Samsung’s Latest Phones Leverage AI to Improve Utility

Last week Samsung presented their latest Galaxy line of products with a heavy focus on Galaxy AI. Integrated throughout the phone features, it’s clear their focus is on improving everyday apps over adding entertaining gimmicks. Circling a product in a photo to initiate a search for it, live speech translation during a mixed language phone call and filling in parts of a photo left blank while editing are just a few things Galaxy AI is reported to do with underlying power from Google’s Android operating system. Ian Carlos Campbell digs in over at Inverse. And keep scrolling from there for Ray Wong’s hands-on review.

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New Year, New Behaviors with the iPhone 15 Pro Action Button

Billy Sorrentino talks about the design process behind this new button and we round-up apps to use with it

Josh Rubin

8 January 2024

At this point easing into the new year we’re reconciling resolutions with realities. Changing behavior sounds easy in concept but in reality it can be quite a challenge. Apple‘s new iPhone Action Button, introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro models, asks us to change the familiar behavior of flipping the ring/silent switch and provides a simple approach to using apps to help follow through with 2024 resolutions.

“As a design team we really go deep into the integration of hardware and software, creating a visual relationship between them so users don’t feel a difference,” shares eight year veteran of Apple’s Design Team, Billy Sorrentino, while talking about the Action Button and the settings interface to control it. That interface is a significant departure from the lists and toggles used to personalize other aspects of the iPhone. Its animated full-screen visuals offer a rich and informative explanation of the button’s potential functions and how to use them. “When hardware becomes software it becomes a kind of entirely new type of design language,” Sorrentino explains. “And Dynamic Island is a prominent recent visible representation of this but as a team we’ve been fascinated with this for a while and kind of go in really deep on it.“ The mention of Dynamic Island is especially relevant because it’s where visual confirmation of Action Button usage is reflected.

Rich integrations of hardware and software are not unique to Apple—and yet they do it so well because of the collaborative nature of their creative process, where digital and physical design seemingly carry equal weight in the studio. “Where we pride ourselves is being a team that’s built on a bunch of different disciplines all sitting together—UI designers next to industrial designers next to type designers, 3D designers and spatial designers. So as we approach problems, we really make sure that we’re bringing in the best of the whole studio to solve them,” he says.

The Action Button can be set to nine different options and given that one of them lets you choose a Shortcut, there really are endless possibilities given the Shortcut app’s extensive support for scripting a wide range of app and iOS interactions. You can start a meditation timer, log a glass of water, start a yoga workout, set a reminder to stand up and move around, create a new journal entry or pretty much any other function to help follow through with that New Year’s resolution.

While we have go-to apps that are long time favorites, we’re also always testing new ones. Here are a few we think are worth checking out to help with behavioral change.

Learn on the go by chatting with ChatGPT’s voice interface

Start a yoga class with Asana Rebel

Open a meditation soundtrack from Endel

Dictate a draft of anything for Audio Writer to transcribe and edit

Capture a moment in words and pictures using Apple’s Journal app

Start a Golden Hour countdown timer with Lumy

Open your next Duolingo language lesson

Develop new habits by logging activities with Tangerine

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Apple’s Next Generation CarPlay Shown with Aston Martin and Porsche

Deep integration between iPhone and vehicle offers holistic user experience customized for each brand

Josh Rubin

20 December 2023

The next generation of Apple‘s CarPlay is a leap forward in the integration of the iPhone with your car, offering seamless integration with the vehicle’s multiple displays and providing a holistic and intuitive user interface that’s unique to each car brand. This evolved version of CarPlay extends beyond the central infotainment system to include the driver’s information cluster and all other screens in the car, providing all vehicle information and interaction through a singular interface paradigm that also supports the user’s ability to select widgets to appear in predetermined areas on the screen—much like customizing the iPhone lock screen today. This version of CarPlay appears the moment the car is turned on and combines locally rendered content with features powered by the iPhone’s wireless connection to the car. Today Apple announced the first two partners on board to integrate this new generation, Aston Martin and Porsche, and showed us preliminary screens.

