Photograph

Nine 'Photograph' stories July 2011 - December 2013

Instagram announces Instagram Direct: photo and video sharing to private groups

Zac Hall Dec 12 2013 - 7:33 am PT

http://vimeo.com/81527238

During its press event held in New York City today, Instagram announced a new sharing feature called Instagram Direct that will allow users to share images and videos to other users privately.

The new sharing model will require users to follow each other to send photos and messages privately to individuals or groups of up to 15 people. A pending requests inbox will catch photos and messages from users who are not mutually connected.

Instagram also noted its growth from 80 million users to 150 million users worldwide from the start of 2013 to today. Kevin Systrom, co-founder of Instagram, also boasted that over half of Instagram’s users use the service daily…

Instagram on its new Direct feature:

From how you capture photos and videos to the way you start conversations through likes and comments, we built Instagram Direct to feel natural to the Instagram experience you already know. When you open Instagram, you’ll now see a new icon in the top right corner of your home feed. Tap it to open your inbox where you’ll see photos and videos that people have sent to you. To send a photo or video to specific people, tap the camera button to enter the same simple photo or video capture and editing screens. At the top of the share screen, you’ll see the option to share with your followers (“Followers”) or to send to specific people (“Direct”). To send using Direct, tap the names of the people you want to send your photo or video to, write your caption, tap “send” and you’re done.

After sending, you’ll be able to find out who’s seen your photo or video, see who’s liked it and watch your recipients commenting in real time as the conversation unfolds.

Instagram Direct will be available in Instagram 5.0 for Android on the Play Store today.

Google+ now supports full-size photo uploads from desktop

Élyse Betters Apr 3 2013 - 7:25 am PT

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Google+ now allows users to upload and share full-size photos from their desktops.

Google+ introduced full-size backups for Android photos in December 2012, and now it has expanded support for that functionality. Google’s Jon Emerson has the story:

To enable full-size desktop uploads, just visit your settings at www.google.com/settings/plus, and check “Upload my photos at full size.” Afterwards, any files larger than 2048px will count towards your Google storage (up to 5GB free). Photo storage at 2048px or smaller remains free and unlimited.

Emerson clarified that the update doesn’t allow users to replace previously uploaded images with a new full-size version. But, hey, now they can update their profile photo, create a new album to share, or back up pictures with better-detailed images up to 2048 pixels large.

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Google+ update brings Local reviews tab, bigger cover photos & new ‘About’ tab

Jordan Kahn Mar 6 2013 - 10:16 am PT

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Google just announced on Google+ that it will roll out a few changes to the desktop version of the service starting today. Some of the updates include a new tab for local reviews for easy access to restaurant reviews from the sidebar, updates to the ‘About’ tab that making editing easier, and larger cover photos up to 2,120-by-1,192-pixel:

– A new tab for your Local reviews. In addition to your photos, +1’s and YouTube videos, there’s now a place for all your Local reviews. Highlight your favorite restaurants, or hide the tab completely via settings — it’s completely up to you.

– An easier way to edit your info. The ‘About’ tab now consists of separate cards (like Story, Places, and Links) — each with its own prominent edit link. As always: you can share specific fields with specific circles, or keep them just for you.

– Bigger cover photos, with a better aspect ratio. Cover photos are much larger than before (up to 2120px by 1192px), and they display in 16×9 when fully expanded. This way more images can be used as cover photos, and there’s more room for your selection to shine.

Google said it would roll out the new features gradually to all users.

Facebook for Android update adds batch uploading, photos and emoji to messages

Élyse Betters Aug 23 2012 - 9:29 am PT

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Facebook for Android just updated to version 1.9.8.

The latest version notably includes a new uploader for selecting and uploading multiple images, while another tweak adds the ability to enter photos and emoji characters in messages. Moreover, users can now create an event with various options like inputting location details.

Changelog:

Easily create events

Share photos faster with a new upload flow

Add photos and emoji to messages

Grab the new Facebook for Android at the Google Play Store.

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Instagram 3.0 adds geo-tagged photo map and UI tweaks [Video]

Élyse Betters Aug 16 2012 - 9:41 am PT

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[vimeo 47138800 w=600 h=381]

The Facebook-acquired, vintage photo-editing app Instagram is rolling out version 3.0 today for iOS and Android with a new Photo Map that highlights geo-tagged, filtered images.

“With every major release, we pick a theme – and for this one we’ve focused on the browsing experience. We’ve introduced a new and unique way to browse your photos and others’ photos on a map, which means you’re no longer constrained to browsing through page after page of photos,” announced Instagram on its official blog.

