Adapter connects smartphones to microscopes for scientific photography

The SkyLight device holds the user’s smartphone camera steady over the eyepiece of a microscope so as to enable the user to take pictures with the phone of the images seen through the microscope. Springwise reports via @jranck.

Now available for preorder on Kickstarter, where it has been successfully funded, the SkyLight device holds the user’s smartphone camera steady over the eyepiece of a microscope so as to enable the user to take pictures with the phone of the images seen through the microscope. Compatible with any smartphone and almost every microscope, the device is intended for a range of global health and educational applications, as well as personal photography.

Read more.

27% of Photos in 2011 were taken with a smartphone

Smartphones are eating into sales of basic cameras and camcorders in the US, according to market researchers. The BBC reports.

The NPD Group said the point-and-shoot camera market sold 17% fewer units over the first 11 months of the year compared to the same period in 2010.

It said the pocket camcorder market fell by 13% over the same period.

Its online survey of adults and teenagers suggested users were also more likely to opt for their phone camera to take footage "on the fly".

... The study suggested that 44% of photos were taken on a camera over the last year, down from 52% over the previous period. By contrast the share of photos taken with a smartphone rose to 27% from 17%.

Experts suggest the trend is in part due to the popularity of apps including Instagram, Twitter and Facebook which allow pictures to be uploaded to social networks immediately after they are taken.

Read full article.

Cell Phone Cameras Images adequate to Diagnose Malaria and other Diseases

Are cell phone cameras good enough to transmit microscopic information to experts? A new study found that many simple bar phones with cameras could snap a good enough picture through a standard microscope to allow a remote assessment of a sample. The results were published online Wednesday in PLoS ONE. Scientific American reports.

... In Uganda, where there are only eight physicians for every 100,000 people, getting a definitive diagnosis can be difficult. The research team enlisted local health workers to try using their own (or borrowed) cell phones to capture photos and videos of microscopic images to send off for remote diagnosis.

The best images were obtained with cameras that were two megapixels or higher, which are common in smart phones and are in some slimmer Nokia, Samsung and Sony bar phones. And some of the most successful diagnoses were those of samples that contained malaria parasites, which “were often so clear that specific stages of the malaria parasite could be identified”—thus improving targeted treatment.

Read more.

Witnesses’ Recordings Help Explain Air Accidents

With more people carrying devices like camera phones, events both benign and disastrous are being recorded by civilians and finding a wider audience — not just in the news media and online, but also in accident investigations. And while these documents are often a boon to investigators, they can also be a burden. The New York Times reports.

... Citizen documentarians are in danger of overwhelming government agencies with all their digital data. Over the last five years, the safety board has seen a 400 percent increase in material coming into its recorder laboratory. Extracting data from hundreds of different kinds of electronic devices that were never intended to be flight data recorders is time-consuming and expensive.

Read full article.

Of Cellphones and Street Photography

For street photographer Misha Erwitt, it's becoming harder to get a picture of people in New York that are not holding a cell phone. [via The New York Times]

A slide show of New Yorkers glued to their phones is featured on his blog, alongside Mr. Erwitt’s quiet rant.

... These days, it’s completely normal to see someone totally oblivious to his or her surroundings yakking away on crowded sidewalks. Cellphones and digital cameras have become ever smaller and commonplace. Inadvertently eavesdropping on someone’s private conversation or being bumped into by someone busily texting and walking is part of the urban landscape.

Read more via The New York Times.

Related: - Cell Phones and NYC Street Fashion.

Diagnosing Vision Disorders with a $2 clip-on to cell phones

Via mobileactive.org:

Having poor vision can affect nearly every aspect of life, and although it’s easy for those with nearsightedness or farsightedness to know something is wrong, getting a correct diagnosis and prescription for corrective eyewear can be difficult in rural areas.

A new device called NETRA could change all that with a cheap, small clip-on tool for mobile phones. Developed by the Camera Culture Group at the MIT Media Lab, NETRA works by having users look through a camera lens and align images on a display screen until the images come into focus.

