How to: iPhone HDR mode and how to shoot better photos

Image Credit: Webpronews

HDR or 'high dynamic range' photography is a simple concept. You use your iPhone's camera and enter HDR mode and start shooting. What happens is that every time you take a photo, three images are shot. Low, regular and high - these images are then combined to create one really cool image that seeks to capture the image in as close to reality as possible both in terms of lighting and the mood at that time. The iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S has HDR mode which you can make optimal use of to capture some amazing shots and impress all your friends with your photography skill. This is a brief guide to help you make the most of your iPhone's HDR photo capture mode. of course the most high-quality HDR photos are taken with dSLR cameras and then edited in programs like Photoshop.


How to turn on HDR mode on the iPhone
Currently available on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s. Head over to your camera > tap options  >  HDR on.


How to capture HDR images on the iPhone
Remember that 3 shots will be captured once you click so it's important for you to decide whether the photo is HDR worthy. This is because all three shots are not taken at once but one after the other. This means if your subject moves while the shot is being processed it's most likely you end up with people who look mutant and cars that look more like spaceships. So if you are ready for a HDR capture and confident about your subject, you're ready


Once your photo has been captured you will see two shots on your iPhone, one which is normal and the other will be the HDR photo. Swipe back and forth to see the difference.  


What is the kind of shot that best suits HDR photography
HDR is most suited for landscapes, nature, scenery, wildlife and cityscapes. HDR can also be used when taking photos inside your home - especially when the light is not so good. Using HDR will give you a shot that combines three photos, underexposed, normal and overexposed. This should come closest to the actual light condition that you're hoping to capture.  

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Sociolatte

How to use Facetime video chat on the iPhone 4

One of the highlighted features of the iPhone 4 is it's Facetime video chat. The feature that Steve Jobs was most proud of. Facetime allows users to chat face to face via video chat. So to enable it you will need to have a friend who also has an iPhone 4 Wi-Fi enabled. This is free for all iPhone 4 users and is integrated entirely into the iPhone 4 firmware.

How to enable Facetime on the iPhone 4

1. Press the green "Phone" App icon or double tap the physical "Home" button to bring up video chat.
2. Call the person you want to video chat with.
3. Press the Facetime button found at the center of the bottom row. This will send a video chat request to the other user. Once the other user accepts your request the video to video chat will be established.

To start a video chat directly without establishing a call. You will need to find the person in your contacts list and then tap the Facetime button.

To Rotate between front and rear view cameras. Click the button on the bottom right which looks like a camera with rotating arrows.

To terminate Facetime chat select the end button in the center.

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Sociolatte

Video: The iPhone 4 Antenna Song

The iPhone4 with it's antenna problem has fueled a lot of creativity on the internet. Like the iPhone 4 Antenna Song. Apple even took special permission and played this at the iPhone 4 conference. If you read the comments on this video you see that users actually like this song and are all praises for it.

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Sociolatte

Apple to have an iPhone 4 press conference Friday

Apple has announced via their official spokesperson Steve Dowling that a press conference will be held at their headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. Amid mounting pressure from consumer forums and their stock dropping by 3 percent. Apple has decided to go head-on with this issue and address any public concerns. He did not mention who would be speaking at the conference. So Whether Steve Jobs will address the gathering is quiet unsure. 


The problem as reported by many irate iPhone 4 uses is that is the phone is held in a certain way as to block the notch connecting two antennas on it's lower left side. The signal strength drops and renders the phone unusable.


Wheather this is entirely trus is not clear and many iPhone 4 users say they have never experienced a single dropped call.


Here's some humor on the whole fiasco by none other that David Letterman. Once he steps in then you know your problem is generating a lot of Buzz and needs to be address.

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Sociolatte

Video: 'Apple Of My Eye' Movie short entirely on the iPhone 4

Majek Pictures have produced a small movie called the "Apple of my eye". This movie has been short entirely on the Apple iPhone 4. When Steve Jobs said that the iPhone 4 comes with HD quality video. There is also the iMovie App that has been used for editing. 


The short film took only 14 hours to film and if you check out the behind the scenes footage you get to see how the folks at Majek Pictures got the whole thing done. Apparatus used to hold the iPhone steady is really cool and this is a fantastic production. watch it now to believe it. 


This is truly an iStory.

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Sociolatte

What is the right way to hold the iPhone 4

The Problem. The iPhone 4 seems to loose it's network when gripped in the lower left corner which covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band. This is because that is exactly where the antenna is embedded.

The Solution. According to Steve Jobs is to stop holding it that way. Essentially telling users to stop gripping the phone in the lower left hand corner. Change the way you hold you phone and things should improve. The problem maybe with it's design, the antenna should have been positioned and placed better. Rather than asking users to hold it differently. And if that is not possible then just get yourself a case and the network would be better. What the case would be is break contact with your flesh and thereby improve the signal. Since it's the notch there on the lower left corner that needs to be left alone. 


The company has also issued a statement regarding the network issues.


Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.


