Making iPhone Pictures Pop With A Color Splash

Many times a app update bring it back to the front of my list to play with on my iPhone. Color Splash is a great example. They added a few items that I will find useful, but the overall app is great as it is. The idea is that you can selectively color or gray areas of your photo. Your not adding color, your allowing the colors in the photo to come through. The above picture was a quick snap out my back door, dropping out all of the color except the sky really changes the feeling of the picture. If the trees had been much greener, I would have most likely had them show up in color too.

When you import an image into Color Splash, you can zoom in and out to get to the detail level you desire. The image is automatically converted to gray, then you choose the area you want to be colored.

When ‘coloring’ you have two choices of how thing appear to you to see your progress. You can have the color show through of you can have the color area show up as red, then flip to the natural color when your done. The red it much easier for fine detail since a lot of time it is hard to distinguish between a light color and area you want to leave gray.

The buttons along the bottom of the editing area are for zooming in/out and moving around the picture, allowing color to come through and ‘Gray’ puts an area you ‘colored’ to go back to gray… needed when your going for fine detail.

Zooming in, you can get down to the pixel level to get into the little corners.

When your done, you can safe your Color Splash work as complete or save it to pick up later where you left off. A extra cool item is that you can have the photo auto revered – gray and colored area. This is handy if going for a different effect later or where it is easier to see to color an area you want dark.

New In This Version

– support for iOS 4 fast app switching
– high resolution graphics for the iPhone 4’s Retina display
– user interface improvements
– using Facebook’s new larger image size when uploading
– Twitter sharing feature now uses the OAuth protocol
– bug fixes and performance improvements

Dragon Dictation cuts out the middle man

Dragon Dictation has updated their free app/service. Of particular interest to those that use the app for quick adds. I had mentioned before that the app is pretty handy for updating text in emails and social services while you drive… look ma, no typing and driving.

The new version removes the need to cut/paste from Dragon Dictation into your seperate Facebook or Twitter app. Now, there is a button for that as an option from the screen that translated the speech to text. Language translation is there too, handy, if you need to post comments other than your spoken word.

Sending Messages

When you are ready to send text content, tap the icon on the lower right of the screen and select how you want to send your message:

Email: Launches your email client and inserts your composed text into a new email message

Text: Launches your text messenger client and inserts your composed text into a new text message.

Copy: Copies your Note to the iPhone™ clipboard.

Facebook: Launches Facebook and inserts your composed text into the Facebook status bar.

Twitter: Launches Twitter and inserts your composed text into the Twitter status bar.

Boinx Software Knows I’m a Sucker for Fun iPhone Photo Apps

If you have been here before, you know how much I like using the camera on the iPhone. Then the many app options to touch up those photos. TiltShift, color tuning, wide view, pop art and the list goes on… there is so much a person can do without ever leaving their iPhone.

Boinx Software gave a heads up Friday that they had a fun new photo app that I shouldn’t be able to live without. Interesting enough, it looks cool, works pretty well, but I have yet to find a spot to use the results outside of the just plain ‘a lot of fun’. The results of the app, You Gotta See This, looks like a pile of individual pictures that overlap. Looking at the full pile as a single image you see a fun bigger picture of what you saw in person. Thus, the result is fun to share with others since it shows more than one picture would without having to sweep through a bunch of pictures to get the ‘big pictur’.

The app works by taking a bunch of pictures on it’s own as you move the iPhone around. You Gotta See This does this by taping the power of the iPhone 4’s built-in gyroscope. All you do it move the iPhone around and the app is smart enough to know how things join together.

Don’t mind the below picture being out of focus, it’s me moving while trying to get a screen shot. Tapping the ‘camera’ button starts and stops the recording. The ‘settings’ option in the lower right corner is for choosing which camera to use and if you want the flash active.

When you have ended the recording via the ‘camera’ button, You Gotta See This sews the images together quickly so you have a single image of overlapping pix. At the bottom of the image you can see indicators of which background and view of the images you have chosen. Sweeping through, the app lays the images onto the background for that theme… several have the images not over the top of each other… so your output can mimic the mood of where you are. Don’t like the result, tap the camera back button on the lower left corner to go back to try again.

Sharing your creation can be done directly from within the app. Taping the ‘share’ option in the lower right  corner. You can save your creation off as a single picture in your Camera Roll, send directly to Twitter, Facebook or in an eMail.

Here is a final single image from the Camera Roll.