Once the update lands on the App Store and the Google Play Store, a Photo Map section will appear on all profiles. Instagram’s 80 million users can change between Grid and Chronological view modes and then zoom in and tap on photo stacks to navigate through all the geo-tagged images saved on an account. They can further delete unwanted pictures from their own stacks.

Additional user-interface refreshes include usernames now appearing in the app’s header, a multi-line caption box, and several performance enhancements to make the browsing experience, such as infinite scrolling in the feed and a new spam reporting system, more fluid and responsive.

“On newer devices, you should notice a marked improvement in speed while browsing. With that, we’ve introduced infinite scrolling in feeds so that you can quickly see more photos while browsing around the app. And finally, we’ve paid special attention to keeping Instagram a safe place. With improved reporting tools, users can now flag both photos and comments for review with ease,” Instagram explained.

The full change log:

– View your photos on a map (visit your profile and tap Photo Map to select which of your photos will be viewable on the map)

– Redesigned profile screen

– Redesigned upload screen

– Design improvements throughout

– Infinite scrolling on photo feeds

– Flag inappropriate comments

– Bug fixes and performance improvements

Get the latest version of Instagram at the Google Play Store.

This article is cross-posted on 9to5Mac.

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Google brings new custom themes to Gmail

Jordan Kahn Jun 19 2012 - 11:17 am PT

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYEtiWUHCRM&feature=player_embedded]

Google just announced new custom themes will come to Gmail that allows users to upload their own background images (or select from Google+ photos), browse from a selection of “Featured Photos,” or enter a URL of any image. The video above pretty much speaks for itself, but Google noted it would roll out the new themes for users over the next couple of days with both Light and Dark options.

You can upload your own images directly, select from your Google+ photos or simply paste any image URL. Or, if you don’t have a particular image in mind, you can browse our searchable Featured Photos section to find one that speaks to you. With so many great options, it may be hard to choose, so to get a sense of the images available, try searching for ‘hdr scenery’ or ‘bokeh wallpaper’ in the Featured tab.

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Google adds +1’s to Google+ Photos

Jake Smith Nov 2 2011 - 10:31 pm PT

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Google’s Vincent Mo announced on his Google+ profile this evening that users can now +1 Google Plus Photos. The feature is available on the iPhone app and will make its way to the Android app soon. This is a highly requested feature that we’re very happy to see!

I’m super excited to announce one of the top requested features on Google+ Photos: You can now +1 a photo! Click on a photo to open the lightbox photo viewer, and you’ll see the +1 button at the bottom left side of the photo. Click to +1 the photo, or click the counter to see who else has +1’d it. Try it on the photo below! (Photo credit: +Thomas Hawk)

+1’ing a photo is also available in the latest Google+ iPhone app (http://goo.gl/gArY7) and is coming soon to the Android app and the mobile web site.

Thanks, and keep the feedback coming!

Google+ Photos has replaced Picasa in Google’s navigation bar

Jake Smith Oct 11 2011 - 4:06 pm PT

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What once used to send you to Picasa Web Albums, the “photos” link on Google’s navigation bar now sends you to Google+’s Photo service — Google Operating System discovered. Google+’s Photo service displays photos from your circles, from your Android phone, photo’s you’ve been tagged in, and your list of Picasa Web albums. Google+ Photos is still missing some editing features, album descriptions, and the ability to edit prints.

Don’t get this confused however, as Picasa is still available by manually typing in the URL. But, this seems for the best, right?

Google’s Photovine photo sharing service goes live

Seth Weintraub Jul 12 2011 - 1:08 am PT

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As we reported last week, Google is working on a photo sharing service called Photovine.

Photovine site is now live but not “open for business”. It doesn’t appear to be part of Google Plus though it will offer some “social network service integration”. It is also weird that the start page has an iPhone rather than a Nexus S and the like..

Google, who barely appear on the page at all, advertises the service:

Photovine is a community that’s about creating fun and unique collections of photos that we call Vines. In Photovine, vines connect you with people through the ideas and themes expressed in your photos. A vine is like a constantly growing family of photos connected through a common caption created by you, your friends, and people all over the world. Some examples of vines could be: “What Weekends Are Made Of”, “Secret Stuffed Animal”, “Party People”, or, “Love of My Life”. As people add photos to vines, they tell their own stories about the moments, images, and ideas that define our lives in a way that’s social, creative, and fun. Start a vine by taking a photo and creating a new caption, or add to an existing vine. Other people will see your vine and join in by adding their own photo, showing their own take on the caption.

More Q&A below:
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