GoPro Hero5 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
After teasing a new camera for months, GoPro finally has two new models: the $399 Hero5 Black and the $299 Hero5 Session. Both cameras arrive on October 2. (Skip down the page to see Lexy Savvides’ hands-on video.)
The former is a complete overhaul and new flagship camera for the brand. The latter is a souped-up version of the original 2015 model, but minus some key features from the Black to help make picking one easier than in the past.
GoPro also announced its first drone, the Karma, at the same event in California.
Both cameras are waterproof to 10 meters (33 feet) without a housing. GoPro’s past cameras were only rugged and waterproof when in a polycarbonate housing, and dealing with them is a hassle. Presumably there will be dive housings for those who want to go deeper or need shock protection, but out of the box you can just take them out in the sand and surf.
The GoPro Hero5
GoPro
GoPro also introduced what it calls professional-grade electronic image stabilization. It’s disappointing the company wasn’t able to work in optical image stabilization for the Hero5 like Sony did for its latest, but at least there’s the option for EIS. I’m not sure if it comes at the cost of image quality or resolution, though. Speaking of resolution…
4K video all around
The Black and Session will be able to record in 4K resolution at 30 frames per second. That’s the same as the previous high-end model, the Hero4 Black, but a jump for the Session. The Hero5 Black does get other imaging improvements, however.
The camera can capture 12-megapixel photos in raw format and there’s also a wide dynamic range mode. GoPro also added a linear-view setting that corrects distortion in its wide-angle photos and videos. The 10-megapixel Session has this option, too, but doesn’t seem to have the raw capture and WDR mode.
Quick controls
GoPro ditched the three-button control setup for the Hero5 Black in favor of a 2-inch touchscreen and a single button that turns the camera on and starts it recording. The touch interface has been updated, too, streamlining things a bit so you don’t end up endlessly swiping around.
GoPro Hero5 Session
GoPro
‘Connected and convenient’
Earlier in the year, GoPro CEO Nick Woodman said the Hero5 would be “the most connected and convenient” camera GoPro has ever made and any new hardware would do a better job of connecting to phones and the cloud.
Enter GoPro Plus, a cloud-based subscription service that makes it possible to upload, edit and share your clips with a phone or computer. Plug in a Hero5 to charge and the camera will automatically store your photos and videos to the service. This is actually pretty great for people like me who tend to just let microSD cards fill up and I’m never really sure if I’ve offloaded clips, inevitably resulting in duplicates or accidental deletion.
The service also gives you access to a library of licensed music to drop into your clips, 20 percent off on mounts and accessories from GoPro’s site, premium support and access to exclusive GoPro apparel. OK, maybe that last one isn’t going to seal the deal, but the music is a nice bonus.
GoPro introduces Hero 5 Session action camera
GoPro shows off its new $299 Hero 5 Session with 4K, image stabilization and voice control.
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Easier edits
The cloud service ties into a bigger issue that’s potentially stalled sales of new GoPro cameras: No one wants to edit their videos. To that end, in February, GoPro picked up two mobile video-editing apps — Replay and Splice — with the former relaunched in May as Quik.
The app, which is available for iOS and Android, analyzes your photos and video clips to find the most exciting stuff in to include and cut out the boring bits. You can trim it further if you don’t like what you got. It’ll then add transitions and effects and sync those to the beat of the music you pick. GoPro has now brought these same features to a desktop version of Quik, if you want to do your work on a bigger screen.
Also, for those times when you simply can’t wait to get your clips off the camera and on your phone for editing, GoPro will sell the Quik Key. It’s a keychain microSD card reader that plugs right into the jack on your phone.
GoPro Hero5 Session (pictures)
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Shout it out
Even with better software, editing can still be a drag as you scrub through your clips to find the best moments. GoPro had added easy highlight tagging with the last generation of cameras, but is taking it handsfree this time around.
With the Hero5 cameras, you’ll be able to shout at them to tag a section to find it quickly later. There are also voice commands for starting and stopping recordings, taking photos and changing shooting modes. The company also plans to have a new remote control, called Remo, to extend the range of voice commands.
