Granted, Adobe PhotoShop or PhotoShop Touch would provide a better image cut-out quality with their “Scribble Select” tool. But both tools cost money and a steep learning curb. With ClippingMagic, all you have to do is to draw a fat green line in the area you want to keep and a fat red line in the areas you want to eliminate. There is no refining tool for now, except carefully using the eraser to somewhat perfect the lines.

It is best to have a clearly defined line and background such a photo with taken with green screen for greater success.

[Source Clipping Magic via PetaPixel]

Someday the big break for the business will come. Until then, here is a list of handy apps that no self-respecting (or self-pitying) small business owner should ever leave home (or the home office) without.

For The Travel Department
Keeping track of travel can be incredibly time consuming and potentially disastrous if any balls get dropped.

There is a lot of details to cover and remember like how and what to expense yourself, your partners or clients while traveling on business. Details can simply push the road-weary business travelers over the edge. The worst is that a small business owner will probably be the one shooting his or her own foot when pouring over those expense reports later next month.

The solution? Keep track of travel plans with an App called Tripit. This app not only creates custom itineraries but also helps you on arrival with maps, GPS and travel suggestions.

In addition, you can manage expenses and receipts with the incredibly handy Expensify, and look smart in front of colleagues while scanning your receipts into your smart phone or tablet before even leaving the restaurant. Receipts can be automatically filed away for later reporting. Don’t return home with a pocket full of notes about expenses again. Instead, get this top business travel app create an instant expense report for you while you sit back and actually enjoy your flight.

For The Accounting Department
If you don’t have a full-time accountant on the payroll yet, there is help and hope out there. QuickBooks Premier Edition 2013 has been designed for use with an app feature that allows mobile and seamless management of everything financial. This small business lifesaver continues to evolve with the times as an indispensable addition to small business software.

InDinero is another handy new app which helps businesses with effective management of cash flow and finances. InDinero gets bonus points for ease of use.

Ease up on your Accounts Receivable Department, especially if you the same, with Square. The square is an incredibly useful App that allows anyone with a Smartphone or tablet to accept credit card payments for only a small fraction of the transaction price.

For The Marketing Department
Social media and other forms of online marketing are truly an art, to the point where some companies dedicate an entire department. Smart small business owners are saving time and money by using the App LocalVox, which simultaneously publishes across your online universe ads, announcements, promotions and more. Thrown into the mix is the automatic generation of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) stats to help boost your page to the top of the search engine listings.

For The Secretary
Keeping track of all your business contacts and constantly updating your databases of contacts is tiresome and tedious tasks- ask any secretary. Instead, make it easy with the App Bump, it allows moving contacts from one tablet or a smart phone to the other merely by “bumping” the two devices together.

Take your mobile device’s secretarial prowess one step further and record voice, notes, meeting minutes and more with the handy App Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 Premium. If you’ve always had the vision of dictating out letters, memos and more while someone else does the typing, this app will be your favorite would-be employee in no time.

Sharon Freeman is an Australian freelance writer and blogger.  She writes about IT products for companies like TradiePad

The upshot of these changes? “To a large number of users, their photos are just going to look better. They’re not really gonna know why,” Google senior vice president Vic Gundotra said.

Google+ offers a feature called Auto Enhance, which analyzed and adjust a number of elements including brightness, contrast, saturation, structure, noise, focus, blemishes, etc. the feature will auto-adjust them in harmony. Auto Enhance is truly useful with photos uploaded from mobile devices.

Another notable feature is labeled Auto Awesome, which allows user to upload bunch of photos in sequence to create an animated GIF, confirming smiles in group photos, stitching panoramas, sorting portraits together into photo booth-style arrangements, and turning sets of bracketed exposures into HDR photos, etc.

Google+ lets you upload a series of photos as we usually do, it will select the best and eliminate photos that are blurry, duplicated, etc..

Google+ on the Web itself also received few visual enhancements. The stream serves in two-column and three-column layouts. The design is is liquid and will change based on your needs and tastes in a very responsive design. Each post can be clicked on to reveal additional and related information. Google+ also conveniently  creates hashtags for you.  The photos are presented in larger format as well. All the above enhancements have been implemented on Google+ and for you to discover.

