Top 5 Photography Apps That Aren’t Instagram

In a mobile photography world dominated by Instagram, we’ve decided to explore the countless other apps that are available to us everyday folk who want to look a little more like professional photographers. So whether you’re filter junkie or love panoramic shots, we’ve got something for your snap-happy self!

DMD Panorama

Everyone loves a good panorama shot. Especially those who love taking pictures of landscapes, and there is no other app that has a following quite like this one. You point, move your phone across your landscape and voila! Perfection.

Standout feature: the panorama of course!

Color Splash

This is quite possibly one of the coolest, and most gorgeous and artistic effects photos can have – a splash of colour amidst a black and white photo. Color Splash makes it ridiculously easy for you to look like a future Mario Testino.

Standout feature: the name of the app says it all!

Picfx

There’s over 100 different filters in this app, all of which you’ll most likely spend hours combing through. You can rotate effects, save all photos in high-res to your camera roll and share them everywhere. And those are just some of their features.

Standout feature: we love that you have the ability to rotate effects here.

Snapseed

It was named the Best Mobile Photo App, and it’s iPad counterpart won Apple’s Best iPad App of the Year. Enough said.

Standout feature: the tilt and shift, it’s amazing!

Camera Awesome

Normally we’re a little skeptical when it comes to an app that declares just how awesome it really is, but then we took a little bit of a closer look at the app and realized, it actually is quite awesome. It has specially designed special effects that we haven’t really seen anywhere else, it’s easy to use, and has effects designed by a renowned photographer. Pretty awesome isn’t it?

Standout feature: re-focusing and tilting specific parts of your picture!

Now snap away! And let us know what your thoughts are!

 

Like what you see? Follow me @leeannyee for more updates!

Give the Gift of Voice: New Talking Photo Album App Connects Long Distance Loved Ones Over the Holidays

Toronto, ON – This holiday season, Spoke Technologies is giving photo albums a voice – your voice. The new SPOKEnPHOTO Album App is the only app made for users to create and share talking photo collections with the look and feel of a real photo album. It lets you give the gift of your voice to long distance loved ones in a beautiful and easy-to-build digital photo album, without the need for a synchronous connection.

We all know that hearing a loved one’s voice helps you feel closer to them, but sometimes it’s hard to connect in real time. SPOKEnPHOTO Album makes sharing photo stories easier across multi-timezone, multi-language and multi-generational families. It offers a more personal, meaningful way to capture and share photo moments and memories with your personal network.

Watch the video:

 

View a sample Spoken Photo Moment by Social Media Mom Melissa Carr, Thethirtiesgrind.com

The SPOKEnPHOTO Album app also works together with the SPOKEnPHOTO iPhone app so you can capture talking photo moments and then collect them into memories on your iPad.

About Spoke Technologies

Spoke Technologies was founded on the premise that we all have long-distance friends and family that we want to feel more connected to, more often. They build mobile apps that capture moments and memories in your voice so you can share and connect with that Personal Network in a more intimate way. Their first app, SPOKEnPHOTO for iPhone, was launched earlier this year.

For more information: www.spoketechnologies.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/spoketech

Twitter: www.twitter.com/spoketech

Contact:
Lynne McEachern
Tel: 1.416.616.0762
lynne@spoketechnologies.com

Travel Appy With The Kids: Four Apps To Keep Little People Busy on Holiday

Half of our office is in sunny Mexico right now, and that got us thinking – with all the traveling happening around the holidays, especially with kids in tow (how do the Jolie-Pitts do it?!) how do we keep them busy and occupied? We decided to tackle as many of those ‘what ifs’ and ‘are we there yets’ as we could with some apps that are sure to help them, and you, stay smiling these holidays!

Toca Kitchen

This is probably the one time you’ll ever let your kids play with their food! There’s a dozen characters for your kids to cook for, pots, pans, and even a fridge stocked so full even you’ll wish it wasn’t just a virtual game.

Duolingo

The great thing about globetrotting is that you often get to learn new languages! How about making it fun for your little guy or gal with an app that’ll have them saying ‘are we there yet’ in Spanish? We’re betting a little change in sound will be good for your ears too.

Draw and Tell

This is so much fun, we want it for ourselves! Perfect for long plane rides, this is the ultimate colouring book. You can colour, you can draw, you can add stickers to anything, this is probably the perfect companion for anyone who loves all things colourful and creative.

