Holiday Starbucks Cups have fun Augmented Reality friends on them, bring you iPhone

If you are a Starbucks drinker… and you get one of their holiday cups, your iPone is going to give you some entertainment to your visit. Just grab the new free Starbucks Cup Magic app, launch it and point it at your holiday Starbucks cup. Like other Augmented Reality, when you point your iPhone camera at the screen, a simple images comes alive on the screen of your iPhone.

The Starbucks Cup Magic app allows you collect and share all the cup fun. As well, you can check out the latest specials and even eCard someone a Starbucks gift card… in case you spent too much time with the cup characters fun.

Like ZooGue, get a free iPhone 4s case (works for iPhone 4 too)

I was going to say a bunch about all the cases I have tested, the ones that have worked well. Maybe a bit about ones that for special occasions and the ones for every day. Let’s just say, there are lot of options.

While reviewing a iPad 2 case that snaps into a 3 ring binder today, I noticed that company also offered a iPhone 4 case. Visiting the page about the case, I was presented with the below. An offer for a free iPhone 4/4s case, called the Social Shell Case.

I went ahead and tried the option… clicked the Facebook ‘Like’ button and was presented with a coupon code to use. When I used it during ordering their iPhone 4/4s case, I received a discount for the amount of the case. The shipping was all I paid, it was $3.99 for my office address. They don’t appear to be playing any games with ‘shipping/handling’ charges like some other free offers you see.

Watch for a review when the case shows up here.

More precision tuning of Tilt Shift photos on the iPhone

Tilt Shift is a feature that many, like me, use to make a part of an image stand out. Normal Tilt Shift apps offer a circle or straight line that you can apply to an image, keeping that area in focus and everything else goes blurry. With some pictures, when you look at tilt shift enhanced image, your mind tells you that there is a big difference in distance since you can only focus on one spot. Most people use the effect to make an image look like a little toy land. All fun…

While many of the apps keep tuning their apps to make the circle or line area transition between in-focus and blurred areas, it’s still a circle or straight area. So you get a person in focus along with a bit of the background that shouldn’t be if the image was taken with a limited focus range.

This morning I found Finger Focus. The iPhone app gives you the ability to ‘color’ in the area you want in focus and everything else blurs. This is great news where you want to focus on something with a shape that doesn’t fit in a exact circle or lined area. Just the object will be in focus. That can be something you want to call attention to.

Finger Focus also offers the tuning of the area your leaving in focus. Adjust the size of the area your finger is effecting, the level of background blur and the transition area between the in/out of focus areas. Undo is a nice addition too.

When done, share your Finger Focus creation via twitter or through an email.

Self Check Out at Apple Stores – Easy Pay on your iPhone

There was talk mid year about the Easy Pay system that Apple developed being on the employee iPod Touch units. Today’s Apple Store app for the iPhone (free) now has ‘Easy Pay’ built in.

The feature is not for you to use to accept money from other people. Instead, it allows you to ‘self checkout’ inside of Apple stores. The software is for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s and supports most accessories not he shelves. It isn’t for a major purchase like a computer or AppleTV. Although, those are covered by using the ‘Personal Pickup’ option where you pay via the Apple Store App then pick up the hardware that day, some items within the hour.

For the Self Checkout Easy Pay, when you find a item you wish to purchase, the iPhone’s camera acts as a bar code scanner. You scan, pay, and revive a electronic receipt within the app. You done! No more searching for a blue shirt to take your money. If you want a bag, you can go to one of the store employees and show them the receipt on the iPhone’s screen and they will give you one.

The scanning of a product isn’t showing up on the iPhone as I sit here at the office. Being a location aware app (it knows when I get to the store to let me know I’m in line for a Genius), the ability most likely will appear when needed. For now though, under the ‘More’ button is receipts for past purchases.

 

 

Using your iPhone to ‘scan’ and create your family tree

I have mentioned before how much I dislike apps that claim to be ‘scanner’ apps when they are actually photograph apps with some level of image clean up. As I use my iPhone to take pictures of documents and whiteboards more and more, I am less excited about the use of the term. It really isn’t ‘scanning’ but it ‘is’ replacing the need for a scanner so…

An app I found today, 1000memories, takes that scanning and puts a use to it beyond my work day. Basically, they offer a free app that you take pictures of your family photos with. You can then tune the image a bit with telling the app where the corners are, etc… so you get a relatively ‘scanned’ like image.

When you save the image, it goes to your iPhone’s photo album and up to your page on 1000memories. While your able to view the images, family members, and keywords on your iPhone… the maximum punch comes from going to the actual 1000memories.com site and joining all the images into a family tree. Others can add images and link to your tree so it becomes a family experience. When you upload images from the iPhone and on the site, you can add text to them for your memories or others to enjoy.