Olympus OM-D Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Olympus rolled out the big numbers for its announcement of the update to its OM-D E-M1 flagship Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera, the OM-D E-M1 Mark II: a new 20.4-megapixel sensor with improved dynamic range, a new Dual Fast autofocus system with 121 phase-detection and 121 contrast-detection points, Cinema 4K/30p video recording, and 18 frames-per-second continuous shooting with autofocus (60fps if you don’t need AF).
The new sensor draws less power and a faster readout speed, though it’s supported by an updated image processor with 8 cores — that’s got to require some extra juice. The processor has updated autofocus algorithms as well, with better subject isolation for tracking. And a new Pro Capture mode starts bursting when you prefocus, keeping the last 14 frames before you take the shot.
It’s the same size as the original E-M1, though it looks a hair more like a dSLR and has a bigger grip plus a new higher capacity battery with faster charging. Dual SD card slots and a battery grip with a dedicated keypad round out the necessities.
Olympus makes some minor updates for the…
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Technically, Olympus considers this a “development announcement,” though that’s probably because there’s no price or availability (“later this year”).
Olympus stresses that the combination of compact size and speed makes it a desirable alternative to APS-C. While I don’t want to diminish the company’s achievement — I think the EM1M2 sounds like a really nice camera with a great feature set — keep in mind that even though it’s the same resolution as competing dSLRs, the APS-C sensor in those cameras is much bigger, they output 14-bit raw files vs. the EM1M2’s 12 bits and they hit higher ISO sensitivities. Plus there’s a lot we don’t know yet about it, including how many shots the buffer can hold, battery life or price.
The announcement also comes with some pro lenses to round out your kit.
Comparative specifications
| Canon EOS 7D Mark II | Nikon D500 | Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II |
| 20.2MP Dual Pixel CMOS14-bit | 20.9MP CMOSn/a14-bit | 20.4MP Live MOS12-bit |
| 22.4 x 15.0 mm | 23.5 x 15.7 mm | 17.3 x 13mm |
| 1.6x | 1.5x | 2.0x |
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ISO 100 – ISO 16000/ISO 51200 (exp) | ISO 50 (exp)/ISO 100 – ISO 51200/ISO 1,640,000 (exp) | ISO 64 (exp)/200 – ISO 25600 |
| 10fps1,090 JPEG/31 raw | 10fps79 raw | 18fpsn/a(60fps with fixed AE/AF) |
| Optical100% coverage1.0x/.67x | Optical100% coverage1.0x/0.67x | EVFn/a-inch2.36 million dots100% coverage1.3x – 1.48x/ 0.65x- 0.74x |
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 65-point phase-detection AFall cross-typecenter dual cross to f2.8 | 153-point99 cross-type(15 cross-type to f8)Multi-CAM 20K | 121-point cross-type phase detection AF,121-point contrast AF |
| -3 to 18 EV | -4 – 20 EV | |
| 1/8,000 to 30 secs; bulb; 1/250 sec x-sync | 1/8,000 to 30 secs bulb; 1/250 sec x-sync (1/8,000 sec x-sync with FP shutter) | 60 – 1/8000 sec (1/32000 with electronic shutter); bulb to 30 minutes; 1/250 sec x-sync (Super FP to 1/8000) |
| 200,000 cycles | 200,000 cycles | 200,000 |
| 150,000-pixel RGB+IR 252 zone | 180,000-pixel RGB sensor 3D Color Matrix Metering III | 324 area |
| 1 – 20 EV | -3 – 20 EV | -2 – 20 EV |
| H.264 QuickTime MOV1080/60p, 30p, 25p, 24p @ 50Mbps | H.264 QuickTime MOV 4K UHD/30p, 25p, 24p | H.264 QuickTime MOVC4K/24p @237Mbps; UHD/30p, 25p, 24p @ 102Mbps; 1080/60p, 50p, 25p, 24p @ 202Mbps |
| Stereo, mic input, headphones | stereo; mic input; headphone jack | Stereo; mic input |
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 4GB/29:59 mins | 4GB/29:59 mins @ 144 Mbps | 29 mins |
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Optical | Optical | Sensor shift5 axis, IS Sync |
| 3 in/7.5cmFixed1.04m dots | 3.2 in/8 cmTilting touchscreen2.4 million dots | 3 in/7.5cmTilting touchscreen1.04m dots |
| 1 x CF, 1 x SDXC | 1 x SD, 1x XQD | 2 x SDXC |
| via optional WFT-E7A Version 2 | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC | Wi-Fi |
| Yes | No | Included add-on |
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 600 shots (VF); 250 shots (LV)(1,865 mAh) | 1,240 shots(1,900 mAh) | n/a(1,720 mAh) |
| 5.9 x 4.4 x 3.1 in148.6 x 112.4 x 78.2 mm | 5.8 x 4.6 x 3.2 in147 x 115 x 81 mm | 5.3 x 3.6 x 2.7 in134 x 91 x 69 mm |
| 32.5 oz920 g | 30.3 oz848 g | 20.2 oz574 g |
| $1,600 £1,370AU$2,140 | $2,000£1,730AU$3,500 | n/a |
| $2,000 (est.) £1,200 (est.) AU$2.590(with 18-135mm STM lens) | $2,600£2,480AU$4,500(with 16-80mm lens) | n/a |
| n/a | n/a | n/a |
| November 2014 | March 2016 | n/a |
Garmin vívoactive HR review
Buy now from Amazon
Garmin has been making fitness and activity trackers for quite some time now, and perhaps one of the most beefy, jack-of-all-trade offerings from the company so far is the vívoactive HR.
