Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Small Cameras That Can Switch Focus or Ride a Bike

POINT-AND-SHOOT cameras are being assaulted on all fronts. Smartphones are threatening to make pocket-size cameras unnecessary by offering passable results on a device many people are already carrying around. Meanwhile, photographers who want better performance are likely to be tempted by mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, which are shrinking to nearly pocket size while offering features like those found on professional-level, single-lens reflex cameras.

But there is still life in the idea of a consumer-level camera that fits in a pocket and does not require much special knowledge to master. You can find some interesting and unusual cameras that will do things that a smartphone definitely will not do. THE LYTRO The most unusual piece of photographic equipment to hit the market in quite some time, the Lytro ($399 or $499, depending on the amount of memory and the color) is a strange-looking machine that takes photos in which objects can be brought into or out of focus after the photo is taken.

When an image from the Lytro is viewed on a computer screen, a user can click on the foreground and pop it into focus, causing the background to blur. Click on the background, and the focus shifts, blurring the image in the foreground. It is quite a trick.The types of photos that work best on the Lytro are those with something of interest very close to the camera and something else of interest in the distant background. The results can be striking, but capturing images that take advantage of this effect takes some practice. The company is also working on a perspective-shift feature, which will allow a photographer to adjust the angle of the picture after the fact. 

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Facebook Launches 'Camera' Photo App

Facebook on Thursday launched a photo-sharing app called Facebook Camera, which aims to make it simpler for the social network's users to upload and browse photos on smartphones.The news comes only weeks after Facebook spent $1 billion on a similar photo-sharing app called Instagram. And only days after the company's initial public offering got a lukewarm reception from Wall Street and raised the eyebrows of financial regulators.The company says the app, which will be available late Thursday for Apple iOS devices, makes Facebook photos more fun and accessible.

Instagram or Facebook Camera?Facebook paid $1 billion for InstagramCNN Explains: IPOs "When you launch the app, you'll see a feed of just great photos from the people you care about," the company said in a press release. "You can swipe to see more of any album or tap to enlarge an individual photo."The app lets users crop photos and add colorful filters. And people who use the app also can upload multiple pictures at once. "Just select the shots you want to share by tapping the check-mark on each photo and then hit post," Facebook's statement says. "You'll have a chance to add a caption, say where you were and tag friends before you share."Hidden camera shows 520 Bridge workers drinking on job.

The app gets generally good marks from early reviewers, who say it is much faster than the primary Facebook app and displays photos in a large, crisp fashion.But the comparisons to Instagram are confounding tech bloggers, who are trying to figure out to what degree Facebook was influenced by the company it purchased.Mike Isaac, a writer at the blog All Things D, calls the app "Instagram redux," since the release comes so closely on the heels of the company's purchase of that startup.While there are key similarities between the apps, he writes, Facebook "was most likely working on this product long before buying Instagram was ever a real possibility."

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Hidden camera shows 520 Bridge workers drinking on job

Drinking on the job is both illegal and potentially dangerous. But a KOMO 4 Problem Solver hidden camera investigation discovered workers drinking on the largest construction job in the state: The 520 Bridge construction project.Our hidden camera video tells the story: Numerous workers are shown with a beer in their hand, or at their desk, in the middle of the afternoon."People drink pretty heavily, I mean, it's all over the place," said our source, who asked to remain anonymous. She was at the site daily for two months, and was so disgusted by what she saw she asked us to step in. She told us people here drink every day of the week.

"Every day," she said. "On Monday through Thursday, some people have one, two, three. On Friday, it's a six-pack."But this isn't just any business, it's the project headquarters for the 520 Bridge replacement. That's a $586 million contract ultimately paying for these workers to drink on the job."You would think that somebody, some supervisor, somebody would say, 'Hey we can't do this. This isn't allowed,' " our source said.In fact, it's not allowed. State law prohibits alcohol in the workplace.

"Anything that clouds your judgment is going to be a problem," says Hector Castro, spokesman with the state Department of Labor & Industries. "State rules are very clear: Alcohol and drugs are prohibited from the workplace."KGM, a joint venture firm of Kiewit, General and Manson contractors won the bid to design and build the 520 floating bridge. It's a complex and complicated project. All the design work and project oversight happens at the Bellevue project office on 112th Avenue NE. Both KGM and state Department of Transportation - WSDOT - employees work there in what's called a "co-located" office.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Hidden cameras in pole-dancing class prompt lawsuit


A group of women who teach tourists the art of pole dancing have sued Las Vegas show producer David Saxe, claiming his staff installed hidden video cameras that captured footage of women in various stages of undress.Camera Captures Nude Stranger in Driveway Behaving Badly.The women taught Stripper 101, where, for $40, any woman can learn how to seductively shimmy and shake like the pros. The class has been held in the lounge above the V Theater at Aladdin's Desert Passage mall since 2006.