The app does exactly what Boinx Software said it would. There was a couple hickups early on with a ‘camera already in use’, the preview showing a blank screen rather than what I was looking at and save image only being a couple of the pics from the stack. All of these app to have been cleared with a restart of my iPhone 4 which leads me to believe that the developers are using the full power of the iOS and available memory. Since I have not had an issue since the initial install, I’m pretty happy with the power You Gotta See This brings my picture taking habit. Now, I’m looking for the perfect situation that needs this effect… fun.

Skype for iOS4, so cool… what am I missing that is bad?

Today, the Free iPhone/iPad Skype app was updated with: “Run Skype in the background with multitasking in iOS4.
Receive Skype calls and IM while other apps are running or when your iPhone is locked. You can also continue your call while you switch to another application.”

So;

  • I can call anyone who has a free Skype account via 3G or WiFi network for free. No matter where they are in the world.
  • I can text message people that have a free Skype account from within the Skype app, no limit on quantity of texts. And, I can text multiple people at the same time… allowing me to get a group of folks together with one quick text.
  • I do not have to have Skype running as the front app, it is already ready and waiting in the background due to it’s multitasking (iPhone with iOS4, not iPad with OS3.2.x).
  • I can use other apps while I’m talking on a call via Skype like I can using the regular phone service.
  • I do not have to depend on the company Blackberry network being up/down – team members can get in touch of me quickly from their desktop, notebook, iPad or iPhone.
  • I can do video calls with the regular Skype app, nothing extra to do or buy.

Did I mention it’s free?*

*thought I should star the ‘free’ item… everything Skype is free/free over wifi… if your using the 3G network you can use up your multi gig account so the old unlimited accounts are nice for lots of talking. Skype does offer services that you can pay for – go to skype.com to see if you need those additional features.

Tired of Google Maps? Try MapQuest Mobile for iPhone – Free

Yes, I know… Google Maps comes on the iPhone and it is free. But, you have a pretty good option if you want to explore those option.

Of course, AOL and their MapQuest Mobile did a few things different than Google did their their Map app. So, whether you try and stick with MapQuest will be because it has features more important to your liking.

The basic map is flat, unlike the 3D view of the new hot navigation options. But, it has a lot of information at your fingertips without leaving the map view. Along the bottom you can choose one or many of the buttons to show spots on the map.

The bar with the location buttons can be collapsed and re-shown without leaving the single map screen. Zooming in and out is done with two finger pinch/expand. Always showing the buttons for Maps, Directions, My Places (saved addresses) and Settings.

Downtown there is a lot more pins of spots to see. The ‘+’ takes you to more information on that location.

Traffic color coded roads where information is available. I like to look ahead to see if I’m green ahead or how far the ‘red’ traffic jams goes. You can see you get a pop up showing how far you are from the location your looking at.

MapQuest Mobile presents directions as expected. Either get you to a location from where you are now or a map between two points.


The list of features new to this version… too many to try to mention so here is what AOL has to say:
• *NEW* Spoken Street Names keeps concentration on the task at hand while providing the most critical information needed in an easy-to-understand medium: the street name where to turn- spoken in a friendly voice (e.g. ‘turn right on Colfax’).
• *NEW* MapQuest 4 Mobile organizes the myriad of purposes afforded by fast application switching and background GPS (via iOS 4) by continuing Voice Guidance & Spoken Street Names whether on a call, listening to iPod, or saving battery with the application hidden.
• *NEW* Auto Re-Route eases the stress of a missed turn, by automatically recalculating the way to the destination. No interaction with the device is necessary.
• Auto-Advance Feature improves “Find Me” by using iPhone® GPS to automatically locate you within your driving directions, recognize when you have taken a turn, and prepare you with the next maneuver – all without having to touch the screen.
• Energy savings mode allows you to set the power consumption level for MapQuest® 4 Mobile – NOW with a medium setting for continued voice guidance when the screen dims!
• Walking directions (pedestrian mode)
• Highly usable driving directions featuring an oversized display as well as landscape mode orientation.
• Save Maps and Routes on MapQuest.com and retrieve on your iPhone®.
• MapQuest® place carousel allows you to easily display locations for hotels, movie theaters, gas stations, and more with a single tap.
• Negotiate difficult turns/sets of turns with orientation arrows when viewing directions in map mode.
• Free-form search for businesses and places.
• Make your own my position icon representing You on the map. Use the built in camera or choose from a variety of existing icons.