App review: iMajiCam Pro

iMajiCam Pro is, as you might have guessed, a camera app. It allows you to import a photo from your album to be edited, or you can take a brand new photo right from the app. One of the coolest features of iMajiCam Pro is the "Live Mode". This allows you to add all the effects before you take a photo, thus giving you a preview of how it is going to look.

Not enough effects for you? well, get yourself over to the iMaji-Mart. Here you can purchase additional packs of effects for 69p each. There is also the option to purchase all 3 in bulk for £1.49, saving you 58p in the process.

There is also a handy little 'restore' button. In the event that you need to restore you iPhone and you lose the app, hitting this button will deliver all effects packs that you previously purchased, negating the need to pay once more.

To the right, you can see one of the photos I have recently taken with iMajiCam Pro. I am no photographer, or a professional, so it's not the greatest look but I was just experimenting with different effects to see what they looked like in print. I will include a couple more photos showcasing different effects.

Unfortunately, iMajiCam Pro does have a couple of downsides. 

For starters, although the "Live Mode" is a fantastic idea, things can get a tad fiddly. It is sometimes better to take a photo and then edit it later on, you can always delete a photo if you are not satisfied with it once taken.

Another flaw is the frequent crashing of the app. When attempting to save the above photo of my cat to my photo album it froze and did not respond. The app then crashed and saved a dozen copies of the photo to my album, rather than just the one I was hoping for. I am sure that with updates the crashing issues can be resolved.

iMajiCam Pro also comes with social integration. You can, should you wish to, share your creations with the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I like the fact that they have integrated Instagram into the sharing options, something that your standard iPhone photo album doesn't provide.

iMajiCam Pro can be downloaded from the App Store for FREE. I don't know how long they are keeping it free though, so if you want to give it a try now is the best time to get hold of a copy. Link HERE.

Tomb Raider: first multiplayer map revealed!

Yes, another post about Tomb Raider: 2013. What can I say, I'm extremely excited about it's upcoming release.

So I have been doing some browsing and have come across a really informative and interesting website for all things Tomb Raider. On this site, I located a news article detailing the announcement of the game's first multi-player map. Now, this is the first time a multi-player aspect has come to the Tomb Raider franchise but, let's face it, it's what everyone looks for when they buy a game these days - "can I play with my friends", well yes you can!

Right from the title, you can see that the first map is going to be a shanty town style. Now, whether or not they actual map will be called Shanty Town I do not know, but it's a brilliant source. It also states that certain retailers are now offering you the map if you pre-order the game. Whilst this may entice some people, I don't like the idea of being forced to pre-order something in order to get a perk before anyone else - I am quite happy playing through the single player campaign before jumping into multi-player. After all, the Tomb Raider games are renowned for their single player action.

I've included some concept art below. All three are taken from the source website, but I cannot find them anywhere on the official tombraider.com site, so I cannot guarantee their authenticity.

Click on the icons for a larger preview image. All Photos: www.tombnews.com

I really don't know what to expect from Tomb Raider multi-player. I can't see how it's going to work, unless they're going to make it the bog standard FPS model. If they do this, it'll just be a Call of Duty masked as something else. I hope they incorporate other features into the multi-player. Perhaps a unique co-op campaign?

I will add more Tomb Raider news to the blog when something juicy is released. If you want all the latest news, regardless of category, you can visit the website that I got my information from today - www.tombnews.com

Instagram want your soul

So it turns out that Instagram, the online photo sharing website, has updates its Terms and Condition which will allow them exclusive rights to any photo you upload with the intention to sell them to whoever they like. The worrying part about this is they can do it without your consent, and without you even knowing who your photos are being sold to.

The new terms come into effect on January 16th 2013. Any accounts still active by this date will be tied in with the new terms and they cannot opt out. I strongly advise that if you do not want the company to have free reign over your photos, delete it before the 16th January. The new terms state that any account deleted after the 16th could still have it's photos shared, so this is why you must delete it prior to this date if you are not happy with the new terms.

Facebook purchased Instagram in April for a staggering £616m ($1bn). It wouldn't surprise me if the idea for selling the photos to advertisers comes in light of the earlier dip in Facebooks share prices. They have struggled in recent months to keep investors and advertisers happy, especially when the value of the company when floated on the market didn't even scratch the surface on what they initially estimated.

Earlier this month, Facebook stated that they would eventually "monetise Instagram". Is this it?

To me, it is a very draconian way of doing things. It goes completely against everything that Instagram was created for - a free haven for users to actively share their photos to the rest of the world. If you look at rival services, such as Flickr, who offer everything the new Instagram won't, it's hard to see how they will survive.

On the other side of the argument though, some people do state that this is the price of social media. It is a tool to interact with other people so why should we be bothered if the site is sharing our photos. To counter this, I don't think people are bothered if a site shares our photos, as long as we know where they are going, what they will be used for and what safeguards are in place to protect our privacy. Instagram have completely gone against this by not even telling you who is buying or what your photos are being used for.

As far as I can see, neither Facebook or Instagram have commented on this - even though it has caused a massive public backlash.

I'll update the blog if they make any comment.