Plaintiffs Rachael Carter, Lana Stewart, Jill Sutherin, Kindra Kroll and Nicole Cherry say they discovered the discreet cameras in January while trying to move what they thought was a stage light. But when one of them moved the ceiling light with a broom handle, she discovered it was a camera, according to the lawsuit filed March 16.They discovered another camera in the area, which served as both as both a performance stage and a dressing area where "some of the customers even disrobe and get down to their underwear" because of "assurances that there are no cameras in the room," the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit, whose defendants include Saxe, his productions company and several employees, includes claims of invasion of privacy, conspiracy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.In a motion to dismiss, lawyers for the defendants said the cameras were installed as part of an upgrade in the security system.In the class, the Stripper 101 instructors show "exotic dance moves including but not limited to poses and gestures creating an erotic yet comfortable experience using pole dancing, chair moves and sexual postures" for tourists and attendees to follow, the lawsuit says.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Camera Captures Nude Stranger in Driveway Behaving Badly

It is strange, disgusting, and sick. Surveillance video shows a man was not only completely naked, but also masturbating in the driveway of a home in Allen Park at three o'clock Saturday morning. Next he moved to the street, sat on some railroad ties and carried on. At one point, he was scared off by a car, but then was right back at it."If we get this out to everybody in this neighborhood we can find this guy, and we need to get this guy off the streets," said the homeowner.He lives near Wick and Allen roads. He had put up security cameras to catch the people vandalizing his cars, but Friday night he couldn't sleep, so he went to the garage and was playing his guitar when he looked up at a monitor and he saw the naked man standing in his driveway.

"I wasn't going to shoot him or anything. I just wanted to run him off."The homeowner grabbed a gun and went outside. The naked man took off into the neighborhood."I hope he never comes back, and I hope they find this guy because... there's a lot of children in this area."That's a major concern for Allen Park police, too. Detective Allen David says he's never seen anything like this in his 17 years with the department.

"It's very disturbing. The fact that this occurred in a residential neighborhood mere blocks away from an elementary school, a church and a daycare center, it really has us very concerned."Remember, the masturbating man is bold. He's right next to a busy intersection, Wick and Allen roads. Police say he appears to be in his twenties, short blond hair and has a very large tattoo on his left shoulder blade, possibly a bird or an eagle.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Canon seeks full automation in camera production

Canon Inc. is moving toward fully automating digital camera production in an effort to cut costs - a key change being played out across Japan, a world leader in robotics.If successful, counting on machines can help preserve this nation's technological power - not the stereotype of machines snatching assembly line jobs from workers, Jun Misumi - company spokesman, said Monday.The move toward machine-only production will likely be completed in the next few years, perhaps as soon as 2015, said Misumi, although he declined to give specific dates.Japanese manufacturers have been moving production abroad recently to offset the earnings damage from the soaring yen.

And fears are growing about a hollowing-out of Japan Inc. as jobs move to China, India and the rest of Asia, where labor costs are cheaper.Seven popular Android camera apps reviewed and rated.Misumi was adamant that jobs won't be cut at Canon."When machines become more sophisticated, human beings can be transferred to do new kinds of work," he said.Toyota Motor Corp. is also working on beefing up automated production not only to cut costs but achieve better quality.In a recent plant tour for reporters, Toyota showed how welding got much faster and more precise through instantaneous laser-welding.Toyota used that technology to make Lexus luxury models move and withstand sharp turns better.

Despite growing pressure from the high yen, Toyota is innovating production efficiency to keep annual Japan production at 3 million vehicles, about a third of its global production, by reducing costs through boosting robotics use.Akihito Sano, professor at Nagoya Institute of Technology, said Japan needs to do more to fine-tune its sophisticated technology so robotics can become more practical, and was doing some soul-searching lately about practical applications.Japan has tended to focus on research and come up with razzle-dazzle humanoids and then get been beaten in simple but practical products like the Roomba vacuum cleaner by iRobot Corp. of the United States, he said.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Seven popular Android camera apps reviewed and rated

This may come as a shock to anyone that has an iPhone, but not everyone has an iPhone.And if you don't have an iPhone then you missed getting your preferred username in Instagram and are sick of everyone's square pictures of their dinner turned all before-it-was-cool-antiquey with a droll filter.Perhaps more importantly, you're arriving to the Instagram hipster party late and have had the time to actually try out and enjoy other camera apps.Which is why, like me, you may not be crazy-impressed with Instagram.

