addtechno: Desember 2013

Selasa, 31 Desember 2013

Reinventing the mobile web

Works with any CMS, infinitely
customizable, easy to setup, and free.

From Click to Touch
BEFOREAFTER

CASE STUDY : CYCLEWORLD
The Onswipe Effect
+341%
Page Views Per Visit

FULL CASE STUDY
Discover, Share and Favorite.
Get more traffic from social.

DISCOVER

Allow readers to discover related articles with our recommendations button

SHARE

Social sharing is built into every article that lets readers share content on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Email.

FAVORITES

Let readers save their favorite articles and see what their Facebook friends are favoriting as well.

Customizable down to
the very last pixel
of perfection
Get started in under 3 minutes with over 20 unique templates or write your own layouts using Onswipe Draft. Draft is a web based layout creation & editing platform for HTML5 publishing that allows developers and designers to write pixel perfect layouts with just CSS. Don't build it all yourself, build on top of Onswipe.

LEARN MORE
3 ways to Customize Your
Touch Experience
customize-dash
DASHBOARD

Use the dashboard to add in your own logo, choose your layout and customize colors & fonts.

customize-css
CUSTOM CSS

Customize further by inserting snippets of css to tweak your layout.

customize-draft
DRAFT

Create layouts from scratch or totally customize the css using our powerful layout editor

GO BACK

Innovative tablet solutionsfor brand marketersMORE ABOUT ADVERTISING
One platform to make your content a unique
experience on many touch devices.
iPad iPad Nexus7 Nexus 7 Kindle Fire Kindle Fire iPhone iPhone

http://www.onswipe.com/

Samsung Got A Bigger Tablet Boost For Christmas Than Apple, According To Onswipe

Touchscreen publishing company Onswipe has good news for Samsung. As Onswipe’s Chief Marketing Officer Jason Baptiste put it in an email, “Samsung clearly won Christmas when it comes to tablets.”

Specifically, the company looked at visitors to Onswipe-optimized sites for the period of Dec. 26-29 in comparison to Dec. 19-22, as a way to measure the growth that different tablet platforms saw over Christmas. The results? Samsung’s Galaxy tablets grew 50.4 percent, Nexus 6 tablets grew 33.8 percent, iPads grew 20.4 percent, and Kindle Fires grew 19.5 percent.

Now, the fact that Onswipe focused on percentage growth is an important caveat here. After all, Samsung was presumably starting from (much) less, so it didn’t need to sell as many tablets to see significant growth.

It’s also interesting to see the line about Samsung’s victory coming from Baptiste, who recently wrote a blog post telling people to “stop believing the fairy tales about the iPad’s demise.” I asked him if the data made him reconsider the post, and he said no: “Though they enjoyed more growth post holidays, Samsung is still very tiny compared to the iPad and the same goes for the rest of Android. What will be interesting is seeing whether people still use Android tablets 90 days out from now.”

Baptiste also provided some numbers about usage. He said the average session time from Samsung users was three minutes and nine seconds after Christmas, down from 3:32 before. On iPad, the average session was 4:03, compared to 4:12 before. And the Kindle Fire had the longest session time on average, 4:51.

As for how many people this data represents, Baptiste said Onswipe (which recently upgraded its platform) reaches 31 million unique visitors each month on the mobile web.

http://techcrunch.com

Samsung sees largest increase in tablet sales during the holiday period

Apple’s iPad will likely continue to dominate the tablet market sales in the U.S. for the foreseeable future, but during the recent holiday period, Samsung made substantial advances in its tablet sales. According to online publishing company Onswipe, which looked at which tablets visited its Onswipe optimized websites from December 26 through the 29th, Samsung tablets showed a growth of 50.4 percent compared to the period between December 19th through the 22nd.

However, the time spent by the device owners was down to 3 minutes and 9 seconds, down from 3 minutes 22 seconds in the previously recorded period, though this was most likely due to the fact that people were busy with their friends and relatives actually celebrating Christmas instead of staying glued to their mobile devices.

http://www.sammobile.com

Samsung India launches ‘Stay New’ upgrade and buyback plans for its phone and tablets

Buyback plans on smartphones have seen major success in India, having helped manufacturers like Samsung and Apple increase adoption of their devices considerably. Now, Samsung has come up with a new scheme called “Stay New”, which offers consumers affordable ways to buy new Samsung phones and tablets and to upgrade from their older devices.