Viator

This app has over 9,000 tours for you and your kids to pick from. 9,000! Sorted easily by different categories every single day, there’s always going to be something on the itinerary.

Have any other favourite apps that we’re missing? Let us know!

Part 2 – Top 10 Apps for Mom This Mother’s Day

Now for the final five of the Top 10 Apps for Mom,  because I couldn’t get them to start at 6: (See Part 1 for the first five!)

1. BugMe (FREE): This is a fun and simple way to organize her weekly to do list in a familiar sticky note fashion. (Have you ever received an envelope with a sticky note letter from Mom? I have.) It is not however good for medication reminders and the like – of course, there are other apps for that! Now, she will never give up her good old wall calendar but this will help remind her to look at it! HINT: help her discover what kinds of items she might need a reminder for and show her how to move them around the bulletin board.
2. TuneIn Radio (FREE): Your mom is still of the generation that knows what radio is and this app lets her find stations with the music she loves. It beats the heck out of making Playlists! Throw in a cool new Jawbone wireless speaker so she can finally get rid of her 300 pound wifi collecting dust in the corner of the living room. Great for finding music in other languages! HINT: Add her favourites to the Presets so she can access them easily on her next visit.
3. Netflix ($7.99/month): This is great gift for the Snowbird or traveling Mom who wants her own entertainment device. It also comes in handy when minding the grandkids! HINT: Show her around to identify shows and movies she might like and throw in the Belkin Grip 360 to beef up her gift!
4. NPR/CBC Radio (FREE): Content that is just so darn interesting from announcers and personalities she knows. HINT: they both operate in a similar fashion, a quick tour should do the trick.
5. Jamie Oliver – 20 Minute Meals ($6.99): Something Mom might not buy for herself because she doesn’t think she needs new recipes. She does. There are only 60 in this app but sometimes less is just more. Yes, Mom might have time on her hands, but after cooking for a family for 20 years, 20 minutes is all she can mentally spare. HINT: Teach her how to use the shopping list feature so she can use it on her iPhone and impress the cute produce boy at the grocery store!

You may have noticed that most of these apps are free. Does that still count as a gift? Definitely! It’s the gift of time that you add on as the most precious thing you can give to her. And just because they are free doesn’t mean you should get all of them. Try 2 or 3 to start, or your day together might end with a grey cloud over both of your heads. Happy Mother’s Day! And let me know which ones she liked best!

Part 1 – Top 10 Apps for Mom This Mother’s Day

This blog is talking to those of us who have a Mom in the 55+ range who might not have the know-how or experience to go and research her own apps for her nifty new iPad. Don’t get me wrong, she is in love with the thing and when she is on it, it’s harder to get her attention than that of your Crackberry Colleague at the office! However, buying apps doesn’t come naturally yet to her so you are in charge of introducing her to said items of marvel and making sure they are easy to use or set up to the point where she can see the benefit to her.

Let’s dive in, shall we? I am not going to put the obvious on the list like Skype, Facebook, iBooks, Sudoku and the Weather Channel. She should just have these already…that is why she bought the iPad right? My Top 10 Apps for Mom include:

1. Flipboard (FREE): A beautiful and really easy way to tune into her favourite web content without having to deal with bookmarks, typing in urls, or sorting through Google search results. The magazine flipping just makes more sense. HINT: Sign her up and set her up with her favourite content before she gets a look at it.
2. A Story Before Bed (FREE): She can create a video of herself reading a selection of books to her grandchildren. Yes, that is often what we use Skype for but it is sometimes hard to schedule a time with a 3 year-old! HINT: Sign her up and take her through the process of creating one video. You can upgrade her to the paid version to access a larger selection of books.
3. Ancestry (FREE): She can build her family tree while she watches her favourite primetime programs! HINT: Sign her up and fill her iPad with a bunch of scanned family photos to get her started.
4. Kobo or Kindle (FREE): If you are in Canada, you may have noticed that the Store on iBooks doesn’t have a great selection – this is due to publishing rights, etc.. Get the Kobo app for your pick of what you could find right in the stores! Lots of free titles too. HINT: Sign her up and buy her first book…this one is a bit more complicated since you can’t purchase in the app. You have to buy on the website and go read it in the app. It’s worth it for the selection.
5. Words with Friends (FREE): Zynga is doing what they do best, Social Gaming. It’s a good intro to the Social realm of possibility for your Mom while playing a game she will likely get addicted to if she is a Crossword person. HINT: Set up her profile and show her how to play.

See Part 2 here…