
News / Connect
A smartphone is typically the one camera you always carry with you but its tiny sensors often struggle in low light which makes a tripod a useful accessory. The Joby Grip Tight Micro Stand is a combined mini-tripod and phone holder that is foldable and so small that it fits in any pocket or can even be used as a key fob which makes it an ideal companion for your smartphone. We've tried it out for you.
The mobile food photography phenomenon has been cooking up alongside our affinity for our always-with-us smartphones. Foodies flock to tap, snap and share the trendiest new treats on the culinary circuit, their camera phones now making it possible to document nearly every morsel. But what apps are best for snapping and sharing food photography? We take a look at connect.dpreview.com.

We starting to test the camera capabilities of the brand new Samsung Galaxy S4, but the guys at iFixit.com have been tearing theirs apart. The iFixit crew cracked open the S4 to see what its inner workings tell us about the latest flagship phone from Samsung, and how easily it can be repaired. The S4 came through iFixit's teardown with flying colors, receiving an 8 out of 10 repairability score for its replaceable battery and straightforward disassembly. Click through for all the gory details.

Snapzoom is the brainchild of Daniel Fujikake and Mac Nguyen, two surfers (and brothers-in-law) from Hawaii looking for a better way to capture and share video of their themselves riding the waves. They've created a universal adapter that attaches most smartphones to most binoculars, spotting scopes, telescopes and microscopes, bringing camera phones closer to the action without relying on the devices' digital zoom. Learn more at connect.dpreview.com.

We put four of the top-of-the-line smartphone cameras to the test in our super shootout featuring the two most promising newcomers - the brand new Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One - and the established competition, the Apple iPhone 5 and the Nokia Lumia 920. We shot with the camera phones in a variety of "real-life" situations and in our controlled studio environment to compare their overall performance. See our results today on connect.dpreview.com.

Google's 'Project Glass' has seen quite a bit of buzz since the wearable communication device was made available to a limited amount of beta testers earlier this year. In an interview with the BBC, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt discussed when Google Glass will be commercially available and how the device will change human interaction and social norms. We look further into Google Glass at connect.dpreview.com.

A recently released app in the Apple App Store promises the focus-shifting experience of a Lytro camera for a much smaller price tag. FocusTwist takes a series of images with different focal planes and allows users to choose a focus point after they have taken the photo. We take the app for a quick spin and offer our take at connect.dpreview.com.

If taking a photo with a nearly 10-inch tablet didn't look silly enough, you can now pair your iPad with a telephoto lens to expand tablet photography horizons. Regardless of the awkward appearance of the iPad as a camera, shooting with the tablet has grown in popularity. The new 10x zoom accessory for the iPad 3 and 4 and 12x zoom for the iPad Mini is a further proof. Read more about the lens at connect.dpreview.com.

BlackBerry, the phone maker formerly known as Research in Motion, has a lot riding on its newest smartphone, Z10. It’s the debut handset for the long-delayed BlackBerry 10, the operating system that the company hopes will mark the beginning of a turnaround after years of losing ground to Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android platforms. We take a thorough look at the camera capabilities of the Z10 in our review on connect.dpreview.com.

We just published the DxOMark Mobile Report for the Sony Xperia Z on connect.dpreview.com and the results don't look fantastic. 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 and the Sony scores lower than most of its competitors. We will start working on our evaluation once we receive a review unit at DPR Connect but for now click through to find out how the Sony Xperia Z's camera performed in the DxO lab tests.
DPReview Connect contributor Lauren Crabbe was among those taking photos with her smartphone at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday. Following the explosion of two bombs in the area just over an hour after she left, her snapshots took on a new meaning when the FBI asked spectators to submit their images as evidence in the ongoing investigation. Read her first-person account today on connect.dpreview.com.

As Google Glass beta testers - so-called 'Explorers' - prepare to receive the first round of the wearable augmented reality tech, Google is also bracing the rest of us for what's to come. The company is pushing the Glass announcements this week with the release of its MyGlass app in the Google Play store and a developer preview of the Mirror API, along with the most revealing tech specs we've seen yet. Click through to check out the detailed specs and more at connect.dpreview.com.
Timelapse photography can be mesmerizing with the right subject. We chose the new lighting system brightening San Francisco's Bay Bridge for our timelapse app experiments using an iPhone 5. The bridge is lit by 25,000 LEDs to create eye-catching displays controlled by several Mac Minis mounted inside the structure. As mobile phone cameras grow in quality and the storage capacity of these devices increase, it's possible to make a decent sequence with just what's in your pocket, plus a small tripod. Learn which apps we liked best at connect.dpreview.com.

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.
























