Monday 27 August 2012

iphone 5 tricks


5 Tips for Creating Video and Audio Content With Your iPhone

social media how toIf you could create and manage an entire video blog using nothing other than an iPhone, would you?
If you’re interested in learning how tocapture audio, pictures and video with nothing but an iPhone, keep reading.

Multimedia Content With an iPhone?

This is what I’ve been doing with my TalkingWithTom project this year. I’ve been interviewing digital thought leaders and then sharing those video interviews once a week.
And I’m creating the ENTIRE BLOG using just an iPhone.
The best part of the deal is I’ve learned a lot about what an iPhone can and cannot do. Along the way, my iPhone has become one of my favorite blog content creation tools.
In fact, I’m now using it in ways I had never envisioned when I purchased it last year.
In this article I’ll share 5 tips and tricks that will help you use your iPhone for capturing audio, photographs and video.
iphone
The new iPhone4 has all-new 8MP camera and optics.

Audio—Your Secret Blogging Weapon

Since inception, the iPhone has come with a fine audio recording tool resident on the phone. Sure, there are lots of additional audio apps, but for a blogger’s needs, the basic Apple Voice Memo app works just fine.
The problem though is with the microphone. It’s just not that good. So my first two tips are about getting better sound.

#1: Small Directional iPhone Microphone

To ensure optimum audio, you need an external mic. For basic audio interviews where your intention is to use the entire iPhone like a microphone and point it at your interviewee while he or she speaks, pick up Brando Mini Directional mic.
This little gem is small, lightweight and perfect for conducting one-on-one interviews at conferences and meet-ups.
mini iphone microphone
With this, you just pop it in, point it in the direction you want to record and go!
You’ll like this mic because it is small enough to comfortably carry in your pocket and then just snap it into to the headphone jack when you’re ready to record. Then just point the mic in the direction of your subject and start recording.
What you’ll get is audio that is much better in terms of volume and clarity. BUT—what I find is that it amps up ALL of the audio. So, while it is directional, you still need a pretty quiet place to record.

#2: Professional Microphone Adapter

If you want to the ability to record higher-quality audio in spaces that generate more noise (conferences/restaurants), you’ll need a professional-grade microphone. The problem is, the iPhone can’t accept regular microphones that use the standard 3.5mm jack.
To solve the iPhone’s microphone incompatibility problem, you’ll need to buy a KV Connection iPhone Microphone Adapter. It will run you about $20. With it, you can attach any microphone (that has a 3.5mm plug) to the iPhone—this includes wireless lavaliere microphones like the one I use for all of my stuff.
iphone microphone adapter
KV connection cable allows you to connect a standard microphone with a 3.5mm connector to the iPhone.

Photographs: Moving Beyond Instagram

Easily the biggest advancement in the iPhone4 was the camera. With the iPhone4, you can actually shoot pretty decent photographs and HD video. But if you really want to kick it up a notch you need a few extra toys.

#3: External iPhone Lenses

lenses
External camera lenses for iPhone can transform your standard phone photos into wide, up-close, super-zoomed and wonderfully warped wonders.
Invest in a few iPhone external lenses. I carry this set with me all the time. It contains fish-eye, macro, telephoto and wide-angle lenses.
With these lenses, you can create iPhone pics that don’t look like iPhone pics.
For instance, the wide-angle lens will easily add a few feet of image left and right, creating more of a 16:9 ratio vs. the more standard 4:3 ratio. This can be especially good if you’re shooting outdoor scenes, like for a travel blog or video, and you want a more cinematic effect.
The macro lens is great to shoot really small stuff up close or to create that “blown out background” effect.
And if you want to create some really off-the-charts–looking photos and videos, attach the fish-eye lens and get some cool effects.
But lenses can only take you so far.

#4: Photo Retouching Apps

My go-to app for on-phone retouching is Photogene. The app lets you crop, alter colors, reduce the “noise” in a photo and basically take a normal shot and make it look pretty darn cool.
So if you’re running a food, travel or hotel blog, where pictures really are worth a thousand words, you might want to consider exploring the entire list of photo retouching apps in the app store.
photogene
Picture shot using iPhone4, retouched/resized using Photogene.

Video: Are you the next Spielberg?

Probably my favorite use of the iPhone (at least for blog content creation) is the video capabilities of the phone. While Apple’s built-in video recording tool will give you basic trimming capabilities, you’ll have to spend a few bucks to bring the world of video editing to your phone.
For all of my videos, I’ve used iMovie. It’s easy to trim, split and edit clips. You can add a voice-over or soundtrack, even insert title slides (JPEGS) or in my case, sponsor slides, and apply titles and transitions—all on the phone.
imovie
With one click, you can make epic movie trailers and create beyond-amazing effects. It's your home video's big break.
Then you can render and publish directly to YouTubeVimeoFacebookCNNiReport(for which they even offer a video template for titles and such) or just send it to your camera roll to be imported to your computer.
If you’re a big Vimeo user, Vimeo came out with an editing app, but thus far, I’ve found it a bit buggy.

#5: Zoom During Video Recording

Lastly, if you are shooting in a place where you just can’t get good lighting, try picking up the Flare app which also gives you the ability to zoom while you record video(can’t do that in the iPhone’s native video app) as well as apply HDR effects, etc.
flare
One of the many features is you can share full-quality videos to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, Flickr and more.
Well that’s it… 5 simple tricks that will help you turn your iPhone into the multimedia production studio it was meant to be so you can have better blog content.
What do you think? Do you have any tips for using your iPhone to create better blog content? Leave your comments in the box below.

Samsung launches window 8 tablets pc


Samsung to launch Windows 8 tablet / notebook hybrid?