In the development of the next generation of CarPlay, car makers and Apple are forging an even closer partnership, focusing on crafting a unified yet distinct interface tailored to each vehicle. This collaboration is crucial in ensuring that the new CarPlay not only upholds the unique brand qualities and characteristics of each automaker but also allows for the creation of custom gauge clusters, layouts and widgets that resonate with their specific brand identity and ethos. Alan Dye, Apple’s Vice President of Human Interface Design, encapsulates this vision: “With the next generation of CarPlay, we partnered with automakers to design an entirely new, unified experience that enables the very best of Apple and each particular automaker. It is a blend of a user’s personal experience of iPhone paired with a celebration of the strong brand identity of each automaker. The next generation of CarPlay also introduces a driving experience that leverages the advanced capabilities of the car along with the power of iPhone. We’ve designed a complete system of controls that allows for seamless interactions between vehicle functions alongside the features of iPhone. We can’t wait for users to experience it in the future.”

The design system introduced by Apple provides a range of options in terms of shapes, organizational structures and information presentation, enabling automakers to create displays that are both on-brand and informative. This next-gen CarPlay enables the incorporation of vehicle-specific information and features, including speed, RPMs or energy use, fuel or charge levels, temperature and odometer readings and more, into the interface.

Only Nike and Hermès have had the the opportunity to bring elements of their brands into native Apple experiences as we’ve seen on Apple Watch. Opening up the CarPlay interface design to auto manufacturer partners is a big leap, but they’ve provided a thorough toolkit for user interface customization and shared that they are working closely with their brand partners to ensure thoughtful, thorough and usable co-designs.

Aston Martin has meticulously customized CarPlay to complement its brand ethos and driving experience. They have opted for a minimalist dual gauge layout that highlights their driver-centric cockpit using precise tick marks on the gauges, paying homage to the brand’s analog history. The text “Handbuilt in Great Britain” hugs the tachometer and the interface is accented with British racing green as a reminder of their heritage. The next generation of CarPlay is expected to be integrated into the Aston Martin lineup in 2024. We do not yet know if it will be available as an update in any existing models or if it’s limited to new cars.

Marco Mattiacci, Global Chief Brand and Commercial Officer shared, “At Aston Martin we strive for excellence and performance and this was the key reason we chose to partner with Apple on the next generation of CarPlay. The integration of the latest state-of-the-art technology combined with a bespoke intuitive interface is paramount to creating the ultimate Aston Martin customer experience. We look forward to sharing more as we work together with Apple to bring the next generation of CarPlay to Aston Martins in 2024.”

Utilizing the CarPlay design system provided by Apple, Porsche has adapted its interface to feature a distinctive three-dial layout, including a central power meter and a left-positioned speedometer, paying tribute to Porsche’s rich motorsports history. The customization extends to the use of circular graphics, inspired by the gauge borders in earlier Porsche vehicles. The circular drive mode indicator in the UI is specifically designed to match the driver mode knob, ensuring that the interface is both intuitive and functional. While we didn’t get to see screens of the different modes, it seems apparent that the colors, graphics and layouts for each drive mode can be designed to convey the emotion of that setting as they are in many auto manufacturer’s interfaces today.

Michael Mauer, Porsche’s Vice President of Style commented, “We have long been committed to providing Porsche owners with the brand and sporty driving experience synonymous with the Porsche. In addition to the sports car itself, digital offerings that are perfectly tailored to our customers are becoming increasingly important to the overall driving experience. We recently brought the My Porsche app to CarPlay to provide drivers with even easier access to car functionality, and in the future we will be adding support for the next generation of CarPlay to Porsche models. We look forward to delivering an experience that adds the personal touch of a driver’s iPhone to the exclusivity of a Porsche.”

