Wednesday 30 May 2012
Asus G74SX-91013Z 17.3 inch Notebook Review
Asus have a reputation for creating great gaming laptops, and today i want revisiting a machine that has been available for a while now … the Republic Of Gamers G74SX complete with 8GB of DDR3 memory, Nvidia 560M graphics and Intel Core i7-2360QM processor. With a 17.3 inch screen running at full HD resolution of 1080p, 1.5TB storage, BluRay drive and THX TruStudio surround sound, is this still a good buy in 2012 ?
Asus are facing some stiff competition in this sector in 2012, with a raft of Alienware machines targeting the hard core gamer. Surprisingly, the G74SX machine is actually priced very competitively in today’s market, with Amazon stocking it for £1,589.94. This is obviously still a lot of cash to spend on a laptop, but it is worth bearing in mind that some of the Alienware high end gaming machines cost well in excess of £3,000.
Upon looking at the specification list, the only concern I have is the lack of Solid State Drive. It is certainly nice having 1.5TB of storage when on the move, but I would much rather have a 128GB SSD drive for Windows Boot, and a 750GB set for storage.
I have gotten so used to a primary Solid State Drive that it always surprises me just how slow a machine can feel without one handling the OS duties. Today we will find out just how this machine copes with a variety of games running at the native resolution of the panel, as well as some synthetic and real world tests. Is this worth the money?
Specifications:
- Display: 17.3″ Full HD 16:9 Full HD 3D (1920×1080 120Hz) LED Backlight
- CPU: Intel® Core i7-2630QM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M
- Storage: 1.5TB
- Memory: 8192MB
- OS: 64bit Windows 7 Ultimate
New Facebook Integration Shows What Your Friends Are Learning
Learnist, the newly launched product, allows anyone to compile content pieces onto a board (they call it a “learning”) that may look familiar.
Unlike Pinterest, however, creators suggest a path in which to consume each content component. Users can check off each component as they go or “re-add” it to one of their own learnings.
The idea is to avoid the misinformation, hacked-together how-to articles and other useless content one must weed through in a typical Google search and instead provide a clear learning path that will eventually include some form of assessment.
Topics range from the frivolous — like how to find the best pizza in Brooklyn — to common core standards taught in classrooms.
Regardless of which of them you look at, you can now assure your Facebook friends you’re getting smarter.
Facebook News Feed: Now With Gaming!
If you thought the announcement of a brand new Facebook App Center was big news, hold on to your hats. Or hair. Or heads.
Starting now, Facebook is enabling developers to share demos of their game content right in the News Feed, giving players the opportunity to play it the same way they would a Youtube video; that is, without leaving the screen. Dubbed “feed gaming,” it will give you bite-sized tastes of games without having to jump to the app itself.
For players, the benefit is anonymity. Instead of having to sneak on a game of Angry Birds or Idle Worship at work and broadcast the info to your friends (and boss), you’re able to indulge without the commitment. On another level, those with privacy concerns will be able to sample a developer’s offerings without having to allow each one access to their user data — provided, of course, the dev. makes a demo available.
We’re not talking hours of play here. From Facebook’s
end, the program seems very much to be a courtship of creators rather
than gamers, in hopes that development for the platform — which has been
waning of late — will feel more appealing. Accordingly, there seems to
be a lot of flexibility the demo, which is being sold as a way to
onboard players with viral tactics. Encourage active players to post a
particular level to their friends’ walls as a “demo” to challenge them
to beat the score. Once they play a round or succeed? Ask them to play
the full game. Better yet, reward virtual passers-by with the promise of
premium or in-game currency for their time-killing, but make collection
conditional on booting up the full version.
Like freemium games on the App Store, it’s Facebook’s way of dialing down the commitment level, allowing players to try before they buy-in with their personal info and commit a portion of their news feed to those bothersome updates. And yet for anyone who’s been playing Facebook games for a long while, this may feel similar to the moment when theaters started airing commercials for products before commercials for movies. As many of the platform’s games are already selling themselves on the “try before you buy” ethic, this is…what? Try before you try before you buy?
All cynicism aside, however, I can see this working. I rarely respond to invites from other players (and would love to see if this campaign relates to a mass downturn there), but will gladly watch and watch rewatch a funny video in my Facebook tab. If I could pop some bubbles or toss some mudlings around with the same ease? I may just find myself playing the full game. Would you?