The vívoactive HR comes with a built-in GPS, a great water resistance rating, 8-day battery life, and an accurate heart rate monitor, but are all of those features worth the high price tag? Or should you opt for a less expensive, less feature-packed option? We answer all of those questions, and more, in our full Garmin vívoactive HR review.
Don’t miss: The best fitness trackers15
Review notes: I’ve been using the Garmin vívoactive HR as my main fitness tracker for 24 days. The Nexus 6P has been my smartphone companion of choice for the duration of this review.
Design
The vívoactive HR is far from the most attractive fitness tracker on the market. It’s a slight step up from the design of the original vívoactive fitness watch, but it’s still not very good. It has a big, bulky design that will most likely look too big on most average-sized wrists, and will definitely look too big on smaller wrists.
This causes an obvious problem: fitness trackers should be comfortable enough to wear at all times of the day – even when you’re sleeping. When they’re not being worn, they can’t track your activity and sleep metrics, which makes them pretty much useless.
The one upside to having a bigger device on your wrist? You also get a bigger screen. The vívoactive HR sports a 1.38-inch color touchscreen display that offers more than enough room for viewing your daily stats, current workouts, the weather and more. The screen isn’t particularly easy to read outdoors, but it’s far from the worst we’ve seen on a fitness tracker. You can also adjust your backlight intensity and timeout length if you’d like in the settings menu, but honestly we haven’t found the backlight to be all that useful.
Below the display you’ll find two physical buttons. The back button sits on the left, while the menu button sits on the right side. Both buttons look nearly identical, though, so it can be a little difficult to differentiate them from one another – especially during a workout.
One other major selling point the vívoactive HR has up its sleeve: water resistance
One other major selling point the vívoactive HR has up its sleeve: water resistance. The fitness tracker has a water resistance rating of 5 ATM, meaning it can withstand pressures equivalent to a depth of 50 meters. This is a huge plus in my book.
The band on the vívoactive HR is quite nice, too. It feels high-end but not to0 rubbery, making it comfortable to wear on the skin all day. Also, if you aren’t a fan of the standard black model, you can find Lava Red, Force Yellow and White replacement bands on Amazon for about $30.
Features and performance
As we mentioned in the beginning of this review, the vívoactive HR is sort of an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink device. Not only does it offer your standard step, distance, calorie and sleep tracking, it also provides smartphone notifications, plenty of customizable watch faces, detailed weather information, current and past heart rate trends, GPS tracking and much more, right on the watch itself. It can get a little confusing when swiping through all the menus on the watch for the first time, but you’ll get used to the UI sooner than you might think.
Before we get into the vívoactive HR’s fitness tracking features, let’s first talk about all the extras. Garmin says the vívoactive HR is a “GPS smartwatch”, and they’re not kidding. You can get pretty much any notification from your phone to appear on the device, like incoming calls, missed calls, new voicemails, texts, emails, and even other applications like Facebook, Slack, Hangouts and more. Even though you can’t reply to any of them from your wrist, we’re happy the vívoactive HR provides many more notification options than other devices like the Fitbit Blaze.