Read more.

Picture of camphones at rock concert a best seller on Getty/Flickr

This picture was taken by Michael Bodge, and is Getty Images best selling photograph on Flickr.

Getty and Flickr teamed up two years ago and there are now 250,000 photos in that collection.

[via All Things D]

EBay to add image recognition to mobile offerings

EBay plans to add image-recognition technology by the end of the year to its mobile offerings, allowing shoppers to snap photos of items they covet — such as a cute dress a friend is wearing — that an eBay app will match up with similar items for sale on eBay.com.

[via the AP]

iPhone 4S camera, speed will appeal to healthcare

The new iPhone 4S’s camera boasts a resolution that is six times that of the previous iPhone, and is capable of 1080p video recording. By raising the bar for camera phones, Apple is making it easier for patients to record physical symptoms via photos and video, which they can send to doctors.

[via MobileHeathNews]

DoCoMo Tracks Calories With Meal Photos

Japanese carrier DoCoMo is demonstrating a research project that aims at tracking one’s calorie intake by recognizing meals based on photos. In DoCoMo’s concept, a photo is compared to a database of known meals (currently 1000 Japanese dishes), and a calorie amount is then estimated.

[via Ubergizmo]

Summer 2011 in photos: Cellphone cameras boom, digital cameras wane

New research shows that the summer of 2011 saw more people using their mobile phones to take photos than ever before. GigaOM reports.

Cellphone camera usage has taken off significantly in the past eight months alone, according to a “Summer Photo Usage Survey” sponsored by Photobucket, which polled more than 2500 participants during July. Fully 58 percent of respondents said they had used a camera phone to capture and share photos, up from 27 percent during the company’s 2010 Holiday Survey conducted in December.

Increasingly, people aren’t just using their cellphone cameras to capture static images. 45 percent of survey respondents said they use a mobile device to capture video at least once a week, while 17 percent said they use a mobile device to take video at least once a day.

Read full article. Case in point, photo above taken this summer in Lucerne with my iPhone.

New Trend: Rating Cameraphone Pics of Fellow Travellers

The BBC reports on a website called Tubecrush.net which posts pictures for viewer rating, of good looking men traveling on the subway.

Adam Moger was travelling on the Northern line in South London one Sunday morning, when his photograph was secretly taken by someone using a mobile phone.

It wasn't until three days later when his friends contacted him, that Mr Moger realised his image was now part of an online trend.

His picture appeared on the website Tubecrush.net and a connected twitter account, and his looks and fashion sense were being rated online.

Tubecrush.net invites commuters to send in pictures of strangers they find attractive or eye-catching. Subjects must be men travelling on the London underground.

Sounds like an incredible invasion of privacy, but apparently, the London Underground is considered a public place so is fair game for photographing strangers.

Read more.

Smartphones a real menace to camera society

The impact of smartphones on the camera business has been highlighted in a new report that reveals that 44% of smartphone owners claim the device has replaced their digital camera. Photo Imaging News reports.

According to a recent Prosper Mobile Insights survey in the US, smartphones have replaced a myriad of devices, headed by:

-- Alarm clock 61.1%

-- GPS 52.3%

-- Digital camera 44.3%

-- Personal planner 41.6%

-- Landline phone 40.3%

-- MP3 player 37.6%

-- Video camera 34.2%

This survey coincides with the release of Photo Marketing Association’s 2011 Smartphone Report, a major research study into the picture-taking behaviour of smartphone users.

The 116-page report covers a survey of more than 2000 smartphone users. Topics included picture-taking behaviour (quantity and quality perception), buying influences, photography functions, photo apps and output preferences.

Read full press release.

Cell phone users getting the picture

Increasingly, people are turning to their telephone for pictures. PJStar reports.

According to a recent survey in PC Magazine, 43 percent of the magazine's readers reported that they mainly use their phone's camera to snap photos.

