ExoLens Case With Zeiss Lenses for Your iPhone 7

ExoLens the iPhone case company that is known for its protective cases that are compatible with their range of Zeiss lenses, have just announced a new case for the iPhone 7 at C.E.S. Bringing professional-grade lenses to the iPhone, and now even more protection. The new protective case for the iPhone 7 will be available for purchase during the first quarter of 2017, though a price is not yet released. Exolens sells a range of Zeiss telephoto, macro, and wide-angle lenses, which range in price from $150 to $200. Not only has it been designed to keep the iPhone 7 safe from bumps and scratches, it will also be compatible with all Pro Zeiss lenses and upcoming ExoLens Prime lenses made for the iPhone 7.

The ExoLens is a bracket designed for the iPhone that will allows the user to attach a Zeiss lens to it with out having to take the case off. For those of us who are looking for a quality boost in our iPhone cameras, this is a great investment. An ExoLens representitive says the new accessory is an "ultra-durable dual layer case" created with impact-resistant materials and designed to be slim and low-profile.  

"After launching our line of ZEISS ExoLens mobile photography solutions earlier this year, consumers told us that they loved the mobile photography lenses, but also expressed a desire for a solution that protected their iPhone, while still providing the lens attachment capability... The new ExoLens Case will provide the ability for users to seamlessly utilize our visually enhancing lenses, but the case will also shield the individuals iPhone from everyday drops and scratches at the same time."

- John Fellowes, Chief Executive Officer of Fellowes Brands.

ExoLens sells the brackets and lenses separately or as a kit for $199.95 through Apple.

Source: ExoLens Case With Zeiss Lenses for Your iPhone 7

ASUS Reveals Zenfone 3 Zoom – Catch the Perfect Moment

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom was revealed today, with its main feature being its dual lens camera. By simple comparison, that means that ASUS challenges the iPhone 7 and the Huawei P9 for the title of best camera in the market.

With a new bar set for mobile photography, Zoom jumps above this by combining two new camera systems. A 12-megapixel ƒ/1.7 aperture, wide-angle lens with ASUS SuperPixel Technology acts as one camera.  In particular, it focuses on capturing images in dark environments. Meanwhile, another 12-megapixel camera captures pictures in high-quality from far away.  The latter uses the camera's 2.3x optical zoom feature.  Users should ramp up the zoom to a 12x view, for crisp, clear magnification.

On top of the outstanding dual-lens camera, the Zenfone 3 Zoom sports a 5000mAh battery with reverse charging. Besides this, a power-saving Qualcomm Snapdragon S625 processor acts as a battery complement. It's almost as if ASUS designed the phone to let users keep on taking photos for as long as they want.

ASUS Zenfone 3 Zoom Specs OSAndroid 7.0 Nougat ProcessorQualcomm Snapdragon 625 Octa-core 14nm processor, 8* 2.0 GHz with FinFET LPP (Low Power Plus) powersaving technology MemoryUp to 4GB RAM Display5.5-inch FHD (1920 by 1080) AMOLED display StorageUp to 128GB Camera12 megapixels rear camera, f/1.7 aperture, SONY IMX362 sensor (1/2.55-inch large sensor size, 1.4 u00b5m large pixel size) AND n12 megapixel Zoom Camera, PLUS n13 megapixel front camera SIMDual Nano SIM card Battery n5000mAh (non-removable) with 1A Reverse Charging Weight170 g OthersASUS Exclusive TriTech+ Auto Focus system with 0.03s instant focus:nnWorld leading fastest Dual Pixel PDAF (100% pixel used for focusing)nn2nd generation Laser auto-focus, 3 times distance than previous generationnnSubject tracking auto-focus for both photos and videos ColorNavy Black, Glacier Silver, Rose Gold

Related:

ASUS releases Zenfone AR smartphone with 8GB of RAM

Source: ASUS Reveals Zenfone 3 Zoom – Catch the Perfect Moment

Huawei's Mate 9 will be the first phone with Alexa pre-installed

At the Mate 9 announcement in Las Vegas, it was said that Leica, the famous camera company with which Huawei has an ongoing relationship to improve mobile photography, will open an "innovation center" at its German campus and, employing several Huawei engineers to improve the camera hardware and software experience in smartphones.

