Upcoming Moto X update to fix poor camera performance

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Hands-on: Ricoh's Theta, a personal 'Street View' camera

BERLIN—Imagine being able to take all-round pictures like those seen in Google’s Street View from a small camera you can carry around in your pocket. That’s the promise of Ricoh’s Theta, a sleek panoramic camera launched at this week’s IFA electronics show here.

The camera is intended for both consumer and professional users alike, and I tried it out at the show.

Photo: Martyn WilliamsRicoh’s Theta panoramic camera

Theta is long and thin and doesn’t look much like any other camera. It’s about as long as a smartphone but isn’t as wide and is quite a bit thicker. It’s most striking feature is a fisheye lens toward the top of the device. It’s matched by one on the rear and its through these that the camera can take pictures that extend almost 360 degrees in any direction.

There are only three buttons on its body: about halfway up its body is one for the shutter and on the side are buttons to switch on and off the power and Wi-Fi connection.

Using it is easy. Because it takes an all-around picture, you don’t need to worry which way it is facing. You just have to consider what’s around it.

There are two ways of taking pictures. The shutter button on the camera body will snap an image and store it in the Theta’s microSD card, but you’ll have more fun using a dedicated app on your cellphone.

When the shutter button on the app is pressed, the camera takes a picture and then transfers it to the phone over a Wi-Fi Direct connection. The software acts as an image viewer and lets you explore the picture you just took and share it online with services like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

Taking pictures with the Theta requires a bit of a change in the way you visualize your intended image. Instead of what’s in front of the camera, you need to consider what’s all around it so, for example, a picture of a group of friends works best if they are sitting around the camera rather than all lined up on one side.

It’s certainly a fun twist on the conventional pictures we all take on vacation, at parties and perhaps for work.

I had a chance to speak to the Theta’s designer, Hidenao Ubukata, general manager of Ricoh’s visual revolution unit, and he explained how it works.

Martyn Williams360-degree action!

Behind each lens is a 2-megapixel image sensor and they both snap a picture at the same time. The two images are stitched together in the device to make an equirectangular JPEG image with 2,000 pixel by 1,000 pixel resolution. Equi-rectangular projection is best known as the projection method used to show the Earth’s sphere on 2D maps.

That image is then transferred to the phone, where it is mapped onto a sphere to re-create the all-around image. The image capturing process takes about three seconds and then it takes another five seconds or so to send the image to the phone.

Ubukata said he anticipates the Theta’s first users will be digital creatives, and they are the people who will probably hit upon new uses for this style of photography, which isn’t new but has never been so easy.

The camera will be available in October and will cost $399. The software is compatible with iOS and an Android version will be released before the end of the year.

Martyn Williams covers mobile telecoms, Silicon Valley and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service.
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Hands on with Sony's QX10 lens camera

One of the most intriguing products to appear at this year’s IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin is Sony’s QX-series of “lens cameras.”

At first glance both the QX10 and QX100 look like conventional lenses for an SLR (single lens reflex) camera but there’s more to them. They are essentially compact digital still cameras without screens and control buttons.

Sony’s QX10 lens camera

Behind the lens in each of the devices is a image sensor—the chip found inside every camera that converts light to an electronic image, an image processing chip and a WiFi adapter. Both come with a clip that can be used to mount them to a smartphone and it’s software in the smartphone that is used to control them and replace the viewfinder.

The idea is that users get the best of both worlds—compact digital camera quality images with the advantages of smartphone photography, such as the ability to instantly upload or share pictures.

But what’s the reality? I took the QX10 out for a test at IFA and here’s what I found out.

One of the first things you’ll need to do is download Sony’s PlayMemories software. It’s available for Android and iOS and is used to control the QX10 and QX100. It needs to be paired with the lens using a password that is printed on the manual or inside the battery compartment lid on each lens. The connection is made over WiFi Direct or, if the phone supports it, NFC (near field communication).

Once the software is installed, you’re ready to start snapping pictures.

Photo: Martyn WilliamsSony’s QX10 lens camera is mounted on a Galaxy Nexus smartphone here.

I tried it on my Galaxy Nexus, an Android phone from late 2011. Clipping the lens onto the phone was very easy and at 90 grams, the QX10 didn’t end up making the 135-gram phone front heavy. I found it easiest to hold the phone by grabbing the lens body as I walked around taking pictures.

The software shows a live image and has on-screen zoom and shutter controls, but I found it easier to use the physical zoom and shutter buttons on the side of the QX10. The camera can be focused by tapping on any area of the live image, much like the camera software in most smartphones.

