Epson’s new scanner resurrected my childhood memories
My mother likes to post old scanned photos of me on Facebook. Baby me in a clown costume. Toddler me looking grumpy, having just woken up from a nap. My brother and me looking like tiny British royals on Easter Sunday. These photos are embarrassing but not necessarily for obvious reasons. I don’t mind people knowing I was a child. What I do mind is that the scans aren’t good: Many are crooked, badly cropped or discolored. They don’t look nice, and with at least 25 years of my life captured on film, neither my mother nor I have the time to scan the entire collection, let alone fix each picture to make it presentable for public consumption. That is, until we got our hands on Epson’s $650 FastFoto FF-640, which can scan one photo per second. Spoiler alert: We were done with my mom’s archive in under three hours.
I had the scanner sent directly to my parents’ house so I wouldn’t have to lug it over myself, but I needn’t have worried: The FastFoto is relatively tiny. It’s a little under 12 inches wide and weighs 8.8 pounds; I could have fit it in my backpack and still had room to spare. We planted it on the dining table right next to my mom’s laptop and a massive pile of old prints. We hoped to have that table clear by dinner.
Setup wasn’t hard, but it was also the most unappealing part of the process. Besides the usual tangle of cables, getting the scanner running involves downloading the software, which is … not pretty. It looks like any other piece of printer or scanner software you’ve ever encountered — that is, it’s straight out of 2002. But it does the job and isn’t hard to use.
Once we got it connected, we were off to the races. My mother keeps most of her photos in a small filing cabinet, so it was easy enough to take a stack of pictures and drop them into the feeder tray. The scanner can take about 30 photos; it’s not an exact number, and in fact I occasionally slipped in a few extra photos to see what would happen. (When I tried for 40, the scanner refused to finish the batch.) It’s also best to sort them by size, as mixing photo sizes can lead to the FastFoto missing smaller pics or stopping the batch outright.
The FF-640 is true to its claim of one photo per second. I’d start a scan and the machine would be done before my mother finished putting together the next pile. It takes longer for the computer to process the images; the software will straighten out crooked photos and, if you choose, fix common issues like red-eye and discoloration automatically.
Of course, as we discovered, this only works if you insert the pictures correctly. The FastFoto is a double-sided scanner, so I thought it didn’t matter what side you put the pictures in, as it always scans both sides. The idea behind this feature is that scanning the back will archive any metadata that might be printed there, such as photo lab stamps or handwritten notes. It stores that alongside the actual photo, appending the labels “A” and “B” to the file names. Epson’s promotional materials for the scanner always showed images facing upward, so that’s how I dropped in my stacks of photos.
There was no discernible difference in quality between the front and back scans. But what we discovered after diving into the folders where the images were being stored is that the software will always designate the side facing downward as “A,” and that’s where the machine works its autocorrect magic. The end result: We now had vivid scans of dates and handwriting while all the actual pictures were as red and brown as before. A few were upside down. Luckily we hadn’t scanned too many photos at that point.
No, wait, because this thing goes through photos so quickly we had already scanned hundreds of pictures. Oops.
Still, it wasn’t a big deal, because the scans were rather good and the “corrected” images … were hit and miss. Many were still discolored; a few were somehow worse. Basically, the software is no match for good Photoshop skills. So if you were hoping for thousands of print-quality images right out of the box (so to speak), you’ll be disappointed. It’s unlikely you were going to print that many images anyway. If you were planning to throw stuff up on Facebook, you’re probably fine, and you can share straight from the program — though my mother and I opted not to upload the thousands of scans we made yet, because we’re not monsters who overload people’s feeds. (We did choose to have it back up everything to Google Photos, however.)
Most of the photos in my mother’s collection were pretty standard 4-x-6 snapshots, but there was a hodgepodge of sizes and textures to worry about, all with unique challenges. Matte photos fared the best while glossy prints had a tendency to stick to one another, requiring me to open up the machine and pull them apart. This is easy to do: The FF-640 is designed to split open so you can remove trapped documents or clean the rollers inside.