Alexa will come as an app on the Mate 9, but we're not sure at this stage how deep it will bury itself into EMUI 5. Huawei says the app will offer customers a "natural, convenient user interface" for talking to the digital assistant, and will be capable of all the usual tasks - setting alarms, making to-do lists, and getting information about the news and weather. While this might not be the first time we can see Alexa installed on a handheld device, this is the first time it comes pre-installed. This new flagship phone will be competing with top phone AIs such as Apple's Siri and Google's AI assistant.

Looks like the rumors were correct as Huawei has now officially confirmed that the Mate 9 will be available in the United States starting January 6 (tomorrow). When we reviewed the phablet past year we found it a very capable Note 7 replacement with a lovely screen and much improved software, but the dual-lens Leica camera failed to match lofty expectations. There's a huge 4,000 mAh battery too, plus two cameras on the back and Android Nougat. For those who purchase the Mate 9 before that, they'll get the feature through an OTA update.

Source: Huawei's Mate 9 will be the first phone with Alexa pre-installed

Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Specs Revealed At CES 2017: Feature Highlights Include Battery, Camera And Virtual Reality

Las Vegas -- Qualcomm shared more details about its latest chip, the Snapdragon 835 at a CES 2017 press conference Tuesday. Having initially announced the chip at a technology summit in November, the semiconductor manufacturer is now publicly sharing specs and features for the component.

With the Snapdragon 835, Qualcomm is aiming to tackle several aspects of mobile technology, including battery life, immersion, camera, connectivity, security and machine learning. A primary area of development on the Snapdragon 835 is with battery power.

"In any survey we do from a user perspective, we asked: What's the most important thing for your next purchase? What's the biggest pain point on your current purchase. Always, number one is battery life and charging phones," Qualcomm senior vice president of Product Management, Keith Kressin told journalists in November.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and penny Qualcomm

The Snapdragon 835 not only consumes half the power of the Snapdragon 801 chip, it supports more than a full day of talk time, more than five days of music playback, 11 hours of 4K video playback, seven hours of 4K video streaming, three hours of nonstop 4K video capture and over two hours of VR gaming.

Qualcomm also previously announced Quick Charge 4 technology for the Snapdragon 835, which can add up to five hours of power to a device in a five minute charge and up to 50 percent charge in 15 minutes.

Several VR headsets released in 2016, including the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, in addition to new models of the Samsung Gear VR. Qualcomm confirmed that several new devices will release in 2017 running the Snapdragon 835, with a primary focus on virtual reality immersion.

"We're right at the cusp of VR being good enough. We're not quite there yet but we're getting there with the mobile device and the 835, which will be one of the key components to propel the VR use case," Kressin said.

Qualcomm defines immersion as the cross between high quality visuals and sounds and "intuitive" interactions. Devices running the Snapdragon 835 are able to render graphics 25 percent faster than prior generation chips, a 60-time wider color range and 15 millisecond latency.

Hardware specs for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 include a 2.45 GHz Kryo 280 CPU, Adreno 540 GPU, Hexagon 682 DSP and support for up to 8GB of RAM, which provide high performance and low power consumption to ensure the best VR experiences possible, in addition to more standard mobile processes. The 835 also features  802.11ad Multi-gigabit Wi-Fi with 2x2 11ac MU-MIMO for improved support and power consumption when connected to multiple Wi-Fi access points.

Also fueling a VR push is Qualcomm's dedication to camera quality. The 835 supports single lens cameras up to 32-megapixels and dual lens cameras up to 16-megapixels, for a wide range of mobile photography possibilities.

"When we ask OEMs: Where do you want to differentiate? From a technology standpoint, it's always about the camera," Kressin said. "Some want the biggest pixels, some want zoom, some want fast auto focus, some want iris detection. The camera is an area where Qualcomm can differentiate."