Starting now, Facebook is enabling developers to share demos of their game content right in the News Feed, giving players the opportunity to play it the same way they would a Youtube video; that is, without leaving the screen. Dubbed “feed gaming,” it will give you bite-sized tastes of games without having to jump to the app itself.
For players, the benefit is anonymity. Instead of having to sneak on a game of Angry Birds or Idle Worship at work and broadcast the info to your friends (and boss), you’re able to indulge without the commitment. On another level, those with privacy concerns will be able to sample a developer’s offerings without having to allow each one access to their user data — provided, of course, the dev. makes a demo available.
Like freemium games on the App Store, it’s Facebook’s way of dialing down the commitment level, allowing players to try before they buy-in with their personal info and commit a portion of their news feed to those bothersome updates. And yet for anyone who’s been playing Facebook games for a long while, this may feel similar to the moment when theaters started airing commercials for products before commercials for movies. As many of the platform’s games are already selling themselves on the “try before you buy” ethic, this is…what? Try before you try before you buy?
All cynicism aside, however, I can see this working. I rarely respond to invites from other players (and would love to see if this campaign relates to a mass downturn there), but will gladly watch and watch rewatch a funny video in my Facebook tab. If I could pop some bubbles or toss some mudlings around with the same ease? I may just find myself playing the full game. Would you?
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Facebook May Launch Smartphone by Next Year [REPORT]
Facebook may be gearing up to launch its first-ever smartphone by next year, a new report suggests.
According to The New York Times, engineers have been sought by recruiters to work on building hardware for a Facebook smartphone. This would be the social network’s third attempt to develop a smartphone, the report said, citing sources close to the matter.
The news comes as search engine giant Google completed the acquisition of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion earlier this week. This move could help Facebook counter that with its own foray into the smartphone hardware business.
It’s believed that “Buffy” may still be in development. Hiring engineers to work specifically on building Facebook phones would position the company to explore other smartphone projects, as well.
Do you think a move into the smartphone business would be smart for Facebook or would it overextend itself? Would you buy a Facebook phone?
Google and Samsung Unveil New Chromebooks
Samsung
just unveiled two new Chrome OS devices, computers that run Google’s
Chrome operating system. One, like its predecessors, is a laptop design —
a.k.a. “Chromebook” — while the other is a “Chromebox,” which is meant to be paired with a monitor.Google says the new Series 5 Chromebook run up to three times faster than the first generation of Chromebooks that Google released last year. The new devices support hardware-accelerated graphics, and the Series 5 has a “built-from-scratch” touchpad that’s said to have a much faster response time.
Chromebooks are meant to be simple, yet nimble machines focused on everyday productivity tasks like web browsing and email, with a price to match. In keeping with that philosophy, both the new laptop and Chromebox are powered by Intel’s entry-level Celeron processors, with 4GB of RAM and 16GB of solid-state storage. Google says it boots up in seven seconds and resumes “instantly.”
The Chrome OS emphasizes constant connectivity, but Google is making the Chromebooks more usable when a connection is unavailable. Google Drive is integrated with the Chromebooks’ file system, and Google says it’s going to roll out offline support for the service over the next few weeks. It also says many of the apps in the Chrome Web Store are offline-capable as well.
There’s also a revamped media player and photo editor. And Chrome Remote Desktop (in beta) lets you use your Chromebook to securely connect to your Mac or PC, simulating the desktop experience in Chrome OS.
The new Series 5 Chromebook comes in WiFi+3G and WiFi-only versions (as a non-mobile device, the Chromebox is WiFi-only). The new Chromebook’s screen is 12.1 inches, and the Chromebox can connect to up to two 30-inch external displays. Two USB ports are on the Chromebook, while the Chromebox boasts six.
The WiFi-only Series 5 Chromebook costs $450, while the WiFi+3G version is $550. The Chromebox is $330.
What do you think of Samsung’s new Chrome OS devices? Yay or Nay? Sound off in the comments.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Review - Hands On
Watch the video review
Samsung has unveiled its latest flagship smartphone, the
Samsung Galaxy S3,
More on the "Next Galaxy" -
Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC One X vs iPhone 4S
Samsung Galaxy S3 – Have Android Smartphones Become Boring?
