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iPhone App of the Week – Understanding Photoshop-Quick Fixes

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This week’s iPhone App of the Week is actually from my buddy Richard Harrington. I’ve known Rich for years and he’s an excellent instructor.

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His Understanding Photoshop – Quick Fixes app aims to be a series of video tutorials on how to do common tasks in Photoshop right in your pocket. We’ve all been there when you want to do something and you’ve got the app open on your computer and you just can’t remember how to do it or you want to know the best technique to do something.

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Sony DR-BT101 Bluetooth Headphones – Video Review

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Earlier this year when Apple announced that the iPhone 3.0 and iPod touch 3.0 OS updates would now finally support stereo bluetooth headphones I began the search for the best ones. Unfortunately there was no one claiming to have found the best ones. All of the reviews I’ve found for the various models varied widely in opinions. I guess when it comes to audio everyone’s tastes and tolerances are quite different. So I decided to bite the bullet and start my own research project for the best ones. I’m starting with the Sony DR-BT101 Bluetooth Headphones. The only reason I’m starting with these is because they were very reasonably priced compared to the others I saw. Enough with the words, see my video review here:

 

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Elinchrom Ranger Quadra S Pro Kit Review

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When it comes to studio strobes I’ve pretty much standardized on Elinchrom gear. I like their lights, softboxes and Skyport Wireless System for controlling it all from the camera or your laptop. Of course the only problem with my 600RX Strobes is that they aren’t really meant to be used outside or in situations where you don’t have access to power. Sure I could get a big battery pack like this one that my buddy Scott Kelby likes, but I actually wanted to go in the other direction. I wanted to have a more portable lightweight setup. Don’t get me wrong, I use my speedlights too such as my SB800’s and SB900 (especially when I’m traveling by plane), but sometimes I want more. 

 

The Elincrhom Ranger Quadra

I’ve been anxiously awaiting the Ranger Quadra kit. The Ranger series is Elinchrom’s battery operated lighting system. While the Ranger has always been cool, the Quadra kit raises the bar in portability! I was stunned by just how small this kit is. I bought the two head Pro S kit. They make two versions, the S and the A. The A is for, er um "speed" (don’t ask). Yep, the A kit is the faster of the two and would be better for fast moving stuff. Since I don’t shoot sports or fast moving objects, I went with the S Pro kit.

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Able Planet Noise Canceling Headphones – Video Review

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It’s hard to be a frequent flyer and not own a pair of Noise Canceling headphones. Love them or hate them, the Bose Quiet Comfort 2’s seems to be the choice of most frequent travelers. So needless to say I was a little skeptical when the Able Planet Noise Canceling Headphones came across my desk for only $99. See what I liked about them and what I didn’t like about them in my video review:

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Nike+iPhone – (Nike+) Shoes = Flexibility

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I’ve been a fan of the Nike+iPod kit since day one. Although I don’t consider myself to be a runner. I am a  walker and therefore like to keep track of my walking goals and progress. When the Nike+iPod kit first came out it was a two piece kit sold by Apple and Nike. What you got in the box was a sensor that went into a special compartment in the sole of your Nike+ shoes and a receiver that attached to the dock connector on the iPod nano.

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With this combination you got music while you ran or walked, voice prompts let you know your stats and distance to go and stats that would automatically get uploaded to your Nike+ account on the web each time you’d sync your iPod. It’s GREAT!

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I’m an iPhone user though

When the iPhone came out two years ago I wasn’t really interested in carrying both an iPod and my iPhone. After all the iPhone has an iPod built-in. So I kinda got away from using my Nike+ kit. Sure I was still walking, but I just wasn’t keeping track anymore. Well when I upgraded to the iPhone 3GS, I was very happy to see that like the iPod touch (2nd gen), Apple had built-in support for the Nike+iPod integration. Now I could carry just the one device and I would no longer need the receiver attached to the dock connector. Cool! I still have my original Nike+ shoes and I started using them again. This is when I realized that I’m not always going to want to wear these shoes everywhere I go. I have nothing against Nike shoes (you should see my closet), but I just didn’t want to be limited to the one pair of shoes every time I wanted to walk and track my progress.

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Weekend Update

I thought I would share some late breaking updates with you that came out on Friday:

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Adobe Releases the Photoshop.com Mobile App

This app makes it easy for you to do basic editing of your photos including standard cropping, apply effects (including the Sketch effect I used below) and  upload to your galleries on Photoshop.com or send your photos via email. It also allows you to see all of your photos on your Photoshop.com account including the ability to run slideshows. When you’re editing the Exposure, Saturation or Tint, just drag your finger left or right across your photo to make the adjustment! Cool!

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Get the Photoshop.com App here from the App Store. It’s FREE Photoshop.com Mobile

 

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Tweetie 2

Tweetie 2 is a complete rewrite of the popular Tweetie app and Tweetie was my app of choice for doing Twitter. So of course I was interested in upgrading to Tweetie 2. There’s a lot to like here with lots of new options including access to ALL of Twitter’s features and great multiple account support.

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Follow me on Twitter

Get Tweetie 2 here from the App Store for $2.99 Tweetie 2

 Expect more complete reviews of these apps in the not to distant future via my iPhone App of the Week feature each Friday.

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iPhone App of the Week – Camera Genius

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CameraGenius aims to give you more options for using your iPhone’s built-in camera. When you think about it the iPhone’s camera is OK, but limited in features. If you bought a stand alone point and shoot camera you would be able to do things like Zoom, set a timer, use image stabilization, etc.

 

More features for your iPhone camera

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Camera Genius adds some pretty useful features to the iPhone’s built-in camera. The first one that caught my eye was Zoom. This digital zoom feature allows you to Zoom in on the shot you’re taking with an interactive on screen slider. 

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NewerTech 3 in 1 Audio/Sync/Charging Cable + PowerJolt

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A couple of weeks back I did a 3 part series on Travel Tips including some of my favorite gear to travel with. Of course I’m always on the look out for ways to travel with less and travel smarter. One of the tips involved traveling with both a car charger for your phone and an audio cable to take advantage of your rental car’s Audio In port. Now instead of carrying two different cables I’ve been able to consolidate down to one.

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TomTom, $120 for your car kit? REALLY!!?

 

It wasn’t long ago that I reviewed the TomTom Navigation App for the iPhone. At the time the only other app that I had to compare it with was the Navigon app, which came out first. When the TomTom app came out it really wasn’t any better than the Navigon app. Sure there are some things that were nicer like more POIs, but overall the app had basically the same major limitations as the Navigon app. Well Navigon has released two updates since then and in the latest update they gave us TTS (Text to Speech) so that when you’re approaching a turn it says the name of the street that you’re about to turn on. This plus integrated iPod controls an automatic day/night mode and a few other fixes plus a cheaper retail price makes Navigon my app of choice. Check out the Navigon app here on the App Store: 

MobileNavigator North America

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