Panning photos are a great way of conveying a sense of action, energy or motion and they’re easy to master once you have the basic technique nailed.

Join Andrew Newey in his weekly travel photography blog at http://news.dphotographer.co.uk/category/blog/ and bag yourself some must-have photography techniques.

Our very good friends over at the Studio of Dreams (ustwo™) have been locked away for the last few months creating a brand new iPhone app for fashion giant H&M. This new localised app offers a range of functionality for H&M customers throughout the world. With a rich, feature-filled user experience the app has been designed and developed to engage consumers and offer localised and relevant news and promotional incentives.

The app delivers the most up to date online content and stands apart from the competition on the App Store. The H&M Home Screen is a 3D fashion gallery-like interface that allows users to swipe through campaigns and access further areas of the application. Users can check out the latest styles & fashion videos and browse the selection of garments in each of the campaigns. “My Wishlist” allows users to save and share their favourite garments with their friends via Facebook or e-mail.

Other notable features include:
• Store locator including search based on positioning
• My H&M featuring “My Wishlist ” and offers
• Sharing functionality via Facebook and email
• In Stores Now
• Fashion News, updated every week with localised content
• Fashion Video
• Sign Up to receive first access to special offers and announcements

Fredrik Oscarson, co-founder and creative director of Mobiento, said: “It is an app that will be truly useful for H&M’s customers who can use it every day for inspiration, to plan shopping or to share styles with friends via social medias. Our aim was also to give users a great experience in terms of design, look and feel and I believe we managed to do just that!”

John Sinclair, co-founder of ustwo™, adds: “H&M’s brand power and its early adopter status in terms of embracing marketing initiatives and technology, means that this app will be in the hands of users throughout the world.  We look forward to implementing new features to keep the app relevant and highly useful for all.”

- Having just spent some time using the app, its clear that this could well be the future of shopping. The slick interface invites exploration, regardless of overwhelming interest in fashion. For those who really are keen on looking their best, then this app will no doubt become an essential part of the shopping ritual. The localisation adds significantly to the relevance of the app. It may sound like a no-brainer, but making sure that customers can actually buy the products they’re looking at, from the country they are in, is pretty important. So, once you’ve told the app where you live, you can flick your way through the collections, offers and other cool media and then go to a store and buy whatever you’ve seen that you like. This could make shopping trips far more efficient. More than anything its the way that this app is put together that will keep users coming back to it. Its simple, clear, fun and functional  – not to mention completely free. Download now from here

That’s right, after what seems like an eternity, we have some Mac news. Apple has updated the iMac, the Mac Pro, the Cinema Display and has also released the all-new magic trackpad.

We’ll Start with the iMac as its undoubtedly the most popular Mac of all time and probably one of the most iconic in terms of design. There have been no major design changes, we still have the incredibly thin aluminium unibody enclosure and choice of 21.5 and 27 inch screens. The new configuration offers the latest Intel Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 processors and powerful new graphics options. From the press release, Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing explains:

“We took the world’s best all-in-one and made it even better. With the latest processors, high-performance graphics and signature aluminium and glass design, customers are going to love the latest iMac.”

There are now a number of processor options to pick from – Dual-core Intel Core i3 and Core i5, and quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 chips take the computing options from affordable to professional. The processors feature an integrated memory controller to access the system memory directly, allowing the new iMac to take full advantage of its faster 1333 MHz memory. New ATI Radeon HD processors have also been added into the mix and they will deliver incredibly smooth and crisp graphics for the most demanding games, software and technical applications.

Another incredible new option is the facility to order a 256GB solid state drive (SSD) as a primary or secondary drive in the larger iMacs. This will add significantly to the performance of your iMac  – and its price.

The Mac Pro has also been significantly improved under the hood. This time around its possible to configure up to 12 processing cores (that’s right TWELVE) which amounts to up to a reported 50 percent increase in performance over the previous generation. As well as the new ATI grpahics option you can also add SSD drives to the new Mac pro, four to be precise with each holding a max of  512GB. We can only imagine how quick these will be when fully loaded. From the press release Mr Schiller had this to say:

“The new Mac Pro is the most powerful and configurable Mac we’ve ever made,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With up to 12 cores, the new Mac Pro outperforms our previous top-of-the-line system by up to 50 percent, and with over a billion possible configurations, our customers can create exactly the system they want.”

We now move onto new hardware and Apple has seen fit to release a 27inch cinema display. These units take their design cues from the iMac and pack the ability to charge a Macbook as well as having a  stunning 2560 x 1440 resolution and 60 percent more screen real estate than the 24-inch LED Cinema Display. It features  built-in iSight, microphone and speakers, powered USB 2.0 hub, and universal MagSafe connector.

The final release today was the much speculated Magic Trackpad. This cool device gives desktop users the opportunity to use a trackpad instead of a Mouse. We can’t fathopm why a device like this hasn’t been released yet. It adds cool functionality and gestures to desktop Mac use. Its made from glass, is wireless and can be configured to support single button or two button commands and supports tap-to-click as well as a physical click.