Samsung Galaxy S3 - Design and Hardware
Samsung has literally taken something of a step backward with this handset's design, bearing as it does more resemblance to the original Samsung Galaxy S rather than the S2. In particular, the back is all curved glossy plastic rather than the squared-off chequered look of the S2 or Galaxy Nexus. The overall effect is a little underwhelming.
Where the iPhone 4S has its stark steel and glass frame, the Nokia N8 and HTC One X have their curvy matt plastic chassis and the Sony Xperia S has its intriguing clear plastic strip, the S3 looks a little bland and moreover feels a bit cheap. in white or 'pebble blue', neither finish particularly wowed us. Much as the S2 didn't really, and look how many that sold – so maybe it's just us.
In terms of practicalities, though, we can have few complaints. While clearly not a ruggedised phone, it feels well put together and will no doubt prove to stand up to the rigours of everyday life, just as the similarly plasticky S2 did. Moreover, despite being a large phone (dimensions of .6 x 70.6 x 8.6mm) it sits reasonably comfortably in the hand thanks to nicely rounded corners, and the power button is conveniently placed on the right edge, rather than the top where you might have to stretch for it. Meanwhile the volume rocker is in its usual spot on the left.
Inevitably it's a bit of a stretch to reach all the whopping 4.8in screen, but then that's the same with all these big-screened smartphones. Also, despite its slenderness, it doesn't feel too unwieldy to handle – it's easy to get a good grip.
Paying homage to its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S2, the navigation buttons consist of a central physical Home button (Apple lawsuit beware) flanked by two touch-sensitive buttons, one for Back and one for bringing up the new Android 4.0 Multi-tasking menu. They seem responsive and easy to use.
On the back sits the 8MP camera with its LED flash, and there's also a front facing video camera. Prize the battery cover off and there's a 2100mAh battery (likely good enough for a lslightly higher than average day and a half's use), SIM slot and microSD. Onboard storage varies from 16GB upwards so your storage options are plentiful. Indeed this is perhaps this phone's main trump card when compared to the HTC One X.
On the top edge is the obligatory headphone jack, meanwhile, the microUSB socket on the bottom is used for charging and data transfer and as it's MHL compatible you can also connect the phone directly to your TV for instant large screen video playback and web browsing/email/etc. All you need is an adapter which you can pick up for about £5. The phone also supports NFC.
Samsung Galaxy S3 - Screen
Some reports were suggesting the Galaxy S3 may feature a bonkers 1080p resolution display but unsurprisingly this isn't the case. Instead we have an essentially Samsung Galaxy Nexus matching 4.8in panel with an HD Ready resolution of 720 x 1,280 pixels. This gives it a pretty high pixel density of 303ppi, just a jot under the iPhone 4S's 326ppi. It looks amazing, packing in a huge amount of detail and making it great for web browsing.
There is something of a caveat, though. This is an HD Super Amoled panel, which denotes this as being a display that uses a Pentile subpixel arrangement. As such it doesn't have quite the sharpness of the best HD LCD panels. Colours also don't look quite as accurate. However, on the flipside, you don't get any backlight bleed and colours simply leap from the screen, and they look a bit more natural than some Super Amoleds we've seen. Watching video and gaming, in particular are really engaging because of this, especially given the size of the screen.
Overall it's an amazing display, though on first impression the HTC One X's screen just edges it.
Samsung Galaxy S3 - Processor / Performance
We've "known" for a little while now that the S3's processor will be Samsung's new 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos 4. We also saw a while back some benchmark results that were apparently from this phone, which suggested this is the fastest phone on the planet when it comes to graphics performance. Now that we've had a go we can confirm that it really is incredibly fast.
Subjectively, it's difficult to notice all this extra performance over and above something like the HTC One X or iPhone 4S – they're all damned fast! Where any difference may come through is in gaming but even here it's going to be subtle at best – yes, we're already at the stage where the hardware is almost too fast and software needs to catch up.
Samsung Galaxy S3 – Camera
It's a little disappointing that Samsung hasn't gone to town on the camera, adding a 12MP sensor or a fancy Xenon flash, but so far as we could tell from a quick play, the 8MP model here is right up there. Images seem well exposed, colourful and detailed while the app is very easy to use. You can point to focus, choose from a wealth of scene modes, add effects easily and there's a quick burst mode too.