See also: Fitbit Blaze review14
Much like most other fitness trackers on the market, the vívoactive HR will tell you to get up and move if it thinks you’ve been sitting for too long. On the left side of the main digital watch face, you’ll see a red and white bar. This is called the Move Bar. Once it fills up, the vívoactive HR will buzz and tell you to move. And once the Move Bar is cleared, you’re good to relax for another hour or so.
The vívoactive HR’s sport tracking list is extensive
The vívoactive HR’s sport tracking list is extensive. Just tap the right physical button and you’ll see a list of everything the device can track. Here’s the full list of what it can track: run, bike, pool swim, golf, walk, row, SUP (stand-up paddle boarding), ski/board, XC ski, run indoor, bike indoor, walk indoor and row indoor. Not bad, right?
Garmin’s Move IQ in action
Once you tap the right button and select your workout, just wait a few seconds for the tracker to achieve a GPS connection, and you’re good to go. If you forget to select your workout, though, Garmin’s Move IQ technology will step in. Move IQ is basically Garmin’s version of automatic activity recognition, though it does come with a healthy dose of caveats. If you find yourself on a run or biking around town, the idea is that Move IQ will record that activity in the background automatically. The problem is, even if it detects you’re in the middle of a workout, it won’t enable the GPS. This means when you go into the Garmin Connect app for your workout stats, you’ll only see your workout duration, not distance. Also, these automatically recorded workouts don’t show up in the standard activity view of the app (like all other workouts), just in the calendar view.
You’ll get much more precise data if you just select your workouts manually. It can be difficult to remember sometimes, I know, but tapping a few more buttons before you begin will really be beneficial in the long run.
In terms of step tracking, the vívoactive HR is pretty much on par with most other higher-end fitness trackers on the market. As per usual, we went out and walked 500 steps with the vívoactive HR, while also comparing it with the Fitbit Surge and Garmin vívosmart HR. The vívoactive HR was actually the closest out of them all, ending with 504 steps. For reference, the Surge came in second with 506 steps and the vívosmart HR recorded 508.
You don’t buy the vívoactive HR just for its pedometer feature, though. You buy it because you need something more than what the average fitness tracker can provide. I’ve used the vívoactive HR primarily for running over this two-week review period, and we must say, it’s an incredible workout companion.
The 1.38-inch screen can show you plenty of info during a workout
When you’re in the middle of a run, the device’s big screen will be able to show you more than what other fitness trackers can at a glance. You’ll see your distance, time and pace all on the main screen. You can also swipe through (up or down) to reveal more metrics: lap distance, lap time, lap pace, heart rate, heart rate zone and average heart rate. For most runners out there, this should be more than enough info at a glance to get you through your run, though Garmin does have a pretty solid lineup of more high-end running watches if you need something more robust.
Once you’re done running, you’ll need to tap the right physical button to stop your workout, then you can choose to either save or discard what the watch just recorded. Once you save, you can then review your workout right on the watch. This short summary includes your distance, time, pace, calories burned, average heart rate, maximum heart rate, ascent and descent. I’ve found this ‘quick review’ feature very helpful after getting done with a run. It’s not always convenient to open the app to review your most recent activity right away, so this feature can really help save some time.
As far as heart rate monitoring is concerned, the vívoactive HR has one of the more accurate wrist-mounted optical heart rate sensors I’ve used thus far. To test heart rate accuracy, I’ve been comparing the vívoactive HR’s Elevate sensor with the Wahoo TICKR X heart rate monitor. Most of the time, in terms of resting heart rate, the vívoactive HR’s readings are spot on with the TICKR X, though we have noticed the Garmin device will sometimes be off by 5-8bpm or so.
Bottom line, if you want super-accurate HR readings, buy a chest-mounted heart rate monitor
The watch’s active heart rate readings are similar to those of the TICKR X as well, though I’ve found the differences to be a little more apparent. Especially during an intense run, I’ve noticed the vívoactive HR tends to lag a bit compared to the TICKR X, though the readings between the two devices are normally only 10bpm off at most. That’s par for the course when talking about wrist-based HR sensors, though. If you want the most accurate HR readings, you should opt for a chest strap. With that said, casual runners won’t be disappointed with the vívoactive HR’s readings in the slightest.