The hugely popular Digital Photographer of the Year Awards returns for 2010 – this time with backing from photography giant, Samsung

Imagine Publishing and Samsung are joining forces to launch the fourth annual Digital Photography of the Year awards, with better prizes and categories than ever before. Fresh from celebrating over one million copy sales earlier this year, Digital Photographer magazine anticipates record a number of submissions for the competition in 2010, with the overall winner receiving a Samsung NX10, three lenses and a flashgun kit. Six category winners will each receive a Samsung EX1 camera.

Rosie Tanner, Editor of Digital Photographer, is brimming with expectation for DPOTY ’10: “The DPOTY awards offer digital photographers a fantastic platform to showcase their work across a wide range of categories. It’s an amazing opportunity for fresh talent to emerge and we can’t wait to celebrate new and undiscovered digital photographers. The fact that such a prestigious camera company like Samsung is supporting the awards is a huge compliment. Its support means the competition and prizes will be better than ever before.”

Since its launch back in 2007, the DPOTY awards has seen year-on-year success and is now widely recognised by the photography industry as one of the top photographic competitions of its kind. The judging panel for the 2010 awards features some of the country’s top photographic professionals including big names such as Guardian Picture Editor, Eamonn McCabe and pro photographer, William Cheung FRPS.

The call for entries opens on the 15 July, which coincides with the on-sale date of Digital Photographer issue 98. In contrast to previous years, the format of the awards for 2010 will see a brand new competition category launched in each issue of the magazine. There will be six photographic categories in total – each designed to push the creativity of photographers. The categories are:

The Big Picture – Landscapes

Strike a Pose – Portraits

Wild at Heart – Wildlife/nature

Location, Location – Travel

Capture the Action – Motion/action

Get Creative – Creative/image editing/HDR

Rosie Tanner added, “The categories we’ve picked this year are reflective of the creative capabilities of Samsung’s fantastic NX10 and EX1 cameras. There is definitely a category to suit every photographic taste, so we look forward to seeing a broad range of subject matter.”

Steve Mitchell, General Manager Marketing, Samsung Digital Imaging said: “Samsung is proud to be part of Digital Photographer of the Year 2010. We have a longstanding relationship with Digital Photographer magazine and we are particularly pleased to have been chosen by the team to be the main sponsor of DPOTY.

The Digital Photographer of the Year competition showcases some of the most exciting photographs every year and with the creative possibilities offered by the Samsung camera range it is a perfect partnership which will inspire any photographer. We are looking forward to judging and awarding the very best photography in this year’s competition.”

For all the details on how to enter, look out for Digital Photographer issue 98 on sale 15 July 2010 or head online to www.DPhotographer.co.uk.

Imagine Publishing is one of the UK’s fastest-growing consumer specialist publishers. Formed in May 2005, Imagine now publishes 20 regular magazines and 30 websites in the videogames, computing, entertainment, motoring and photography markets. An Imagine magazine is purchased every ten seconds.

www.DPhotographer.co.uk

Calling all photographers! Travel the world with pro photographer, Andrew Newey at www.DPhotographer.co.uk

Digital Photographer magazine and pro travel photographer, Andrew Newey have teamed up to bring you an inspirational weekly travel blog. Every Thursday you will be able to catch up on Newey’s exciting adventures across the globe with his camera.

Each blog is loaded with inspirational images from his travels, plus fantastic photo tips and techniques to help improve your own photography skills. From location guides and photo analysis, through to tips on planning your own shooting tours, there is plenty to keep you enthralled.

Check out the brand new blog today at http://news.dphotographer.co.uk/category/blog/

No doubt a lot of the readers of this blog will have spent the morning in a queue and the rest of the afternoon drooling over the iPhone 4′s incredible display. But for those of you that are still on the fence, here is a gallery of shots that we’ve taken of the new Phone. It is very hard to argue with Jonny Ive and his team. We can clearly see now why they get so excited over their products. We feel the same way and we didn’t even make them, we just admire them. The iPhone 4 is a truly remarkable feat of engineering. It makes the iPhone 3G and 3GS look like a bloated, ugly, plasticy mess. It makes the original iPhone look like a fossil. We have to admit that holding the iPhone 4 isn’t quite as comfortable with its flat back as the iPhone 3G/S is but that is all forgiven once the Retina display lights up. It is truly incredible…

Anyway, enough rambling, here are the pictures and we’ll post more reaction to the device once we’ve had more time with it…

Apple has finally redesigned the Mac Mini. It, like the MacBook pro range, has been given the unibody treatment and there are number of tweaks, changes and improvements, as well as a less positive price change. We were summoned to Apple HQ today for a briefing (which was very brief) and we were lucky enough to be able to take a unit away.