One unique feature an outdoors mode which makes the screen easier to see when it bright sunshine – It just makes it all yellow so you can see what's going on.
Overall, while reserve full judgement until we can properly judge quality, on first impression we'd again have to give the nod to the One X. It certainly wins out on ease of use.
Samsung Galaxy S3 – Interface
Samsung is shipping the Galaxy S3 with Android 4.0 running on it, unlike some other manufacturers who have shipped hardware early but only running Android 2.3. Here though, we're all up to date.
This being Samsung things are customised, though, but anyone with a Galaxy S2 will find it familiar. Most of the changes are just cosmetic with icons and fonts tweaked here and there, but there are a few standout features.
The most obvious of these is S Voice. This Siri clone, is a voice activated assistant that you can call upon to turn your phone into 'a friend'. You can call up the web browser or write a message, and for these basic things it seemed to work quite well. However, it didn't seem very intelligent. Asking it to open the web browser, for instance, was met with a virtual blank face, as of course the Android web browser is called 'Internet'.
We'll be back with more thoughts soon but for the time being we'll wrap up.
Samsung Galaxy S3 - Thoughts So Far
We like the look of the Galaxy S3 from the front, with its simple design, curved corners and metal trim. However, the glossy plastic back really puts a damper on things – it just doesn't exude class or luxury. Otherwise this phone is either class leading or at least on par. The processor is stunningly fast, the screen stunningly dazzling and the microSD slot stunningly practical! It may lack a certain wow factor but for features alone this phone has been worth the wait. Just.
More on the "Next Galaxy" -
Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC One X vs iPhone 4S
Samsung Galaxy S3 – Have Android Smartphones Become Boring?
Samsung Galaxy S3 - Design and Hardware
Samsung has literally taken something of a step backward with this handset's design, bearing as it does more resemblance to the original Samsung Galaxy S rather than the S2. In particular, the back is all curved glossy plastic rather than the squared-off chequered look of the S2 or Galaxy Nexus. The overall effect is a little underwhelming.
Where the iPhone 4S has its stark steel and glass frame, the Nokia N8 and HTC One X have their curvy matt plastic chassis and the Sony Xperia S has its intriguing clear plastic strip, the S3 looks a little bland and moreover feels a bit cheap. in white or 'pebble blue', neither finish particularly wowed us. Much as the S2 didn't really, and look how many that sold – so maybe it's just us.
In terms of practicalities, though, we can have few complaints. While clearly not a ruggedised phone, it feels well put together and will no doubt prove to stand up to the rigours of everyday life, just as the similarly plasticky S2 did. Moreover, despite being a large phone (dimensions of .6 x 70.6 x 8.6mm) it sits reasonably comfortably in the hand thanks to nicely rounded corners, and the power button is conveniently placed on the right edge, rather than the top where you might have to stretch for it. Meanwhile the volume rocker is in its usual spot on the left.
Inevitably it's a bit of a stretch to reach all the whopping 4.8in screen, but then that's the same with all these big-screened smartphones. Also, despite its slenderness, it doesn't feel too unwieldy to handle – it's easy to get a good grip.
Paying homage to its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S2, the navigation buttons consist of a central physical Home button (Apple lawsuit beware) flanked by two touch-sensitive buttons, one for Back and one for bringing up the new Android 4.0 Multi-tasking menu. They seem responsive and easy to use.
On the back sits the 8MP camera with its LED flash, and there's also a front facing video camera. Prize the battery cover off and there's a 2100mAh battery (likely good enough for a lslightly higher than average day and a half's use), SIM slot and microSD. Onboard storage varies from 16GB upwards so your storage options are plentiful. Indeed this is perhaps this phone's main trump card when compared to the HTC One X.
On the top edge is the obligatory headphone jack, meanwhile, the microUSB socket on the bottom is used for charging and data transfer and as it's MHL compatible you can also connect the phone directly to your TV for instant large screen video playback and web browsing/email/etc. All you need is an adapter which you can pick up for about £5. The phone also supports NFC.