In addition, the photo hosting website Flickr noted last month that the iPhone 4 had surpassed the Nikon D90 as the most popular camera used by members on the site.

Interest by cell phone users in the camera offered has increased, said Leon Horton, area sales manager for U.S. Cellular in Peoria. "Now people ask which phone has the best camera. It used to be more of an interest of the younger generation. Now even older customers want to take pictures with their phone," he said.

Read more.

Doing More Than Praying for Rain

Weather insurance for small farmers has always faced numerous barriers. But throughout east Africa today there are projects finding creative and innovative ways to overcome them. The New York Times reports.

... One of them is a project in Kenya’s southwest that so far insures 22,000 farmers. There are so few farmers with insurance in Africa that this project is the continent’s largest. It is called Kilimo Salama, which means “safe farming” in Swahili. What makes it work is technology.

Instead of relying on insurance agents, Kilimo Salama’s insurer — the Kenyan insurance company UAP — sells policies in the same stores where farmers buy their seeds, fertilizers and chemicals. The shop owner is given a camera phone to record the purchase, which instantly sends a confirmation text message to the buyer. At the end of the growing season, payouts go electronically to the farmer’s cell phone account.

Read full article.

Remote Medical Diagnosis Via 3G Network Under Trial in Egypt

Qualcomm has announced in a press release that it is working with Egyptian mobile network, Mobinil to test a remote tool to enable dermatologists to diagnose skin conditions remotely. Cellular News reports.

Located in Cairo, the program sites allow physicians to take photographs of patient skin conditions and capture symptoms in text format using a 3G-enabled wireless device. This information is then sent through Mobinil's HSPA mobile broadband network to obtain diagnosis from specialists working elsewhere.

During this pilot phase, both an onsite physician and a remote specialist diagnose skin conditions, and the results are then compared to confirm the prognosis. To date, diagnosis comparisons completed during the pilot have demonstrated full agreement in 82.2 percent of cases examined.

Read full article.

Cellphones Become the World’s Eyes and Ears on Protests

For some of the protesters facing Bahrain’s heavily armed security forces in and around Pearl Square in Manama, the most powerful weapon against shotguns and tear gas has been the tiny camera inside their cellphones. The New York Times reports.

By uploading images of this week’s violence in Manama, the capital, to Web sites like YouTube and yFrog, and then sharing them on Facebook and Twitter, the protesters upstaged government accounts and drew worldwide attention to their demands.

A novelty less than a decade ago, the cellphone camera has become a vital tool to document the government response to the unrest that has spread through the Middle East and North Africa.

Recognizing the power of such documentation, human rights groups have published guides and provided training on how to use cellphone cameras effectively.

Read full article.

Camera Phones in the delivery room

This week’s New York magazine features an item by Tina Cassidy on the trend–and controversy–of parents photographing, texting and sharing the birthing process in real time with the aid of camera phones. Forbes reports.

We’re familiar with the trends that led to this new frontier: up-to-the-minute tweets tracking cervical dilation; Dad holding his phone by the foot of the bed so faraway Grandma can feel like she’s right there; Facebook pages updated from the recovery room with video of the new arrival.

And we’ve seen what happens when those impulses are checked: In November, a Maryland medical center joined other hospitals in banning photography—potentially a dangerous distraction, not to mention evidence in the event of a lawsuit—until several minutes after the baby is born, only to spark a backlash from indignant parents.

Forbes

Facebook users upload record 750M photos over New Year’s weekend

A record-breaking 750 million photos were uploaded to Facebook over New Year's weekend, the social network announced Tuesday afternoon.

Photos is arguably Facebook's most popular feature, and one that the social network has improved through a number of product updates this year.

[via Technology Live]

Fashism. Do u like it???

MobileBeahvior Blog on Fashism, a website and mobile application that lets people ask style questions, give advice, and get real-time feedback.

Fashism lets you sidestep fashion faux-pas by crowdsourcing other users' opinions. Snap a photo, email it to the site, and get pinged back with comments and ratings from other users. People are doing this anyway—taking photos in stores and sending to friends for thoughts.

