News / Connect

500px has redesigned its online photo portfolio feature, offering photographers more customization tools and advanced options for interacting with followers and customers. The new portfolio UX is expected to roll out by May and will allow for store integration so visitors can purchase photos directly from a portfolio, and blog integration and even full CSS customization. Learn more about the upcoming changes at connect.dpreview.com.

Samsung has announced two 'phablet'-sized additions to its line of smartphones, the Galaxy Mega 6.3 and Galaxy Mega 5.8. At 6.3 and 5.8 inches respectively, the large-display phablets push far beyond Samsung's 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Note II, and the larger of the two sets a new industry-record for smartphone size. Learn more about when and where the devices will be available, and what the camera specs will be at connect.dpreview.com.

We have added DxOMark's Mobile Report to our camera review of the Samsung Galaxy Note II. The report includes DxO Lab's usual industrial-quality scientific measurements and analyzes 14 aspects of mobile imaging including detailed image quality assessment, flash performance, autofocus reliability and more to calculate a final score. Click through to read our Samsung Galaxy Note II review and go to page 6 for the DxO Mark mobile report.

Photographer Finn Beales primarily uses his Canon EOS 5D Mark III when shooting for major brands as well as media outlets, but he also uses his smartphone to capture poignant moments like this image of his son floating in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, which recently won the children's category in the annual Mobile Photography Awards. Learn more about Beales' work on connect.dpreview.com.

We've just posted our review of the HTC 8X on connect.dpreview.com. The 8X is HTC's current Windows Phone flagship device and comes with a 4.3-inch 720p screen and an 8MP camera with a fast F2.0 lens. Can the HTC rival the Android and iOS competition and is it good enough to grab some of Nokia's Windows Phone market share? We put the 8X through our usual review process to find out. Click through to go to the full review.

With the announcement of Facebook Home, a launcher or 'skin' that can be installed on top of the Android operating system of your mobile phone, the social networking giant has instantly transformed the role and importance of images in social media, bringing them to the forefront in a way that not even its desktop Timeline feature could. We are having a closer look at what Facebook Home is and what it means for image sharing.

Photographer Nick Laham found himself in a tight spot as he squeezed into a locker room bathroom stall to take portraits of the New York Yankees during a spring training session earlier this year. He used both his DSLR and his smartphone to take the photos, but it was his iPhone-captured and Instagram-processed images that earned the attention of the New York Times, which ran Laham's portrait of baseball great Alex Rodriguez on the front page of the Sunday edition. Read more at connect.dpreview.com.
Following the recent release of Photosynth for Windows Phone 8, Microsoft held a contest to find the 10 best Photosynth images. Now that the feature is compatible with latest generation devices such as the Nokia Lumia 920, HTC 8X and Samsung Ativ Odyssey, we should be seeing more and more stunning 360-degree panoramas created with the software. Check out some of the top Photosynths selected at connect.dpreview.com.

With its new flagship smartphone, the HTC One, the Taiwanese manufacturer is aiming to improve image quality over its rivals by using using fewer but larger pixels on a sensor that's the same size as the higher-resolution competition. However, the HTC One's advantages are not all about pixels -- the phone's camera also features optical image stabilization and a fast F2.0 lens. We have shot a range of samples in varying conditions and are having a closer look at the HTC's image quality on connect.dpreview.com.

While the privacy and permissions surrounding Facebook-shared photographs have always seemed like a bit of a gray area, a new service is pushing the envelope further. Photos At My Door lets users log in with their Facebook account and access photos of friends. You can then order prints of those photos or even print them on coffee mugs, mouse pads and iPhone cases. Read more about the service and our take on it at connect.dpreview.com.

As Google Glass and other wearable cameras look to become the latest tech trend, some futurists are raising the red flag of caution. If everyone is wearing a constantly recording, super subtle camera, what are the implications for personal privacy, the law and our own safety? We look at some interesting implications of this new technology and the ways it could change our society at connect.dpreview.com.

If you strive for postcard-perfect images to document your travels, Picfari may pique your interest. Available via a website or as a free iOS app for mobile devices, Picfari offers photo maps of various tourist attractions around the world with easy access to EXIF data to help inform your take on the perfect shot of the landmarks. Users can pick from a curated Picfari photo tour featuring geotagged Flickr photos, or build their own tour using Picfari's library of images along with their own uploaded photos. Read more about the app at connect.dpreview.com.

Google has updated its Google+ social media app for both Android and iOS. The latest version of the iOS app adds some of the company's Snapseed app features including basic editing tools and a limited selection of filters. While the Android version doesn't offer the Snapseed features yet, like the iOS app it offers the ability to share location, and improves the way one can see images and interact through posts. Click through to read more about the updates at connect.dpreview.com.

We've just posted our review of the Samsung Galaxy Note II on connect.dpreview.com. The Note II comes with a large 5.5-inch screen but is it just a phone for users who like it big or can it offer advantages over its smaller-sized siblings in the mobile imaging context? We did some finger stretches and then put the Note II to work as both an image capture and editing tool. Click through to go to the full review.

We just published the DxOMark Mobile Report for the Blackberry Z10 on connect.dpreview.com. The report includes the usual industrial-quality scientific measurements. DxO's imaging experts have analyzed 14 aspects of mobile imaging including detailed image quality assessment, flash performance, autofocus reliability and more to calculate a final score. This report will be integrated into our full review once it is finished but for now click through to find out how the Blackberry Z10's camera performed in the DxO lab tests.

The Metropolitan Museum's 'Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop' exhibit includes some heavily manipulated imagery created long before the days of digital. We look at a selection of these photo illustrations and suggest how they might be easily created today using mobile image editing apps available for mobile devices. Check out the five apps that could be used to make similar photographic illustrations today at connect.dpreview.com

Photo-editing service Aviary has announced its desktop app and Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 8. Aviary's technology which can currently be found in numerous popular Android and iOS photo editing apps, and on the Flickr photo sharing site will be available for download in the Windows Store this week. Click through for more information at connect.dpreview.com

We had a close look at the the much-anticipated Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone at the New York launch event and have put together a hands-on report detailing the device's overall design and software features. Update: We've added information about the S4's 13MP camera and unique photographic features. Read about our first impressions at connect.dpreview.com (Updated)

Samsung follows its best-selling Galaxy S3 with the launch of a new flagship phone: the Galaxy S4. The device holds much promise for mobile photography enthusiasts with a 13MP camera, unique photocentric features like a 'dual camera' function, eye-tracking technology and a 5-inch display. We went to the New York launch and are sharing our first impressions on connect.dpreview.com.

When Dpreview.com camera reviewer Amadou Diallo found himself assessing a smartphone camera for our mobile photography site, Dpreview Connect, he had his doubts about what the hardware could accomplish. But his review of the HTC X One (published late last year) challenged his preconceptions about camera phone photography and inspired him to embrace both the limitations and the possibilities of shooting with a mobile device. Read more about his experience on connect.dpreview.com.






















