip

Olloclip created its first clip-on, three-in-one camera lens for the iPhone in 2011 when 1,300 backers pledged more than $68,000 for its Kickstarter campaign.

In the past four years, the company has grown its lens lineup to include ultrawide-angle, telephoto and extreme macro models, and now it's back on the crowdfunding site to start production of a case to help iPhone-ographers get more from those lenses.

The company's lenses for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus slide down over the top of the phone so they can be positioned on either the front or rear cameras. Because of this, the phone has to be naked or in one of Olloclip's current cases, which offer basic protection and have a notch cut out to accommodate its lenses.

David Carnoy/CNET The Studio, according to Olloclip and the prototype I saw, will offer more protection than the current case. More important, though, is the integrated mounting rail system in the back center of the case.

The rails allow you to slide on and off a handful of mounts including standard 1/4-20 thread tripod mounts for portrait and landscape positioning, accessory shoes for holding an add-on mic or LED panel and a finger grip to make one-handed use steadier and more comfortable.

Though the 3D-printed version I handled was certainly rough around the edges, the add-ons attached with minimal fuss. The finger grip was particularly nice, as it gives you a couple of options for holding your phone and in a pinch can also be used as a stand. Unfortunately it doesn't fold flat, so it's not something you'll be slipping comfortably into a back pocket before heading out for the day.

In fact, none of the attachments are particularly small, but because they're at least removable the Studio is a more compact option than something like the iOgrapher (though that case has its own advantages).

Olloclip is aiming for $100,000 in Kickstarter pledges by August 1 to get the Studio into production. Pledging $35 gets you a case for the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus with a kickstand clip, but bringing it up to a $60 pledge will get you the case and the full accessory package, with two cold shoes and the two tripod mounts as well as the finger grip. The prices convert to about £25 or AU$50 for the case alone and £40 or AU$80 for the case and accessories.

Source: Olloclip Studio a strong case for turning your iPhone into a mobile-photography rig

AppAdvice App Brief: Easily record video, carry a pocket scanner, get reminded with symbols and more

While we cover dozens of apps in the App Store each week at AppAdvice, we understand that sometimes things can slip into the cracks and you, our awesome readers, may miss something. That's why we are bringing you the highlights of the App Store in our weekly App Brief column, so you can catch up on some of the hottest must-have apps.

Sit back, grab your favorite beverage, and let's dive in to some great apps. Enjoy!

Vee for Video is Camera+ for video Easily record and edit with this powerful video editor from Medious

Vee for Video

Have you ever wished that Camera+ did video? Now with Vee, that is no longer just a dream.

Vee for Video is built by the same people behind Camera+, so it's no surprise that this app brings essential capturing and editing tools in one place for all of your video needs. Stories can be told with Vee, since you can capture, combine, reorder, trim clips, and even apply speed adjustments and live filters to them on-the-fly. There is even separate focus and exposure controls, grid overlays, cinematic stabilization, ghost mode for stop motion animation, and support for 16:9 widescreen 1080p HD up to 240 fps. Music can be added to videos, so you can feel like a real filmmaker. Finished creations can be exported and shared onto networks like Vimeo, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Vine, Instagram, and many more.

The latest update for Vee for Video that came out last week brings a new 1:1 square overlay, making it perfect for capturing footage for Instagram and Vine. A new fade-to-black effect has been added so you can avoid abrupt endings — no one likes those. The ellipsis button on the timeline has now been replaced with a plus button instead, as this is a better indicator of where users can import video clips. There are numerous bug fixes and improvements to the app as well.

While I'm not much of a video person, I've found Vee to be a vital tool to have in my mobile photography arsenal. The design of Vee is sleek and gorgeous, and the app is intuitive to use. Plus, it records only in landscape mode, so no one can suffer from Vertical Video Syndrome — you know who you are. Even if you are not always taking video, Vee is a must-have app for your collection.

You can get Vee for Video on the App Store as a universal download for $1.99 with in-app purchases for more filters.

VeeForVideoDemo

Go paperless and always have a mobile scanner in your pocket Readdle's Scanner Pro gets a major 6.0 update

Scanner Pro 6

In this day and age, going paperless is something that everyone can do, especially with apps like Scanner Pro 6 from Readdle.