This site hopes to create a fashion-conscious community to advise you on your wardrobe in real-time. What fuels the site is our universal need to tell people what we think—we don't just want opinions, we want to share ours.

With Video Everywhere, Stark Evidence Is on Trial

An interesting article in The New York Times, on how the courtroom experience is becoming a lot more complicated because we now live in a world that is always on camera.

Legal experts say the technology shift could lead to harsher experiences for jurors, and could put pressure on judges to re-examine the balancing act that they have long used to determine what kind of evidence makes its way into court.

Read full article.

Sending camphone pics from the changing room

According to The Guardian, more and more shoppers are using smartphones while shopping - even when in the changing room.

Phone companies on the lookout for trends in the millions of texts, calls and internet searches made every hour have identified hotspots around store changing rooms as shoppers photograph themselves trying on new outfits then beam the images to friends for an instant verdict.

Read full article.

LookTel phone app can help the blind 'see' everyday objects

A Santa Monica company is developing a service that can analyze an image from a smart phone's camera and audibly announce what it is The Los Angeles Times reports.

A smart phone application called LookTel helps make a call by audibly announcing which button on the keypad a finger is hovering over and includes a feature that identifies everyday objects on the fly.

LookTel uses the phone's camera and transmits an image of whatever is in front of it over the Internet to the company's servers. Computers compare the image to those in LookTel's catalog; when they find a match the item's name is sent back to the phone.

According to their website, LookTel also incorporates a text reader allowing users to get access to print media.

For more complicated visual tasks such as locating a specific street corner or bus stop, LookTel enables you to remotely connect to another person for assistance. Not only can you talk to them, but you can also transmit live video from the cell phone's camera so that they can see your surroundings and help you with orientation, recognizing objects and media, and more.

Read full article and What is LookTel?

Neiman Marcus offers a whole new take on Xmas windows

For the second consecutive year, Neiman Marcus's downtown store will let children climb in the xmas Windows from the street beginning Nov. 20 during the annual City Lights festivities, reports Dallas News.

But this year, the holiday play experience incorporates features activated by adults and their smart phones that may lead to actual window shopping year round.

For example, visitors can text a number to control one of six special effects inside the display. They also can use camera phones to place themselves in space scenes. "Windows can be a 24/7 point of access for people walking by. Phone applications can capture information about displayed products and brands.

Read full article.

Photo Sharing on the Go Is the Latest Hot Investment Niche in Silicon Valley

A flurry of new start-ups is focused on mobile photo-sharing, some of which plan to make money from local advertising. The smartphone apps transform cellphone photos so they look better, tag them with location data and post them in real time to social networks on phones and the Web.

[via The New York Times]

Warner Bros. uses mobile tags to promote DVD/Blu-ray launch

Warner Bros. is promoting its film “Inception” by having consumers snap a photo of the tag that gives them new content each week leading up to the DVD/Blu-ray launch. Mobile Marketer reports.

The tag is featured on the Inception Facebook page, TV commercials, posters and on the DVD cover. Users can participate by taking a photo and sending it to a short code.

“Mobile 2D codes can help engage the consumer and create a dialogue of interaction between consumer and brand by activating traditional and/or digital media,” said Laura Marriott, board member at NeoMedia.

Read full article.

Camera phones seen as answer to image storage problem

As consumers take more and more photographs, the problem of retrieving, identifying and storing images may be solved by the new breed of smart phones rather than cameras, writes Photo & Imaging News.

In preparation for the upcoming 6Sight Future of Imaging conference in California next month, co-host Future Image has released a special report titled ‘Location-Aware Images - Using Smart-Phone Capabilities To Automate Rich Metadata’, the latest in a series of research studies examining technology developments that will change how imaging products are made, marketed and used.

The report examines the prospects for technology that will allow people to search for and find photographs and videos much more easily, by having them contain information about the location where they were taken.