It also provides some of the settings you’d normally adjust through a camera’s menu including the shooting mode, white balance, picture size and quality, exposure control and ability to automatically transfer a review image (either a 2-megapixel version or the original) to the phone after each picture is taken. The actual images are stored in a microSD card that fits into the QX10 alongside its battery.

There wasn’t much of a perceptible lag in the live image, but it wasn’t always smooth when panning from side to side.

It took about four seconds from the button being pressed to the picture appearing on the phone screen. That’s slower than a digital still camera, but then the QX10 is a compromise between two devices and it does that quite well.

Photo: Martyn WilliamsHere’s an image taken with a Panasonic DMC-ZX3 digital still camera... (click to enlarge)

It did great in bright light and low light—the intelligent auto mode will take several pictures and merge them when there’s not enough light—but some of the pictures seemed to lack a little of the brightness and color that came from a compact digital camera when I took comparison images. However, that’s not to say the QX10 pictures were bad.

I found it useful to have a lower resolution version of each picture sent to my phone. They are not too large for the phone to handle and perfect for sending to social media channels or attaching to emails.

Photo: Martyn Williams... now compare that to one taken with Sony's QX10 lens camera. (Click to enlarge.)

I’ve never been able to take such high quality photos with my cellphone, so for that the QX10 is a winner. If you like to take pictures and are always disappointed by the camera on a smartphone then the QX10 and sister QX100 are worth considering. But if you’re more serious about taking pictures, you might want to stick to your digital camera.

The QX10 and QX100 will be available from late September. In the U.S., the QX10 with 10x optical zoom is expected to cost $250 and the QX100, which has a 3.6x zoom and larger image sensor, expected to cost $500.

Martyn Williams covers mobile telecoms, Silicon Valley and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service.
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D-Link Day/Night Network Cloud Camera 1150 (DCS-933L)

D-Link knows networking, so the company almost gets it right with the Day/Night Network Cloud Camera 1150. Setup is straightforward, and if your network is built with the latest D-Link products, no setup is required—just plug the camera into an AC outlet and your router and it's ready. Compared with the $200 Y-Cam HomeMonitor Indoor or even the $150 Dropcam HD the $99.99 (list) Cloud Camera 1150 is a good deal. It's a bit under-equipped with a standard-definition sensor, weak night vision mode, and a lack of online DVR service. While there is an online service for viewing the video feed, it doesn't include any cloud-based storage, putting it on par with the $120 Compro Cloud Network Camera (TN50W).

Design and Setup
The plain, white Cloud Camera 1150 has a soap-bar size and shape at 3.6 by 2.3 by 1.2 inches (HWD) without the stand. That stand is one of the few I've seen that's entirely plastic, but it's still wall- or ceiling-mountable with the included screws. It doesn't feel as sturdy as the metal stands that come with the Zmodo 720P HD Wireless Network IP Camera or Dropcam, though.

The camera has far fewer infrared LEDs than other models we've tested, with just four, instead of a nice ring array to nearly invisibly illuminate the area for the camera's IR-sensitive mode when it's dark. D-Link only guarantees night vision to about 15 feet while Y-Cam promises 50 feet. On the other hand, the Compro TN50W we tested has no LEDs at all, so D-Link is ahead of that one.

According to the company, setup is "zero configuration" if you already have a relatively recent D-Link Cloud Router and a mydlink account. My D-Link router is officially ancient at four years old, so I went through the full setup. This involves installing software on a Mac or Windows PC, rather than just a quick scan of a QR code with a mobile app (like that found on the Zmodo) or going to a website to enter a code from the camera (like with the Y-Cam HomeMonitor).

The setup leads you through connecting the camera, via Ethernet, to a router (D-Link includes a ribbon-thin 10baseT cable for this purpose), plugging in the power, then waiting for an LED on the back to turn solid green. The wizard auto-detects the camera's MAC and IP addresses. You can assign a password to the camera at this point, which is highly recommended. Switch the camera to wireless mode using either the simple Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), or by finding an available Wi-Fi network SSID to connect to.

Finally, you have to sign up for the mydlink cloud service, if you don't have an account already. Download the mydlink Lite apps for your phone or tablet, and get ready for some surveiling.

Features and Performance
The D-Link Cloud Camera 1150 appears no-frills on the surface, but there's some power underneath if you bother to access it (more on that in a minute). Many won't, and will feel they've got their money's worth since that surface works just fine for the most part. I ran into some glitches, however.

