News flash: Apple’s iOS is more locked down than Android … okay, that’s not exactly a secret. This is why something like Facebook Home is not available on any iDevice at the moment. But they did bring deep integration for Facebook and Twitter earlier, and are apparently going to do the same trick once again, this time with Flickr and Vimeo.

According to 9to5Mac, the photo-sharing service and the video sharing site are going to get new connections in Apple’s upcoming iOS 7.

The rumor says iOS 7 users will be allowed to sign into their Flickr and Vimeo accounts through the settings menus, like how you can integrate Facebook and Twitter accounts now. And both the services could be accessed by third party apps. You will be able to upload photos and videos to both the services directly from the iOS Photos app.

The iOS users who have Flickr and Vimeo accounts will certainly benefit from the integration, if it happens that is. It will also be good for both the services as well. Yahoo would certainly welcome more traffic to Flickr, which has just been updated in a major way.

But the inclusion of Vimeo is a surprise, as the site is mainly for short films and high-quality videos. Videos shot in a smartphone end up most of the time on YouTube. But, Apple’s OS X is integrated with both Flickr and Vimeo, so the new rumor can’t be pushed aside that easily.

We will keep you updated about iOS 7, so stay tuned to Mobilemag.

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Yahoo’s acquisition of Tumblr is certainly big news, but they have promised that the blogging site will remain the same as it is now. But much needed changes have arrived for Flickr, which was acquired by Yahoo back in 2005 (and then neglected until now).

The changes that have arrived include updates to the Flickr web experience, a new Android app, and a new business model which is meant to attract new users to the site.

Via the new look, the focus is on the photos. Users will now be able to enjoy big thumbnails, full-screen pictures by default, and an image’s metadata is below the fold. Your photostream will display a big tiled view of your pictures, and there’s an easy share button for sharing pictures to the social network of your choice. The Android app is also making photos the focus. The screenshot of the app below shows photostream on the left hand side and Explore section on the right hand side.

So, big changes to how the site looks. But even bigger is what’s available to free account holders. From now on, free users have access to 1TB of storage. Earlier it was limited to 300MB of photos and two videos per month. And back then there was just one paid version: unlimited photos and videos per month, no ads, and detailed statistics for $24.95 a year. From now on, there are two paid options: $49.99 a year with no ads but everything else is the same as the free version, and for $499.99 you will get 2TB of storage. Only those who are having paid accounts at the moment can renew subscriptions. This pricing strategy has just one goal, which is attracting new users to its free service and discouraging subscriptions.

According to Adam Cahan, SVP of Mobile and Emerging products at Yahoo, Flickr has 89 million users at present who have uploaded more than 8 billion photos. But that’s nothing compared to Facebook’s more than 1 billion users and 240 billion pictures. Maybe Yahoo is a bit too late with this Flickr update, though it’s better late than never.

But the new look is not being accepted by Flickr’s current users, although we think that it’s a good update. The site certainly looks and feels way better and could attract many new users with their new strategy. The current users will certainly adapt, at least Yahoo could be hoping so. And everything appears to have come at the right time; an awesome update and an acquisition of one of the biggest blogging platforms.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer says, “We have a nice set of the creator brands. Photographers and writers. With that, there is natural set of opportunities that arise between Flickr and Tumblr and we’ll deal with that as it comes”.

Maybe things are starting to get better for Yahoo. What do you think? Do you have plans to start using Flickr? Do let us know in the box below.

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Flickr Pro accounts can upload an unlimited number of images and videos every month and get unlimited bandwidth/storage. Photos can be in up to 60 groups, and users can browse ad free.

If you’re a serious photographer and/or videographer, Flickr has some very useful features to offer. With the 3 month extension/trial good for a limited time (the holiday season), it would be silly not to take up Flickr on their offer. It’s also not very nice to turn down a holiday gift.

Is this a last resort move by Yahoo and Flickr to bring more users to their photo/video platform? Does Flickr stand a chance against the might Instagram/Facebook duo? Let us know in the comments below.