Readdle's Scanner Pro has always been a staple in the App Store's productivity category, but here's a primer for those who've never used it. With Scanner Pro, users just have to take a photo of the receipt, business card, or document, and those images would be of scanner quality for archiving. The app got a big update last week that makes it better than ever.

The big new feature is Scan Radar, which allows Scanner Pro to find images of documents and receipts that are in your Photo Library. These photos can be imported into Scanner Pro, ready for you to file away in any of the included cloud destinations, such as Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, iCloud, and OneDrive.

The other new feature is automatic scanning, where the app can automatically detect documents when the camera is over the content. A scan occurs automatically, without any further input, and then you choose where to send it to.

I'm a big fan of going paperless, because there's just no room for extra clutter. While I've been a user of Scanbot for some time now, Readdle's option looks great with a slick design, and is incredibly fast and easy to use. The Scan Radar tool makes it easy to find and file older documents you may have forgotten about, and the automatic scanning is efficient. If you have not yet moved to a paperless environment yet, Scanner Pro 6 is a great way to start.

Scanner Pro 6 can be found on the App Store as a universal app for $2.99. There is an in-app purchase for the ability to send faxes.

The latest update brings many awesome new features to a great camera app

ProCamera 8

If you're still using the native camera app and looking for profession results, then it is time to switch over to something that can handle the job. With ProCamera, you get everything you would ever need for amazing photos.

ProCamera has been around on the App Store for a long time now, and it is well-known for professional-level capturing and editing tools. The app got a big update last week that brings in more pro features than you can shake a stick at.

The update includes many new photo editing tools to the application, including Curves, Fade, Vapor, and Magic. The Curves tool gives photographers complete control over tonal range in images, since you can fine-tune levels of contrast, color, and brightness. Fade applies a faded look to your images that is similar to what you would find in old, analog images. Vapor is an interesting addition, since it's used to either improve contrast on hazy photos or make images appear hazy and dreamlike — your call. Magic includes Solar Wind and Magnetic Storm, both making colors more vibrant.

In addition, the update brings a new, stonework-inspired thumbnail view for images in the Camera Roll and lightbox. This new view shows off images in their native aspect ratios, rather than square thumbnails. For those who care about metadata, there is the new Photo Compass, which pinpoints the location of each taken photo on a map. It can even guide you to that location in case you wanted to go back. The update also includes a brand new Today widget, improved autofocus, HDR capture, and now Apple Watch support.

I'm a big fan of mobile photography, so I love seeing replacement camera apps on the App Store. ProCamera has always set a standard on what a powerhouse camera and photo editor app should be, and this update just makes a great app even better. ProCamera may take a bit to get used to, but the results that it can deliver are incredible. If you are into iPhone photography at all, ProCamera is a no-brainer.

ProCamera is on the App Store for the iPhone for $4.99. There is also an iPad version for $2.99.

ProCameraDemo

Move over, Dropbox Start viewing your media in Amazon's newly launched Amazon Cloud Drive app

Amazon Cloud Drive

Do you have a lot of stuff stored on the Amazon Cloud? Then you'll need to grab their latest app, the Amazon Cloud Drive, on the App Store.

With the Amazon Cloud Drive app, users are able to access all items that they have stored on Amazon Cloud right from their iPhone or iPad. Users can easily see files and folders, preview items, watch video, play music, and share items via links or attachments through email, text message, and social networks. While the app lets you get access to your files, it lacks the ability to upload them.

Personally, I use Dropbox for all of my cloud files, but I have used Amazon to buy some digital media files in the past. It is nice to have all of those available on-the-go from my iPhone, including the book PDFs I've loaded on to my Kindle. The app itself is simple and easy to use, but hopefully they add the option to upload files, such as photo and video, in a future update.

Amazon Cloud Drive is on the App Store as a universal download for free.

AmazonCloudDriveDemo

Get visual with your reminders Remindify uses helpful symbols to keep you on task

Remindify

Are you the type of person who needs to be reminded throughout the day for various things, but not much of a text person? Remindify is a minimalistic new app that focuses on symbols, rather than words, to help you stay on track.