Under the plan, consumers will be able to buy new Samsung devices at low monthly installments through credit cards of various banks (HDFC, ICICI, Citi, and Standard Chartered). For those wishing to upgrade to a new device, Samsung will allow them to sell their current device within six months of its purchase, after deducting the price of the latter. For a company that refreshes its device lineup every few months, the Stay New plan is a nice offering that should help Samsung further cement its position as the number one smartphone manufacturer in the world’s third-largest smartphone market.

Hit the source link for more details.

http://www.sammobile.com

Stay New

Get your hands on the latest Samsung devices at affordable & low EMIs.
The latest smartphone is now within your reach. And that's how it will be in the future too. Samsung presents the Stay New Plan with incredibly low EMIs and 'Easy Buyback offer'. You can choose to sell your device after 6 months & within 12 months of its purchase and buy the next big thing that comes along. All at very low EMIs. Calculate your EMI for the next smartphone you want to buy by using the calculator below and get amazed.
Galaxy Note 3
STAY NEW EASY CALCULATOR
Select Your Credit Card Issuer / Bank :
Smart Buy Price for Galaxy Note 3 : Rs.47,900
Enter Down payment amount : Rs.
Samsung Discount Amount : Rs.3,353
Effective cost for your purchase : Rs.50,023
EMI for 18 months :
Rs.2,779
Galaxy S4
STAY NEW EASY CALCULATOR
Select Your Credit Card Issuer / Bank :
Smart Buy Price for Galaxy S4 : Rs.40,690
Enter Down payment amount : Rs.
Samsung Discount Amount : Rs.2,848
Effective cost for your purchase : Rs.42,494
EMI for 18 months :
Rs.2,361
Galaxy S4 Mini
STAY NEW EASY CALCULATOR
Select Your Credit Card Issuer / Bank :
Smart Buy Price for Galaxy S4 Mini : Rs.23,360
Enter Down payment amount : Rs.
Samsung Discount Amount : Rs.1,635
Effective cost for your purchase : Rs.24,395
EMI for 18 months :
Rs.1,355
Galaxy TAB 3 311
STAY NEW EASY CALCULATOR
Select Your Credit Card Issuer / Bank :
Smart Buy Price for Galaxy TAB 3 311 : Rs.25,500
Enter Down payment amount : Rs.
Samsung Discount Amount : Rs.1,785
Effective cost for your purchase : Rs.26,630
EMI for 18 months :
Rs.1,479
Galaxy Note 10.1
STAY NEW EASY CALCULATOR
Select Your Credit Card Issuer / Bank :
Smart Buy Price for Galaxy Note 10.1 : Rs.49,990
Enter Down payment amount : Rs.
Samsung Discount Amount : Rs.3,499
Effective cost for your purchase : Rs.52,206
EMI for 18 months :
Rs.2,900
Galaxy S3
STAY NEW EASY CALCULATOR
Select Your Credit Card Issuer / Bank :
Smart Buy Price for Galaxy S3 : Rs.25,400
Enter Down payment amount : Rs.
Samsung Discount Amount : Rs.1,778
Effective cost for your purchase : Rs.26,526
EMI for 18 months :
Rs.1,474
Next

Line
Here's how it works:
Purchase the Samsung smart device of your choice on your credit card.
Convert the credit card payment to 18 low EMI installments (depending on your choice of device).
You can choose to retain the device by paying the EMIs for the full duration.
Or you have the choice of selling the device after a minimum of 6 months of use under the 'Easy Buy-Back Service'.
In order to do so, just call the dedicated helpline to get your phone evaluated and know about the Easy Buy Back offer.
The amount will get transferred to your account and you can move on to the next, and the latest, Galaxy device.
The EMIs of your first purchase will continue as before.
The Stay New Plan is applicable on Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy S4, Galaxy S4 Mini, Galaxy Tab 3 311, Galaxy Note 10.1 and Galaxy SIII.
Call 1800 120 6633 to get attractive buyback offer after 6 months & doorstep service.

Samsung Galaxy F, appeared in the first half of next year?

Are known to Develop the Next Generation of Samsung Galaxy smartphones S5 (provisional) in the Metal are expected to be USED in the Middle of the case, Authentic F Flagship Galaxy line Material Metal Will be Launched at the same time the news came on. According Sources to industry, the relevant potent products produced in Europe after the prototype is located in Vietnam in December had to be to Move factories S5 Samsung Galaxy Launched on the market in the same time, he said. exact schedule is unknown, but the news of the new Samsung Galaxy in the first half to be Released in March this year that new Galaxy Suggest F Next year is expected to Reveal the figure. electronic newspaper Internet Tech Trend team

To simultaneous public and Galaxy S5 flagship employing Samsung, a metal enclosure "Galaxy F"

Korea ETNews was reported when you release at the same time with the Galaxy S5 flagship smartphone that Samsung has adopted a metal enclosure "Galaxy F".