The next generation of Apple’s CarPlay marks a significant advancement in automotive technology, showcasing a seamless and intuitive integration with vehicles. This evolution is not just an upgrade in functionality; it’s a fusion of Apple’s cutting-edge technology with the unique identities of esteemed automakers like Aston Martin and Porsche. Through meticulous customization and design, these brands have infused their vehicles with an interface echoing their heritage and ethos, while Apple’s comprehensive toolkit ensures a user-friendly and cohesive experience. Apple continues to work with a broad range of automakers to bring the next generation of CarPlay to iPhone users and this collaborative endeavor between Apple and automakers is a leap forward in creating a more connected, personalized and immersive driving experience. The introduction of this technology into the Aston Martin lineup in 2024 and its anticipated integration into Porsche models highlight a future where the distinction between digital and automotive luxury is beautifully blurred, offering drivers an unmatched experience that blends the best of technology with the spirit of driving.

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Recording Spatial Video and Viewing it in Apple Vision Pro

During our third demo with the headset the nuances of spatial video come to life

Josh Rubin

14 December 2023

In iOS 17.2, Apple enabled Spatial Video recording on iPhone models 15 Pro and Pro Max. These iPhones capture spatial content using the phone’s main and ultrawide cameras simultaneously, and the format utilizes the stereoscopic difference between the two camera positions and focal lengths to render three dimensional video when viewed using the Apple Vision Pro headset. My first Spatial Video demo got me thinking about use cases, and I’ve been recording a range of content to try out. Yesterday I had the opportunity to see my videos come to life on a Vision Pro headset.

Recording Spatial Video on an iPhone requires a bit of imagination—what you see on-screen is the same flat, familiar preview you see in the regular video recording mode. I was curious to experiment with light, reflection, distance from the subject and movement in my recordings and had both correct and incorrect guesses about how they’d feel in the Vision Pro. Here are my initial findings and impressions.

Available Light

On a few occasions while recording the iPhone warned “More light recommended.”  I was pleasantly surprised when viewing that content in the headset: the movies still had plenty of depth and the image quality remained crisp and not grainy. One clip, certainly a moment from the future, was from a night drive in an autonomous Waymo on the streets of San Francisco. In another clip there was a strong, focused spotlight on peonies sitting on a table in a dark bar. This contrast made for a nice dramatic moment and even the objects in the shadowy background had depth.

Distance from subject

Keeping the subject between two and eight feet from the camera resulted in plenty of depth between foreground and background. The best scenes had multiple focal points within that two to eight feet range, and gave the most significant and satisfying sense of immersion. A slow walk through Ugo Rondinone’s stained glass clocks at Art Basel Miami Beach last week played back just like my experience in the original visit.

Movement

Movement is where it gets a little more complicated. Knowing the viewer will be static and the content immersive, it’s best to avoid creating too much difference between what the viewer is seeing and what they’re feeling because it can feel disorienting and create nausea. Shots with the camera stationary (such as on a tripod) are ideal, but camera movement is often necessary or desired to make a satisfying story. I found that recording linear and gently curved movements, especially in open spaces, created videos that were easy to view. By contrast, sharp turns in close quarters created more jarring videos. Given that a stationary camera is ideal, we found that optimizing for movement of the subject is even more important for dynamic, engaging experiences. In multiple videos with Rory, our jovial canine mascot, his presence was felt as he ran, played and chomped on his toys.

Sound

The audio captured in my video recordings completed the spatial experience on the Vision Pro, and I had an incredibly accurate sense of where the sounds were coming from. Closer sounds were especially satisfying—Rory’s chomping on a chew toy had ASMR-level satisfaction.

I also had a chance to look at some static images I captured with a DSLR and my iPhone, non-spatial (2D) videos, and panoramas. Similar to my experience at the previous demo I was keen to expand the image viewer as large as possible and placed it on the wall across the room. I immediately noticed how delightfully exacting the color rendering of photos was in Vision Pro compared to the iPhone 15 Pro Max screen—the gentle sunset pinks behind thick rain clouds over a dark ocean looked the same to me as they do on the iPhone’s HDR Retina screen.