[Image Courtesy: Apple]

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Sociolatte

Video: iPhone 4 and it's Tech Specifications.

iPhone 4 Technical Specifications

Size and weight
Height: 4.5 inches (115.2 mm)
Width: 2.31 inches (58.6 mm)
Depth: 0.37 inch (9.3 mm)
Weight: 4.8 ounces (137 grams)

Cellular and wireless
UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz)
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only)
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR wireless technology
Location
Assisted GPS
Digital compass
Wi-Fi
Cellular
Power and battery2
Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter

Talk time:
Up to 7 hours on 3G
Up to 14 hours on 2G
Standby time: Up to 300 hours

Internet use:
Up to 6 hours on 3G
Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi

Video playback: Up to 10 hours
Audio playback: Up to 40 hours
Mac system requirements
Mac computer with USB 2.0 port
Mac OS X v10.5.8 or later
iTunes 9.2 or later (free download from www.itunes.com/download)
iTunes Store account
Internet access

Windows system requirements
PC with USB 2.0 port
Windows 7; Windows Vista; or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 3 or later
iTunes 9.2 or later (free download from www.itunes.com/download)
iTunes Store account
Internet access

Environmental requirements
Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C)
Nonoperating temperature: -4° to 113° F (-20° to 45° C)
Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing
Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)

Capacity
16GB or 32GB flash drive
Color
White or black

Display

Retina display
3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display
960-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi
800:1 contrast ratio (typical)
Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating on front and back
Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously

Audio playback

Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
Audio formats supported: AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
User-configurable maximum volume limit
TV and video
Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format
Support for 1024 by 768 pixels with Dock Connector to VGA Adapter; 576p and 480p with Apple Component AV Cable; 576i and 480i with Apple Composite AV Cable (cables sold separately)

Camera, photos, and video

Video recording
HD (720p) up to 30 frames per second with audio
5-megapixel still camera
VGA-quality photos and video at up to 30 frames per second with the front camera
Tap to focus video or still images
LED flash
Photo and video geotagging
External buttons and controls

Sensors
Three-axis gyro
Accelerometer
Proximity sensor
Ambient light sensor
Connectors and input/output

Headphones
Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic
Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
Impedance: 32 ohms

In the box
iPhone 4
Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic
Dock Connector to USB Cable
USB Power Adapter
Documentation


[Source Apple]

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Sociolatte

iPhone 3GS vs iPhone 4

The iPhone 4 will be available for sale from 24th June in the US, UK, France, Germany and Japan. Pre-ordering started on June 15th. So hows does the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4 measure up. What are the statistics that you would need to use before making you decision or is there any clarity you might need. The chart below is quiet good and seeks to bring out a comparison between the two phones. You can also find a comparison on Apple.com 


The iPhone 4 also comes with retina display and if you would like to see it in action please click here. So whether your reading a book, watching a video or browsing through photographs everything looks amazing on the new iPhone 4. Set to go on sale on the 24th of this month, this phone truly changes everything.

[Image Courtesy Mahalo]

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Sociolatte

How Facetime 'Video Calling' works on the Apple iPhone 4

Here's a quick summary on how Facetime works on the iPhone 4. Steve Jobs said that this was his childhood ream. This is what people have been watching in sci-fi movies all along. The ability to talk to each other which seeing each other's faces. Now this has become a reality and the ability to do what is know as Facetime Video Calling according to Apple is now a reality.


This post is not a look at the technical specifications but rather on just how it works. 


Firstly Facetime works right out of the box and there is no set-up needed. So if you want to start a video call with your friends, find your friend in your contacts list and just tap the Facetime button. If your all ready on a voice call and you want to shift to Facetime. Just tap the Facetime button on your screen.Once you do that an invitation pops up on your friends screen asking if they would like to join you in a video chat. If your pal clicks yes it starts working. You can also choose portrait and landscape mode.


The iPhone 4 has two cameras. One on the front above the display and one on the back next to the LED flash. The front camera has been tuned to be used for Video calling and must be held at arms length to present you in the best possible light.


During your Facetime call you can also use the back camera to share what you see.Tap a button and the phone switches to take back camera and you can share what your seeing right now. Tap a button again and it switches to the front camera. So if you on safari and a lion comes into view. Tap a button and the back camera comes on and you can share the live images with your friends. Allowing them to see what your seeing in real time.


The pic below is Apple's illustration on how this works. Talk with your friend and share your son blowing out the birthday candles in real-time. 

[Image Courtesy Apple]


This is the official ad for the iPhone 4 Facetime

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Sociolatte

Apple adds Microsoft's Bing to iPhone 4, joining Google and Yahoo

There were many rumors the Apple may make Bing the default search engine on the iPhone. During the WWDC we learned that, that is not so. Bing will join Google and Yahoo and now has the blessings of Apple to be a part of the Mobile Search revolution. Despite Bing's best efforts people refuse to leave Google Search and use Bing. After all looking at it logically why will people leave Google and go to Bing. They have not come up with anything new and they don't have a new killer App that brings something new to search. If anything they have a very restricted search which cannot be called search at all.


Basically they have this big directory with some sites already added and when you search Bing all you get is results from these few sites. which means that Bing is not a search engine but just a directory. A search engine needs to have intelligence. So Bing fails when it comes to innovation.


For those who still like to use it it will be available on the iPhone 4.
According to analytics firm StatCounter, Google occupied some 97.83 percent of the global mobile search-engine market by June 7, with Yahoo claiming 1.19 percent and Bing following in third with 0.38 percent. In the U.S., those numbers were virtually identical: Google held 97 percent, followed by Yahoo with 1.9 percent and Bing with 0.75 percent.


We are just wondering how long's it's going to be before Apple enters the search business.

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Sociolatte

Video: Apple unveils the iPhone 4

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Sociolatte