Samsung Galaxy S3 - Screen
Some reports were suggesting the Galaxy S3 may feature a bonkers 1080p resolution display but unsurprisingly this isn't the case. Instead we have an essentially Samsung Galaxy Nexus matching 4.8in panel with an HD Ready resolution of 720 x 1,280 pixels. This gives it a pretty high pixel density of 303ppi, just a jot under the iPhone 4S's 326ppi. It looks amazing, packing in a huge amount of detail and making it great for web browsing.
There is something of a caveat, though. This is an HD Super Amoled panel, which denotes this as being a display that uses a Pentile subpixel arrangement. As such it doesn't have quite the sharpness of the best HD LCD panels. Colours also don't look quite as accurate. However, on the flipside, you don't get any backlight bleed and colours simply leap from the screen, and they look a bit more natural than some Super Amoleds we've seen. Watching video and gaming, in particular are really engaging because of this, especially given the size of the screen.
Overall it's an amazing display, though on first impression the HTC One X's screen just edges it.
Samsung Galaxy S3 - Processor / Performance
We've "known" for a little while now that the S3's processor will be Samsung's new 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos 4. We also saw a while back some benchmark results that were apparently from this phone, which suggested this is the fastest phone on the planet when it comes to graphics performance. Now that we've had a go we can confirm that it really is incredibly fast.
Subjectively, it's difficult to notice all this extra performance over and above something like the HTC One X or iPhone 4S – they're all damned fast! Where any difference may come through is in gaming but even here it's going to be subtle at best – yes, we're already at the stage where the hardware is almost too fast and software needs to catch up.
Samsung Galaxy S3 – Camera
It's a little disappointing that Samsung hasn't gone to town on the camera, adding a 12MP sensor or a fancy Xenon flash, but so far as we could tell from a quick play, the 8MP model here is right up there. Images seem well exposed, colourful and detailed while the app is very easy to use. You can point to focus, choose from a wealth of scene modes, add effects easily and there's a quick burst mode too.
One unique feature an outdoors mode which makes the screen easier to see when it bright sunshine – It just makes it all yellow so you can see what's going on.
Overall, while reserve full judgement until we can properly judge quality, on first impression we'd again have to give the nod to the One X. It certainly wins out on ease of use.
Samsung Galaxy S3 – Interface
Samsung is shipping the Galaxy S3 with Android 4.0 running on it, unlike some other manufacturers who have shipped hardware early but only running Android 2.3. Here though, we're all up to date.
This being Samsung things are customised, though, but anyone with a Galaxy S2 will find it familiar. Most of the changes are just cosmetic with icons and fonts tweaked here and there, but there are a few standout features.
The most obvious of these is S Voice. This Siri clone, is a voice activated assistant that you can call upon to turn your phone into 'a friend'. You can call up the web browser or write a message, and for these basic things it seemed to work quite well. However, it didn't seem very intelligent. Asking it to open the web browser, for instance, was met with a virtual blank face, as of course the Android web browser is called 'Internet'.
We'll be back with more thoughts soon but for the time being we'll wrap up.
Samsung Galaxy S3 - Thoughts So Far
We like the look of the Galaxy S3 from the front, with its simple design, curved corners and metal trim. However, the glossy plastic back really puts a damper on things – it just doesn't exude class or luxury. Otherwise this phone is either class leading or at least on par. The processor is stunningly fast, the screen stunningly dazzling and the microSD slot stunningly practical! It may lack a certain wow factor but for features alone this phone has been worth the wait. Just.
The Beginner’s Guide to Instagram
Even if you don’t use Instagram, we’re guessing you’ve encountered an Instagram image somewhere on the web — even if you didn’t realize it.
Instagram’s calling card is the photo filter, a digital layer that, when added to a standard photo, gives it the appearance of professional editing. Some filters enhance the colors in a photo, while other dull the light to a soft glow for an aged, vintage appearance.
But while Instagram’s filters revolutionized mobile photo editing, they’re only a portion of the appeal. The mobile app boasts over 50 million users, despite only living in iOS and Android devices. Instagram launched on Android just this year — it quickly earned 5 million downloads in six days.
Its success caught the eye of the most valuable social network in the world. Facebook acquired Instagram in April for $1 billion. Although we’ve only just begun to witness Facebook’s plans for the photo sharing app, the social giant recently launched its own filter-friendly photo app, dubbed Facebook Camera.