The Snapdragon 835 is Qualcomm's first chip to support the X16 LTE modem, which can provide download speeds of up to one gigabit per second. These are considered 5G speeds. Additionally, the 835 can support category 13 LTE upload speeds of up to 150 megabits per-second. The chip features performance and power efficiency improvements intended to support heavy processes, such as virtual reality and augmented reality on mobile handsets.

New on the 835 is Bluetooth 5. The chip is the first to support the technology for commercial use. Qualcomm also implemented the Google's Awareness API into its own All-Ways Aware feature, which tracks and regulates mobile processes for better device health.

Other features include updated security hardware and software, updated audio codecs and the 10nm FinFET technology used to manufacture the Snapdragon 835.

Source: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Specs Revealed At CES 2017: Feature Highlights Include Battery, Camera And Virtual Reality

Snapdragon 835 Features Leaked. Here is Everything You Need to Know

We have written about the gadgets to expect in 2017. But one of the most exciting pieces of technology coming in 2017 is not a gadget. Rather, it is what is going to power most of the gadgets we wrote about -Snapdragon 835 chip. Ahead of CES 2017, a leaked blog post posted by the famous tipster Evan Blass, explains what all we can expect from the processor that will power the next generation of smartphone flagships. Qualcomm Technologies collaborated with Samsung Electronics to use its revolutionary 10nm FinFET process to create the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. It has the potential to revolutionize the mobile tech due to its sheer small size. Here is what we can expect in the next generation devices running the Snapdragon 835.

More power efficiencyQualcomm claims the new processor will only consume 40% less power compared to the previous versions: the Snapdragon 820 and 821. The 835 accomplish this by using a combination of multiples CPU and GPY to manage separate workloads with all of them tightly integrated with Qualcomm Symphony System Manager. Qualcomm claims 1+ day of talk time, 5+ days of music playback and 7+ hours of 4K video streaming.Additionally, Qualcomm Quick Charge 4 provides five hours of battery life for five minutes of charging as well.

Immersive AR and VRSnapdragon 835 is optimized to provide better Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality experiences. Snapdragon 835 is expected to offer 25 percent faster 3D graphic rendering and 60X more display colors when compared to Snapdragon 820 and supports scene- and object-based audio and audiophile-grade DSD audio to generate real life like sounds.

Improved camera capabilitiesThe 835 is designed to improve zoom and image stabilization for mobile photography. Qualcomm's new video generation software is expected to provide more stabilization for 4K videos as well. Improved faster and more accurate auto-focus will be another major addition.

Faster ConnectivitySnapdragon 835 has integrated Snapdragon X16 LTE modem and customized support for 802.11ad Wi-Fi which provides faster connectivity. Qualcomm claims the new chip will support peak download speeds up to 10X faster than first-generation 4G LTE devices.

Source: Snapdragon 835 Features Leaked. Here is Everything You Need to Know

How To Make A Baby Mobile – Adorable Nursery Craft Or DIY Gift

If you love craft projects, you will love this DIY project for how to make a baby mobile.  It is fun, pretty, and easily customizable.  Design expert, Paige Hemmis, demonstrated this awesome DIY on Hallmark's Home & Family show, which airs weekdays at 10 am ET/PT on Hallmark Channel. Paige created a DIY butterfly mobile that would make a beautiful addition to any baby nursery. I was given permission to share the directions, photos and video for how to make a baby mobile with you and you can customize the baby mobile to almost any nursery theme.

Photo Credit: Copyright 2016 Crown Media Family Networks/Photographer: Jeremy Lee

This make baby mobile tutorial is demonstrated as a buttery baby mobile but it can easily be customized around any nursery theme but using a different craft punch cutter (stars,elephants, etc).

Butterfly Baby Mobile Materials

• Butterfly punch (large)• 14" Metal ring (you could also use an embroidery hoop or wreath – anything that is about 14" around)• 25 yards of tulle ribbon, 5" wide• White thread• Sewing needle• Scissors• Card stock or scrapbook paper that is double sided – (one side blue and one side pink if you want to recreate her baby gender surprise option)• Picture hanging wire

Directions For How To Make A Baby Mobile

1. Take your metal ring and your picture hanging wire. Take two wires and attach them to the metal ring. Make a cross with the wires so that you have four quadrants.