In Remindify, reminders are set up in about two taps. Just pick the time, choose a symbol, and save. There are no settings or configurations with Remindify — you just quickly add reminders. While it shows today by default, users can switch days by tapping on the ticker at the top. Remindify includes over 200 symbols that you can use, so there is one for almost anything you can think of. If there isn't, the General symbol is a suitable backup. The point of the app is to keep things simple, but you can add descriptions to reminders if needed. There is also the option of having a recurring reminder.

While I will continue using Due for reminders, I like the simplicity that Remindify offers, plus the focus on visual symbols is nice. This is a great solution for people who don't want something complex for reminders. Keep in mind that this is just for reminders, not full-blown tasks.

You can find Remindify on the App Store as a universal app for free.

RemindifyDemo

Planning get-togethers is super easy with Microsoft's new app Tossup simplifies event planning by having you poll friends and family

Tossup

While we love to hang out with friends and family, sometimes it is a royal pain to get things planned out since everyone has their own schedule and lives to deal with. Fortunately, Tossup is a new app that can help make event planning easier.

Tossup is a beautiful app that is fairly easy to navigate and use. Once you create an account, you can make polls to send to others. The polls consist of a question and different options for answers, which you can customize. Photos can even be uploaded, giving each poll a bit of personality.

Polls will then be sent as invites to others through email, SMS, or even on Facebook. Tossup has a chat option that lets group members to discuss the poll, eventually leading to a final decision that everyone can agree on. A countdown clock can be added, giving a sense of urgency to each choice. Once a decision is reached, every member can add the event directly to their calendar from the app.

I've only used Tossup briefly, but I can see this being a fun and simple way of getting people together and making a decision that fits everyone's schedule. The design of the app is well done, it's easy to navigate, and it makes planning things a breeze.

Tossup is on the App Store for the iPhone for free.

TossupDemo

Editor's Choice: ProCamera

As a mobile photography enthusiast, I love ProCamera because of the tools that it offers. While it may have a bit of a convoluted interface at times, it has fantastic and powerful tools that should be in every photographer's kit. It has complete control over exposure, focus, shutter speed, color, tone, and effects make your photographs look sharp and professional. ProCamera even supports video capture without the need for a separate app, which is handy. The update also includes many useful goodies that no photographer should be without.

If you're an iPhone photographer, do yourself a favor and grab ProCamera on the iPhone or iPad.

Source: AppAdvice App Brief: Easily record video, carry a pocket scanner, get reminded with symbols and more

Camera Shootout: Samsung Galaxy S6 vs Apple iPhone 6

Whether you buy a flagship smartphone for gaming or for productivity, top of the line specifications and a great design are an obvious expectation. In recent times, exceptional camera quality and great optics too have also moved to this list of 'obvious' features from being one of the unique proposition for a device till sometime back.

Both Samsung Galaxy S6 and iPhone 6 have terrific camera, and represent the top end of what's available in smartphone camera technology at the moment. Of course, we like to push things further, and hence this shootout in common photography situations between the two, arguably, the best smartphone cameras in the market right now.

I'd like to point though, that the captured photos – while the most important part – aren't the complete story. Launching the camera app, navigating through the interface, and sharing the captured photos are important cogs of the camera experience for a smartphone.

The Galaxy S6, for example, edges the iPhone 6 slightly in terms of quick camera launching. Two presses of the home button launches the camera at any time, even while locked, in less than a second. In mobile photography, this one is a pretty handy edge to have.

Additionally, Samsung has done a pretty neat job with the camera interface in Galaxy S6. It provides extensive options, and quickly lets you toggle often-used features right on the camera and jump into the settings to change video resolution, stabilization, grid lines, voice control, et al. Of course, you can toggle to the 'Pro' mode to dive deeper and set focal length, white balance, ISO, and EV manually. The iPhone 6, on the other hand, believes in simplicity. There aren't many settings to configure, and everything you can do with the camera is right in the main interface including switching to different modes like square, panorama, video, slow-motion, and time-lapse with simple swipes.

For capturing quick shots in auto-mode, both phones excel exceptionally with seamless user experience and navigation. However, if you are looking to tweak camera settings for greater control, Samsung Galaxy S6 is the one.