The vívoactive HR is also quite the accurate device for cyclists. After you begin your cycling trip, the vívoactive HR will display your distance, time, speed, lap distance, lap time, average speed, heart rate, heart rate zone and average heart rate. As was the case with running, these metrics should be more than enough for most cyclists out there. Once you’re done with your biking trip, you’ll be able to check more detailed metrics like average/max speed, moving time, average/max heart rate, elevation gain/loss, min/max elevation and calories burned.
Garmin’s Connect app only displays a limited amount of information regarding sleep trends overtime
Sleep tracking with the vívoactive HR could be a little better. Let’s start off with the positives. Unlike with activity tracking, the watch will automatically track your sleep when it senses you’ve fallen asleep. No need to hit any buttons. When you wake up, you’ll be able to see how long you slept, how much deep and light sleep you achieved, and how often you woke up. You’ll also see graphs showing how often you move during the night.
We don’t really have any problems with the way the vívoactive HR tracks sleep; everything seems to be pretty accurate. The problem is, Garmin’s Connect app only displays a limited amount of information regarding sleep trends overtime. Checking out day-by-day sleep stats is as easy as navigating to the calendar view and selecting a particular day, but you can’t really look back at how your sleep patterns have been progressing. There’s a dedicated sleep section that’s easy enough to find in the app, though it only shows your sleep from the past seven days. It would have been much nicer to see more days included in this view, as well as suggestions for getting a better night’s sleep.
Related: Moto 360 Sport review20
Garmin says the vívoactive HR will be able to last up to 8 days on a single charge in watch/activity tracking mode, which is in line with what I’ve been able to achieve throughout my testing period. Of course, the battery will diminish much quicker the more you use things like the heart rate sensor or GPS, so be sure to keep that in mind.
| Display | 1.38-inch touchscreen display, 183ppi |
| Heart rate monitor | Yes, optical |
| GPS | Yes |
| Water resistance | 5 ATM (up to 50 meters) |
| Sleep tracking | Yes, automatic |
| Battery life | Up to 8 days |
| Compatibility | Android, iOS, Windows 10 |
| Colors | Black (with interchangeable bands in Lava Red, Force Yellow and White) |
| Dimensions | Watch only: 30.2 x 57.0 x 11.4mm Regular: fits wrists from 137 to 195mm X-Large: fits wrists from 162 to 225mm |
| Weight | Regular: 47.6g X-large: 48.2g |
Software
Like we’ve mentioned in the past, Garmin’s Connect app is sort of difficult to get used to. It’s cluttered, a tad slow and not super intuitive to navigate, though there are some really good things here if you look hard enough.
Connect is divided up into a few main sections: Snapshots, Leaderboard, Calendar, News Feed and Insights. The main Snapshot screen features all of your stats for the current day, including steps, sleep, active calories, activities, intensity minutes and floors climbed. Swiping left or right from here will bring you to more detailed pages on steps, sleep, activity, weight, and the Garmin Community. You can also add more Snapshots by tapping the top-right menu button.
Tapping on a particular Snapshot will give you more detailed information on that metric. For instance, the running Snapshot only shows distance, time, pace and your miles over the last 30 days, but tapping on any one of these areas will give you more detailed workout data.
More: Fitbit Charge HR vs Garmin vívosmart HR13
Next up is the Leaderboard section, which is where you can connect with friends who also have Garmin devices. It’s here where you can compete with your friends to achieve goals and see how everyone else is doing.
The Calendar section is mighty useful, though it can get confusing if you don’t know what you’re looking for. This is where you’ll go to find a previous workout, sleep or goal. As you can see in the screenshot below, the Calendar is presented as a month view, with different colors indicating workouts, sleep and goals. There’s no easy way to tell which color stands for what, so you might be poking around a bit to find what you’re looking for. Luckily there’s a filter option on the top-right of the Calendar to help point you in the right direction, but we’re not sure this is a good solution.
Next up is the News Feed section. This is where all of your workouts are listed from the past month. Last but not least is the Insights page, where you’ll find a list of tips and tricks from Garmin that will help you make the most of your workouts.