To view the camera in a browser on mydlink.com, you need to install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). I was also told by the wizard to perform a firmware upgrade. It's not exactly a fast setup, but it worked despite the constant Java errors I had with my Chrome browser. Thankfully, Java worked in IE 10.

Once in the mydlink.com interface, you can activate and adjust the motion detection and audio detection under the settings tab. Motion detection has a nice screen that lets you define an area of the image for detection (so the ceiling fan or dogs don't set it off, for example). A slider bar lets you increase or decrease the motion sensitivity. You can also schedule motion detection for individual days of the week. No matter how I set the sensitivity, I got far too many email alerts and false positives.

The audio detection settings are unique among the surveillance cameras I've tested. Mydlink displays a decibel level graph of what the camera currently hears up to 90db, so you can make an educated guess on what setting to use. This model supports listening to live audio with the video, but there's no two-way audio—you can't talk to the camera's subjects from a mobile app or remote computer, for instance.

Whenever a motion or audio event is detected, you get a time-stamped email with a still 640-by-480-pixel (VGA) image attached. The camera doesn't just support SMTP email; you can easily input settings for Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail, as well. It automatically sends the alerts to the email address you signed up with, so using a different address here can mean double the alerts.

Utterly unique to the Cloud Camera 1150 is a wireless extender mode. This lets you extend the range of your home wireless network, and could come in especially handy if you get multiple D-Link Cloud Cameras. Don't set it too far away, though; that could actually hurt wireless network performance.

Many of the above settings can also be modified from the mydlink Lite app on a phone or tablet. Generally, however, the apps are just for accessing the live camera feed, and perhaps taking a still image here or there.

Where's all this under-the-hood power I mentioned? In the mydlink settings, click the "Advanced Settings" button. You'll need the special password you assigned the camera (it may not be the same as your mydlink account password). This gives you access, via your browser, to the internal settings of the camera itself, everything from changing the password, to changing video quality, setting up dynamic DNS, creating mail accounts for alerts, or altering the extender mode to have its own SSID.

In Advanced Settings, you can set up alerts to email a video clip rather than a still image, and there are also options for sending video or stills to an FTP site. That's as close as the Cloud Camera comes to an online "DVR" service for surveillance footage, though the company claims it will work seamlessly with D-Link network-attached storage devices to store video.

The camera uses the H.264 codec, so the video looks good, but it only records up to 640 by 480 resolution, which just doesn't cut it compared with the 720p images on cameras from Zmodo and Dropcam.

Conclusion
We've yet to see a Wi-Fi surveillance camera that has just the right mix of performance, setup, and features to match the Logitech Alert 750n Indoor Master System. The 750n remains our Editors' Choice even though it's more expensive and isn't wireless (using HomePlug instead). D-Link's home surveillance solution needs to improve quality, remove the Java requirement for browser access, and consider some functional online storage (and not just a live feed or email/FTP uploads) to measure up.

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Nokia updates Lumia smartphones with camera app, better imaging

Nokia has started rolling out the Amber software update to its Lumia smartphones, which will allow users to take better pictures and get new camera apps.

The Finnish handset maker continues to put a lot of effort into improving camera functionality and picture quality on its Windows Phone-based Lumia smartphones.

The Amber update brings improved algorithms for better noise reduction, color reproduction, exposure control and autofocus. On the Lumia 920, controls to adjust the ISO settings of the camera from 800 to 3200 allow even better low-light performance, Nokia said in a blog post on Thursday.

After installing the update, users will also be able to get the Smart Camera app, which premiered on the Lumia 925. It includes features such as Best Shot, Action Shot and Change Faces. The latter allows users to create better group pictures by choosing the best from a series of images or removing unwanted objects. Action Shot lets users combine shots of people in movement into one image.

The quality of images taken with the Smart Camera app will be affected by the performance of each phone. On the Lumia 720, 620 and 520, the burst mode used for some effects takes seven pictures rather than ten, for example.

NokiaNokia Lumia 928

In addition to the Amber update, the Pro Camera app is available for the 920, 925, and 928, Nokia said. The app's user interface has a number of sliders that lets users control camera settings such as shutter speed, exposure value, ISO settings, white balance and the manual focus. The app is also available on the 1020.

Amber isn't just about imaging; Nokia has also added a feature called Glance Screen, which adds a clock to the standby screen. It also adds indicators to show when the phone is running on a low battery or when the phone is charging or set to silent mode.

The software won't be available on the 520 and 625, because those two smartphones have a smaller display memory, according to Nokia.

Two features from older phones are also making an appearance in Amber: flipping the phone over to mute an incoming call and a double-tap on the screen to unlock the screen.