It would become the smartphone of Samsung's first adopted the metal housing in earnest.

After being developed in Europe, a prototype of related products has been moved to the production plant of Samsung in the Vietnam in December, to be released at a time similar to that of the Galaxy S5 than talk of the industry's production software seems to have revealed.

Release date has not been revealed, but since it has released a new product in March every year, likely to be the time this time so is there a Samsung.

Cool New Samsung Galaxy S5 Concept

We designed a Galaxy S5 concept few months back and it was really appreciated by our readers, big tech blogs and experts. Since then, our readers were demanding for a new Galaxy S5 concept. We have listened you guys. Here’s a cool new Samsung Galaxy S5 concept. Check it out!

Display

This concept has a 5.2″ flexible curved display with 2K resolution. Although, recent reports are suggesting that there will be no flexible or curved display in Galaxy S5 but this concept was designed earlier and many of our readers wanted us to design the concept with curved display.

Samsung to launch Galaxy F with metal body along with Galaxy S5

Korean publication ETNews reports that Samsung will be launching the Galaxy F around the same time as the Galaxy S5, with the former being the first Samsung smartphone to adopt a metal construction. According to the report, the metallic prototype was developed in Europe and then moved to Samsung’s production plant in Vietnam (reaffirming a previous report that said Samsung was starting a production line in Vietnam for metal casings for the Galaxy S5), and that a launch will take place soon after the Galaxy S5 makes it to market.

The report follows previous rumors that the Galaxy F will kick off a new “super premium” line of Samsung smartphones, with the Galaxy F to be a higher end variant of the Galaxy S5, possibly carrying the model number SM-G900F. It is unclear if the only difference will be the type of material used in construction used or whether the Galaxy F will also sport better specs – some rumors say that the Galaxy S5 will come with a standard 1080p display while the Galaxy F will sport the more drool-worthy QHD 2K display (2,560×1,600), though we’ll just have to wait and watch how much truth these rumors have to back them up.

http://www.sammobile.com

Happy New Year from SamMobile!

2014 is just around the corner, and we’d like to take a moment and wish our readers a happy new year, as one of the most eventful years in mobile technology comes to a close. It’s been an incredible journey since SamMobile came into being two years ago, and thanks to our loyal readers, we’ve managed to grow by leaps and bounds in the span of a few months, reaching 2,000,000 site members, while bringing you all the news, reviews, and insider info on Samsung devices before anyone else.

We have big plans for 2014, including a completely new site design with SamMobile 3.0 and an increased focus on our forums, and we hope you’ll continue tuning in to SamMobile for your Samsung fix. We wish you all the best for 2014, and urge you to keep safety in mind as you prepare to make every moment count as you shift gears into the new year.

Happy New Year!

SamMobile Team.

http://www.sammobile.com

Here’s another awesome Galaxy S5 concept

Fan-made concepts are always nice to see, as they show what that next device we’re all looking forward to could look like, even though manufacturers never actually come up with something close to what the imaginative mind can cook up (partly because these concept designs can be a bit too over the top). The Galaxy S5 is perhaps the most anticipated upcoming device at the moment, what with rumors of it sporting a 64-bit processor, 4GB of RAM, iris scanning technology, a 2k display, 16-megapixel camera, and other fancy specs making the rounds, and the folks over at GalaxyS5Info have combined it all into an amazing new concept for Samsung’s upcoming flagship.

The concept shows a 5.25-inch Galaxy S5 with a curved body and a futuristic design, with features like a 4-megapixel front-facing camera, wireless headphones and quad-speakers, and specifications such as Android 4.4 KitKat, 4GB of RAM, and more. Again, it’s something Samsung will never be able to emulate, but for those that enjoy such creative concept designs, it’s a good look at what might be possible in an alternate dimension.

