A
new app, currently on sale for $1, promises to fix one of the plagues of modern life -- "portrait" videos.
Horizon, an alternative video camera app, forces the video camera to capture in landscape mode regardless of which way the iPhone is positioned. The on-screen preview allows users to focus on the horizontal crop of what they are shooting when holding the iPhone in portrait, and offers web-quality VGA, 720p or 1080p quality along with square, 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios.
Users can choose either of the two cameras, can leverage exposure and focus lock, geotag videos and use AirPlay devices for mirroring. The app also provides eight filters for creating a particular "look" for the video, and maintains the horizontal aspect even if the shooter changes angles or holds the camera unsteadily. Early buyers have noted a bit of a "wobble" in the video (see example below) if the iPhone is changed from portrait to landscape or vice versa, since the capture area increases or decreases with the change.
Umoove intros head, eye tracking technology, game demo
Another new app,
Umoove Experience (free), is intended as more of a technology demonstration than a full-fledged app. On its face, it is a simple flying game -- but one which the player controls by moving their head rather than using finger-based controls such as swiping or tapping. The game utilizes the front-facing camera and achieves its head- and eye-tracking through software alone. Following an initial calibration procedure, users can fly a craft and collect rewards by tilting their head. A developer API is available for those who want to incorporate the technology into other apps.