The Lumia 920 and 820 in selected countries as well as the 521, 810, and 928 in the U.S. will get the update first. Owners of the 520, 620 and 720 will have to wait a bit longer, but Nokia expects everyone will get Amber by end September.

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Nokia updates Lumia smartphones with camera app, better imaging

Nokia has started rolling out the Amber software update to its Lumia smartphones, which will allow users to take better pictures and get new camera apps.

The Finnish handset maker continues to put a lot of effort into improving camera functionality and picture quality on its Windows Phone-based Lumia smartphones.

The Amber update brings improved algorithms for better noise reduction, color reproduction, exposure control and autofocus. On the Lumia 920, controls to adjust the ISO settings of the camera from 800 to 3200 allow even better low-light performance, Nokia said in a blog post on Thursday.

After installing the update, users will also be able to get the Smart Camera app, which premiered on the Lumia 925. It includes features such as Best Shot, Action Shot and Change Faces. The latter allows users to create better group pictures by choosing the best from a series of images or removing unwanted objects. Action Shot lets users combine shots of people in movement into one image.

The quality of images taken with the Smart Camera app will be affected by the performance of each phone. On the Lumia 720, 620 and 520, the burst mode used for some effects takes seven pictures rather than ten, for example.

NokiaNokia Lumia 928

In addition to the Amber update, the Pro Camera app is available for the 920, 925, and 928, Nokia said. The app's user interface has a number of sliders that lets users control camera settings such as shutter speed, exposure value, ISO settings, white balance and the manual focus. The app is also available on the 1020.

Amber isn't just about imaging; Nokia has also added a feature called Glance Screen, which adds a clock to the standby screen. It also adds indicators to show when the phone is running on a low battery or when the phone is charging or set to silent mode.

The software won't be available on the 520 and 625, because those two smartphones have a smaller display memory, according to Nokia.

Two features from older phones are also making an appearance in Amber: flipping the phone over to mute an incoming call and a double-tap on the screen to unlock the screen.

The Lumia 920 and 820 in selected countries as well as the 521, 810, and 928 in the U.S. will get the update first. Owners of the 520, 620 and 720 will have to wait a bit longer, but Nokia expects everyone will get Amber by end September.

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Samsung SMART Camera gets smarter with Evernote integration

Dude, you got your Evernote in my digital camera!

Recognizing the growing importance of Evernote in the document and photo management space, Samsung is integrating the service into its WB250F SMART Camera. Now you'll be able to sync photos directly from the camera, without having to use a computer as an intermediary.

Like many new digital cameras, the $250 WB250F includes Wi-Fi, so you'll still need to be in range of a wireless network if you want to sync, but cutting out the middleman of having to download pictures to a computer should speed things up for those of us who are Evernote obsessed.

Samsung is also bundling three months' worth of Evernote Premium with the camera, giving you loads of extra storage space.

If you're not an Evernote power-user, this announcement might not initially seem a big deal, but those who rely on the system are likely to find myriad uses here. Let's look at a handful of potential use cases.

Documentation of events and items—The world has moved en masse to cameraphones, but even the best phone cameras don't give you the flexibility and power of a standalone digital camera. With high-power zoom, a better flash, and advanced options like color and style filters, a regular camera is always going to give you more to work with, not to mention overall better quality. For issues where resolution really matters—advertising, insurance claims, and such—a cell phone often just won't do. The ability to share very high resolution photos directly from the camera is a convenient time saver.

Easy sharing of photographs—Evernote is finding increasing utility not just as a personal database of documents and photographs but as a system by which teams can work on these databases together. Getting a digital photo from your camera to your co-workers generally means plugging it into your computer, copying the photos to your hard drive, then emailing them to those who need them. Even though you can send email directly from cameras like the WB250F, using Evernote to share photos is far easier and saves you the trouble of having to type in email addresses or select them from a tiny address book every time you want to send people a picture.

Instant backup—Another clever way to use Evernote is as a backup system. Considering how few of us back up our laptops or phones, how many people are really backing up their digital cameras? Evernote gives you another option for keeping backup copies of important photographs without having to connect to your computer directly. Just sync key pictures to the service and let a spare copy live in the cloud. Sounds like a perfect way to archive, say, photographic documentation of your property which you can use for insurance purposes.

The WB250F SMART Camera is available in cobalt black, white, red and dark blue.

Christopher Null is a veteran technology and business journalist. He contributes regularly to PC World and Wired, and is a technology columnist for Executive Travel magazine.
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