Looking at panoramas in immersive view was also a treat, and surprisingly it wasn’t the distant landscape shots that were the most impressive: the panoramas from tighter, closer spaces—like at the Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt or JR’s epic collage, “The Chronicles of Miami,” rendered so perfectly in the headset that they almost felt 3D, despite looking distorted here in their flat view.

Apple has not yet announced a release date for Vision Pro beyond “early next year” and after this third demo of it that timeline feels promising. Every nuance of the experience has tightened and improved with each subsequent demo and we’re eagerly awaiting its release. Simply viewing photos and videos in the headset is already a luxury of focused attention combined with incredible color and resolution quality, and the prospect of creating content for this new spatial world is intriguing.

Yes it is a “post-apocalyptic bulletproof stainless steel squared off cockroach with sharp edges that will slice your finger open anytime you go near it,“ as Jason Cammisa describes. And it’s also even more radical than its exterior design. The Cybertruck’s engineering innovations are wildly impressive and Cammisa takes us through them in his usual thorough-yet-cheeky style for Hagerty’s ICONS series.

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Testing the Marantz STEREO 70s Two Channel Receiver

An excellent, affordable amplifier that’s far friendlier for non-audiophiles while still cranking out the brand’s powerful, warm signature sound

Michael Frank

30 November 2023

The STEREO 70s integrated receiver/amplifier isn’t celebrating the 1970s. Instead it’s a commemoration of 70 years of making amplifiers; in 1953, Saul Marantz founded the company in New York City. The Marantz brand is, today, quite different; the company’s wares are largely Japanese, manufactured in its Shirakawa facility that’s been there for the past 22 years. That transition from NYC to Japan happened over decades, thanks to devoted audiophiles in that country and manufacturing capacity that was growing in the 1960s and ’70s, while it was shrinking in the US.

You should care about the STEREO 70s because it’s affordable for an item from a brand with a fairly legendary audiophile pedigree, and it’s dead-simple and un-intimidating to use. “Unfortunately,” Gary Dayton, Senior Product Planner at Marantz says about the reputation of better audio components, “there’s been an impermeable intimidation wall regardless of whether you can afford better audio products. Consumers have just been taught it’s a pain in the ass.” 

In response to that perception, Marantz designed the STEREO 70s with paper instructions that were simple to follow. Unbox the unit and it tells you what to plug in where. As soon as you’ve strung an HDMI cord from your TV to the clearly labeled HDMI port you’re able to follow on-screen instructions, and getting the unit to work with a pair of speakers (or a soundbar), turntable and/or CD player is all super-simple. In fact it’s almost breathtakingly antithetical to the rest of the electronics world. Once setup was complete, it was also simple to add the Marantz to a home network and then enable AirPlay (so you can send whatever’s playing on your phone to the receiver). Further, if you use a higher bitrate streaming service, such as Roon (which we like, because it enables control of our own library as well as higher-fidelity streaming) the Marantz will auto-populate it as an output. 

Plus, an app called HEOS (for Android and iPhone) is integrated with the STEREO 70s. It lets you communicate with the receiver from your phone and stream from sources like Spotify, Tidal, SiriusXM, SoundCloud and about 10 more services, as well as from tracks natively stored on your phone. Your phone becomes your remote, too, since you can choose from all the amp’s wired sources like phono or CD, as well as video sources, such as an Apple TV. The included remote is far less necessary with HEOS. 

Dayton explains two decisions about this one-stop app solution. “First, we’re not making judgment calls for customers,” where, without naming names, other more hidebound brands might want to curate what you can stream. “I download a lot of stuff from Bandcamp or just self-published or otherwise under-available on streaming services sources. I can play that just as easily through my Marantz equipment as I can a Spotify playlist that my daughter sends me.” 

As for making playback easier, that was critical to Marantz’s thinking, especially for video integration. “Historically there has been a pretty high degree of inconvenience; you couldn’t just turn on the TV and have it automatically switch to your amplifier. Now it automatically switches.” This is regardless of whether you were just playing music through a streaming service or the amplifier was off. Likewise, switch off your TV and the whole system powers down. “This restores the expectation of convenience that we’ve had with sound bars or with the TV without sacrificing any sound quality.” 