You can quickly and securely send money to friends and family directly within Gmail — even if they don’t have a Gmail address [Google Wallet is required however]. It’s free to send money if your bank account is linked to Google Wallet or using your Google Wallet Balance, and 2.9% fees apply to send money using your linked credit or debit card. . Receiving payments is free.

[Source Google]

What is Google Glass?

Google Glass is not exactly a phone, and it’s not exactly a computer, but it does have elements of both. It offers a wide range of features that Google hopes will integrate well into users’ day-to-day lives, including:

• Voice activation
• Turn-by-turn directions
• The ability to take and share photos and videos via Google+
• Phone calls
• Receive texts; Weather updates
• Google search results
• Compatible with third-party apps

While Google Glass isn’t a mobile phone, it can connect to one. You can also use it on a Wi-Fi network. You’ll need a Google+ account in order to share your photos and videos. Of course, it works best with Android, but also with iPhones on a more limited basis, cnet.com reports.

What Else Should I Know?

Google Glass is made of titanium and plastic. The glasses are rimless with a much heavier right stem and a 3D rectangle sticking out of the front. There’s a speaker, a camera shutter button, an indicator light and a Micro-USB charging port. The battery is behind the right ear and a touch navigation pad is in the right arm. Its “screen” is tiny, 0.375 x 0.375, and Google says the resolution is similar to a “25-inch television from a distance of about 8 feet.” At this time, Glass is available in black, white, black, orange, gray and sky blue.

The Google Glass still camera is 5 megapixels, and the video quality can be up to 720p HD. You can watch your own videos, but at this time Glass cannot stream content. The device is activated in two ways: one, with your voice; you trigger it by saying, “OK, Glass.” The other way is via a touch pad on its right arm. Also, looking up activates the screen. One battery charge should last you the whole day.

Some Mixed Reactions

Google Glass has been the topic of both excitement and ridicule. It’s not surprising that the idea of wearing an enhanced mobile phone on your face would have its share of skeptics. While some in the industry speculate that Google Glass will revolutionize Internet use, others have concerns. Here are some of them:

• Lower awareness of surroundings. In a culture that is already short on attention span and focus, some worry that Google Glass will hinder our ability to focus even more.

• Visual health effects. Although Google Glass is being tested, there is no way to know the long-term effects on users’ vision.

• Covert recording. With Google Glass, a user can record whatever they’re looking at. According to http://www.internetproviders.com, privacy-conscious people have said they won’t interact with Google Glass users because of the device’s recording capabilities.

• The Impact Upon Mental Health. Psychologists have already voiced concerns about how Google Glass will affect users’ mental well-being. In a society that is already less socially connected, Google Glass could add to this isolating effect.

The experts are mixed in their predictions about how popular Google Glass will ultimately be. The full effects and impact of the device, both good and bad, won’t be known for years. However, one thing is certain: The media will be right there, documenting how things unfold every step of the way.

Photo by Flickr user loiclemeur

The app shows if your friends are on to start the conversation including text, video and photos.. If they are not online, Hangouts will store your messages for later delivery. And you can do all that as you move between platforms across the desktop, Android, and iOS devices

Of course you can send simple text messages, but where Hangouts shines is in vivid multi-media communication. To spice up your words, you can add any of 850 hand-drawn emoji. You can send photos in Hangouts, which are saved to a saved to a Google+ album that you and you conversation partners can view, edit, and share later. In fact, you can go back and view your photo and messaging history at any time, or you can turn history off so your dispatches aren’t saved.

• Group conversations are better than ever.  Send photos or emoji, see when people are engaged in the Hangout and message friends anytime, even if they’re not connected right now.
• Video calls make Hangouts more fun.  Turn any conversation into a video call with up to 10 friends.
• All your friends can use Hangouts.  Hangouts works on computers, phones, and tablets, so you can connect with everyone.

