camera

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

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

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

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

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

James Bond and robotic spy-camera penguins have a lot in common. They both wear tuxedos and they both sneak into precarious places to do spy work. The robot penguins were unleashed by John Downer Productions for an up-close BBC documentary look at penguin life.

"Penguins: Spy in the Huddle" documents nearly a year hanging out with penguins through the surrogate eyes of 50 different spycams. Some of the spycams were disguised as chunks of snow or small boulders, but the most adorable cameras were those in the guise of robotic penguins.… Read more

BlackBerrys haven't always had the top cameras in the industry, but with the BlackBerry Z10's 8-megapixel camera, things are turning around.

In my tests so far, the Z10's shooter largely succeeds. Over the course of my testing period, I got some really nice outdoor shots, plus some crisp indoor photos of everything from food labels to receipts. Of course, not every indoor picture or portrait turned out great, but I found the images usable overall (check out my Z10 review for even more photos).

So let's see how it compares with two other high-quality smartphone cameras, … Read more

With the multitude of camera applications on the market, it's always hard to choose one that is both functional and fun to use. Pudding Camera promises fast save times, great effects, and quality photos. Unfortunately, it does not deliver completely.

Installing this app is easy enough, and you can to get right to the fun. Pudding Camera takes a novel approach to its user interface. From a bright main menu you select a camera and a film combination. The camera portion of the selection is merely a filter. You may select camera options such as panorama, fish-eye, macro, and … Read more

Google has been granted a patent for LED technology that could be used to boost smartphone camera capabilities.

Patent 8,363,157, granted yesterday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, documents how LED lighting could be used to give a mobile device the ability to fire with multiple flashes.

Relating to "flash mechanisms for digital cameras that are incorporated into mobile communication devices such as smartphones and tablet computers," the patent documents how a smartphone's shots could be improved by boosting flash capabilities.

As shown, one hypothetical design for the LEDs would ring the LED … Read more