What do you think?

http://www.sammobile.com

Samsung to ramp up OLED panel production capacity by 33 percent in 2014

Samsung Display is reportedly going to be increasing its production capacity of OLED panels by 33 percent in 2014, with the monthly output increasing from 140,000 substrates in Q4 2013 to 177,000 by the fourth quarter of 2014. DigiTimes reports that despite strong demand for LCD technology in the market, Samsung believes OLED will continue to “possess technology advantages in the market,” which is a good thing considering how we’re looking forward to those OLED tablets that Samsung is going to be launching next year, including a 10.5-inch slate as early as January.

http://www.sammobile.com/

Samsung Display expected to increase production capacity of OLED panels by 33% in 2014

Samsung Display is expected to increase its production capacity of OLED panels by 33% in 2014.

Despite strong demand for TFT LCD technology in the market, Samsung believes that OLED will continue to possess technology advantages in the market. The company also reportedly plans to extend OLED panel use in smartphones and TVs developed by Samsung Electronics.

The market for OLED panels is estimated to be worth US$450 million in 2014, up from about US$350 million in 2013, according to market observers. However, the observers believe OLED TV demand will still be weak in 2014, and that Ultra HD LCD TVs will instead lead the high-end TV segment.

Digitimes Research meanwhile said as of the fourth quarter of 2013, Samsung's monthly production capacity of OLED panels as based on its 5.5G line will reach 140,000 substrates, up 30,000 units on year, and will increase another 37,000 units to 177,000 by fourth-quarter 2014.

http://www.digitimes.com

Mugen Power 4000mAh Battery Case for Sony Xperia Z Ultra [CC-6802]

Additional Information

SKU CC-6802
Cell Type Li-Polymer
Voltage 3.7v
Capacity (mAh) 4000
Battery Door Not Required
Original Battery Model 3050 mAh

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
SHIPPING DETAILS
PAYMENT OPTIONS
RETURNS AND REFUNDS
Mugen Power Extra Strong Extended Replacement battery. Free Shipping Worldwide!

Mugen Power is the worldwide leading brand of high performance batteries for portable electronic devices. Mugen Power means Performance and Quality.

Mugen Power batteries have better performance (higher capacity) and reliability (longevity & safety) than other brands. The superior performance improves run time, often doubling that provided by the original brand replacement. The superior quality results in longer battery life and better protection of the powered device.

All Mugen Power batteries also undergo vigorous QA procedure, resulting in Mugen Power achieving the lowest return rate in the industry. All Mugen Power batteries are CE approved.

Mugen Power batteries are premuim product and designed for experienced users, who understand importance of quality for long battery life and safeity of everyday use.

See what others say about Mugen Power Batteries:

"Go buy one, well worth it!"
GeorgeM, http://mobilitytoday.com

"The extra size and weight increases pale into insignificance when you consider the true convenience the battery gives... it represents excellent value for money."
mtb, http://mtekk.com.au

"a much better choice"
Eugenia, http://tuxtops.com

"This is the second Mugen Power Battery that I own and I can't think of me having a Pocket PC without a Mugen Power Battery on it. This battery gives me the freedom of mind of not having to think about to recharge the battery everyday after work."
CTitanic, http://www.tweaks2k2.com

OUR 13 FAVOURITE WINDOWS PHONE GAMES OF 2013

When comes to gaming on our Nokia Lumias, 2013 has been a winning year. We’ve unsheathed our swords, put our sports cars’ pedals to the metal and netted some cracking goals.

Needless to say, we’ve loved testing and besting all the new games 2013 has brought to the Windows Phone Store. It’s always hard to whittle down such a vast selection to just 13 favourites, but we’re never ones to shirk a challenge. So, get your fingers and thumbs ready for action and game on!

Modern Combat 4

What is it? A single – or multi-player action thriller shoot-em-up.

Why we love it? The gameplay’s just superb. Modern Combat 4 uses the Havoc Engine, which means it’s got real-time collision detection – which, in turn, makes for a very realistic gaming experience. With kick-ass graphics and Hollywood-style voice acting, it nails the big-screen experience on the smaller screen of a Windows smartphone. Want more? You get to play as both the hero and the villain. Score!

Who it’s perfect for: Hardcore gamers – though it’s definitely one for the grown-ups rather than gaming kids.

Toy Story: Smash It!

What is it? A puzzle game based on the Toy Story film franchise

Why we love it? Guide Buzz Lightyear through ninety levels of gameplay, where he must use bouncing balls to known down his alien enemies – Emperor Zurg and his minions! It’s not unlike Angry Birds, as a target-based game, but the 3D aspect is nice and the graphics and soundtrack are just as good as you’d hope from the Toy Story team. To Infinity and beyond!