More Hangouts awesomeness:

• View and continue your Hangouts across devices.
• Get notifications just once.  After you see an alert, it’ll be removed on other devices.
• Snooze your notifications if you’d prefer to respond later.
• See what you talked about in the past, including shared photos and your video call history.
• Keep a record of any Hangout for just a short period of time by turning history off.
• View collections of photos shared from each of your Hangouts.
• Choose from over 850 emoji to express what’s on your mind.

The Stand connects to Square existing accessories such as receipt printers or barcode scanners. The hardware will work on second- and third-generation iPads, with a version for fourth-generation tablets arriving later this year.

Read more about the setup HERE!

Nokia design signals a departure from the initial signature neon colorful casing of its line Lumia for a more traditional colors. Additional colorful covers for wireless charging  will be sold separately, however. While keeping the same inners as the much heavier, bulkier Lumia 920 with the dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU; 1GB of RAM; the 8.7 MP camera  with optical image stabilization and the PureView technology and a 2,000mAh battery, Nokia could come up with a substantially lighter and thinner device. The metal-clad device is measured 8.8mm (.33″) in thickness and weights 4.9 ounces.

The highlight of the device is the camera with OIS technology carried over from the Lumia 920, this time it has a myriad companion software to exploit this technology. Notably, the new Nokia Smart Camera mode offers an easy way to capture ten images at once and edit the pictures with options like Best Shot, Action Shot, and Motion Focus for creating the perfect high quality image, etc. Nokia also announced Hipstamatic will arrive on Nokia Lumia smartphones, allowing people to share their high quality pictures with like-minded enthusiasts on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Instagram.

Sales are expected to start in UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and China in June, followed by the US and a number of other markets. The Nokia Lumia 925 will be priced around 469 EUR before taxes and subsidies. Country-specific pricing and availability will be announced locally. Expect to see its price around $100 Stateside.

You can first enroll to Outlook.com to get the free email from Microsoft. Hotmail users are automatically enrolled. Once you are registered, you can access contact, calendar and SkyDive by clicking the dropdown menu on top left.

Within SkyDrive, you can create folder, upload files, photos just by drag & drop from your computer or using a client app on your PC or Windows Phone to sync between local and remote files.

The most popular use is the photo section that you can also create folders and upload your photos to browse or to share. Microsoft is now making it easier for you to see all of your photos in SkyDrive across all your albums and folders based on a timeline view as below shown.

In the timeline view you can scroll down to navigate through all the images. They’re organized into groups by event and time. Take 20 pictures at a birthday party with your phone, and then a photo of your parking spot at the airport a few hours later? Now they’ll appear as two different groups in the timeline.If you want to quickly navigate to a specific month, just click the month name.

While watching in slide show, there is a filmstrip at the bottom that allows you to better navigate and jump to each photo quicker.

The last enhancement is the new layout for thumbnail including PowerPoint and Word docs.

[Source Microsoft]

The program mainly supports Nikon DSLR’s (see the list of supported camera HERE!)

The program works with other devices such iOS and Android smartphones & tablets as remote control  via mobile browser.

Below are basic functions:

• Control you camera remotely from your computer via USB.
• See the camera live view image on the computer display.
• Trigger image capture via release button on camera body or remotely from your computer.
• Handhold the camera, shoot, and have the resulting images displayed on the computer monitor.
• Bracketing with an arbitrary shutter speed or exposure value.
• Use the advanced interval meter to create a series of time-lapse images and generate time-lapse video.
• Manage multiple profiles.
• Histogram & photo metadata view.
• Review in full screen.
• Manage camera presets (saved camera settings).
• Webserver function allows the remote control of application functions via a web browser, e.g. smart phone.
• Multiple camera support, you can control multiple connected cameras at the same time, triggering photo capture in parallel, or one by one – we’re looking forward to seeing your “bullet time” photos!

You can read more and download the app HERE!

[Via Nikonrumors]

The app either lets you select your own photos or it can sort photos from the camera roll by event or moment and helps you transform them into stories that are easy to personalize, save and share. You can put annotation, rearrange, select different theme, etc..

The link of your stories can be shared by email, on Facebook or your Web site.  The story is displayed at the app Web site http://story.us as flipbook format.