Instagram has surely come a long way, business-wise, since co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger introduced the app in 2010. But on the whole, the app has remained simple, straightforward and social since its inception.
We’re here to share the Instagram basics, whether you’re new to the network or need some additional tips. Better hurry, though — Instagram has undergone such changes in the past few months, who knows what else is in store.
We’d love to learn about your Instagram experiences. How do you use the app? Can you share any helpful advice or anecdotes for new users? Any predictions for the future of Instagram? Please share in the comments below.
1. Register / Setup
Instagram has always been an almost exclusively mobile platform. Therefore, you must download the iPhone or Android app to your device in order to register an Instagram account.
Instagram accounts are public by default, but you may elect to create a private account. In that case, only users who you approve may follow you and view your photos. Head to your profile tab and scroll down to “Privacy.” There, you may select to make photos private.
Once registered, change your profile picture and edit your profile information, which includes a brief 150-character bio and a website. You may also edit profile information here.
2. Notifications
Since
Instagram doesn’t have a web-hosted feed of photos, you’ll be doing
most of your browsing on mobile. For that reason, you may choose to
enrich your mobile experience by setting up push notifications. Depending on your level of comfort, enable the following push notifications:
- When a user likes or comments on one of your photos.
- When a user @mentions you in a comment.
- When your photo is posted to the Popular page.
Android Instagram users must change notification settings from the app itself. Head to Settings > Edit Profile > Push Notifications.
If you choose not to enable external notifications, Instagram will still keep you apprised of your account activity in-app. New user and comment notifications appear in the News section of the app (see above-left), which you can access via the navigation panel — the icon looks like a speech bubble with a heart in it.
3. Connect to Social
Again, because Instagram is a relatively isolated social app that lives inherently on mobile, it’s important to connect social accounts to get the most out of the experience. You may choose to link Instagram to your Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Tumblr, Flickr, Mixi and Weibo accounts (the last two apply only to iPhone users in Japan and China, respectively).
To connect social accounts, head to the Profile Tab > Edit Sharing Settings, then choose the network you wish to connect.
Each time you upload a photo to Instagram, you’ll have the option to share to each of the social networks you’ve enabled, or to none. If you choose to share to no social networks, the photo will post only to Instagram, viewable only by those users who follow you on the app. (More on social sharing later.)
Here are some examples of how Instagram has affected, and in some cases, revolutionized social media:
4. Add a Photo
The bread and butter of Instagram is, obviously, sharing photos. Before you explore much else, I suggest you test it out.
Click the blue camera button in the center of your Instagram navigation panel. By default, Instagram activates your device’s camera, so you may either choose to snap a picture then and there, or choose a picture already saved to your phone. If you choose the latter, click the double-square button on the lower-left of the screen.
If you choose a photo from your camera roll, keep in mind that Instagram sizes photos to perfect squares. Therefore, if you select a photo that was originally taken horizontally (landscape), you’ll have to crop some portions of the image — either that, or live with the default black border.
5. Filters / Borders
Once
you’ve either taken or selected a photo, a set of tree icons appears
beneath the image. These are the 17 famous Instagram filters which add
different pre-determined layers to your photos, and give the effect that
you’ve altered or professionally edited them. Many filters add
“vintage” effects, which have certainly pleased many a hipster. Scroll through the filters and experiment with the best one for that particular image. You’ll soon find that certain filters work well with specific types of photos, whether outdoor panoramas, personal portraits, odd perspectives, intense colors, etc.
Each filter also has its own associated border. For instance, the Earlybird filter adds rounded edges to your photo, and Kelvin adds a rough, sandpapery frame. You may, however, choose to forego borders altogether by tapping the square “frame” on the upper-left of the edit screen.
Check out these photos, which all take full advantage of Instagram filters:
6. Tilt-Shift
Another
celebrated editing option on Instagram, tilt-shift allows you to
selectively focus certain planes of the photo, almost as if you were
using a special DSLR lens. Tilt-shift gives the appearance of an altered
depth of field, which can make smartphone snaps look stunning when used
wisely.Experiment with the tilt-shift feature by tapping the button above the photo that looks like a water droplet. From there, choose either the horizontal bar or the circle. The bar adds a thin field of focus across your image, which you may tap and move up and down, or two-finger tap and swivel to rotate. Or move the circle tilt-shift across your photo for a more focused effect.