Read full article.

Physicians use photos from patients' cellphones to deliver 'mobile health'

"Mobile health" does not mean a clinic on wheels. It is an emerging field within telemedicine that comprises all aspects of care generated from or available on a portable mobile device such as a cellphone. The Washington Post reports.

Doctors already use traditional forms of telemedicine -- teleconferencing and videoconferencing -- but Sikka said "mHealth" goes further, eliminating the need for scheduling conference rooms and reserving equipment.

MHealth could especially benefit patients living in isolated areas and those who don't want to spend the time, money and energy waiting for evaluation of a superficial injury, Neal Sikka, an emergency physician at George Washington University, added.

Read full article.

Yeahyeahyeahyeah.com

yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah.com popped onto Mashable's radar overnight (do they ever sleep?) It's a constant stream of random photos. And like it's video counterpart Chateroulette, there's porn too. If that's what you call a photo of a naked woman tied in bondage.

[via The Guardian]

Camera phones used to track birds

Queensland scientists have created a new method of tracking cassowaries using mobile phones. ABC reports.

The University of Queensland as launched a website where the public can upload photos taken from their mobile phone, as well as the GPS position of the flightless bird.

Senior UQ researcher Dr Hamish Campbell says the information will help scientists record important information about the rare animal.

"There really is an urgent need on ecological data on the birds, in particular looking at where the birds go, when they go there, why do they go there, and what the sort ecological strategies underpin movement patterns," he said.

"The hope is that with the public's help we can use this new technology.

First Camera, Then Fork

Keeping a photographic food diary is a growing phenomenon, writes The New York Times, with the number of pictures tagged “food” on the photo-sharing Web site Flickr increasing tenfold in the last two years.

In 1825, the French philosopher and gourmand Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” Today, people are showing the world what they eat by photographing every meal, revealing themselves perhaps more vividly than they might by merely reciting the names of appetizers and entrees.

For Photographers, the Image of a Shrinking Path

An interesting read from The New York Times on how amateur photographers are undercutting professionals by selling stock photos cheaper.

Amateurs, happy to accept small checks for snapshots of children and sunsets, have increasing opportunities to make money on photos but are underpricing professional photographers and leaving them with limited career options. Professionals are also being hurt because magazines and newspapers are cutting pages or shutting altogether.

Read full article

Camera Phones, paper 'chips' may fight disease

George Whitesides, a chemistry professor at Harvard University, has developed a prototype for paper "chip" technology that could be used in the developing world to cheaply diagnose deadly diseases such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitis and gastroenteritis. CNN reports.

Patients put a drop of blood on one side of the slip of paper, and on the other appears a colorful pattern in the shape of a tree, which tells medical professionals whether the person is infected with certain diseases.

It's not entirely unlike a home pregnancy test, Whitesides said, but the chips are much smaller and cheaper, and they test for multiple diseases at once. They also show how severely a person is infected rather than producing only a positive-negative reading.

Since people in remote parts of Africa and Asia often have to travel great distances by public transit or foot to reach a medical clinic, patients simply can take photos of the chips with cell phones and then send them to larger cities for diagnosis.

Read full article.

Image from Popsci.com. Watch George Whitesides talk on TED.

Infrared cameras determine taste quality of Japanese beef

According to Switched, your cameraphone could soon become an essential tool for any trip to the grocery store as scientists in Japan are developing ways to use infrared cameras for more accurately determining which slices of beef are tastier than others.

Read full article.

The rise of the camera-phone

Everywhere you go these days, there are people with camera-phones – many of us record, document, and upload the minutae of our lives. But, ultimately, should we be doing it just because we can?

[Read full essay in The Guardian]

Camera Pro Chase Jarvis Preaches iPhone Photography

Switched walked New York's High Line with pro photographer Chase Jarvis, known for his affirmation that the best camera is the one that's with you. These days, it's far more likely to be your phone's camera, and Jarvis suggests you not sweat the lower quality sensor and lens. What's more important, he says, is capturing the moment, whether it's a home run at a little league game or the way light is reflecting on a window. Take a look.