2. Take additional wires to secure the middle section. This will give you four separate sections to hang your butterflies from.

3. Wrap your tulle around the metal ring to cover up the metal and make baby mobile pretty.

4. Cut the tulle into smaller pieces and tie them around the metal circle, making it look light and fancy.

Copyright 2016 Crown Media Family Networks/Photographer: Jeremy Lee

5. Take your butterfly punch and cut out butterflies. You will need about 80 – 100 butterflies. You can find a butterfly punch at craft stores or order at amazon. I have included my amazon affiliate link for your convenience below:

6. Take your needle and white thread and double the thread at the bottom. Tie off the thread with a double knot. Make the length at least 15" – 20".

7. Thread the needle through the middle of the butterfly at the top and the bottom of the butterfly (this will make the butterflies stay up/straight). They will spin, but that's ok. Thread the first one near the bottom/end of the thread. Add additional butterflies up the thread a few inches apart. You can tie a knot in the thread at the spot you would like each butterfly to hang.

8. Take four pieces of tulle to tie around the base and meet in the top. You can tie a bow at the top if you would like. This will serve as the top of the mobile.

Photo Credit: Copyright 2016 Crown Media Family Networks/Photographer: Jeremy Lee

There you have it- a diy butterfly mobile! This is the perfect baby mobile for a boy or a girl! Give the DIY nursery gift this way and then it's up to Mom and Dad to turn the butterflies to blue or to pink by folding them in half when they find out the gender of the baby. I hope you enjoy this tutorial for how to make a baby mobile. You can also watch the video below to get more details and see the process.

Important Baby Mobile Safety Tip: Remember to hang the mobile high enough so that baby can not touch it even when they learn to stand. See other baby mobile safety tips here.

Do you think you will make a baby mobile? What theme will you choose?

Source: How To Make A Baby Mobile – Adorable Nursery Craft Or DIY Gift

6 Google Pixel Photo Accessories for Taking Great Pictures

The camera on the Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL takes great photos. These Google Pixel Photo Accessories will help improve your photography prowess and get even better shots.

Please see 14 Exciting Official Pixel & Pixel XL Accessories

PoserSnap Mobile Photo Studio for Google Pixel and Others

The PoserSnap Mobile Photo Studio comes with a few accessories to help the mobile photographer get better shots on the Google Pixel. It includes the following:

Universal Selfie Stick – the Selfie Stick comes in the kit along with a useful flash and Bluetooth remote. It extends 30 inches, but only takes up 7 inches when you store it in a bag or pocket. Connect it to your phone's headphone jack and use the built-in shutter button to actually snap your shots.

3-in-1 Clip Photo Lens Set – The 3-in-1 set that comes with this pack takes Fish-eye shots, Wide-angle shots, and Macros. Sadly, they're a throw away item. Don't get the set for the lenses because they don't do a very good job.

Ultra Bright 16 LED Photo Light – turns on and stays on to avoid red-eye and has three levels (high, medium and low) for the best lighting in each situation. The rechargeable built-in battery means it doesn't suck juice from your Pixel.

Flexible Tripod w/ Mount – photos taken on a tripod mount mean no camera shake, especially when you use the trigger below. This small tripod comes with flexible legs. It's a little wobbly, so don't rely on it.

Bluetooth Remote Trigger – pair it with the phone's Bluetooth and then snap shots remotely. This way you can get in the shot or reduce shake from tapping the screen or the volume buttons on the phone when you take a shot. It works up to 30 feet away. This, the Photo Light and the Selfie Stick make this kit worth the low price.

Amazon sells them for only $23.50. This isn't a high-end kit, and they're a little flimsy and cheap. However, the remote and flash are worth the $23. The lenses will disappoint you and the tripod's a little wobbly.

Olloclip Pivot Grip

Taking video on a phone often means holding it in landscape to avoid the cracked door effect of videos shot on a phone in portrait mode. The great Google Pixel deserves the right technique.