Not that any of that would matter if the sound was garbled—but just the opposite is true. During testing, whether listening to Joe Cocker’s amazing 1970 live cover of “The Letter,” a lossless recording on Apple Music, or Hank Mobley’s version of “Dance of the Infidels” on a Blue Note LP we picked up on vinyl in Tokyo, the sound staging and reproduction were superb. Dayton attributes the clarity and warmth to a bit of in-house technical wizardry, noting that over time Marantz, like most other larger-scale producers, switched from “analog” amplification to chip-based circuitry—but that introduced its own headaches. 

“Ideally amplifiers would just use a power supply to make a facsimile of the incoming audio signal but bigger, right?” Dayton asks rhetorically. “Unfortunately with chip-based amplifiers there are problems. One, they’re usually unable to respond to voltage changes very quickly, and that introduces distortion.” There are other issues, but Dayton explains this led to Marantz’s decision to build their own custom Hyper Dynamic Amplifier Modules (HDAMs). These are custom tuned by Marantz engineers, are comprised of individual resistors, capacitors, and inductors, and allow Marantz to continue with its signature “warmer” sound, without losing accuracy. 

“People think that there are competing objectives; that you can’t have crispness without a kind of cooler temperature. But it’s not true. We want you to hear that inherent warm character in recorded music without overdoing it so it’s dripping with syrup, which is not fun.”

The final piece of the puzzle is simple design. Going all the way back to 1960, when Marantz came out with the Model 9 amplifier, a chunky block of metal that collectors still chase, the company has used a signature, center “porthole” on the face of their amps that’s like a cyclops eye. Dayton says that on the STEREO 70s, as with past units, it’s meant to convey information simply (such as showing you that you’re streaming over AirPlay), rather than to introduce distraction with dancing lights. This is especially true if you want to use the unit with a minimal soundbar in front of a TV, where moving meters would be a visual bother. This is also why the unit is slim—only 4.1 inches tall—so it can fit into your life rather than dominate a bookshelf.

There are some subtle but lovely design elements to the piece, however. Smoothly surfaced dials for treble and bass, as well volume, balance, speakers and input source grace the facade face plate, while that sits against a slightly concave, Fibonacci patterned, dimpled metallic surface. “That’s meant to suggest some order in our universe,” Dayton explains. “Think of concentric circles formed from rain on a pond.” But, he adds, the idea is meant more to convey timelessly classic minimalism. “At its fundamental level this is not a scientific instrument. It’s there to help communicate art.” 

The Marantz STEREO 70s is $1000 direct from the brand or at select retailers.

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Interview: Kenichi Soejima, Nikon Z f Camera Designer

Digging into the balance of timeless design and technical innovation

Josh Rubin

27 November 2023

The Nikon Z f full-frame mirrorless camera has a vintage looking exterior with the brand’s latest technology powering its performance. Old-meets-new hybrids aren’t core to Nikon‘s product line, but there have been others in the past, including the Df which 10 years later is still a favorite DSLR. As a lifelong Nikon shooter and fan of a timeless look it’s exciting that Nikon occasionally releases this kind of product. Curious about the blend of design and technology and how the Z f fits into Nikon’s product roster we spoke with Kenichi Soejima, the designer responsible for this model and he offered insight into balancing Nikon’s heritage with innovation.

Whether old, new or a hybrid like the Z f, Nikon’s cameras have always been distinctively Nikon. Discussing their design through lines Soejima began by explaining Nikon’s focus on usability, ergonomics and emotional value. “Cameras are a means of expression for the user and artist, so we find usability and ergonomics very important,” he said. Regarding exterior styling, Soejima emphasized the importance of the light path from subject to lens to viewfinder. “Since the camera is a tool for taking photos we believe in the importance of considering the optical axis in the design,” he noted. This direction comes to life in the lines on the pentaprism design.