It’s easy to have a love/hate relationship with this app. It’s confusing, and we’re constantly finding new areas of the app we didn’t know existed. There is a lot of good information inside the Connect app, though. Garmin just needs to move around a few menus and simplify the whole experience a bit.
Gallery
Should you buy it?
Buy now from Amazon
If you’re looking for a fitness tracker with GPS, a big screen, water resistance and aren’t worried about size, the Garmin vívoactive HR is for you. It’s not cheap at around $250, but we can honestly say that, for the money, this is one of the better fitness trackers on the market. While Garmin does have some room to improve with its Move IQ technology and Connect app, those are very small caveats in the grand scheme of things.
How did you like our review? Is there anything you’d like to add? Be sure to let us know what you think in the comment section below!
Next: The best smartwatches38
Google’s next phones may be much more expensive
For years, Google’s reference Android smartphones have been relative bargains. Even the $649 Nexus 6 was a steal considering its then cutting-edge screen. You might have to get used to shelling out much more going forward, though. A reportedly trustworthy Android Police source claims that Google’s HTC-made 2016 phones (currently known as the Pixel and Pixel XL) will start at $649. That’s the typical manufacturer price for a mainstream device like the iPhone 7 or Galaxy S7, and well above the $499 it took to buy the Nexus 6P when it was new. The Pixel XL would almost certainly cost more, too.
Supposedly, Google is counting on financing options to soften the blow. And while Verizon will purportedly be the only US carrier selling the Pixels in stores, you’d still get to buy them online from Google.
It’s not clear what’s prompting the price hike, provided it’s real. High-end specs by themselves don’t dictate prices at Google. However, CEO Sundar Pichai previously hinted that future Google phones would be more “opinionated,” carrying distinctive software features that help them stand out. In that light, the Pixel line may represent a change in focus. Instead of focusing on developers and early adopters, as with the Nexus line, Google could directly compete with high-end Android manufacturers that already offer unique takes on Android. That’s something of a gamble — does the Google name command that much of a premium? You might not have long to wait for the truth, however, when rumors have the Pixel range launching on October 4th.
Source: Android Police
iOS 10 Adoption Growing Steadily, Now Installed on 34% of Devices
iOS 10 has now been available for just under a week, and its adoption rate has been growing at a steady pace over the course of the last few days. According to data gathered by Mixpanel, iOS 10 is now installed on nearly 34 percent of devices.
iOS 9 is still the most popular operating system, installed on 62 percent of devices, while just under 5 percent of devices continue to use iOS 8 or older.
24 hours after iOS 10 was released, it was installed on 14.45 percent of devices, slightly outpacing iOS 9 adoption rates in the year prior. iOS 10 includes many appealing features that encouraged people to upgrade immediately, like a revamped Messages app with stickers and a full App Store, a Siri API for developers, a redesigned Lock screen experience, a new Music app, new facial and object recognition capabilities in Photos, and more.
iOS 10 did, however, see some installation issues early on that may have made people weary of downloading the update, but those problems are now resolved and customers should see no problems downloading the new operating system.
Given iOS 10’s steady growth, it could potentially overtake iOS 9 as the operating system with the fastest adoption rates. Last year, less than two weeks after it was released, Apple said iOS 9 was installed on more than 50 percent of active devices, the quickest adoption rates it had seen for an iOS update.
If iOS 10 adoption grows by another 16 percent over the next week, it should take the title of fastest adopted software update ever.
Related Roundup: iOS 10
Discuss this article in our forums
Google Photos update simplifies sharing, launches new automatic creations
It’s now even easier to share from Google Photos to anyone, no matter what.
Google Photos already does a great job letting you share photos, videos and albums, but with its latest app update things are getting even simpler. Now when selecting photos to share, you can bypass the idea of sharing to a specific app and just send to specific people instead — the share sheet will now just have a “To:” field where you can type names, email addresses or phone numbers.
Google Photos then figures out the best way to send to them. If they have a Google Photos account, that’s great, but if they don’t, Photos will send them a link via SMS or just attach the photos to a new email. You can customize how you want to send to each person you select, or just let Google choose.
The most important thing is sharing the photos — it doesn’t matter how they arrive.
For many people the most important part is just getting the photos out there for people to see — it doesn’t matter exactly how they get there. You can still choose to send images via an app of your choice, of course, but if you just want to send to a specific person or group, Photos can now do the hard work for you.
