Instragrams Brings Us ‘Bolt’ that will Compete with Snapchat
So many social media outlets…so little time to download and use them all. Instagram took the world by storm, because everyone loves to take pictures of themselves or what they are currently doing. I think most of us were satisfied by Instagram’s features of just posting filtered pictures, but of course that is never enough for the people who develop these apps. Instagram has introduced a new app called “Bolt”, that will compete with Snapchat, because it pretty much is Snapchat Instagramified.
- One tap takes a photo or records a video. As soon as you lift your finger, it sends.
- Photos and videos are always unedited so people can see the world as you do.
- Easily caption photos and videos.
- Go back and forth by replying to your friends with text, photos or videos.
- Swipe photos away and they’re gone.
- Organize your 20 Favorites in whatever order works for you.
- Sign up with your phone number, no email address needed.
Those are just a few features you will find with Bolt, but don’t get too excited Americans. This app is not available for us quite yet, but you people living outside the States should be fine. This app should most likely do better than Facebook’s Slingshot app, that tried to bring the same kind of concept to Facebook Messenger. Facebook should just stop trying to be what it’s not. So click the link below to try out Bolt. Let us know how it is.
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The post Instragrams Brings Us ‘Bolt’ that will Compete with Snapchat appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
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Instagram quietly (and slowly) launches Snapchat rival, Bolt
We knew Instagram’s effort to nab a bit of Snapchat’s thunder was imminent thanks to leaked promo banners, and now, the app has officially arrived… for some. Bolt, the filter-driven photo app’s own ephemeral messenger has hit iTunes and Google Play for folks in Singapore, South Africa and New Zealand. The software’s claim to fame is speed: instead of having to fiddle through a series of options, tapping a contact’s picture both captures and sends a photo — no further swiping required (tap and hold records video). So long as they’re in your favorites list, of course. There’s also an undo feature that allows you to retrieve a message in the first few seconds by shaking your phone. While Bolt doesn’t require a Facebook or Instagram account, you will have to sign up with your phone number for sorting through your contacts. For now though, most of us have to find solace in just reading about it, since a select few locales are privy to the initial rollout. Instagram’s word on that particular strategy is situated after the break.
“Bolt is the fastest way to share an image or a video — just one tap to capture and send. We decided to start small with Bolt, in just a handful of countries, to make sure we can scale while maintaining a great experience. We expect to roll it out more widely soon.“
Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile, Facebook
Source: TechCrunch
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Engadget Daily: the Oppo Find 7, shoes that vibrate in the right direction and more!
Today, we review the Oppo Find 7, learn where not to fly drones, contemplate Apple’s rumored 12-inch Retina Display MacBook and take a look at smart shoes that vibrate in the right direction. Read on for Engadget’s news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Oppo Find 7 review: A solid phone that faces stiff competition
What you’re looking at is the Oppo Find 7. This Android-powered handset has a gorgeous Quad HD display and plenty of horsepower under the hood, but can it compete with the Galaxy S5 or LG G3? Read our review and find out.
Apple reportedly releasing OS X Yosemite in October alongside 4K desktop and 12-inch Retina MacBook
The OS X Yosemite public beta just went live today, and now… more rumors. According to 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman, the final version of the OS will be released in October, accompanied by a 12-inch Retina MacBook and 4K monitor.
These smart shoes vibrate to point you in the right direction
Tired of being a distracted walker? Lechal’s interactive haptic footwear can help. These shoes pair with your smartphone and guide you around town with vibrations, no screen required.
Want to fly a drone? Don’t do it here
You’ve probably never tried to pilot your drone through a nuclear power plant, but that’s not the only sort of no-fly zone that should be avoided. Check out this map of locations where you should never fly your UAV.
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Instagram’s Snapchat competitor Bolt leaks
Snapchat’s meteoric rise made one thing abundantly clear — the market would soon be flooded with copy cats. The next major player to try and drink Snapchat’s milkshake might be Instagram. A banner introducing Bolt, a service for “one tap photo messaging,” appeared at the top of the company’s mobile app last night. The announcement was quickly pulled, but not before several people grabbed screenshots and started passing them around on Twitter. Unfortunately there’s not much more detail to share at the moment, but the move will definitely raise a few eyebrows. For one, it would seem like a trivial feature to simply integrate into the existing Instagram app. Secondly, with Facebook’s Slingshot already offering ephemeral photo and video messages, Bolt seems like a duplication of efforts. Of course, there’s always the chance that Bolt will offer some truly unique twist on the format and shove pretenders to the media messaging crown aside.
Filed under: Software, Mobile, Facebook
Via: The Verge
Source: @yo_areli (Twitter)
Google, Microsoft and Instagram rush to fix Flash flaw that could steal your data
Yet another critical security flaw has been found for Adobe’s notoriously sieve-like Flash plug-in, this time by Google Engineer Michele Spagnuolo. His exploit tool, called “Rosetta Flash” is just a proof of concept, but could allow hackers to steal your cookies and other data using malicious Flash .SWF files. The exploit is well known in the security community, but had been left unfixed until now as nobody had found a way to harness it for evil. So how does this affect you? Many companies like Twitter, Microsoft, Google and Instagram have already patched their sites, but beware of others that may still be vulnerable. Adobe now has a fix, and if you use Chrome or Internet Explorer 10 or 11, your browser should automatically update soon with the latest versions of Flash, 14.0.0.145 (check your version here). However, if you have a browser like Firefox, you may want to grab the latest Flash version from Adobe directly (watch out for unwanted add-ons with pre-checked boxes). Finally, if you use apps like Tweetdeck or Pandora, you’ll need to update Adobe AIR — that should happen automatically, but the latest version is 14.0.0.137 for Windows, Mac and Android.