You’ll find that tilt-shift elevates many photos to a professional (and sometimes artistic) standard. But other times, tilt-shift can seem out of place. Use your best judgment and artistic know-how to determine the effect you’re looking for.
Here’s why Android users got excited:
7. Other Options
Before saving your photo, test a few other edit options. Tap the sun icon on the lower-left of the edit screen to apply the Lux effect — essentially, an auto-enhance button that enriches the colors in your image.
Additionally, the curved arrow to the right of the frame option rotates your image, and the next camera icon flips your camera front-facing so you can take a picture of yourself.
8. Share
Once your photo is ready to go, click the green checkmark. This brings you to the social sharing screen.
If you wish, add a caption explaining what you’ve photographed, an anecdote, or really anything your social networks would enjoy. Feel free to add category hashtags and @mention people, especially if you plan to share via Twitter. The caption will be the text of the tweet, and the app will file hashtags and @mentions accordingly.
If you’ve enabled location services, you even have the option to tag where you took the photo.
Then, depending on what networks you’ve linked to Instagram, toggle the accounts to share across those platforms.
The
way your photo appears when posted depends on the style of the social
network to which you post. For instance, if you share to Twitter (see
left), Instagram tweets a link to your photo, along with the text you
choose as the caption. Instagram photos appear natively on Twitter.com,
which means you don’t even have to click the link to view someone’s
photo — you may simply expand the tweet to view directly. When sharing
to Facebook, your Instagram photo will appear in the news feed with the
attached caption. You may also choose to retroactively share the Instagram photos you’ve already posted. Head to your profile, then select a photo. To share, click the icon on the lower-right of the screen — it has three dots. Choose the “Share post” option and select one of your networks. Or choose “copy URL” to share manually.
At this time, you may only share another user’s photo if A) you use iOS 5.0, and B) you tweet the photo. Android users do not have this feature. Follow the steps to enable this capability here.
Browse some great Instagram photos here:
9. Follow Users
Now
you’re ready to find users to follow. Chances are many of your social
media friends are already using Instagram, and on top of that, a bunch
of celebrities are, too. Head to your profile tab and select “Find Friends.” You may search for friends who have connected their Facebook and Twitter accounts to Instagram, or you may input your phone’s contact list to generate further connections. Or search by name, username or tag (e.g. “#skydiving”).
Finally, Instagram does a great job curating suggested users and trending photos. Head to the Popular page (see right), denoted by the star on your navigation panel, and peruse photos that strike your fancy.
Once you’ve followed some users, you’ll begin to see their photos appear in your news feed, accessed by tapping the icon that looks like a house on the left side of the navigation panel. Alongside user photos, you’ll see people who have liked or commented on the photo. Add your own two cents!
Learn more about interesting Instagramers to follow here:
10. Getting Around the Web Barrier
As you’ve probably surmised by now, Instagram’s web presence is quite prohibitive. It relies on social integration for navigation, sharing and discovery, however clunky the process may be.
In its Help Center, Instagram admits, “While we’re still developing our web presence at instagram.com, we encourage you to check out third-party sites that have been created using the official Instagram API.”
It highlights sites like Webstagram, Flipboard and Prinstagram for viewing photos on the web and printing photos off the web, among others.
Many users wish they could access their Instagram news feeds on the web, similar to Facebook. It stands that we’ll likely see a bit more web integration now that Facebook owns Instagram, but for now, Facebook’s focus is primarily mobile. Instagram may have to wait. Until then, enjoy the app and get filtering!
Truth Of Love
Lelaki yang KACAK adalah lelaki yang menghormati wanita sama seperti dia menghormati ibunya.
Sayang tidak boleh di paksa. Sayang datang tanpa perlu bermohon dan sayang akan ghaib walau sehebat mana seruan anda.
Aku berikan yang terbaik untuk dia yang bukan milikku dan aku mulai belajar memahami dia untuk tetap tersenyum bersamanya.
Cinta dan kasih sayang adalah jiwa yang tak dapat di pisahkan. Cinta yang datang dari ketulusan hati kan menjadi sejati. Cinta bukanlah apa yang kamu lihat tapi apa yang kau rasakan
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