Lenses

Discussing cameras and the future of Windows Phone with Nokia’s Juha Alakarhu

Interviews

By Daniel Rubino, Friday, Jan 11, 2013 at 11:15 am

Although Nokia was not announcing any new Lumia Windows Phones here at CES 2013 in Las Vegas, they were still present here making sure people know that they mean business.

Luckily for us their photo guru, Juha Alakarhu, was there to take our questions regarding cameras and the future of mobile camerawork. Being in charge of Nokia’s imaging for their Lumia line gives him special insight into the field and since we’re photo enthusiasts ourselves, we had a lot to discuss.

Most of our conversation concentrated on chatting about their current cream of the crop, the Nokia Lumia 920 but who could also ignore that 808 Pureview with its 41MP image sensor? Not us. So both imaging technologies were discussed in tandem as well as what Nokia is thinking about what’s coming next. Join us after the break for some interesting tidbits behind Nokia’s photographic magic.

Straighten out your images with Horizon Level

Apps

By Sam Sabri, Monday, Dec 10, 2012 at 8:15 am

Horizon Angle is a keep it simple stupid app for Windows Phone 8 users that helps your pictures out. For those viewers with OCD, nothing can be more painful than looking at an image with strong horizontal lines only to have them crooked in the picture. You won’t need a tripod to keep them straight, but using Horizontal Angle will help out immensely. Windows Phone photographers read on.

Give Windows Phone 8 a voice-actuated camera with ReadyClick!

Apps

By Daniel Rubino, Saturday, Dec 1, 2012 at 5:43 pm

Every once in awhile we come across a really innovative app that isn’t just gimmicky but extremely useful. Today, that app is ReadyClick!

Built for Windows Phone 8, it allows you take a photo just by using your voice—perfect for getting those group shots and not having to worry about a timer. The app is both a Tile and Lens for the camera, making it quickly available for regular usage. Once launched you have a few options including snapping a photo instantly, using a standard (but configurable) timer or the voice activation.

It’s of course the latter function that really makes this app.

Lenses feature allegedly coming to Windows Phone 7.8 too

By Daniel Rubino, Monday, Nov 19, 2012 at 10:58 am

Although nothing official has been announced yet for Windows Phone 7.8, we’re certainly hearing a lot more about that pending update these days. The latest information states that current users will get the ‘Lenses’ feature of Windows Phone 8.

The information comes via a Google Hangout that was held recently with David Akinjise, Product Manager at Nokia and picked up by the site WPArea.de. There he revealed that the Lenses feature along with Cinemagraph and Smart Shoot will be coming to current Nokia Lumia phones in the near future.

First look: Words with Friends, UrbanSpoon, Cut the Rope and more for Windows Phone 8

Apps

By Daniel Rubino, Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 at 3:31 pm

Although Windows Phone 8 is just starting to roll out for Microsoft and some folks even have new HTC 8X or Lumia 920's in their hands, those new Apollo-specific apps are still few and far between. Luckily we got our hands on a few new titles and we'll give you a brief video walkthrough on our AT&T Lumia 920...

Windows Phone 8 bringing Lenses feature to expand camera functionality

Windows Phone News

By Daniel Rubino, Thursday, Jul 26, 2012 at 11:30 am

As we parse our way through the new Windows Phone 8 SDK which was leaked this morning, we’re starting to get an idea of some of the new features.

One of those is Camera Lenses, a method by which developers can add a “mini app” of sorts to within in the camera function. This will allow devs to have much more creative control over the Windows Phone camera app, allowing the creation of unique augmented reality apps and filters to really add a customized experience.

Head past the break to read the excerpts from the SDK…

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Supposed leaked screenshots of Windows Phone 8 Apollo appear, show off Skype and Lenses

By Daniel Rubino, Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 3:23 am

Is this Windows Phone 8? We think so...

With less than week before Microsoft is expected to show off Windows Phone 8 in San Francisco, some leaked (and terrible looking) screenshots have appeared on the site Nokia Innovation.

The shots supposedly show off integrated Skype, including an incoming video call as well as a data usage app. You may also note the mention of "RCSe" near the bottom which stands for "Rich communication suite", an important feature coming to WP8. The next screen shot shows the camera app with a new button. Nokia Innovation does not know what that lower button is but we can tell you that it's for the "Lenses" function, which will most likely be revealed next week.

In fact, the only reason we're giving these sceenshots some credibility is the fact that Lenses button is 100% accurate. The rest we cannot vouch for but it does jive with what we've learned and seen ourselves.

The data usage app (called "Data Smart" officially) was also confirmed by Joe Belfiore back in February in the leaked video for OEMs which detailed Apollo (yes, we've seen the video and can vouch for everything said in it). According to Nokia Innovation "the first bar shows how much data you have left, the second shows how many days remaining on your data plan, and it seems you can even adjust your data plan based on the data report ". Such integration is part of the customization that carriers and OEMs/Microsoft will bring to Windows Phone 8 this fall.

This "data control" is a big focus in Windows Phone 8 which when combined with the data compression for web browsing will allow users to better monitor their data usage. In fact, data compression in IE10 should reduced data usage by up to 30% on top of speeding up browsing in general.

Finally, what is supposedly Nokia Drive 3.0 is also shown with updated traffic report and re-routing. That's the standalone app though and not part of Windows Phone 8.

Source: Nokia Innovation