App News

How much do I hate smartphones? Let me count the ways. But seriously, they aren’t going away anytime soon and many photographers, although not moi, have found clever ways to harness the power of these mobile devices. That said, I do own a smartphone albeit an older model and am on many social media platforms.

Tony Sweet says that smartphone photography “isn’t officially part of the show” at his photography workshops, but the subject does come up with increasing frequency. “They’ll do their big camera work first,” Sweet says of the students, “then they’ll pull out the phones and shoot a few things, discuss among themselves, and ask me some questions.”

The innovative new Case Air wireless from Tether Tools is an innovative wireless system enabling you to transfer images from your camera to a computer, tablet or smartphone with robust remote control of your settings.

The free Snapseed app for iOS and Android phones and tablets has long been a favorite among “serious” mobile photographers who want powerful image-editing tools without a lot of superfluous gimmickry.  And now the app has been updated to include features some of us found missing.

This morning Microsoft introduced Pix, a free iPhone app designed to automatically enhance your images and improve upon Apple’s built-in camera app through the use of artificial intelligence, facial recognition, and other advanced technologies. The idea is that Pix is so sophisticated that it takes the guesswork out of smartphone photography.

DxO, the Paris, France-based company known mostly for software, introduced an intriguing new piece of imaging hardware this morning: a 20.2-megapixel camera with a 1-inch sensor and an f/1.8 lens that fits in your pocket and attaches to an iPhone. Called the DxO One, the 3.8-ounce, 2.65-inch tall camera, connects to an iPhone via the phone’s Lightning port, creating what the company hopes will be a photographic one-two punch to conquer the smartphone conundrum: that is, how do you shoot DSLR-quality images from a slender, inherently limited phone.

Today Adobe announced the availability of Lightroom mobile for Android phones. Lightroom mobile is a companion app to the Lightroom 5 desktop software—part of Adobe Creative Cloud. First released for iPad and iPhone, Lightroom mobile offers users the ability to edit, organize and share images anywhere and anytime.

Built on cloud sync architecture, Lightroom mobile is an efficient way to manage/edit images across desktop, mobile devices and the Web. With the Creative Cloud Photography Plan, users have access to pro quality photographic workflows on desktops and smartphones, allowing users to perfect images on any device.