NIK Snapseed for iPad

If you are an iPad owner looking for a good photo app for your mobile device, you might want to take a look at NIK’s newest product Snapseed.

NIK is well known for their U-Point technology and pro photography plugins like Silver Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro and Sharpener Pro. Their plugins are well designed and offer professional controls and results. With Snapseed, NIK has moved the patented U-Point technology to the mobile device.

Snapseed iTunes screen grab

Snapseed offers tap control points for selective image adjustments (U-Point technology). Creative effects can be applied via photo filters like Grunge, Vintage etc. You can create centre focus by blurring areas outside of the desired areas. Black & White is also part of the Snapseed offering. You can create darkroom style looks using the supplied filter options and top it all up with random organic borders.

Snapseed is also built with sharing capabilities. You can share the photos via email or through social networking sites like Facebook and Flickr. You can also print via Airplay (WiFi enabled printing).

This product is available on iTunes App Store for $4.99.

Location Data on iPhone and iPad

iPhone

The news yesterday about the iPhone and the 3G iPad logging the user(s) minute-by-minute location data had created quite a stir. Two computer programmers had discovered that Apple’s devices are tracking your every move. They have even created an app iPhone Tracker that can display a map showing the exact locations drawn from the data stored on the device.

my recent locations

This, of course, has created quite a panic in some paranoid people thinking the Big Brother is watching your every move. Apple is spying. The government is spying on everyone too!

To be fair, the location data is stored on the user’s iPhone or 3G iPad until the device is synced to a computer. The data then gets copied onto the hard drive. Until these two programmers came up with the app, the data is mighty difficult for laymen to access unless you are a Unix geek.

Law enforcement officials are already getting access to this type of info from mobile phone companies for investigation purposes. Collecting this type of data is not illegal but the question that should be asked is how Apple and other tech companies intend to use it, if at all.

For the time being, in order to protect the iPhone location data on your computer, you can encrypt the iPhone backups next time you sync up.

Apple Aperture Update

Aperture 3.1.2

Apple has released an update 3.1.2 for Aperture. It can be downloaded via the Software Update…

This update aims to improve overall stability and performances. Other bug fixes addressed in this release are:

• Importing iPhoto libraries
• Reliability and responsiveness when using brushes to apply adjustments
• Reconnecting referenced master images

The release notes provided by Apple can be found here.

 

Impact on Japan’s Camera Manufacturers

via Michael R. Tomkins, The Imaging Resource

Last week’s natural disaster in Japan had adversely affected the electronic industry and goods being produced in the country. Home to world’s biggest names in the camera industry, numerous companies have reported injuries to staff and damages to facilities. Some of these companies even halted production temporarily or closing down facilities completely.

Big names like Canon and Nikon have released statements detailing the damages sustained during last week’s disaster. Rolling blackouts is the other huge factor in maintaining normal production. There is no doubt that this is going to affect the overall costs of camera and electronic equipment produced in Japan in the foreseeable future.

Google has set up a ‘Crisis Response’ page for anyone who is either looking for missing persons or making donations.

RAW Compatibility Update

Apple has released a RAW Compatibility Update 3.6 for Aperture 3 and iPhoto ’11. The following cameras have been added to the support list:

• Canon EOS Rebel T3 / 1100D / Kiss X50
• Canon EOS Rebel T3i / 600D / Kiss X5
• Olympus E-5
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100
• Pentax K-r
• Pentax K-5

It also addresses processing issues for the following cameras:

• Nikon D7000
• Nikon COOLPIX P7000
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2

The update can be found via Software Update in OSX or by following the link below.

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1357

Usage Based Billing (UBB)

 

Usage Based Billing, also known as Metered Internet Usage is coming to Canada on March 1st, 2011.

CRTC has approved UBB for Bell Canada back in September 2010. This essentially means competitive ISPs will be metered by Bell for their internet traffic usage. Across the board, Canadians will have to pay inflated price for internet use charged by the gigabyte.

TekSavvy has published an open letter against UBB. Here’s an excerpt:

“We are discouraged by the decision by the CRTC to force us to charge virtually the same amount to our customers for the bandwidth they use that Bell does,” said Rocky Gaudrault, TekSavvy CEO. “This essentially gives the opportunity for incumbents like Bell, at zero cost, to increase their margins and stifle competition. If Bell wants to charge an economically unjustifiable amount for downloading to its customers, that is their business. However, we should not be forced to do the same. In the decision we asked for a discount of 50% to give us flexibility in serving our customers, but the CRTC limited the discount to 15%, so we are essentially stuck with pricing that serves Bell’s interests, but no one else’s.”