Jarvis has also come out with an iPhone app called Best Camera that allows you to shoot, creatively edit, and share your iPhone images more simply than before. A set of effects can be applied to photos at the touch of a button. You can stack the, mix them and remix them.

You can also share your pictures easily via Facebook, Twitter, email or any sharing service as well as on bestcamera's photo sharing community gallery.

UK's first mobile phone photography course

Professional UK photographers Phil and Rachel Hibberd who run an online photography course, have launched the UK's first ever course in mobile phone photography. The Daily News reports.

They have devised a £40 day-long course to help students get the most out of their camera phones, whether they are used as a full-time substitute for a camera or just occasional picture messaging.

The 'mobile phone photography made simple' course will start next month at locations in Bristol, London and Birmingham.

Tweet of note

[Twitter/Mobileslate via @rhunold/mobile ]

Camera phones offer snapshot of an era

The Guardian on how cameraphones have become almost a vital extension of our lives.

... There is an unprecedented record of what is going on in the world being stored for posterity in a digital museum. If, 100 years hence, researchers could call up archives for a single hour of what was being recorded today, they would have an extraordinary chronicle of what we were like.

Camera Phone Officially Kills Film Camera

Ontela, Inc., provider of award-winning imaging services for wireless carriers, released survey results today that indicate the imminent death of the traditional film camera amongst U.S. consumers.

The last three years of data have shown a steady decline in people who report owning a traditional film camera, decreasing from 67% in 2007, to 61% in 2008, and dropping all the way to 48% in 2009.

Conversely, camera phones continue to grow in ubiquity, going from just 70% reporting that they owned a phone with a camera in 2007, to 78% in 2008 and 87% in 2009.

[Read full news release from Business Wire. Image from Switched]

Taking professional photographs with the iPhone camera

Commercial photographer and active blogger Chase Jarvis believes the iPhone camera isn't a toy, but a work of art. He set out to prove it. His new book The Best Camera Is The One That's With You is devoted to showing just what the teeny 2-megapixel iPhone camera is capable of. USA Today reports.

To plug the book, he's launched an online sharing community and iPhone App today. The website is for iPhone camera fans to show off their work, and his $2.99 "Best Camera" App is a Photoshop-lite like program offering filters to tweak and improve the photos.

Read full article.

Camera phones can help diagnosis

Taking photographs or video of unusual symptoms on an ordinary camera phone can help doctors diagnose uncommon problems, according to researchers. eHealth Insider reports.

A paper published in the BMJ describes the case of a 25 year old pregnant woman in Norway who reported frequent episodes of severe nipple pain.

The woman presented three photographs from her camera phone depicting the colour change of a typical episode.

The doctors from Trondheim, Norway, said that with the help of the photographs they diagnosed Raynaud’s phenomenon of the nipple. The patient was given treatment, her symptoms completely resolved within one week, and she was able to continue breastfeeding with no side effects.

Read full article.

Could u MMS me ur blood sample?

In the developed world, we take camera phones for granted as ways to record our lives – but in poorer countries they could be used to save lives, say bioengineers. The US team has designed a portable microscope that straps to a camera phone and can be used to diagnose potentially fatal diseases in blood and sputum samples. New Scientist reports.

Light microscopy is an essential healthcare tool that can help to diagnose dangerous diseases including malaria and tuberculosis. If necessary, digital images of cell samples provided by camera-equipped lab microscopes are shuttled through the internet to experts at other healthcare centres for further analysis.

Related article in the BBC">BBC.

A Blind Photographer (!)

After professional photographer Alex Dejong lost his sight three years ago, he thought his days of taking and editing photos was over. But the iPhone 3GS's VoiceOver feature, plus a few key apps, has given some of his abilities back.

An amazing story from Gizmodo.

Data Capture Redundancy

"Overkill". Spotted on Jan Chipchase's future perfect.