Filed under: Internet
Via: Krebson Security
Source: Michele Spagnuolo, Adobe
Three NYC filmmakers are creating a ‘TV series’ exclusively for Instagram
Maybe cord-cutting has gone too far: three New York City filmmakers are publishing their new series exclusively on Instagram. On July 1st, seven 15 second episodes of “Artistically Challenged” will appear on the trio’s Instagram account, with 25 additional updates landing every day after July 7th. After 32 episodes (and 8 minutes of footage) the story will be over — but it’s not the only narrative Instagram video has to tell. Earlier this year Adult Swim split an episode of Rick and Morty into 109 bite size chunks and says its building an entire “micro-network” for smartphone audiences.
Artistically Challenged may be making its public debut on Instagram, but it wasn’t shot on a smartphone. Early production stills show the project’s crew working with DSLRs and proper lighting rigs. The series is being shot professionally — with a crew of more than 25 NYU alumni and students — but is being formatted for the small screen in post-production. It’s certainly a novel idea, but this probably isn’t the future of cinema. Even so, you can catch the series on July 1st right here.
Filed under: Cellphones, HD, Facebook
Source: Instagram, ACtheSeries
Watch out: fake EA social accounts are swiping World Cup fans’ logins
Internet scams certainly aren’t new, but they’re kicking into high gear now that the World Cup has many people eager for some futbol. For example, Malwarebytes has spotted a fake EA Sports account on Instagram (fake accounts have been on Twitter for a while) that lures FIFA 14 gamers with promises of free team members. If you’re tempted enough to click through, you wind up at a plausible-looking phishing site that asks for your EA Origin and Xbox Live credentials — do that and you’ll quickly lose control of both logins. There’s no guarantees that Instagram or authorities can shut the Instagram account (or any other nogoodnik) down for good, so the best defense is a healthy dose of caution: always double-check an offer if it seems too be good to be true, no matter where it comes from.
Filed under: Internet
Pic Nix lets you anonymously shame Instagram friends, with some help from a robot
The blight of oversharing on Instagram is nothing new. Luckily, the image-based social network gives you a very easy solution for cutting out unwanted brunch photos: unfollowing. If you aren’t prepared to diss a friend that strongly, though, A&G Labs has a more passive-aggressive option for you. Its Pic Nix website allows you to anonymously tell friends that the selfies and sunsets have to stop.
After you create a message based on 16 “offenses” listed on the website – from vacation shots and pics of kids to #TBT posts – a robot will build and post the image for you. The robot, dubbed Silent B.O.B, posts to Instagram using a stylus paired with an Arduino X-Y plotter to insert and crop the photo, along with a Bluetooth keyboard to type out your caption. Your message is sent out from the @PicNixer account, and the offending friend will get a notification.
Since you can only choose from a list of images and captions, your friend-shaming will probably remain anonymous. The limited choices also prevent your digs from getting too out of hand, which is definitely a good thing. Awesome robot-posting aside, we still might suggest taking a more direct approach with you Instagram intervention.
Filed under: Internet
Via: The Verge
Instagram 6.0 arrives with enhanced photo editing tools
Instagram on Tuesday announced a brand new 6.0 release of its mobile apps, bringing many new photo editing options. Not new filters, mind you, but actual photo editing and retouching capabilities.
From brightening up a photo of your dinner party to better capturing the warmth of a sunset portrait, these new creative tools help you bring out and share the beauty of the moment as you remember it—right inside the same simple Instagram you already know.
Arriving in the Google Play Store and App Store today, the app now lets users brighten images, add vignettes, and adjust other settings. In other words, it features some of the very stuff we use other apps for before sharing to Instagram.
- Adjust: Crop and straighten your photo at the same time.
- Brightness: Makes your photo brighter or darker.
- Contrast: Makes the bright areas of your photo brighter, and the dark areas darker.
- Warmth: Shifts the colors of your photo toward either warmer orange tones or cooler blue tones.
- Saturation: Increases or decreases the color intensity of the image (e.g. red becomes redder).
- Highlights: Adjust the brightness focusing on the bright areas of the image.
- Shadows: Adjust the brightness focusing on the dark areas of the image.
- Vignette: Darkens the edges of the photo to direct the attention away from the edges and toward the center of the photo.
- Sharpen: Adds a subtle crispness to your photo and makes photo clearer.
- Filter Strength: Tap on a filter to adjust the filter strength. (Border is now within Filter Strength; tap on a filter to add a border).
- Each editing tool comes with a slider that allows you to adjust how much to apply each effect.
- Tap on your photo preview to compare your photo’s before and after effects.
The post Instagram 6.0 arrives with enhanced photo editing tools appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Instagram adds nine new editing tools, makes filters adjustable
The problem with trying to be unique on Instagram, is that there are millions of other users spoiling that, using the same darn filters. How dare they. Starting today, things should get a little more varied, as the food photo sharing network has just introduced a host of new features, but most importantly those popular filters are adjustable, too. The new controls include: filter strength, brightness, contrast, warmth, saturation, highlights, shadows, vignette and sharpen. Instagram’s no doubt hoping these new options put it’s free app on a par with some big name paid apps when it comes to editing power. But, unless you like your images square, it might not be a full editing replacement just yet. It’s available for iPhone and Android right now. Fill yer boots.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile
Source: Instagram, App Store, Google Play
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