With Story, you get:

• Effortless Storytelling: To get you started, the Story app automatically finds the moments in your camera roll, based on when and where your photos and videos were captured.
• Creative Freedom: You can simply select a moment to share immediately, or personalize it with your own captions, pages of text, themes and layouts.
• Quick, Selective Sharing: With just a couple of taps, stories can be shared via email or Facebook. They are visible in any browser to your invited friends and family on Story.us. Stories can also be embedded on your website or blog [seen below].
• Preservation: All stories you create are saved in the app and backed up by iCloud for future viewing and editing.

To share your stories, you must register or log in.
In order to speed up how quickly your stories are ready to share, the app uploads media as you edit or view your story. Your photos and videos, along with date and location information, are stored temporarily and privately on Disney’s servers. Media is visible to other users only if you decide to share the story by email or Facebook. Any media associated with unshared stories are deleted within seven days.

Download from iTunes App Store HERE!

The Olympus PEN E-P5 is the first Compact System Camera with a mechanical shutter that can achieve a speed of 1/8000th of a second to freeze fast-moving subjects like insects in flight or to create pictures with dramatic background blur, even in bright conditions. The built-in flash, with an improved, faster 1/320th of a second synch speed, makes it easier to take backlit shots during the daytime. Never miss an instant photo opportunity with features like quick start-up, new short release time lag AF mode, which reduces the time between shots to 0.044 seconds, and nine-frame-per-second sequential shooting.

The camera’s in-body 5-Axis Image Stabilization mechanism, which works with the new IS-AUTO mode. Both automatically detect the camera’s movements and provides optimal control of correction when panning regardless of direction or camera orientation.

The included built-in Wi-Fi. Setup is simple and involves quickly scanning the QR code displayed on the camera’s LCD with your Smart device to synch it with the Wi-Fi network created by the camera. When combined with Olympus free smartphone app, Olympus Image Share 2.0*, to use the smartphone screen as viewfinder or adding GPS geo-tag to the photos.

The camera comes with “Photo Story mode”, which enables user to capture a scene from multiple viewpoints and then combine them into a single image to create unique collages inside the camera. New “Photo Story+” adds a rich variety of stamps and “Signature” for adding a handwritten or original image signature on top of the image through the Oi.Share app.

The Olympus PEN E-P5 is equipped with a bright and viewable 1.04 million dot high-definition tilt-type touch panel LCD that can be adjusted to face upwards at an 80-degree angle and downwards at a 50-degree angle. For photographers who prefer composing their shots using an eyepiece, the new optional high-definition VF-4 viewfinder, provides an impressive 1.48X magnification, a 2.36 million dot LCD, eye detect to turn it on at the right time, and intuitive functionality that enable real-time viewing of shooting conditions.

The Olympus PEN E-P5 is compatible with the whole Micro Four Thirds range on quality lenses, which now extends to newly introduced black versions of the M.ZUIKO® DIGITAL 17mm f1.8, 45mm f1.8 and 75mm f1.8 lenses.

The Olympus PEN E-P5 will be available in May 2013 for $999.99 Body only, available in Black, Silver or White. Or $1449.99 (Black or Silver body with black M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm f1.8 lens and VF-4 Electronic Viewfinder lens).

To find out more about the PEN E-P5, and for a complete list of specification, visit the Olympus website at: http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/digitalcameras/pen-omd/e-p5.html

Instagram is acquired by Facebook and since Microsoft invested in the Social Networking giant, we expect Instagram will release a version for Windows Phone shortly.

But Google publicly refused to build its apps on Microsoft platform citing lack of adoption.  Instead of waiting for Google to make them available, Microsoft is going out on a limb to reverse engineering Google most popular service: the YouTube app. Not only it does what is supposed to do along with live tile and Kid’s corner integration. Microsoft app strips the overlaid ads from Google and make available an obvious download button.

We are wondering how long until Google protests these two features, which clearly violate YouTube terms of service using its API.

[Screenshot & via ReadWrite]

The latest version on the iPhone, introduces a new feature that lets hotel guests snap photos and share from their stay including their social networks. The crowd sourced photos can be found on Info tab of a hotel’s profile tab along with photos provided by the hotel. The app prompting guests to complete a series of images of the hotel bed, bathroom, view, lobby and exterior, plus another ‘find’ of their choice. Photos can be enhanced with a number of filters.