Teaser video shows 'evolution of technology'

By 
COMMENTS
Samsung to launch Windows 8 tablet / notebook hybrid?
Video teases Samsung's next Windows 8-ready innovation
Samsung is about to announce a new Windows 8 hybrid device, according to a teaser video posted by the company.
The video, entitled Evolution of Technology, showcases glimpses of a laptop device with rounded edges and a physical keyboard.
There's also an S-Pen stylus featured within the 37 second clip, which would suggest the presence of a touchscreen.
This may mean a hybrid, folding device such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga or a detachable tablet like the Asus Transformer line.

The time is near

The video makes no mention of a date for the announcement, but the description says: "The time is near for the big reveal.
"Take a look at this video for a glimpse into our newest Windows-8-ready innovation."
Earlier this summer, we spoke to ARM which said it had a supercharged Samsung tablet device on the way. Could this be it?
You can see the teaser below.

Samsung launches window 8 tablets pc


Samsung to launch Windows 8 tablet / notebook hybrid?

Teaser video shows 'evolution of technology'

By 
COMMENTS
Samsung to launch Windows 8 tablet / notebook hybrid?
Video teases Samsung's next Windows 8-ready innovation
Samsung is about to announce a new Windows 8 hybrid device, according to a teaser video posted by the company.
The video, entitled Evolution of Technology, showcases glimpses of a laptop device with rounded edges and a physical keyboard.
There's also an S-Pen stylus featured within the 37 second clip, which would suggest the presence of a touchscreen.
This may mean a hybrid, folding device such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga or a detachable tablet like the Asus Transformer line.

The time is near

The video makes no mention of a date for the announcement, but the description says: "The time is near for the big reveal.
"Take a look at this video for a glimpse into our newest Windows-8-ready innovation."
Earlier this summer, we spoke to ARM which said it had a supercharged Samsung tablet device on the way. Could this be it?
You can see the teaser below.

ipad tips and tricks 2


50 iPad and iPad 2 tips
50 really useful iPad tips and tricks
Get more from your tablet with these iPad tips and tricks
With great new features like two video cameras, a faster processor and a Retina display, the new iPad is the world's best tablet device.
It's also fully capable of running the latest version of Apple's iOS operating system and great apps like iMovie and GarageBand.
Here we present 50 really useful iPad tips. We cover everything from customising your Home screen through to getting more from built-in apps like Mail and Safari.
The vast majority of these tips will also work on the original iPad and iPad 2, so owners of any generation of iPad shouldn't feel neglected.
For 50 more iPad tips, check out a new iPad app called 100 Tricks & Tips for iPad 2, brought to you by our colleagues on MacFormat.
1. Create folders
iOS now supports folders. To create a folder all you need to do is tap and hold on an app until they all start to jiggle, then drag the app over another icon and release.
Your iPad will create a folder with both the apps in. The folder will be named according to the category of the apps it contains, but you can rename it as you like.
2. Access all running apps
Double-clicking the Home button shows you all the apps that are running on your iPad in a bar along the bottom of the screen. To switch to a running app just tap on it here in this bar. Just swipe the screen downwards to remove this bar.
iPad 2 running apps
3. Orientation Lock or Mute?
The internet got mightily upset when Orientation Lock was replaced with Mute on the iPad during the last iOS update. Apple listened, and now you can head to Settings > General to choose between Lock Rotation and Mute.
iPad 2 orientation
4. Passcode Denied… DELETE ALL!
If you're carrying around sensitive data, you can now enable a feature that'll erase all the data on the device if someone inputs the incorrect passcode 10 times. Navigate to Settings > General > Passcode Lock > Erase Data.
iPad 2 passcode
5. Home Sharing
First, turn on Home Sharing in iTunes (Advanced menu) and on your iPad (Settings > Music/Video and enter your Apple ID). Next, launch the Music or Video app on your iPad. In the Music app, tap the "More" button at the bottom, find the little house with "Shared" next to it. Tap on that and then on one of the Shared Libraries. It might take a few seconds to update, but then you can listen to all of that Library's media on your iPad. For video, tap the Shared tab at the top of the screen.
Really useful iPad tips
6. Control iPad notifications
By going to Settings > Notifications, you can decide which apps can pop up alerts, which have notifications at the top of the screen, and which appear in Notification Center. This means you can make sure that noisy apps don't clog things up for you, and you notice the important things.
Really useful iPad tips
7. Go VPN
The iPad supports a VPN connection. To configure it, go to Settings, then General > Network. Select the VPN and move the slider to On, then add a VPN configuration with your server and account details.
iPad 2 vpn
8. Stop asking to join Wi-Fi networks
If you're fed up of getting bugged by messages asking if you'd like to join this or that Wi- Fi network all the time then head to Settings, Wi-Fi and turn off Ask to Join Networks. You can still join any network that will have you from this same screen, it just won't bug you constantly when the opportunity arises.
iPad 2 wifi
9. Turn battery percentage off
Do you find the battery charge percentage distracting? The good news is you can turn it off very easily. Go to Settings, General, Usage and you can turn it off here.
iPad 2 battery percentage
10. Quick volume mute
When the iPad first launched, there was no dedicated mute button anywhere on the device. However, with iOS 4.3 Apple has given you the choice of using the lock switch to mute the sound or lock the iPad's orientation. Either way, a good tip for quickly muting your iPad is to press and hold the Volume-down button.
iPad 2 volume mute
11. Use an Apple keyboard
Missing a real keyboard? Any Apple Wireless Keyboard will work with the iPad. In fact, your iPad will work with any Bluetooth keyboard. Some iPad cases have a keyboard built in, which can be handy.