A Tall Drink of Noodles.

Application: Night Vision
Category: Photography
Released: February 19th, 2009
Size: 0.8 MB
Seller: Kirill Satchkov
Website: http://www.myspace.com/NightVision_App

Most Recent Version: 2.3

Price: $0.99

A.T.D.o.N. Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Breakdown:

Night Vision is a specialized photography app that gives the iPhone the ability to take photos with very little light. The small amount of light that does enter the digital lens becomes amplified, thus creating an image based upon the parameters of various spectrums. There are 4 different modes you can use: Night Vision Mode, Heat Mode, Predator Mode , and Grey Scale Mode.

Night Vision Mode: Off

Night Vision Mode: On

Heat Mode: Off

Heat Mode: On

Predator Mode: Off

Predator Mode: On

Gray Scale Mode: Off

Gray Scale Mode: On

Although in theory this sounds awesome, the result is just about satisfactory. Don’t get me wrong, this app has huge potential, but there are somethings that bug the crap out of me. Here is a short list:

1. The app does NOT work in real-time, meaning that you will NOT be able to view the image on the screen until you click the shutter and then click the button again to start the processing of the image. (The same goes for all 4 modes.)

2. You can’t control the level of “processing” that the app does. There should be an option somewhere to allow you to choose the amount of light saturation that you want in the photo.

3. Only 4 modes? Why are we not allowed to choose the colors we want in the photos. There should be a CUSTOM mode for this app. You can choose which colors can be the light source. The amount of colors. Night Vision is always green. Why can’t we choose a purple Night Vision color or blue. (I know that green is best for results, but still…the option to do so is just as important.)

4. There isn’t an online community where people can post these shots and share or comment on. This app doesn’t really connect with it’s audience at all. It’s kind of like…ok…I’m an app that does this…so pay me now…and here you go…goodbye.

The Pros: Cool and unique photos using little light. Only $0.99.

The Cons: Photos are processed and not in real time. No control of quality or quantity of image processing. No customization mode for user experimentation. No sense of community or desire to want to improve app. No actual website for the developer either. Kind of skeevy to have JUST a MySpace page for an Apple iPhone app. BIZARRO!

The Close: There are a few good things and many bad things about this app. Overall I would suggest holding off on buying this app until some sort of customization is implemented. The community aspect is not vital to the actual photos themselves, however it will help the “branding” and life of the app. Now that the iPhone 3G S with video is out, the developer should program this app to process video the same way photos SHOULD be processed, only in real-time. (I gaurantee you Mr. Satchkov that if you were able to do this with all 4 modes your app would be on the TOP SELLERS list forever. Seriously.)

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Disclaimer: I am neither an employee of Apple, nor do I have any business relationships with any companies or individuals that will be reviewed. I do this because I have opinions and thoughts that I feel could add to the overall dialogue of iPhone knowledge. I have not been paid or given gifts as incentives to write about any companies in any certain type of light. I have not been contacted or contracted by any companies to write any “SEO” or “SEM” bullshit for link building. Ok enough legal mumbo jumbo…

Application: ShakeItPhoto
Category: Photography
Released: April 15th, 2009
Seller: Nicholas Campbell
(Developed by: Nick Campbell)
Website: N/A
Most Recent Version: 1.0

Price: $0.99

Rating: ***** [5 out of 5]

To say that I am pleased with this app would be an understatement. I have not stopped using the app since I downloaded it the blasted thing the other day. I have used many, many good and decent photo apps for the iPhone, but this one is quite extraordinary. Let me give you an idea of how awesome it is and maybe you’ll heed my advice to purchase this gem.

1. K.I.S.S. – No not the glam-rock band, but the clever decision by Mr. Campbell to Keep It Simple Stupid. As soon as you activate the app, it does one thing and one thing only…just like a polaroid. You point-click-shoot-and wait.

2. Appreciation – In this age of INSTANT, INSTANT gratification…Polaroids seem to take TOO long for some, but for Generation X and older…we can appreciate those short moments in between photos. On a psychological level…this is app does just that: it will help you reconnect with your subjects that you are taking photos of. It doesn’t matter whether that subject is a human, a feline, a canine, an object or whatever. The important thing is that it allows the photographer to engage with his/her subject with that moment in time to anticipate and spark that thought of what it might look like.