Here is our unboxing video and below that you’ll find our thoughts on the new entry level Mac.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As you can see from the video, its a sweet looking unit and the upgrade option makes it very attractive. The major changes worth noting are the HDMI connection, faster processor options (2.4GHz and 2.66GHz) as well as the potential to configure 8GB DDR3 RAM. Sadly, the whole thing is marred by the price increase. Okay, so its not gone up by a massive amount but once it tips the £600+ scale, you begin to get close to the MacBook, which comes with a keyboard, trackpad and screen – and its portable. The argument for the Mac Mini will always be that you can use your existing mouse, keyboard and screen – but is that really enough? Whatever the price increase, its still a very competent entry level Mac and there will be a full review in Issue 84 of iCreate Magazine. There we will put the Mac Mini through its paces and truly test whether its worth the £649 asking price.

Today has been all about technology – 100% of the time! Literally session after session of nothing but technology. We’ve either been looking at the new and latest stuff, or been taking advanced deep dives into older APIs. We’ve been filling our notepads to the brim on how to best use the platforms.

Each day leaves us feeling absolutely overwhelmed by it all, so much to do and so little time to do it. Almost each time you go into a session hall there are at least one or two sessions starting, which you’d also like to attend. If only we could make them all.

Today was also our first true experience of the labs available to all developers where you can talk to Apple engineers about problems you are having with your code. Also very helpful, quite fun to be talking to the people that actually make the APIs and get some advice.

Along side the main conference there is also an endless array of parties around WWDC. There are several evenings out hosted each night by various companies or groups surrounding Apple and iPhone. They’re in general really good fun and packed out with industry people. It’s possible the copious amounts of free beer helps increase and gear up the fun factor…

Seems like everyone is in the mood since Apple has managed to release two killer products this year. But let’s not forget the software – Apple has managed to release a whole new OS that’s way more complex than ever before, develop the new devices, produce the documentation and support for developers and also work and improve the tools we use everyday.
It’s impressive how Apple manages all their products so efficiently. It’s not purely down to having a big team and money – what impresses us most is that they are so well organised and everything they do is absolutely perfect (never sub standard).

The new tools are really focused on making our lives easier and this ultimately means the developer will optimise their own apps. Apple understands that as developers we need great tools to make great apps.

Today the real deal started, sessions and labs going through the new APIs and techniques for using them to their best. Plenty of exciting things going with so much to digest and take in.

This really is a development conference with around 5K developers all talking tools, APIs and apps all around, it gets a bit overwhelming at times.

It seams that the UI Interface Labs provided by Apple are highly requested. Developers can basically book a session with an Apple expert on UI. They then go through the app to understand its requirements whilst considering new design and interaction solutions.

This is one great reason to come to a conference like WWDC. It gives developers a chance to communicate with Apple engineers and experts that can help you solve real problems, get feedback and meet who’s behind the tools and documentation we use everyday.

Overall it’s a very relaxed atmosphere though, both presenters and attendees are all very friendly, no one is stressing around being pushy. Long queues for lunch and snacks though…

We’ve been meeting up with some people, talking development and trading experiences. Everyone shares the same attitude and feeling of excitement about all of the announcements and sessions. Twitter is the way to connect with people, the unreliable wifi access make mails a bit difficult to get through to people and twitter seems to fill the gap perfectly.

The Apple Design Awards in the evening were fun as well, some really great stuff on display. Quite inspiring to see the effort people put into their titles, it’s all polish, animations, touches and great design. Or well not all of them perhaps but I guess that’s the general idea…

WWDC is Apple’s annual opportunity to speak face-to-face to the development community.  App-makers extrodinaire ustwo™ have sent two of their best developers over to San Francisco for what is the most important two weeks of the year as far as they are concerned. Victor Essnert is Head of Development at the Studio of Dreams and he’s accompanied by Luis Ferreira who is the Lead Developer at ustwo™. Together they will be reporting back to iCreate so we can let you know what is happening as this week unfolds. Here is their first report:

“Totally crazy morning, we get there (Moscone Centre) for 6:00am to stand in a series of lines to get into the keynote. There must have been about 1000 people in front of us waiting to get in. Great though, Apple really knows how to put on a show, everything is thought through, designed and planned. Except for internet access, 5200 eager Apple geeks all trying to tweet the same thing at the same time made it impossible to access anything.

The keynote started at 10:00am and was of course cool, some people where so excited that they couldn’t sit still but where bouncing up and down clapping. The iPhone 4 looks awesome, I want it!

We weren’t expecting to hear about the FaceTime feature and then the “one more thing…” came up and we were introduced to it. Video chat is nothing new but looks like Apple came up with a different and more reliable approach that makes the technology work in most environments.

The new iPhone is a giant leap forward in handset design and functionality. Apple has once again pushed the mobile industry forward meaning as usual competitors will be playing catch-up.

It’s going to be interesting to see what others will say and produce in response to it. The best thing about the iPhone is that it not only looks amazing but you now have rich, fully enabled media from production to post processing on a handheld device that fits in your pocket. This includes the best looking display, audio, video, conferencing and streaming…

Multitasking is going to be great. Let’s say you’re watching a game and need to check your email or tweets – you can therefore leave it running playing in the background whilst doing your stuff, and if you missed something, and need to watch it again (i.e. someone scored!) you can do it very easily with almost no delays.

Great first day – more to come tomorrow.”