Fine-print

For the purpose of this comparison, we took random shots at different locations in diverse light conditions. All shots were taken with the camera in hand (no tripod or any other mounting aid), in auto mode with default settings, and with auto HDR enabled. That's how most people take pictures on their smartphones – pick a scene, take out the phone, and snap a picture.

None of the photos showcased here have been edited whatsoever. You'd notice the difference in aspect ratio of the two phones (16:9 to 4:3) and it'd appear as if I'm closer or farther to a scene in some photos, which was not the case. Because the shots were taken from the two phones one after the other, slight differences in framing or the scene would've crept in.

Also, before writing this feature, we did view the photos on the same display, essentially, transferring it to the computer. It's tough to compare photos while viewing them on the smartphones in question because of the difference in display technology – IPS LCD on the iPhone 6 and Super AMOLED on Samsung Galaxy S6 – since each offers a different viewing experience with varying accuracies of brightness, contrast, and colour saturation.

(You can check our comparison photos in full resolution here)

Outdoors in Daylight

Most high-end smartphones these days, and some mid-range ones too, are pretty solid in well-lit conditions. As long as there is daylight and the software processing is optimal, the captured shots are accurate. The better ones amongst these though derive the brilliance from that extra bit of processing to get the right sharpness and contrast.

In our comparison here, the white balance between the two shots strikes instantly. The Galaxy S6 tends to produce warmer images while the iPhone 6 turns out cooler ones. Unless the warmth is overdone (and lead to inaccurate colour reproduction), most people prefer warmer images.

The photos from Galaxy S6 are brighter and sharper. Sometimes though, these are oversaturated, and the colours go overboard. The iPhone sticks to more natural and muted colours. The photos are exceptional, but when placed next to each other, you'd prefer the warmth of Galaxy S6.

When you zoom into the images or blow them up on your computer, you'd notice that the Galaxy S6 captures far more details while keeping the sharpness intact.

Indoors in Low light

Despite the advances in mobile phone photography, you miss your DSLR when you are at a dimly-lit pub with your friends or camping outside in a forest. The camera software of the phone struggles as it ultimately boils down to the limitation of the camera sensor.

To put it simply, when there is less light available, you'd need a larger camera sensor. Of course, that's not a choice you have, and most smartphones struggle to accommodate a large camera sensor in a thin body. The Samsung Galaxy S6 has a f/1.9 lens while the iPhone 6 packs in a slower f/2.2 lens.

What makes Galaxy S6 our easy pick for this round is the inclusion of Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). OIS reduces the camera movement or shake when you are clicking a photo and allows for shorter shutter speeds. The hardware advantage is similar to having a faster lens, one with a lower f-stop number.

The Galaxy S6 exploits the package – OIS with a fast lens – pretty well. In low light conditions, it manages to take quite nice pictures at a slower shutter speed and lower ISO. The photos turn out to be bright with decent colours and relatively low noise. The shots captured by the iPhone 6 had a lot of noise, sometimes with unacceptable contrast. The difference is glaring, really. And surprising. The photos from Galaxy S6 are far smoother and brighter with decent colour reproduction.

Sometimes though, the Galaxy S6, over did the magic. Some night time photos turn out to be way brighter than the actual scene. The same shots on iPhone 6, grainy though, appeared more authentic to the scene and were more accurately bright.

Summary

There have been quite a few decent competitors of the iPhone in the past that stood their ground, but the Samsung Galaxy S6 manages to take over the mantle of the best smartphone camera at the moment. It takes exceptionally clear and punchier photos in daylight, and the hardware manages to get some pretty nice shots in low-light conditions as well. While the daylight photos are bright and warm, the low-light photos have little noise and have mostly accurate colour reproductions.

Mind you, the iPhone 6 packs in a terrific camera and captures beautiful shots. It only takes a hit when the photos are compared side-to-side with the Galaxy S6. The photos are consistent during the day with more natural colours, albeit less bright than one would wish for. The lack of OIS though really shows in low-light conditions, and that's when it struggles to match up, despite accurate scene reproduction in most cases.

This is a sponsored post.

Source: Camera Shootout: Samsung Galaxy S6 vs Apple iPhone 6