camera

Six tech features that should be standard in every new car

Air bags, antilock brakes, and stability control. CD players, power locks and windows, and air conditioning. These are all features that at some point were optional (and sometimes costly) in vehicles, but over time we've come to expect them in every new car on the road -- whether that's due to legislation or changing buyer tastes. As cars continue to evolve, so grow our expectations of what should be included in the sticker price. I've rounded up a few optional car tech features that I'd like to see make the jump to being standard equipment.

Bluetooth … Read more

Samsung intros Wi-Fi-only Galaxy Cam

Perhaps realizing not everyone wants to pay a monthly data fee for a point-and-shoot camera, Samsung announced today a Wi-Fi-only version of its Android-powered Galaxy Camera.… Read more

Olympus XZ-10 adds another fast-lens compact to Stylus line

Like all its competitors, Olympus continues to bulk up on higher-end compacts, going after consumers who are willing to pay for better features to get better photos. Enter the Stylus XZ-10, a $400 point-and-shoot with a bright lens.

The XZ-10's lens will actually be better for some than the one on Olympus' $600 enthusiast compact, the XZ-2. It starts at a bright f1.8 26mm and zooms in to f2.7 130mm -- a 5x zoom that's tough to beat in this class of camera. By comparison, the XZ-2 has a 4x f1.8-2.5 28-112mm lens, so … Read more

Google's Gundotra: Nexus will have 'insanely great cameras'

The Nexus 4's camera may not be such a bad option, but it's far from the best currently available -- something Google's Vic Gundotra says the firm is in the midst of changing.

Over at Google+, a photography-themed discussion relating to the quality of DSLR cameras and image quality versus the nuisance of carting around heavy pieces of equipment led Vic Gundotra, senior vice president of engineering, to say the tech giant is "committed to making Nexus phones insanely great cameras."

In case any of you remain dubious, Gundotra further commented "just you wait … Read more

Create picture effects with PIP Camera

The demand for entertaining photo-editing software cannot be denied. The Android market is full of such programs, but only a few offer original features or useful elements. PIP Camera gives users both of these things for free.

PIP Camera's setup is quick and easy. Like many other camera applications, this app offers a simple picture-capturing platform and another window that applies effects to the image. The main difference between this app and others is the type of effects it offers. While other programs simply place a filter over the whole image, PIP Camera has objects that can be set … Read more

Edit photos on your mobile device with Camera Effects

With the advent of high-resolution and quality cameras built into mobile devices there has been a surge of camera applications. Most of these applications do not actually make it possible to edit the photo extensively, but rather apply a filter over the image to achieve the desired effect. Camera Effects is one of these applications, but it offers high-quality effects and fairly decent picture quality.

Since it's a pretty light application, Camera Effects loads very quickly. The main screen is a full-size viewfinder. This app only allows the user to edit photos taken with the application, and it will … Read more

Apple seeks patent to eliminate lousy photos

Snapping bad pictures with your iPhone could become a problem of the past if a new Apple patent ever sees the light of day.

Published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the patent application dubbed "Image Capturing Device Having Continuous Image Capture" envisions a process in which your smartphone camera captures and processes a sequence of quick images of the same shot.

That by itself may not sound too innovative. But taking it a step further, your smartphone would then automatically pick the best image of the bunch based on exposure times and other factors.… Read more

The photo editor that's already a hit on Android has made its way to iPhone

PicsArt Photo Studio is a popular, feature-rich photo editor that was formerly for Android phones only, but it's now available for iPhone.

There are several apps that let you add effects and edit your photos, but PicsArt Photo Studio does those things and quite a lot more. In fact this app has so many features it can get a little overwhelming -- particularly with the number of interface elements on the screen.

Like most photo effects apps, you can snap a new picture or pull one from your photo library. With an image onscreen, you can use the buttons … Read more

Camera megapixels: Why more isn't always better (Smartphones Unlocked)

Note: This article originally published May 6, 2012 and updated on February 13, 2013.

Increasingly, the 8-megapixel smartphones camera standard you thought you knew will ratchet up to 13 megapixels for high-end phones.

In many products -- like this past January's Pantech Discover (12.6 megapixels), last October's LG Optimus G for Sprint (13 megapixels), and even last year's HTC Titan II (16 megapixels) -- we're already there.

And no, I won't forget to mention last February's Nokia 808 PureView, a 41-megapixel Mobile World Congress 2012 stunner that CNET camera editor Josh Goldman says … Read more