UBB is an increasingly controversial “tax” on downloading virtually unique to Canada, which makes consumers pay artificially high amounts for downloading to discourage bandwidth usage. TekSavvy and businesses like it buy their bandwidth from telecos and cable companies at wholesale rates stipulated by the CRTC which are supposed to allow TekSavvy and others to compete, and at the same time compensate the suppliers like Bell fairly.

Also on Facebook Stop UBB in Canada page, Lynda Fraser outlined the info about costs and caps directly from Bell Canada/Bell Aliant for Ontario and Quebec and this was all approved by the CRTC.

Ontario:
Lite Residence – cap of 2GB, $2.13 charge per GB if you go over your 2GB to a maximum charge of an extra $51.00/month
Lite Plus Residence is the same as aboveBasic Residence – cap of 25GB, $1.70 charge per GB if you go over 25GB to a maximum of $51.00/month

Quebec:
Lite Residence – cap of 1GB, $2.13 charge per GB if you go over your 1GB to a maximum charge of an extra $51.00/month
Lite Plus Residence – cap of 5GB, $2.13 charge per GB if you go over your 5GB to a maximum charge of an extra $51.00/monthBasic Residence – cap of 60GB, $2.13 charge per GB if you go over 25GB to a maximum of $51.00/month

Globe and Mail has an article by Preet Banerjee on UBB for further reading.

You can take action by visiting OpenMedia.ca .

MacBook AIR for Travel Photographers?

A workshop participant recently asked me about whether the MacBook Air is a good choice for travel photographers. I responded quickly with a few main points that I would consider if I found myself one day inside the Apple Store with a credit card in hand.

The MacBook Air is a great choice for travel photographers. The obvious selling point is its weight – 2.3 lbs to be exact. However, with this small form factor design, you’ll have to give up a few things that have been with the MacBook family for a number of years. Here’s a short list:

1. Hard Drive: Instead of traditional hard drives found on other MacBooks, the Air has completely switched to flash storage. The advantage of using SSD flash memory is speed. As there are no moving parts, it’s also more shock resistant and in theory less prone to mechanical problems. Macworld has posted some initial speed ‘torture’ test and found that there are no performance degradation over time. This is excellent news. The disadvantage of using SSD flash memory, however, is the price per gigabyte. Right now Apple is only offering maximum 128 GB of storage with the 11-in model. If you require more storage, it will have to be external drives.

2. Ports: The Air lacks any Firewire ports but it does have one USB 2 port on either side. In addition, the 11-in model does not have the SD card slot which is available on the 13-in model. I’m a fan of Firewire 800 as I have 2 portable drives for travel so will be an issue for user like me. If you are planning on using external USB 2 drives then this will not be problematic. Please note that in order to connect the Air to ethernet, an adapter is required.

3. Graphics: According to the Macworld benchmark tests, the graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce 320M – 256 MB) does provide speedy graphics. However, I have not tested it against the MacBook Pros with graphics intensive photo apps like Lightroom or Aperture so I reserve my comment until I have the chance to do so.

NIK Software & Pixel Genius

NIK Software has announced a version 2 upgrade to their flagship Silver Efex Pro. The Silver Efex Pro arguably is the best software on the market today for Black & White conversion. Its patented U Point technology provides very precise local adjustments. In version 2, NIK has added a nice to have History Browser. Silver Efex Pro 2 is available both as standalone and plugins for Lightroom and Aperture. You can get more info on NIK Software.

As for the much beloved Photokit Sharpener from Pixel Genius, it has also been upgraded to version 2 after it’s been absent for a few long years. Photokit Sharpener is an automated sharpening workflow for Photoshop. It is designed to work with both 8 or 16-bit scans and digital capture. PixelGenius is offering a 70% discount to version 1 users. The upgrade price is $30. For more info, you can visit Pixel Genius.

App Store Aperture 3

After installing the App Store, I was perusing the various products available for purchase and download. To my pleasant surprise, I noticed that the Aperture 3 app is retailing for $79.99. The pricing on apple.com of this app is still $199.00. Not sure whether this is a promo price for App Store only but if you need the app, there is no better time to purchase it.

The End of Kodachrome Processing

The last stop you could go to for Kodak Kodachrome processing is at Dwayne’s Photo in Kansas. Today is the last day Dwayne’s is accepting any rolls of Kodachrome film. Its processor will shut down by the end of its business day.

75-year celebrated history in the photography industry, Kodachrome had become a niche product over the years with its richness of colour which photographers worldwide adored since 1935.