retro

Geekdom and hockey collide: The campaign for NHL player Commodore to wear number 64

Aside from my annual NHL video game head-to-head face-off, there aren't too many times where tech and the greatest sport in the world cross paths--aside from a glowing puck or two.

So it's no surprise that I was ecstatic to learn that a movement to have NHL veteran defenseman Mike Commodore change his number to 64 had been started to pay the classic home computer homage, a piece of electronics that still holds the title of being the best-selling computer of all time.

Commodore--the hockey player--was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in 1999 and has spent his career moving around the league playing for teams like the Carolina Hurricanes and, most recently, the Columbus Blue Jackets.

On the first day of the NHL's free agency, the Detroit Red Wings signed Commodore to a one-year deal. Since then, an outpouring of support to have him wear number 64 has been making its rounds on hockey blogs and Twitter, with a significant push coming from Yahoo Sports' fantastic hockey blog, Puck Daddy. The site has totally committed to the cause, raising the eyebrows of local Detroit news outlets and the Red Wings organization as well. Even Mike Commodore himself has also tweeted that he's considering 64.… Read more

Lightbox, a two-headed photo beast

Lightbox for Android is a camera replacement and social photo browser app that automatically syncs all of your pictures to your Lightbox.com account. If you like, you can even choose to make any of your photos publicly viewable on your Lightbox.com photo wall as well.

When you first download and install Lightbox, you'll notice that two new icons pop up in your app drawer: Camera by Lightbox and Lightbox Photos. Don't freak out, though. These are just two different entry points to the same app--one brings you straight through to the photo browser, while the other … Read more

Vignette is more than just retro filters

Vignette is a versatile camera replacement app that's equipped with nine different shooting modes, and a huge menu of effects and frame styles to modify your photos. Because it offers options both before and after snapping, Vignette gives you a virtually unlimited number of photographic possibilities.

Before shooting, Vignette lets you choose from nine different shooting modes: Normal, Blind, Fast shot, Steady shot, Self timer, Time lapse, Strip, Grid, and Double. The Strip and Grid modes are especially fun, as they mimic the 4-in-1 prints of novelty Photobooths. And Time lapse is a unique interval shooting mode that, frankly, … Read more

PicPlz lets you snap, add effect, share, repeat

PicPlz for Android is a camera replacement app with a strong social component. Similar to Instagram, its rival and the leading social photo app for iPhone, PicPlz lets you snap, add filters to, and share photos from your mobile device, all in one fell swoop.

First thing to know when using PicPlz is that you need an account to get started. That's because PicPlz, more than just a camera app on your phone, is connected to a full Web-based service that backs up your photos online and posts your photos to its PicPlz network. It's important to note … Read more

Rotary dials give smartphone retro flair

It's silly, inevitable, and inspired. Of course, in this retro-crazed world, somebody was bound to slap a real rotary dial on a smartphone. And you know what? It looks cool.

New Zealand designer Richard Clarkson has come up with a concept smartphone that features a digital touch screen on the front and a space on the back where heavy brass dials, a traditional rotary dial and a dial with buttons can be interchanged like camera lenses. The phone is enclosed in a painted copper case designed to show metal where paint wears through.

Clarkson explains his motivation for the phone, dubbed Rotary Mechanical:

The rotary mechanical smartphone is based on the idea of incorporating more feeling and life into our everyday digital objects. In modern times these objects have come to define us, but who and what defines these objects? Are we happy with generic rectangles of a touch screen or do we want something with more tangibility, something with more life, something with more aura?

Clarkson's concept phone is a fine example of steampunk craft, never mind that rotary dial telephones came on the scene in the chrome-and-glass art deco '20s, several decades after the leather-and-brass Victorian era. I guess to do a truly period-appropriate steampunk smartphone you'd have to slap a crank handle on the side --not so appealing, or pocketable.… Read more

Fun video apps for iPhone

It doesn't seem that long ago when we would have to lug around a VHS camera to capture video of family events, vacations, and other memories we could relive later by inserting the VHS tape and hitting the play button on our VCRs. While it was a workable solution for capturing memories in motion, lugging around a video camera everywhere we went wasn't exactly practical.

Fortunately these days, there is no longer the need for fresh VHS tapes or making sure to pack the digital video camera because we have the ability to shoot reasonably good video right on our smartphones. With the iPhone 4's front- and rear-facing cameras, we have even more options for shooting videos, and with hundreds of cool video apps in the App Store, we have tons of interesting (and sometimes strange) options.

This week's collection of apps gives you some options for shooting good-looking videos. The first app lets you film the action from before you hit the record button, the second makes retro-looking videos using effects you control, and the last app gives you some professional options for shooting more-serious movies.… Read more

Little Photo is huge on features

Contrary to its name, Little Photo for Android is huge on features. With an impressive list of filters and tools, and a seemingly infinite number of combinations to apply, Little Photo is an awesomely powerful camera app for your mobile device.

Open up the app, and either activate the camera, or load up an existing photo from your gallery. If you choose to take a new photo, you can either snap as you tap or enable a 3-second timer. From there, you'll be jetted over to the work space, where you can scroll through pages of effects to apply … Read more

Retro Camera for Android keeps it old-school

Similar to Hipstamatic for the iPhone, Retro Camera is a popular Android application that lets you take six different styles of nostalgia-inducing photos.

Download and install the free app, then choose from the Barbl, Little Orange Box, Xolaroid 2000, Pinhole Camera, FudgeCan, and Hipsteroku cameras. Each combines its own levels of vignetting, film scratches, and camera noise to produce uniquely old-school photos.

When you open up the app, the first thing you'll notice is the beautifully accurate retro look and feel. Each camera has its own graphical interface and viewfinder, and each truly brings you back to the days … Read more

Old-school photos on a new-school device

Hipstamatic is an extremely popular app that turns your iPhone's digital camera into an old-school single-shot camera of the past to give your images that grainy, washed-out (in a good way) retro look. The interface is a bit confusing at first, but you'll soon figure out how to switch between different types of retro film, different types of lenses, and even effects for different kinds of flashes. You can switch between each of the different variables with a swipe of your finger, with dramatically different results depending on the combination you choose before taking your snapshot.

We've … Read more

10 old features we don't miss on modern laptops, and 3 that we do

Scary things lurk in the closets and attics of laptop fans everywhere.

With an average lifespan of three to five years, old obsolete models can gather dust for a long time, and can be as hard to get rid of as the annoying bloatware that probably came preloaded on those very same laptops.

While spring cleaning, your two intrepid laptop reviewers dug up a pile of old laptops from circa 2001-2006--a motley collection straight out of Al Component's Vault. Fortunately, there are several good ways to recycle outdated electronics, from Best Buy's in-store drop-off program to periodic free … Read more