For the Z f, Nikon drew inspiration specifically from the FM2 film camera that was introduced in 1982 and manufactured for nearly 20 years. As Soejima explained, “We analyzed the FM2 and why it had been utilized by such a wide range of users from beginners to professionals, and incorporated the insights we found into the concept for our heritage line.” The Z f aims to “highlight the unchanging value of cameras” exemplified by the FM2.

The Z f isn’t for just one kind of photographer. It’s for “those that are stepping up for the first time to a full-frame camera in pursuit of their unique self-expression, as well as a more high-level hobbyist that enjoys the process of shooting slow, and looking into the process of shooting is part of the fun,” Soejima shared. And given its full-frame sensor and EXPEED 7 processor that powers advanced auto-focusing features Nikon’s “hope is that users will feel a sense of fondness for the camera and want to keep it for a very long time.”

Merging retro styling with cutting-edge technology did present challenges. Soejima admitted “it was difficult, but we made it happen.” The key, he said, was understanding “the spirit of the FM2,” which provided answers in balancing nostalgia and innovation. Soejima’s favorite aspect of the Z f’s design isn’t so much the form as “the sense of fondness it instills.” He took great care in balancing each detail to achieve “the atmosphere of a product from the FM2 era.” For Nikon, the Z f is an important link between its past and future, reflecting the company’s dedication to both imaging innovation and photographic heritage.

The Z f does indeed instill a sense of fondness—it’s distinct, approachable and nostalgic without compromising performance. Though we prefer to shoot fully manual, it’s incredibly reliable in fully automatic modes. Among our favorite design elements is the ability to close the tilt and swivel rear LCD screen to have a more film-like shooting experience.

The Nikon Z f retails for $1,999.95 for the body only or $2,239.95 for a kit that includes a similarly styled 40mm f/2 lens. For a full technical rundown check out DP Review.

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iPhone 15 Pro Owners Can Now Record Spatial Video for Apple Vision Pro

Today’s iOS beta release adds the new video recording feature and we got hands-on

Josh Rubin

10 November 2023

With the announcement of Vision Pro Apple also introduced Spatial Video, their format for immersive 3D video. And when the iPhone 15 Pro was unveiled Apple shared that in a future version of iOS the devices would be able to capture Spatial Video for playback in Vision Pro. Today, with the latest iOS beta release, owners of the latest Pro phones can start capturing content to be viewed in Vision Pro once it’s available early next year. I had a chance this week to demo capturing Spatial Video and playing it back in Vision Pro alongside a deeper dive into how headset users will be able to interact with and immerse in photos and videos. My second experience using Vision Pro left me just as excited as my first, if not more-so.

Once turned on in iOS settings, capturing Spatial Video is quite simple. There’s a toggle in the Camera app’s video mode to record in spatial which enables simultaneous recording from the main and ultra-wide cameras. When the two feeds are compared and combined depth is revealed but will only work when viewed in Vision Pro because of the headset’s use of separate screens for each eye. Just like other 3D film formats, the depth is perceived in our brains while looking at slightly offset images in each eye. When viewing a video recorded in Spatial mode on the iPhone depth is not perceivable and it looks and feels just like any other video.

Recording Spatial Video only works when the phone is in landscape orientation. This is because the two cameras in use need to be side-by-side to capture stereoscopically. Also though, landscape viewing is more immersive than portrait and thus better for headset use. Once holding the phone horizontally and enabling Spatial mode recording is the same familiar process as always. It’s advised to keep the device level and avoid quick or jerky movements which makes sense given how unnerving it can be in any headset to sit still and have a world rendered in front of you that’s moving wildly. I had the opportunity to film a sushi chef at work and tested a bit of vertical panning and moving in and out of different elements of the scene to better understand filming for depth and how movement might feel once played back in the headset.