Who it’s perfect for: Gamers of all ages

Despicable Me: Minion Rush

What is it? A spin-off game from the movie Despicable Me

Why we love it? Another movie spin-off, but another super-cute one; it’s funny, the characters are customizable, and it stars Gru, one of our very favourite super-villains. What’s not to love? It’s free, the graphics are snazzy and the gameplay is super-addictive. Big thumbs up.

Who it’s perfect for: Gamers of all ages

Hill Climb Racing

What is it? A racing game

Why we love it? It’s a cross between a driving game and a physics game; with a brake and an accelerator at your disposal, you have to get your car from A to B without flipping over. It’s set up like a platform game, all scrolling action, and it’s the physics of the hills you encounter that makes it challenging: balancing gas and momentum is harder than it looks! The cartoony graphics are cute, and there’s actually a fair bit of techy vehicle customization options for car-geeks to enjoy (all of which involve earning in-game coins, of course). The music and ads are a little annoying, but far from irksome enough to stop us playing: this is truly addictive.

Who it’s perfect for: All sorts of gamers – fans of driving, platform games and physics puzzles will get hooked.

Tetris Blitz

What is it? Tetris! Or, for the young ‘uns, a highly addictive cascade game where you stack different shaped blocks to earn points…

Why we love it? Unlike the marathon that is regular Tetris, the Blitz variant is a two-minute race against the clock to accumulate points, so it’s great for mobile gaming. While it’s not as smooth to operate as old-school joystick control, EA have come up with a set of touch-screen buttons that are very workable and only take a little getting used to. Build up reward coins and buy power-ups; and buy more of these with in-app purchases. It’s fun even without spending, though, so don’t worry if your budget’s tight. Those retro graphics will get you all nostalgic, and since we first reviewed it, a new tournament mode has been added. Fancy!

Who it’s perfect for: old and new Tetris fanatics.

Asphalt 8: Airborne

What is it? A racing game

Why we love it? We’d stockpiled fuel in preparation for this baby. Excellent graphics, high octane gameplay, superb and glitzy international locations and a jaw-dropping range of cars (Lamborghini!) make this unmissable for driving fans. The Airborne in the title refers to the stunt moves you can do once you lift off the track ramps, so you can barrel-roll your way to the finish line while real-life bands provide the soundtrack.

Who it’s perfect for: Speed lovers

Star Wars: Tiny Death Star

What is it? A world-building game

Why we love it? The evil Emperor is struggling to build the Death Star, and you’ve got to help him! Join Palpatine and Darth Vader himself on an intergalactic fundraising mission. This is a building/business simulation game at base, but it’s got adventure elements too, what with the dueling: those darn Rebels keep infiltrating your site and trying to scupper your nefarious schemes! Deploy your Stormtroopers and hack away with your lightsaber, and above all, keep the construction going. The latest update introduces a festive Imperial Decorator Droid and new character info – bonus!

Who it’s perfect for: Budding Emperors, Sith Lords and construction-site workers, old and young!

Tawkable Chinese

What is it? A language game

Why we love it? Sure it’s educational, but it’s a lot of fun, too, once you’ve downloaded Mandarin onto your handset (this might take a while). You gave to speak certain phrases to progress to the next stage of the game – by the end you’ll be rocking the lingo!

Who it’s perfect for: Travellers, tourists, business people on the move, students…

Angry Birds Go!

What is it? A racing game

Why we love it? This is Mario Kart with feathers: the Angry Birds have gotten wheels and, we guess, an appropriate amount road rage. It’s 3D, you can play as the Birds or the Pigs (oink!), there are special powers to unleash for each character, and a whole bunch of different tracks and game modes. More importantly for Birds fanatics, it’s free! Get downloading pronto lest we beat you to the finish line…

Who it’s perfect for: Gamers – but, again, only those with devices that have 1GB of RAM or more.

Reaper

What is it? An RPG game

Why we love it? It’s just so darn cute! It makes excellent uses of your WP’s touch-screen gestures: the controls are responsive and intuitive as you watch your little hero leap, slash and bash his way to glory. You can play for a while for free, but after you ascend to Level 10, you’ll need an in-app purchase to carry on (different packages are available), but because it’s such a beautiful game, we think you’ll be hooked enough to want to shell out.

Who it’s perfect for: gamers of all ages

Drawtopia

What is it? A puzzle game

Why we love it? You’ve got a ball and you have to guide it towards a target. Draw a line (or lines) onscreen with your fingertip to create platforms for the ball to roll along, and when you’ve set out the track, which ought to let you avoid all the obstacles while still letting you collect all the bonus stars, press play. The ball will start to move, and you’ll see if your planning and engineering skills are up to scratch to get it to its destination. It’s like bowling crossed with Lemmings and man, does it get hard. The developers keep adding more levels, too, so the challenge continues.