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Samsung has come out with point-and-shoots earlier which featured Wi-Fi,  the SH100 and the ST80 are two, but this is the first time that Wi-Fi has made its way into the new DualView camera style.  The Samsung DV300F, which comes equipped with a 1.5-inch front-facing LCD (will help with self-portraits), has a 3-inch rear-facing display, 5x optical zoom, a 7.76mm 16 Megapixel CCD sensor, and a 4.5-22.5mm, f4.5 lens.

The camera should perform well when there is good lighting, but the pictures won’t be that perfect in dim lighting conditions so prepare to be blasted with flash for those dimly lit nightclub photos were all too used to snapping. There is also an image stabilization system, most probably an electronic one which will help low light situations too.

Its most useful feature though, is the Wi-Fi connectivity.  It will allow users to upload images and video directly to online sharing sites including Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, and YouTube. You will also be able to wirelessly transfer images to a computer, and the camera integrates with Microsoft’s SkyDrive.

Other features include a visual self-timer, a feature to merge three images together, and Motion Photo which will allow you to freeze objects around a moving object. And for keeping young children focussed on the camera, an animation displayed on the front LCD will help a lot, although that might not help with adults who can’t stay still.

The cam is expected to be available in March with a price tag of $200. It comes in black, red, silver, navy, and red. The Samsung DV300F Wi-Fi DualView camera is expected to be unveiled at CES next week.

The post Samsung DV300F Is The First DualView Camera With Wi-Fi appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Flickr is a great way for sharing pictures with your friends and the online community at large. There are plenty of professionals who post up edited pictures from their DSLRs, but casual shooters can share their snapshots too. However, the iPhone 4 is quickly becoming the most popular “camera” on the photo sharing site, even though it’s not really a camera in the traditional sense.

Right now, the Apple iPhone 4 is holding on to the second spot in terms of number of uploads to Flickr, straggling just behind the Nikon D40. These are two entirely different beasts, as the D40 is already three years old… that, and it’s a hefty SLR compared to a slim smartphone.

What this also means is that the iPhone 4 has effectively beat out all the compact point-and-shoots on the site, the top five of which are all Canon PowerShot models. Does this mean that the iPhone 4 is more popular than any of these models? Does it mean that it’s a better camera? No, not at all.

What it means is that the iPhone 4 makes it so easy to share photos, because you just snap and upload immediately from within the phone itself. The singular model philosophy of Apple aids this, as I’m sure Android folks are snapping and sharing shots too, but over multiple models and manufacturers. The same can be said about the multiple Canon PowerShots in the list.

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Genwi, a service that combines aspects of an RSS reader, social network and news filters has recently released iSites.  An online tool that allows you to take your website’s RSS feed and data, then turn it into an iPhone app for only $25. The only problem is iSites has sent too many designs to Apple and cannot keep up.

A message has recently gone up on their website “Currently we have been inundated with new app requests. Hence we have decided to temporarily stop activating and accepting payments for new apps until all currently paid apps are submitted to Apple for final review. Please note that you can continue to create new apps and publish – but will not be able to activate and submit it for review.”

iSites is fairly simple, you add a name, description, category, some keywords, your RSS feed URL, you can even add your social feeds (Twitter, YouTube, Flickr etc).  Customize the header image, colors and menu, your icon and store banner.  Take the information, the app store info and click a button and your app will be published onto the iPhone and Android stores once they let off their restrictive cap.

There are many other features that allow it to work so easily like video support, image thumbnails and you’re able to ‘favorite’ articles.  There is a feature for quick sharing, allowing users to share via Facebook, Twitter or email.

For $99 you can integrate something called AdMob advertising where you can monetize your app with some ad clicks.

This form of creating your own iPhone app is simple, cheap and efficient.  iSites also offers stats on what is downloaded, what content is the most popular and which apps were viewed.

The post Online iPhone and Android app creator get’s too popular, too fast appeared first on Mobile Magazine.