Polaroids presented a problem until I fiddled with the settings on the scanner itself. (My mother later found they worked best in a small stack.) But the biggest surprise came from an old photo booth picture of my great-aunt, which was either developed with silver nitrate or a close relative thereof. Its cardboard frame carried a date of 1945. I was feeling pretty confident about the FastFoto at this point, so I took the photo out of the frame and dropped it in the scanner. It went through smoothly, with no damage to the picture (whew). I opened the file, and it was perfect. The scan even smoothed out an errant fingerprint on the original document.
But given the FastFoto’s blistering speeds, I wouldn’t recommend putting fragile photos in it by themselves. Epson actually provides a special transparent sleeve for such documents, but in practice I found it kind of hit or miss too. Sometimes I would get a clean image, but occasionally a ripple from the plastic made its way into the file. These might be best left to a flatbed scanner, which the FF-640 is not.
It wasn’t long before we had cleared out most of my mother’s little filing cabinet, several manila envelopes and other assorted ephemera from not only my childhood but also my mother’s own youth and that of her seven siblings. At this point I decided to bow out and leave my mother to it, confident that the FF-640 was simple enough for her to use on her own. She wrapped up not long after I left, which I could have guessed from all the pictures she’s been posting on Facebook. Where she used to repost the same shots over and over, she now has enough original material for #TBT to ensure I’ll be blushing at old photos of myself for the next decade.
Cyanogen’s services and nightly builds are shutting down next week
Cyanogen’s grand plan to put “a bullet through Google’s head” has failed.
It’s been a rough couple of months for Cyanogen that saw the company undergo a round of layoffs, shutter its headquarters, and part ways with its co-founder Steve Kondik. The company has now announced that it will be shutting its services and nightly builds after December 31.
In a short post on its blog, Cyanogen said:
As part of the ongoing consolidation of Cyanogen, all services and Cyanogen-supported nightly builds will be discontinued no later than 12/31/16. The open source project and source code will remain available for anyone who wants to build CyanogenMod personally.
Essentially, what this means is that devices running Cyanogen OS will no longer pick up updates, and will entirely rely on the community-driven CyanogenMod ROM for further development.
Cyanogen OS gained momentum thanks to its partnership with OnePlus on the OnePlus One, but that relationship soured thanks to an exclusive deal Cyanogen made with Indian handset manufacturer Micromax. That exclusivity deal ended earlier this year, paving the way for Lenovo’s ZUK Z1. The partnership with lenovo didn’t work out as well, as the ZUK Z1 never received any updates.
If you’re running a handset powered by Cyanogen OS, your best recourse is to find a CyanogenMod ROM for your phone. What’s left of Cyanogen will be focused on working with partners over its modular platform.
Android Central Offers is giving away a Samsung Galaxy Bundle, and it could be yours!
Usually this space is used to share great deals on software and online courses, but today we’re offering a chance to win a great Samsung giveaway which includes two of the hottest Samsung devices of the past year — a Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2. And best of all, it’s absolutely free to enter!
The Galaxy S7 edge is one of the best phones of 2016, and paired with the very capable Samsung tablet, this bundle is valued at $1,149. What a great way to start the New Year, with a brand new phone and tablet!
It’s just our way of saying thanks for making 2016 such a great year. Good luck to all who enter!
Enter the Samsung Galaxy Bundle Giveaway! Learn more
Android Central 319: Year in rearview
This week, Andrew, Jerry and Daniel recall the year that was. From Android on Chrome to Note 7s on fire, 2016 was a pretty great — and interesting — year in the mobile space.
Thanks for joining us for another journey around the sun! See you in 2017.
Podcast MP3 URL: http://traffic.libsyn.com/androidcentral/androidcentral319.mp3
How refunds work on Google Play
We all have purchases we regret.
We buy apps that aren’t as great as we hoped. We buy books and movies we don’t like. Our kids buy things we didn’t want them to. Co-workers get into your phone while you’re in the bathroom and buy dirty movies. Things happen, and if you need a refund on Google Play, there are ways to get one.