That’s a pretty big change in the way that Google Photos lets you handle sharing, but this update doesn’t stop there. Google is also testing out new automatic “creations” for you — the latest example is a short auto-generated video that shows the progression of your child growing up; all you have to do is keep your photos in Google Photos, and it does the rest. Google says it’s trialing more of these advanced creations — it specifically names commemorating “good times” and “formal events” — and they’ll be hitting the app soon.
Between the advanced sharing and even more automatic creations, Google Photos continues to be a fantastic way to manage, share and most importantly enjoy your photos. The new update is rolling out in the Play Store right now, but is also hitting the iOS App Store and of course the web.
Google Photos
- Getting to know the new Google Photos
- Get your Google Photos library started
- Manage Google Photos backup settings
- What happens when you delete pictures in Google Photos?
- Managing your shared photo links
- Where did Auto Awesome go?
- Discuss Google Photos in the forums!
Google Play
Getting started with add-on camera lenses for your Android phone
What are the different types of phone photography lenses available?
Let’s cut to the chase: your Android phone’s camera is a powerful little tool. With it you can capture vivid video, professional portraits, trippy time-lapses, and so much more, all without any extra bells and whistles weighing you down.
Phone photography lenses are incredibly quick, practical, and convenient tools to have in your back pocket, and the four most common kinds you’ll come across are wide-angle, fisheye, macro, and telephoto lenses. They can take your Instagram posts to the next level, transform a get-together with friends into a memorable photo moment, and make your Snapchat stories all the more compelling to watch.
With phone photography blossoming online and amongst real-life pro photographers, having a few phone lenses ready to go can be a great way to switch things up in your shooting routine.
Here are the different, most common types of phone photography lenses to check out if you’re looking to get creative and break the mold on basic, boring phone photography!
- Wide-angle
- Fisheye
- Macro
- Telephoto
Wide-angle
Wide-angle lenses are a really great, straightforward way to add a bit of a different perspective to your Android photos and videos without making them look too terribly cluttered and over the top.
As a phone photographer shooting with a wide-angle, external lens, you’ll be able to allow more of the background image to be captured in your photograph or video. If you want to get more technical with things like focal length, that’s totally a-okay, but to keep things simple, it’s key to essentially remember that the shorter the focal length is, the wide the field of view is, and therefore, more stuff can fit into your image.
Wide-angle lenses are fantastic because they can be used in a plethora of shooting styles, including portraiture, nature shots, food pics, large group shots, selfies, and so much more! By expanding and changing the way your Android phone sees things, you can really up the overall quality and look of your photos.
Remember, a wide-angle lens is used more to shift your perspective and make you get a creative, not warp your photo completely like other phone photography lenses.
Fisheye
If you’ve ever watched a GoPro video, you’ve probably noticed the familiar look of the camera lens: it’s less intense than looking through a peephole, but more intense than a typical wide-angle lens. This look is called a fisheye effect, and it’s an incredibly popular shooting tool amongst phone and professional photographers!
First used in the 1920s for meteorology and cloud formation, fisheye lenses have recently made a comeback (after a spike in popularity in the 60s) in everything from action photography, wedding photography, underwater photography, food photography, music videos, horror movies, portraiture, and so, so much more. A fisheye lens can be appropriate to use in almost any situation, giving the viewer a bit more of a ‘I’m actually there in the photo!!!’ perspective.
You can use a fisheye lens with your Android phone to add a super unique perspective and feel to your photos. Depending on how the lens is secured to your phone – via adhesive, magnets, a clip-on, or case – you can even imitate bigger-ticket video items like a GoPro camera with just your phone.
All you need is a little fisheye perspective, and a lot of creativity.
Macro
Sometimes, details are the most important things in a photo or a video. Capturing crisp, clear little flecks of dust, or the fine, hypnotic grain of wood, or even the sharp, jagged edges of fragmented, shattered glass goes the complete opposite of a fisheye or wide-angle lens, but with a macro lens attachment, you can really get up-close and personal with your subject.
Macro lenses are a pretty difficult tool to get used to, but they’re relatively easy to shoot with once you get familiar with them. Depending on the strength of the lens – 10x to 20x is typically normal – you can capture intense detail that your Android phone’s camera would gloss over completely.