Who it’s perfect for: physics students and gamers.

Uno & Friends

What is it? The Xbox LIVE version of the popular mutliplayer cardgame

Why we love it? Uno’s a classic and this version is a really decent online version. You play against real-life opponents, so you’ll need an internet connection. Gameplay is on a timer and there’s a tutorial if you’re not already familiar with the rules. It’s as addictive as you’d expect and a great game, especially for those who prefer a more traditional gaming experience rather than fast-moving racing or RGP games.

Who it’s perfect for: gamers of all ages

FIFA 2013

What is it? Seriously? Okay: a football game.

Why we love it? For a start, this is the only officially licensed FIFA game for Windows 8 phones. It’s got EA’s fancy cinematic graphics and proper tunes. There’s no multi-player mode, but single-player rocks, and it’s better value than its equivalent on other platforms. Steer your team through a bunch of leagues, score all the goals, but take note: this is a Lumia exclusive and will only run on WP8 models with 1GB of RAM. It should keep you going until the 2014 version is rolled out…

Who it’s perfect for: footballers

We’ve had a ton of fun playing these over the past 12 months and we can’t wait to see what 2014 brings. In the meantime, we’d love to hear your gaming picks for 2013 in comments below.

OUR 13 FAVOURITE WINDOWS PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY APPS OF 2013

There’s nothing we like better than whipping out our Nokia Lumias and snapping the world around us.

It helps, of course, that we have the world’s best camera smartphones. But another reason for our enthusiasm for photography is the incredible selection of photography apps at the Windows Phone Store. This year we’ve been especially spoilt for choice. Nonetheless, we’ve given it our best shot and chosen thirteen that we loved best in 2013.

4Blend HDR

What Is It? An image-blending app

Why We Love It: A very recent addition to the Store, 4Bend HDR is a photo-taking-and-processing app that blends four otherwise identical shots at different exposure settings and applies filters to the results to create a single stunning image. We like the idea, we like the way it utilizes the Nokia Imaging SDK with all its filters and tools, and we LOVE the fact that such a powerful piece of kit will work on the lower spec phones in the Lumia range, too.

Who It’s Perfect For: Post-processing enthusiasts

OneShot

What is it? An imaging app.

Why we love it? OneShot has been through three versions this year and the current (V3) is outstanding. It’s got a whole raft of preset camera modes with auto and live-straightening of shots, a 1:1 capture resolution mode and a bunch of sharing options. It’s very powerful but straightforward to use and a real contender for our favourite camera app of all time.

Who it’s perfect for: photographers of all abilities

Fhotoroom

What is it? An imaging app

Why we love it? This is another very good all-purpose shoot-and-edit app, but as well as snapping and playing with your own pics, you can also see a stream of recent, interesting and popular photos from other users. Low bandwidth options re available for when you’re out and about and data-conscious. Although Fhotoroom landed in the Windows Store in late 2012, 2013 brought so many snazzy updates that we thought it was definitely worth mentioning here: the latest brings an updates UI, logo and pinning options.

Who it’s perfect for: photographers of all abilities

Blink

What is it? A rapid-fire camera app

Why we love it? Blink lets you fire off a very fast round of shots and then select the best one to save: this means that if you’re shooting kids, animals or sports, you’re much more likely to get a useable shot, and because you don’t clog up your memory card with all the blurry, failed versions, you’re saving space, too. Very handy, very easy to use. The resolution of the shot is slower than normal, but we’re happy with the pay-off of a clean image, and the stabilisation and face-recognition is great. You can also make an animation of the combined rapid shots in a sequence and share it, as a quirky extra. We couldn’t manage without this app.

Who it’s perfect for: Photographers with kids and pets

ProShot

What is it? An imaging app

Why we love it? Like OneShot, ProShot emulates the SLR experience, but on your smartphone: it’s got auto and manual controls for ISO, shutter speed, white balance, aspect ration, exposure compensation and more. Like Fhotoroom, this does slightly predate 2013, but the year has brought so many updates that we call it one of this year’s success stories. The latest update (December 2013) doubles the processing speed for lower-spec devices, which is good news for many of us, and previous updates have added a load of filters. It actually lets you create your own custom filters, which is very neat.