But as always, there are caveats and hoops to jump through.
- Refunding unauthorized purchases
- App refunds
- Google Play Movies & TV refunds
- Requesting a refund through the Google Play website
- Google Play Music refunds
- Google Play Books refunds
- Google Play Newsstand refunds
Refunding unauthorized purchases
If your kid got into your phone and bought ALL THE THINGS, you can request a refund here. You can only request refunds for items within 65 days of purchase, but if it takes more than two months to notice the mistake, that’s on you.
We’d also like to remind you that you can set Google Play to require a password for every purchase for this very reason. Go to Google Play, then Settings, and look for Require authentication for purchases.
App refunds
App refunds fall into a few different categories depending on the type of purchase and how long it’s been since you bought it. If you buy an app and decide you don’t want it, try and get a refund as soon as possible, as you options dwindle the longer you wait.
App refunds under 2 hours
If you made a paid app purchase in Google Play, you can return to the app’s Google Play listing and tap Refund. The app will be uninstalled and your money refunded automatically.
You can only be refunded for an app once, so if you buy it, refund it, and buy it again, you’re not going to get a refund if you get buyer’s remorse again.
In-app purchases and app purchases under 48 hours
All in-app purchases you wish to refund have be requested through Google’s online form, no matter how short a time it’s been. Someone from Google will call or email to follow up with the request and either approve or deny it. If it’s been more than two hours after you purchase a paid app, you’ll need to use this form, too.
If you need to refund more than one purchase, Google asks that you request a call from a Google Play Apps & Games specialist so that you two can get through them in a more expedient manner. Also keep in mind that the developer might remove progress and items from your app once the refund is processed.
After 48 hours
If you’re still having misgivings after 48 hours, your refund doesn’t go through Google Play, it goes through the developer itself. You can find the developer’s email at the bottom of the details page in the app’s listing.
Scroll to the bottom of the app’s listing in Google Play.
Tap Send email.
Select which email app you want to send the email through.
Compose your refund email. Try to be polite, concise, and honest with when you bought the app and why you don’t want it.
Send your email.
The developer should get back to you approving or denying the request. Sadly, emails to developers can often be ignored, especially if you bought an app from an inactive developer — another reason it’s important to see how frequently an app you want to buy has been updated.
Google Play Movies & TV
Did your daughter buy Frozen on your phone while you were stuck in the car on a road trip? Well, you’re going to have to wait until you can sit down at a laptop or desktop to refund it, as Google Play apps can’t process movie & TV refunds, only the website can. There are also a few conditions that have to be met in order to ask for a refund:
- Did you open the video? Once a movie has been watched, even in part, your chance of getting a refund is slim to none.
- Has it been more than a week? Unless you live in a few select countries in Europe you need to make the refund request within a week of purchase.
- Does the video not work? Does the audio go out on it for some odd reason? Does the video cut out before the ending? Does the video straight-up not play no matter what you do? Defective videos get refunds in most cases.
Requesting a refund through the Google Play website
On the Google Play website home page, click Account.
Under Order History, click the three-dot menu button on the right side of the order you want to refund and select Report a problem.
Click on the reason for your request.
Compose the report with your problems and state that you would like a refund and click Send.
Google Play will email you with a response approving or denying the request. Movie & TV returns are somewhat rare because once you open the video, it’s usually yours forever.
Google Play Music
Google Play Music refunds are also a bit tricky because you can’t have downloaded or streamed the songs you purchased (unless they don’t work). You also only have 7 days to request a refund through the Google Play Website.
Google Play Books
Google Play Books refunds are actually a little more lax than their audio-visual brethren. You have 7 days to refund a book after you buy it to request a refund through the Google Play Website.
Google Play Newsstand
Subscriptions refunded within the first 7 days of that month can usually be refunded for that month, but single-issue magazine purchases aren’t refundable at all unless you are unable to access the content or the content is defective. You request a refund through the Google Play Website.