With macro phone lenses, you want a lens that secures as close as possible to your phone’s camera, making clip-on or even some magnetized lenses a bit unreliable. Using a macro lens that works with a rubber band assures that the lens is producing the clearest images and video without or with very little distortion.
Macro lenses are typically not a day-to-day shooting tool (unless you love how hyper-detailed and beautiful macro shots can be!), but depending on the quality of the piece you pick up, you can even find some macro lenses that capture images at a microscopic level.
Telephoto
Telephoto lenses are used for giving you that zoomed-in look on a photo without actually zooming in manually.
You’re probably thinking, “Why can’t I just zoom with my phone? This seems unnecessary.” But when you use your Android device’s zoom, you start to sacrifice the quality of the photo, the look of a video, or the overall detail of a picture. It’s frustrating, but having a telephoto lens in your back pocket can do a lot of interesting things for your phone photography.
There are plenty of different strengths of telephoto lens you can buy, including 4x, 8x, 12x, and more. Of course phone lenses aren’t as expensive as lenses for DSLR cameras, so you can pick up a few different types to play around with them and experiment creatively.
While most other external lenses for phones are quite small, telephoto lenses can get a bit bulkier. You can’t always just attach a telephoto lens and start shooting because some may be too large for your phone to attach via magnet or clip (so a strap or case needs to be involved), while others need to be used with a stand or a mounting piece.
Telephoto lenses can bring some different looks to your phone photography and video without ruining your picture quality or sacrificing your creative vision.
What do you shoot with?
Is there a not-so-common phone photography lens that you can’t get enough of? Let us know what you love shooting with in the comments below so we can check it out!
Google Trips wants to be the only app you need while traveling
Google has released a new app to the public that takes its Gmail inbox-reading machine learning prowess and applies it to travel.
Dubbed Google Trips, the app consolidates all of the travel data Google has collected from Gmail (with your permission) and arrays it in an easy-to-understand way, with offline support for those times you don’t have cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity.
The app takes what Inbox and Google Now have been doing for some time — deciphering the automatic emails you get from booking sites, travel agents, and other sources — and adds personalized recommendations for what the company calls the “top 200 cities in the world.” These include local tourist hotspots, restaurants and “local gems,” consolidating them into a full day’s tour that can be followed offline.
The app has been in beta since April, and as a result feels extremely polished and well-designed. From a recent trip to San Francisco, for example, it pulled in my flight and hotel data as well as any places I’d saved in Google Maps. It also described local customs, shopping districts, and any other essential information such as available of taxis and how to navigate the public transit system.
Trips can be as automatic or customized as you want, depending on how much time and investment you want to put into it. You can also add one location in a city and have Trips fill in nearby attractions based on that manual input — very clever if you know you have one or two things to hit but don’t have a full day planned.
While much of this information is available through various Google services already — Gmail, Inbox, Maps, and Google Now — it’s nice to see an app like Trips that, for the avid traveler, will fill in any of those blanks.
Olympus’ OM-D E-M1 Mark II is all about speed
Olympus is working on a new version of its flagship Micro Four Thirds camera, the OM-D E-M1 Mark II, which sports a high-speed TruePic VIII Image Processor that’s 3.5 times faster than previous editions. The new camera also includes a 20.4 megapixel Live MOS sensor and an electronic shutter, allowing it to take full-resolution images at 60 frames per second in AF and AE lock, and up to 18 frames per second with continuous tracking.
Olympus promises the new flagship’s continuous AF tracking performance will be dramatically improved with a new algorithm aimed at following subjects on the move. The OM-D E-M1 Mark II has a new Pro Capture Mode designed to catch split-second moments and a 50 megapixel High Res Shot Mode that apparently rivals the detail captured by full-frame DSLRs.
The OM-D E-M1 Mark II also takes 4K video (4096 x 2060) and to help offset camera shake, it uses a 5-Axis Image Stabilization system and electronic stabilization specialized for movies. The camera is weathersealed, dustproof, splashproof and freezeproof to 14 degrees Fahrenheit. Its battery is improved by 37 percent over Olympus’ previous flagship model and the OM-D E-M1 Mark II has dual memory card slots.
Source: Olympus
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