[Via TNW]

“We felt this was our time to share our vision of the future,” says Richard Gersh, vice president of business development for Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Mass. Though the new flying car design isn’t likely to take off for another decade, “if you don’t start today, it won’t happen.”

The current “Transition” model is still scheduled for 2015 delivery for $279,000 a piece.

Acer, the Taiwanese hardware maker has been reluctant to carry the ARM-based Windows RT on its tablets but is more aggressive on the mainstream Windows-8 with the recent announcement of its hybrid Aspire R7. An 8 incher tablet that was leaked today on Amazon. The Acer Iconia W3-810-1600 features notably a smaller screen size that has become more popular among users and hopefully the diminutive size will also bring the price gap down to be more in-line with the Android and iOS counterparts.

The Acer Iconia W3-810-1600 technical specs include:

• 1280 x 800 resolution 8.1” display
• Dual Core Intel Atom X86 CPU
• 2GB SDRAM
• WiFi 802.11bgn
• USB 2.0 port
• 8-hour Lithium ion battery
• 2MP rear camera
• 1.1 lbs   L8.62” x W5.31” x H0.45”
• 32GB Flash Storage

The tablet will cost $380 when it officially goes on sale.

[Via ComputerWorld]

MONTAR just released a suction-cup based mount that brings many benefits that you might want to consider. First, the base of the compact unit is sturdy and heavy that you can use for your desk in addition to its in-car duties. I actually place my phone on the mount and let it stand next to my computer monitor without the need of using the suction cup. With the  absence of the goose neck, the phone is securely attached very close to the base to avoid vibration and at the same time allows the use of touch screen comfortably.

There only moving parts are the spring-activated cushioned grip that can support up to 5.3” devices and the swivel neck right behind the grip. The swivel neck can rotate within large range of motion that allows the base to be mounted either on the dashboard or the windshield and the device can be in both portrait and landscape as needed.

The large gel suction cap cover the entire base for better stability, the bottom rubber sticks well to several types of surface and it is washable to maintain long lasting suction capability.   

• Universal Car  Mount : Compatible with all devices up to 5.3? screen size
• U.S patented suction cup
• One hand quick install and release
• Use in off-road and extreme road conditions
• Rubber grip protects your device from scratches
• 360 free rotation
• Windshield & Dashboard
• Unique Design
• Can be used in extreme weather conditions
• All smartphone ports are available for use
• Washable suction cup

You can order the MONTAR mount at http://www.winnergear.com/car-mount for $34.99

Acer will begin selling the R7 on May 17 for $1,000. Best Buy stores nationwide will carry a special “Star Trek Into Darkness” version, which will come with a free download of the “Star Trek: The Video Game.” The laptop comes standard with a 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080-resolution screen, a Core i5 processor, 6GB of RAM, and a combo 500 GB hard drive with a 24 GB solid-state drive.

While many features that come with the new SG4 are gimmicky, they eat  a fair chunk of the 16GB internal storage, the ad agent cleverly brings out some exclusive features in their use cases, notably Drama Mode photo taking; Air gestures, S Beam, IR Remote Control etc.  The ad also shows the smell embedded in to photo feature, which is something I didn’t know it supports, do you?

Below photo describes how it works:

1. You post your photo as usual
2. Tap on the dot button at bottom right will reveal options
3. Tap on adding people to tag your friend(s)
4. At the receiver end, you will receive a notification. Tagged images are added to a “Photos of You”
5. Open your profile by tapping the bottom far right icon
6. Tap the right icon for “photos of you” section to see photos you are tagged in. Tap on the tag in the photo to bring up a dialogue box of options. From there you can choose to hide the photo from your profile, remove the tag, or report the photo in general as inappropriate.

With default option, starting May 16th, 2013, Instagram will let the public see your “Photos of me” section from the Web and from mobile app.

You can control whether the tagged photos are automatically allowed or put on hold upon your approval by going to the settings (in the “Photo of you” section) and switch from Add Automatically to Add Manually.