After the filming I put on a Vision Pro, did a quick eye-tracking calibration and then navigated to the Photos app. By this point it was already clear that visionOS has evolved significantly since my first demo in June. It’s even faster, smoother and more responsive. Once in the Photos app I learned some new look, pinch and stretch gestures and zoomed into incredibly high resolution images I’d placed onto the wall in the room where I was sitting. As someone who’s easily distracted and visually sensitive, the ability to look at images without distraction is a gift. I then watched a selection of Apple-produced content as well as my own test recording in Vision Pro and the experience was delightful. Compared to the 3D formats used in cinemas today and other VR headsets, the quality and clarity here was far superior—likely because of the impressively bright, fast and high resolution screens in Vision Pro. One video was following two people as they hiked along a grassy trail and though the camera was moving sitting still and watching didn’t create any motion sickness. Neither did my short film of the sushi chef. To be fair, both clips were short.

Apple still has not announced a release date for Vision Pro and simply says early next year. I can’t wait to test it in the wild.

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Polaroid I-2, A High-end Instant Camera

With fully manual controls and their sharpest lens ever, this new camera is an analog delight

Josh Rubin

7 September 2023

Promising to marry the essence of analog photography with today’s leading imaging technology, the new Polaroid I-2 is an ambitious new instant camera. An impeccable lens touted as the sharpest in Polaroid’s history is paired with LiDar sensors to deliver the best focus quality. A suite of exposure options—aperture priority, shutter priority, fully manual and more enable more creative control than we’ve seen in recent instant cameras. The camera design is distinctly Polaroid, yet clearly future-forward. We’ve spent some time testing it and have been impressed with the creative potential this new camera offers.

Over four years of meticulous designing by Polaroid’s expanded engineering team, the I-2 has been birthed as a feat of photographic technology. Built with a three-lens autofocus system, the camera introduces an advanced aperture that crafts an enchanting depth of field in photos. The revolutionary partnership with Japanese optical engineers has added further brilliance to the lens, making the I-2 an epitome of world-class analog products.

A standout feature, the camera’s LiDAR sensor ensures that focusing is no longer a game of guesswork. With precision in detecting the distance to the subject, and auto-adjusting the lens, the I-2 confidently promises sharp images in various light conditions.

For the first time, a Polaroid camera has empowered photographers with manual controls, six distinctive shooting modes and a rich composition experience through its broad, radiant viewfinder. Diversifying its film compatibility, the I-2 pairs with i-Type, 600, and SX-70 film, while also allowing photographers to explore effects through its built-in 49mm filter thread mount.

Mirroring iconic Polaroid designs from the past, the I-2, however, is a blend of form and functionality, primarily built around the lens and manual controls. The camera’s exterior is modern yet undeniably Polaroid. And the user experience is intuitive, ensuring the technical superiority of the I-2 is not just accessible but also engaging.

The Polaroid I-2 retails for $600 and is available for purchase today directly from Polaroid.

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Cinemin Turns Photos and Videos into Clever Illustrations and Animations

The newest app from Tinrocket offers lots of control for quick and fun creations

Josh Rubin

29 August 2023

Cinemin is a new app that allows you to capture or import photos and videos and apply real-time effects that transform them into line, color and motion animations. Presets are available for quick color and style adjustments and fine tuning tools afford endless tinkering. All the of the app’s functionality is free; a paid upgrade is required for high resolution exports.

Cinemin is developed by Tinrocket, an indie studio founded by John Balestrieri, who has made award-winning apps like Waterlogue and Olli. Cinemin is inspired by traditional animation art and films, and it aims to open a mirror world filled with vibrant and expressive imagery. Unlike other apps that use generative AI to produce their output, Cinemin is built on the hard work and artistic vision of its creators. No artists’ work was used to train Cinemin, and all the processing is done on your device.

Photos and videos can be captured directly in the app with a real-time preview of the effect. Or you can import anything from your device camera roll. Once your content is in place different preset styles are available for quick edits or you can use image adjustment tools similar to other photo editors to fine tune. You can also switch to Cinema Mode, which gives you an immersive full-screen live viewer.

Cinemin is a free download from the iOS App Store.