It's uncomfortable to shoot video for more than a minute or two, but the Olloclip Pivot Grip helps users with longer videos. The grip comes with a clamp that holds the phone securely in place. A handle beneath the clamp feels like you're holding a pistol. It's easy to use and comfortable to shoot. The resulting videos look more stable even though you're holding the phone while shooting.

The Olloclip Pivot Grip costs $50 from Olloclip.

Joby GripTight Accessories

The GripTight Pro with three Joby tripod solutions. The GorillaPod Pro, Micro tripod and GorillaPod Magnetic.

The PoserSnap kit includes a tripod, but better ones are available from Joby. The Joby GripTight accessories include a few different models that we love. First, they offer the GripTight XL, a clamp that holds larger phones like the Google Pixel or Google Pixel XL. The 1/4″-20 universal tripod mount.

The GripTight XL has a 1/4″ -20 universal tripod mount which connects to accessories like the GripTight Micro Stand, a tiny stand with three legs. You can also use the awesome GorillaPod, a taller tripod with flexible legs. They all range in price from $15 to $50. See our review of the GripTight GorillaPod Pro seen above.

SanDisk Dual USB Drive Type-C

You'll need to back up those great photos, so get the SanDisk Dual USB Drive Type-C, which includes both USB Type-C and USB 3.0 connections on one tiny device. Plug it into the Google Pixel USB-C port and backup the photos and then plug it into your computer to store them or upload them to the cloud without using your phone's battery. You can also more quickly get large videos from the phone to your computer for quick editing.

It's got retractable connectors so you can protect the USB connection inside the flash drive's housing. They're available with storage sizes ranging from 16GB for $15 on up to 128GB for under $50 on Amazon.

The Google Pixel takes great photos on the go, but you can only enjoy them on the phone, unless you pick up the SereneLife PICKIT 20 portable photo printer. This little white mobile photo printer feels like carrying around a large battery. It's only a few millimeters longer and wider than the Google Pixel XL and about three times as thick.

The built-in battery charges via a micro-USB cable. Your ink and paper all come in a single cartridge which you load into the side of the printer. It prints 20 3.5 x 2 inch photos. That's only slightly bigger than wallet sizes, so the resulting printed photos aren't that useful. My wife plans to use them in crafts with her first graders.

Phones with NFC will pair with the printer automatically, if you can make it work. It failed on the Google Pixel XL. Instead, I loaded the PICKIT app and followed the instructions in the app to connect directly via Wi-Fi, which then connects the printer to your local Wi-Fi network and eventually prints over that network once you turn on the printer.

The resulting prints, even though they're too small for most uses, do look nice. Print images for your locker at school or craft projects like my wife does. It's also helpful to get a quick look at a specific shot you really need to get right before leaving the scene of a beautiful subject.

The app's not great, but it works. You can edit and prepare photos in another app and then load them in the PICKIT app.

Get the printer at Amazon for $119.99 and replacement cartridges cost $19.99 each for 20 prints.

Epson Photo Printer

Today, phone cameras take shots so good you may want to print them. Epson makes some of the best consumer grade printers, so we suggest going with them. The Epson Expression Photo XP-860 Small-in-One All-in-One Printer updated the 810 we recommended in the past.

The printer makes beautiful color accurate prints quickly. It works on multiple forms of paper with two paper trays: one for smaller photo paper and one for larger letter or legal sheets. It also does a great job of handling printing directly from your phone or over a network.

In addition to photo printing, it handles office tasks like auto 2-sided printing, copying, scanning and faxing. Connect using USB to a computer or network  using Ethernet and Wi-Fi. Epson has them on sale for only $200 at Amazon. If you don't mind spending twice that, consider the Epson ET-3600 EcoTank printer. It comes with 2 years worth of ink in the box, but it's $400. To save money, get the Epson Expression Premium XP-640 Small-in-One All-in-One Printer with scanning and copying in a small form factor for only $80 on Amazon.

Source: 6 Google Pixel Photo Accessories for Taking Great Pictures