Android users (like me) have had a lot of camera apps to sift through and plenty of time to do it. I take a lot of photos with my phone in a variety of situations.  I've been testing and using Android camera apps diligently for six months; Instagram from when it opened to Android.I'm currently enjoying a Galaxy Nexus on Ice Cream Sandwich and regularly use and test other droids, in addition to other operating systems.(Disclosure: I partner with Nokia on occasion to test and promote phones for special events if I like the phone and OS).Some people got tired of waiting for Instagram and joined the photo sharing community at MyTubo, a camera app that, well, is a bit like Instagram. It doesn't have critical mass, but is a simple and pretty app.

Pros: 15 easy to use filters, tons of sharing options including four Chinese social networks (Sina, RenRen, etc), users send each other "meows" for ratings, in-app social network is simple and easy to use, easy to switch cameras.Cons: No nudity or "erotic content" (with ToS caveat they can "interpret" this at any time), nothing exceptional about camera use, can't change phone shutter location, no camera adjustment settings, average in-app camera no different than native Android app.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Camera megapixels : Why more isn't always better

Just days ago, Samsung announced the Samsung Galaxy S III, the global, quad-core, Android Ice Cream Sandwich successor to its best-selling smartphone ever, the Galaxy S II.CNET readers' reactions were mixed, with several comments that the 8-megapixel camera didn't seem too hot.Rumors of a 12-megapixel camera leading up to the announcement were partly to blame. It's no wonder that some felt that a perfectly good 8-megapixel spec was taking a step back, especially with the 16-megapixel shooter on the HTC Titan II out in the wild, and Nokia's 41-megapixel 808 PureView, a Mobile World Congress stunner.

Time-shifting BlackBerry camera makes pictures perfect.Despite the fact that 8 megapixels is pretty standard for a high-end smartphone camera these days, one CNET reader described the Samsung Galaxy S III's camera as "so last year." Never mind that at least one high-end phone, like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, still touts a 5-megapixel camera.It isn't that 5-megapixel cameras can't be good, even better than phones with an 8-megapixel count lens; or that we're due for another bump along the megapixel scale. It's that to many shoppers, 5 megapixels just doesn't sound as good as 8, even if the camera produces terrific, knock-your-socks-off shots. And well, if 8 is good, then 12 is better.

The dirty secret lurking behind today's 8-megapixel yard stick for high-end status (and what any photography nut will tell you) is that the megapixel number alone is a poor way to predict photographic performance.For instance, the original Samsung Focus took some lovely shots on its 5-megapixel camera, while the Motorola Droid Razr's 8-megapixel lens creates disappointing pictures. And the 5-megapixel camera on Apple's iPhone 4 beat out some 8-megapixel cameras on the market and delivered good low-light results.Of course, that's not to say that bigger can't also be sometimes better. For instance, HTC's One X high-performance 8-megapixel smartphone camera boasts rapid shot-to-shot action, and its Titan II takes 16-megapixel shots of solid quality.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Time-shifting BlackBerry camera makes pictures perfect

Cameras using BB 10 software will have the ability to wind back time on selected portions of photos to make sure that the image has captured all of its subjects at their best. The example used in the demonstration at BlackBerry World showed two people having their photo taken; when one of the subjects had her eyes closed in the finished shot, the photographer was able to select her face and wind back, frame by frame, to find a moment when her eyes were open. With this moment found, only this portion of the final photo was amended.

The feature is almost identical to a photo app we saw demoed earlier in the year called Rewind by Swedish app developer Scalado. It seems to work by having the camera app cache images in the moments before you fire the shutter. RIM hasn't published any videos showing this new feature in action yet, so check out the Scalado video below to get an idea of what to expect. There is no firm date set for the release of BlackBerry OS 10 or new hardware running the update platform, though it is believed that RIM will unveil new devices in August.

I'm one of the millions of smartphone owners addicted to Instagram, the free camera app that makes tweaking and sharing photos miraculously easy.Digital cameras keep their focus. While it's wildly popular and the target of Facebook's $1 billion takeover deal, Instagram isn't the only camera app worth having.I've had a chance to test a wide range of Instagram alternatives during choice picture-taking opportunities over the past few months, including my sister's wedding in Hawaii in December and a trip to Lebanon this month.

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