Pros and cons: Our quick verdict on the Huawei Mate 9
The most interesting thing about Huawei’s latest flagship, the Mate 9, is actually invisible to the naked eye. Under the hood, the phone uses machine learning to anticipate which apps you’re going to use when, allowing for supposedly smoother performance. What the phone would have been like without this AI, we don’t know, but we can say that the performance feels brisk throughout. If fluid day-to-day use seems like table stakes, you might also be impressed with the long battery life, bright display and the fact that it actually has a headphone jack. Unfortunately, what’s otherwise a great phone stumbles with low-light photography, as well as some heavy-handed software tweaks that will turn off Android purists. ]
The Mate 9 isn’t on sale here in the US yet, but we expect to learn pricing in the next month or so. If the price is on par with what it costs in Europe, the phone will be on par with or slightly cheaper than its rivals, which would make it a good value, so-so camera notwithstanding.
The Morning After: Weekend Edition
Letter from the Editor
Happy Holidays everybody! As 2016 winds to a close, we’re spending its last two weeks looking at the best and worst in the world of technology. On this Christmas Eve, I give you the greatest successes in the tech world over the past year. (Those hoping for some holiday schadenfreude will have to wait until next week.)
In case it wasn’t already apparent, Elon Musk has done pretty well for himself in the past 12 months. Roberto Baldwin detailed how Musk’s car company made major strides toward vertically integrating sun to volts and realizing his master plan to get everyone driving (or being driven by) his EVs. It’s his world, y’all, we’re just living in it.
Meanwhile, where Musk’s extra-terrestrial pursuits with SpaceX saw some setbacks, Mariella Moon explained how NASA truly thrived in 2016 (particularly on social media), despite having fewer relative resources than in years past. Turns out, most of us think learning about space is cool, but apparently not cool enough to get Congress to increase the agency’s funding.
Netflix increased its own funding by raising the cost of its streaming services. Much to the delight of shareholders, that price hike couldn’t stop the company’s upward trajectory. Richard Lawler wrote that the company’s success was driven by its growing slate of original shows and international expansion, among other things.
And finally, Aaron Souppouris explained how augmented and virtual reality entered the mainstream in 2016, but they’re really just stepping-stones on the road to mixed reality — the true melding of real and digital worlds.
Spoiler alert if you haven’t seen the sequels to “Rogue One”DARPA’s LUKE bionic arm is going to vets first
After eight years of development, two of Dean Kamen’s prosthetic arms have been delivered to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Dubbed LUKE (Life Under Kinetic Evolution), it was inspired by the Star Wars character and can understand multiple commands at once, allowing for more natural movement.
Gamers, hide your walletsMicrosoft, Sony and Valve are all offering big holiday sales
Now that you’ve snagged gifts for everyone else (if you’ve waited until the last minute, don’t worry, we can help), it’s time to pick up a few things for yourself. If video games are your habit of choice, you’re in luck: Deep discounts are available on PC and consoles alike, covering every genre and style of release we can think of.
ShockerApple is reportedly putting Mac development on the back burner
If you think Apple’s computers aren’t getting enough love, this report could help explain why. MacBook Pro issues and a focus on mobile devices mean there aren’t as many resources for developing new desktops. Tim Cook says Apple has “great” desktops in its roadmap, but who knows when we’ll actually see them.
Real-time fantasyNBA InPlay app listens in to know what game you’re watching
The NBA is rolling out a fantasy basketball app that works in a unique way: to rack up points, you have to watch the game. It uses the audio to recognize national broadcasts, while viewers select players and get points from their performance. The league’s slate of Christmas Day games is a perfect opportunity to try it out, which is probably why InPlay came to Android and iOS this week.
Remember: The Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals2016: The year in winners and losers
So far, our looks back through 2016 are all positive, so peruse the year’s winners while you can. Tesla, Netflix, mixed reality and NASA all walk away from 2016 with heads held high and a seemingly bright future. All that changes next week when we figure out who took a step backward in the past twelve months.