3. Quality – It astounds me how incredibly “Polaroid-esque” the photos truly look and feel. It even makes the same noise as a Polaroid camera. If you have ever had the pleasure of seeing or holding a REAL Polaroid. I think I just dated myself on that one…lol (Kodak has since unfortunately ended production…The Last Polaroid Shipment sniff, sniff), but the colors, exposure, contrast, everything seems so dead-on. Mr. Campbell definitely did his homework before releasing this app. Kudos to you Mr. Campbell! Can’t wait to see what is the next camera type you’ll master for the iPhone.

Examples:

Murphy Close-Up Sky/Screen Abstract Sand/Sheet Abstract Uninvited Guest in the Spotlight

The Breakdown:

The Pros: Incredibly vivid photos that parallel Polaroid’s history and uniqueness, ease of use, awesome way to start a conversation at a party.

The Cons: The only 2 things I would want to see changed is possibly more border shapes (ie – Landscape, circle, triangle, etc… (although it might take away from the authenticity of it all, but just a thought.) and resolution choices.

The Close: I strongly suggest you download this app immediately and start enjoying photos again. It’s only $0.99. How can you go wrong. I mean really. This app is worth it and then some.

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Disclaimer: I am neither an employee of Apple, nor do I have any business relationships with any companies or individuals that will be reviewed. I do this because I have opinions and thoughts that I feel could add to the overall dialogue of iPhone knowledge. I have not been paid or given gifts as incentives to write about any companies in any certain type of light. I have not been contacted or contracted by any companies to write any “SEO” or “SEM” bullshit for link building. Ok enough legal mumbo jumbo…

Photogene: (Developed by: Omar Shoor)
Price: $2.99
Website: http://i-photogene.com
(Most Recent Update Release: June 4th, 2009)
Rating: ***** [5 out of 5]

This is the first of many, many reviews I am going to publish regarding the iPhone apps that I have used recently. I am not an employee of either Apple, nor do I have any business relationships with any companies or individuals that I will be reviewing. I am doing this because I have opinions and thoughts that I feel can add to the dialogue of overall knowledge. I have not been paid or given gifts or incentives to write about a certain company. I have not been contacted by any companies to write any “SEO” or “SEM” bullshit for link building. Ok enough legal mumbo jumbo…

Onto the review…

Photogene is an amazing little iPhone photo editing app that truly goes above and beyond what you may think about editing on an iPhone. I first heard about this app a few weeks ago and read the description on iTunes and decided to take a chance. What a great decision I made, I must say. lol. This app has a large variety to filters and options that give the user a tool chest like no other out there for the iPhone. The UI (User Interface) is amazingly simple and quite straight forward to use. It really allows the user to make beautiful photos dazzlingly even better. It’s hard to believe but I haven’t stopped using this program for over a week now. I mostly have been taking photos of my dog, Captain Hazel Murphy. (Of which I will use as examples of the possibilities of this incredible app.

Before:

After:

As you can see I cropped the photo slightly to make it more of a vertical composition. I also tweaked the levels with color, contrast, saturation, exposure, etc. I even gave it a nice border to finish it off. To me the finished product has an Alphonse Mucha quality to it. (Art Nouveau-esque) with the flat green backgrounds and almost stain-glass like quality.

So the possibilities are truly endless with the “Photogene” app for the iPhone.

I highly recommend any photography buff or part time photo snapper to download this app immediately. It’s well worth the $2.99.

The Good: Easy UI (User Interface), quality resolution, great options
The Bad: Sometimes can crash, response time sometimes can be slow, color palate is limited, effects options could be expanded to include (night vision, thermal vision, and an option to change the thermal vision to include other colors besides RED + BLUE

Recent Upgrade: The most recent upgrades (which happened on June 4th, 2009), include:

1. An “apple-esque” reflection on the bottom of the photo.
2. More control of the borders. (Types of borders, color, thickness, shape, etc.)

Thanks for reading my review.

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