• Oct 16, 2011

    Review: tiltpod "tripod"

    Just about every time I've gone on vacation, someone is missing from the pictures we take. Self timers are great, but you have to put the camera some place stable and that typically requires carrying a tripod. Small tripods such as the Joby Gorillapod are great, but I don't always remember to take mine with me. I saw the tiltpod and just had to give it a try. It's an interesting product that always gives a stable base to set a camera. I took it on my recent vacation and was able to take a few pictures using it; it was always attached to the camera, so using it wasn't a problem. Unfortunately most of the pictures I took were out of focus and difficult to set up. As the tiltpod makes the camera sit on a flat surface (or so), it's kind of hard to put my head behind it. I think part of the problem may be that I need to read up on some of the auto focus settings on my camera, so I'll have to play around with them and see if I can get better at taking pictures.

    The tiltpod is quite simple in that it is a magnetic base with a numb that screws into the camera. I really like the concept and had high hopes for it. I'm going to keep the base hooked onto the strap and use it every once in awhile; if I can get the auto focus working better, then the tiltpod will be immensely useful. As of now, it is kind of an interesting product, but has limited utility for me.

    Pros

    • Easy to use.
    • Convenient.
    • Stable.

    Cons

    • Hard to put head behind camera when on flat surface.
    • Potentially limited utility.

    Summary

    The tiltpod does everything it purports to do and does it well. While not a flaw in the product itself, putting a digital camera on a flat surface makes it almost impossible to put your head behind it if set on a rock, or something else that you can't crouch behind. I did find it convenient when I set it on a metal chair and was able to easily get behind it.

    The tiltpod is not that expensive and if you understand the limitations, I'd recommend getting it. If you expect it to completely replace a tripod, then you'll be very disappointed with this.

  • Oct 16, 2011

    The end of MovieConverter

    It was just over 2 months ago when I released MovieConverter to the world to fill a gap where iMovie for iPad wouldn't import videos from certain video cameras including my Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-WX9. I had originally came up with the idea for MovieConverter back when I got my iPad 2 and started playing with iMovie. I worked on MovieConverter over the summer and finally released it.

    When I installed iOS 5 on my iPad 2, I found that iMovie imported more videos than before, but still not ones from my WX9. I made a few minor updates to MovieConverter to get it working better on iOS 5 and pushed it out the door. I got back from vacation the day after iOS 5 got released to the public and quickly updated everything including iMovie. The iMovie 1.2.2 notes said it added support for importing video from additional cameras.

    Much to my delight and dismay, the videos from my WX9 imported into iMovie without MovieConverter. I immediately updated the MovieConverter description to say it may longer be needed and dropped the price to free so that no users would be pissed at me for writing a "useless" program.

    From an iMovie user point of view, this is great news. I didn't write MovieConverter for fame or fortune, but it was nice to get a little money from it.

    Oh well, now I have to come up with another idea that will have a little more than 2 months on the app store.

  • Oct 16, 2011

    The (Amazon Affiliate) trickle returns

    Now that Amazon and the State of California have come to an agreement whereby Amazon will start collecting sales tax next year, Amazon has reinstated all their California affiliates. So I setup a new account (I had already closed mine) and will start linking to products again and hope that people use the links as well as the search box on the right side. While I don't expect to earn a ton of money off the affiliate links, it does basically pay for hosting this site. I'm happy that the affiliates are back, but the sales tax thing may end up being worse depending on how much we buy from Amazon.

  • Sep 18, 2011

    iOS App Store's ups and downs

    At the beginning of August, I released MovieConverter to the App Store. I created the app to fill a personal need and decided to see if it met the needs of others. My goal, financially, was to recoup the cost of having an icon created for it; icons are not cheap and since I can't design one myself, I had to commission one. I used Jordan Langille of One Toad Design and was pleased with his work, so he got my business again.

    Within a few weeks, I managed to reach my financial goal and things have still been going; it's not going to make me a million dollars, but it's enough to buy a few dinners.

    That's the good part of the App Store; no advertising and I get money. The bad part is the user reviews. Despite my full description and warnings that it may not work on all videos and the videos must play in the Photos app, I'm getting some bad reviews. Most are because people don't read what the app does and expect it to do something it wasn't designed to do. Is there anything a developer can do? Nope. Oh well, the app still sells and serves a need.

    I wish that Apple would provide a way for developers to respond directly to reviews like MacUpdate does where it clearly indicates that the developer has responded; with the App Store, some developers (against Apple guidelines), post 5 star reviews and respond. If apps I publish on the App Store where my sole means of income, then I'd be really annoyed. However, this is just a side project, so it's not a huge deal to me.