I’ve mentioned iPhone lens kits and tripod mounts before, but this is so simple and such a great idea! plus it’s an amazing case study for Kickstarter
The glif needed $10K to get started, they launched on kickstarter Oct 3rd, they’re currently at $66K and they’ve still 27 days to go!
More info at The Glif
UPDATE: They reached $137,417
The video says it all… available this month
more info at AirJ
Keeping with the iPhone theme, I noticed on a friend’s Facebook page this morning a ridiculous looking iPhone lens modification (which unfortunately wouldn’t really work that well with a 35mm lens, due to the tiny size of the sensor in the iPhone, unless you wanted a super zoom lens that is)… although this looks weird too
Anyway it jogged my memory of the Owle Bubo I’d seen a few months ago, which in essence is a camera mount for the iPhone 3G / 3Gs (iPhone 4 adapter in the works). below are a couple of good reviews by Taz Goldstein from Handheld Hollywood, and another by Blunty 3000 (scroll to 4:30 of Blunty’s review to see how customisable/crazy the Owle can be!)
NB: as it has 4 standard tripod connections, you could even use it with a Hoodman WristShot or a FigRig by Mike Figgis, or the Steady Wonder (all of which can be used with DSLR’s or camcorders)… if the Owle interests you, then it might also be worth checking out the Tiffen Steadicam
Over the weekend I installed the Developers version of iPhone OS 4 (one advantage of being an iPhone Developer), and I must say the multi-tasking is great, although unfortunately several of the apps I’d like to use and test it with haven’t released compatible updates yet… but regardless of that the I’ve found OS 4 to be very stable and responsive.
I’m positive multi-tasking will be a blessing in the not to distant future when updates are released, but in the meantime undoubtedly the biggest time saving and most useful feature thus far is the ability to organise and group your apps into folders! This has reduced my iPhone from around 15 screens down to one home screen with 17 folders!
But as I’ve said before… “Those who don’t keep their stuff in order, are lazy… while those who do, are too lazy to look for their stuff”
On Friday I downloaded a wonderful app for my iPhone named Hipstamatic… in essence you now have a Lomographic camera on your iPhone. The array of films, effects and lenses you can add are excellent. The whole interface and user experience has been beautifully thought through and is a joy to use. The app is initially set to low res, so you only get 600×600 pixel images, which allows it operate very quickly, so is fine while you’re experimenting with the app. But once you get used to the effects, it’s worth switching over to the higher res mode, this is a little slower in operation, but you end up with 1024×1024 images, so it’s worth the few seconds wait. I’ve had plenty of fun with this app over the weekend and I’ve been amazed at how it can turn an ordinary subject into something wonderful to look at!
I’ve even entered the shot below, entitled “Hot Hot Hot” into a Hipstamatic Competition named “Solstice The Rebirth of Summer”
Please vote for it (but hurry as there’s only 3 days left!)
Staying with the Augmented Reality theme, BrightKite announced last month that their partnership with Layar to offer AR of your BrightKite friends posts over live video on your mobile, is now available on the iPhone (originally only available for Android)
Another AR app recently launched on the iPhone is Wikitude, that overlays live video with Qype information. This is another area that AR has enormous potential, aggregating your various data streams and combining them into a single place. The more collaboration there are amongst these types of services the better a user experience for everyone!
Original BrighKite blog post
Post on Augmented Planet about Wikitude & another about Layar
Brightkite iPhone App
Layar iPhone App
Wikitude iPhone App
Qype iPhone App
You have to admire Verizon’s audacity in creating this advert to try and snag AT&T customers over to their network, by playing upon Apple’s “There’s an App for That” tagline used in their iPhone & App Store adverts (in case you’ve been living in a cave for the past year, you’ll find plenty of them here).
But it’s not just Verizon that’s brand jacking Apple’s App Store advert, Pepsi have created a chat up application named “AMP UP Before You Score“… No doubt this will offend some, but that’s the whole point, they’ll get plenty of free publicity that way… anyway it’s an amusing and nicely designed iPhone app, plus it’s coded well.
Download AMP UP Before you Score
Thanks to Mary McKnight for posting this on her Facebook page!
As I’ve re-quoted before “Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital“ Aaron Levenstein
This video makes compelling reading/watching, but read between the lines, there’s more to this than meets the eye, major changes are unfolding in the social media environment, information/data/ID aggregation is becoming the new hot potato, the shift is about linking you to the stuff you want to know in a transparent & convenient way.
For more info & a list of quotes & stats go to the socialnomics blog
Also check out a brilliant and ballsy presentation by Marta Kagan entitled What the F**K is Social Media: One Year Later
Also note Marta doesn’t use the that annoying Social Media Expert moniker, she calls herself a Bonafide Marketing Genius, now that’s a great job title! (as long as you live up to it of course, although reading her blog, it looks like she does)