Who it’s perfect for: photographers of all abilities

Instagram Beta

What Is It? A photo-sharing app

Why We Love It: Everybody knows Instagram: the cross-platform photo-processing app that’s all about adding retro filters and frames to your pics and posting them to social media sites (as well as to Instagram’s own feed). We’ve had numerous excellent third-party Instagram clients in the Store in the past, but now we’ve got the real thing and we’re impressed. It’s simple and effective and very user-friendly, and we’re very glad another major player on the smartphone scene has hopped aboard the speeding Windows train.

Who it’s perfect for:social photographers

Foundbite

What is it? A photo/sound sharing social app

Why we love it? This app lets you take a picture and record separate ambient sound; you then post the two together as one file that you can then share – so it’s a still image with a soundtrack, rather than a more conventional movie file. We reckon this is bursting with potential – it’s only been around since November, so check it out and get posting!

Who it’s perfect for: social media users and photographers

Camera360

What is it? An imaging app

Why we love it? This camera app comes with a handful of image filters and preset modes that make for easy and intuitive photo-taking. It looks good and it’s fairly undemanding, so it’s good for novices, but not bad for other users, too. We particularly like the Double Exposure option that was added back in September. It’s a free download, unlike many other decent imaging apps, so it’s well worth trying.

Who it’s perfect for: novice photographers

SophieLens HD

What is it? An imaging app

Why we love it? SophieLens Pro has recently been revamped and renamed as SophieLens HD, with high resolution and front camera support, which makes it a very appealing package. It’s a free app, but in-app purchases let you buy filter packs and you can use these to create cute storyboards of your pictures – ideal for sharing. A good app for less experienced photographers.

Who it’s perfect for: Novice photographers

Rando

What is it? A photo exchange app

Why we love it? Take a picture, upload it, and minutes later you’ll be sent a picture from another anonymous user. Weird, and yes, random, but exciting, too, as you never know what you’ll get, or who’ll get your snapshot. It’s not social media as we usually understand it, but user-to-user – like getting a mysterious blank postcard in the mail. It’s not about the quality of the pics or the specs of the camera, but the sheer oddity of the experience. Addictive.

Who it’s perfect for: Wanna-be spies

Nokia Camera

What Is It? An imaging app especially for Lumia users

Why We Love It: We couldn’t leave this one out, could we? It’s the upgraded version of what was formerly known as Nokia Pro Cam, with all the added functionality of Nokia Smart Cam. So it’s a camera app, then, with all the usual bells and whistles (ISO, exposure, night mode, etc) along with extras like being able to combine elements of different shots so that everyone in a group portrait has their eyes open, or removing pesky moving objects from your otherwise well-composed shot. You’ll need to be running the Amber version of the Lumia software or higher. Highly recommended, even if we say so ourselves.

Who it’s perfect for: Photographers of all abilities.

HD Photo Viewer

What is it? A way of browsing through your phone’s photo albums in full HD.

Why we love it? Obviously there’s nothing wrong with the native Windows Picture Hub, but there’s no harm in exploring alternatives. This app lets you browse your photos while retaining the original shiny HD resolution that makes your smartphone’s camera so desirable – meaning you don’t have to upload to your computer to see the real deal. Plus there are some editing and sharing options throw in to round it all off. It works a little better in 1GB devices, but we still love it.

Who it’s perfect for: photographers

Photo Editor by Aviary

What is it? A photo-editing app

Why we love it? A straight-forward picture editing app—add effects, text or cartoon images, clean up your picture (remove blemishes or redeye),crop it, share it. The usual gamut of tools, but in a neat and speedy package. An excellent all-rounder for either beginners of more experienced photographers.

Who it’s perfect for: photographers of all abilities

Thirteen fantastic photography apps that made our 2013 a visual year to remember. But what about yours? Are there any imaging apps we missed that rocked your world? Let us know in the comments below.

2013: NOKIA’S YEAR OF IMAGING INNOVATION

2013 has been a tremendous year for Nokia innovation – especially in imaging.

We continued to develop PureView technology, that first appeared in 2012 on the Nokia 808 PureView, by deliveringthe Nokia Lumia 1020 with its improved BSI 41-megapixel sensor earlier this year.

When creating the Lumia 1020, Nokia’s leading imaging experts, Eero Salmelin and Juha Alakarhu combined a high-resolution sensor with the optical image stabilisation (OIS) technology that first made an appearance on the Nokia Lumia 920. By merging both technologies the Nokia Lumia 1020 has really set a new benchmark on what can be done, and what’s expected, with a cameraphone.

