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Lensbaby lenses have been out and about for a long while now, but we were just recently able to sit down with a few of the company's best and brightest in order to form our own opinions of the (admittedly overlooked) creative devices. For those unaware, Lensbaby makes a handful of lenses and optics that help users engage in selective focus photography, and frankly, create all sorts of wild images that would be otherwise difficult or impossible to create within Photoshop. There's no question that these are hobby lenses through and through -- you wouldn't want to hinge your business on these -- but are they worth the comparatively low asking prices? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Lensbaby Composer, Fisheye and Soft Focus review: creativity abounds

Lensbaby Composer, Fisheye and Soft Focus review: creativity abounds originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lensbaby lenses have been out and about for a long while now, but we were just recently able to sit down with a few of the company's best and brightest in order to form our own opinions of the (admittedly overlooked) creative devices. For those unaware, Lensbaby makes a handful of lenses and optics that help users engage in selective focus photography, and frankly, create all sorts of wild images that would be otherwise difficult or impossible to create within Photoshop. There's no question that these are hobby lenses through and through -- you wouldn't want to hinge your business on these -- but are they worth the comparatively low asking prices? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Lensbaby Composer, Fisheye and Soft Focus review: creativity abounds

Lensbaby Composer, Fisheye and Soft Focus review: creativity abounds originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Apparently it was Break-up Weekend because Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes are calling it quits, according to TMZ: A statement from their lawyers says: "The split is entirely amicable and is by mutual agreement. Both parties are fully committed... ...read full story

AMD lays out Open Stereo 3D Initiative at GDC originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The biggest chunk of eye candy we've seen out of Microsoft's MIX10 event so far today has been the unveiling of the significantly-retooled Windows Phone Marketplace that'll debut in Windows Phone 7 Series -- and needless to say, it's a looker. It's got support for credit card purchases, operator billing, and ad-supported content -- a hot topic right now with Google's and Apple's mobile advertising acquisitions -- and a try-before-you-buy scheme not unlike Android Market's policy (though WP7S devs can choose what kind of trial period they want to offer; Android devs have no such option). We've been offered some video of the new Marketplace in action, and it looks super polished and well-integrated with the typical WP7S way of getting around -- you're given a "panoramic view" where you can browse categories and titles, see featured items, and get details with ratings, reviews, screen shots, and pricing information. Purchased apps can be pinned to your Quick Launch screen, saving you a couple taps for your favorite and most frequently-used items. Watch the full video after the break -- and keep an eye out for the trick "tilting" of menu items based on finger location toward the end of the clip, something we haven't seen before.

Continue reading Windows Phone Marketplace for Windows Phone 7 Series unveiled

Windows Phone Marketplace for Windows Phone 7 Series unveiled originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This afternoon at SXSW in Austin, Texas, Twitter CEO Evan Williams is expected to end months of speculation by revealing his company’s plans for an advertising platform.

Williams — whose company pulled in an estimated $25 million revenue last year through search partnerships with Google and Microsoft — will be taking the stage momentarily (3pm ET) for an interview with Umair Haque of the Havas Media Lab. We’ll be updating below with live coverage.

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Live Coverage and Video

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[via @waynesutton]

Hugh Forrest, event director for SXSW is talking on stage. Thanking sponsors, plugging Guy Kawasaki’s Twitter panel, and holding up a t-shirt he got from Williams 4 years ago. The room is jam packed (I got here 30 minutes early and am in the front row however

Williams and Haque have taken the stage!

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Twitter’s @anywhere Platform

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Williams announces a new platform for integrating Twitter features for websites. It lets user follow an account (like Mashable) directly from a third-party site. Sites using it now include eBay, Yahoo, and Digg. It’s called “@anywhere”. Here are the initial partners:

Williams says that for example, users can follow a columnist right from their website. This helps solve Twitter’s “discovery” problem of finding interesting people to follow.

Williams says this should help websites gain more followers and have more people who are your fans using Twitter and talking about your content. He wants to lower the barriers to adoption of Twitter.

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On Twitter’s Business Model

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Williams says Twitter’s business model is going to take experimentation – notes that Google started out by selling search services.

Williams says Twitter is still mainly focused on creating the best experience for users and businesses.

On Microsoft and Google deals, Williams says that tapping into their reach and technology is a way to bring more value out of tweets. People creating the content get wider distribution and people searching get more detailed information.

Williams says that third-party developers have plugged many of Twitter’s holes – photo sharing, link shortening, etc. The next step he says is building interfaces for specific audiences — like CoTweet and HootSuite do for businesses.

Twitter has deals with 65 mobile carriers around the world for SMS.

Williams says “we only do win-win deals” – both for users and business partners. It’s one of the reasons they haven’t implemented many revenue generating pieces to Twitter yet.

Williams says that Twitter has created a new conversation between consumers and brands (obviously).

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More Live Notes

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Williams says Twitter’s “140 character vision” is ease of exchange of information and being a force for good and save people time instead of costing them time.

Williams says you can take advantage of Twitter without sharing your own content. He answers the question what is Twitter by calling it an “information network” — i.e. – people who just read accounts from people and brands they are interested in as opposed to actually tweeting.

Twitter’s focused on improving the signal to noise ratio and if you’re a publisher, getting your content out to the people who care.

Williams is discussing Twitter’s structure – lots of autonomous teams who are free to experiment.

Williams says he spends about half his time thinking about product, and the other half thinking about company culture and how to scale it as Twitter grows. He wants the company try and be as open and transparent as possible both internally and externally.

Williams notes that users have defined many of Twitter’s features – like retweets and @replies. He says a core part of Twitter’s philosophy is being open to the idea of being wrong.

Williams says that Twitter sends cease and desist letters every day to malicious apps – like spammers and follower schemes.

Williams says the company has a “pretty wide definition” of what a user is — there’s a pretty broad variety of how people use Twitter, and as people consume information on Twitter, they’re more likely to get involved.

Williams says that people being able to share anything on the Internet continues to change the world.

Williams says his goal is not to get people to spend more time on Twitter (and perhaps less … sounds very Google-like)

Williams just hinted that they’ll get back to talking about business model stuff (ahem, the ad platform?!?) later in this conversation.

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Reviews: Digg, Google, HootSuite, Mashable, Twitter, cotweet

Tags: evan williams, sxsw, twitter