But wait, there’s more…
- Samsung Gear S3 Frontier review: Lots of features, not enough apps
- Sling TV accidentally reveals its set-top box for cord cutters
- Death isn’t enough to keep a classic character out of the latest “Star Wars” film
- The first trailer for “Blade Runner 2049” is here
Cyanogen pulls the plug on its services and OS next week
As most of us are paying attention to our long holiday weekend, Cyanogen Inc. has announced that “all services and Cyanogen-supported nightly builds” will be discontinued by December 31st. While its statement says that the open source CyanogenMod OS and source code will remain available, owners of Cyanogen-powered devices like the OnePlus One will need to make a switch for future updates.
There’s no name attached to this announcement, but at the end of November, new CEO Lior Tal announced the company cut ties with co-founder Steve Kondik. He also said the company would consolidate into a single Palo Alto-based team by the end of the year, as it pivots towards a Modular OS future building add-ons for Android instead of a replacement.
As for Kondik, he tweeted on December 2nd that he’s “actually happy to rebrand.” Android Police pulled a post from the official CyanogenMod Google+ developer community that suggested he may crowdfund a relauch of the project, but nothing is confirmed yet.
Source: Cyanogen
Google Maps’ Santa Tracker Goes Live on iOS
Google’s Santa Tracker went live today, allowing anyone with Google Maps installed on an iOS device to keep up with Santa’s mythical journey across the world in real time.
Users can type ‘track santa’ into the Google Maps search field to view the area in which Santa can be currently found dispensing gifts. Tapping the blue Santa icon in the bottom right of the screen offers up more details about the region, including a live video feed and an arrival time for Santa’s next stop as well as the user’s current location.
We’ve received this special preview from one of Santa’s many developer elves, who are hard at work in the North Pole helping Santa prepare for his big day. Santa’s dashboard – featuring the latest and greatest in Google Maps technology and sleigh engineering – will allow you to follow his progress around the world, and also learn a little about some of his stops along the way.
Further down the screen are options to play a selection of festive mini games, watch videos of Santa going about his business, and access a portal to Santa’s village.
Friendly elves have invited younger Google Maps users to explore the village, where they can learn about holiday traditions around the world, play games like Present Bounce and Penguin Dash, visit North Pole airport, code a snowflake, and take a Santa selfie, as well as other fun activities.
Google’s Santa Tracker continues a 12-year tradition for the company, allowing excited children and parents to keep up with the jolly gift-giver’s travels throughout December 24.
As of writing, Santa was last seen in Urup, in the Kuril Islands, with his next scheduled stop being Onekotan.
Tag: Google Maps
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Amazon’s cargo jets cut shipping costs by carrying the light loads
If you got a speedy delivery on a last-minute gift at the height of holiday season, you might have Amazon’s fleet of cargo planes to thank for pulling off a minor miracle. Although Amazon says the fleet is only meant to supplement Fedex and UPS at the moment, its own air cargo business will eventually play an important part in letting Amazon handle end-to-end logistics. According to a new report from Reuters, Jeff Bezos and company have already figured out how to leverage their private fleet to minimize overhead while getting the most out of their shipping partners at the same time.
As Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Cheeseman told Reuters, the company doesn’t intend to do away with UPS and Fedex — at least not yet, anyway. “Our own delivery efforts are needed to supplement that capacity rather than replace it,” Cheeseman said.
But that doesn’t mean Amazon can’t squeeze out another dollar in the process. The major shipping carriers have recently started charging by volume rather than weight, which Reuters attributes to more people buying things like toilet paper and diapers online rather than in stores. To counter the rising shipping prices, Amazon has started shipping large boxes of lightweight items itself and passing off the heavier and more dense packages to its legacy shipping partners. According to Reuters, Amazon’s planes have been flying at nearly full capacity, but at less than half their capacity by weight — meaning they’re likely saving on fuel costs as well.
At the moment, Amazon only flies to about 10 different airports near its warehouses across the US, but it uses smaller hubs and avoids stopovers that could lead to delays. Those less-trafficked airfields also allow Amazon’s flights to leave later each night — another advantage when most online shoppers have a tendency to finally hit the checkout button in the evenings when they’re home from work.
Source: Reuters
AIVAnet 