The camera module used on the Lumia 1020 was totally redesigned from previous models and both the imaging sensor and OIS were revamped for a new generation of thinner, sleeker smartphones – a true feat of engineering.

PureView has also made an appearance on a number of other devices throughout the year, such as the Nokia Lumia 925, Lumia 928 and Lumia 1520, which offered our oversampling technology at 20 megapixels..

The improvements didn’t stop at the hardware; innovation also came by way of new algorithms and clever software.

Nokia Smart mode

Nokia Smart mode was first introduced in May on the Nokia Lumia 925. It gave budding photographers the chance to get clever with their photos and create some truly creative shots right on the phone.

By taking a series of ten shots in a short burst, Nokia Smart Camera gave you the powers to use all, or some, of these photos in one image.

If somebody blinked in photo, Change Faces will swap the face with another non-blinked on. You can remove passersby as well as photobombers from a shot by selecting Remove Moving Object – it’s like they were never there!

Action Shot enables you to highlight motion and bring each picture together into one shot, creating a unique trail of movement. And if you want to keep the subject still but move the rest of the world, Motion Focus would give you the illusion of just that – while remaining perfectly still.

Nokia Pro mode

As if erasing unwanted guests from your photos wasn’t enough, Nokia Pro Camera was launched in July to change the game once more.

Nokia Pro Camera was developed to unlock the full imaging potential of the Nokia Lumia 1020 and it later became available for other Lumia PureView smartphones, too.

By enabling people to take full control of the camera settings, Nokia Pro mode simplifies the controls previously reserved for professionals using a DSLR.

The features include the ability to manually set the focus, adjust ISO, shutter speed and exposure.

But by creating such an easy interface (UI), on top of the added functions, the controls can be easily hidden when not in use to make it easy for anybody to create amazing photos on a smartphone.

Nokia Camera

In October, the highly acclaimed features of both Nokia Smart Camera and Nokia Pro Camera merged to become just one app – Nokia Camera.

Combing the two apps makes for an even better photography experience by reducing the amount of times you may need to switch between two different apps.

Nokia Refocus

Again in October, a new imaging app was revealed – Nokia Refocus.

Nokia Refocus takes a series of photos covering the entire focus range possible on your phone and creating a depth map. The result is a photo that you can interactive with to determine the perfect focus point, after you’ve taken the shot.

You can rework the photo as many times as you like and share it to your social networks where your friends and family can also adjust the focus themselves.

DNG support

Bringing RAW DNG support for Lumia was a world’s first, blurring the lines between pro cameras and smartphones. Being able to shoot in RAW allows you to do more with your images and be more creative. DNG support is available for Lumia 1520 now, and it’s coming to Lumia 1020 soon.

Smart self-portrait

While we innovated with imaging in the high-end, we also brought innovation to the low-end with Smart Self-Portrait.

The ‘selfie’ became the word of the year, according to the Oxford Dictionaries, and having the ability to take a good one is a must for many people today.

We first saw Smart Self-Portrait on the Nokia 301 back in February. With it, you can look at the rear-facing camera and the phone will use voice prompts to guide you to the perfect selfie by telling you something like “Left a bit. Right a bit.” until, click! Your perfect photo is captured for you.

What’s been your favourite Nokia imaging innovation this year? Do let us know, in the comments section below.

Nokia Xpress Browser - more life, more you

Discover faster internet with Nokia Xpress Browser at http://nokia.ly/15TpH6y

GAMELOFT FREE GIVEAWAY: BRAIN CHALLENGE 4: BREAKING LIMITS

With December almost over, it’s time for the final free game from Gameloft and Nokia and is perfect for that post-Christmas lull – Brain Challenge 4: Breaking Limits.

As with the previous three games, this one will cost you nothing to download. But be sure to get it now, as the offer is only available for one week!

Brain Challenge 4: Breaking Limits really tests the brain and makes sure that it’s in tip-top condition, something we all need after the Christmas festivities are out of the way.

This game stimulates both the left and right hemispheres of your brain to strengthen your self-development.

With three categories, seven exercises and 40 tests, there’s plenty to for your brain to be getting on with.

Brain Challenge 4: Breaking Limits is available for a variety of Asha devices from the Nokia Asha 205 to the Asha 503.

That’s four free games over four weeks: Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour, Assassins Creed: Revelations, Driver: San Francisco and Brain Challenge 4: Breaking Limits.

Which has been your favourite?