Kickstarter

Finally we have the iPad adaptor design finalized. It is a very simple idea but it was a lot of hassle to complete! With the official Apple iPad drawings not defining the curvature of the iPad accurately, parts too thin to 3D print, 3D printed parts being lost in the post, our draftsman falling ill... I'm always tempted to leave "simple" tasks until "later" and I'm regretting that habit now !!

The adaptor is attached to the iPad with double sided tape. It is not intended to be removed. I chose to 3D print in white nylon but it would be possible to print in a gray polished alumide material. Any preferences ?

If you did not choose the reward with an iPad adaptor and now want one you can order one from Shapeways but you will need to sort out the double sided tape yourself.

A little bird told me that the next iPad will have the camera on the flat surface (like the iPad mini does now). That would simplify things for HiLO Lens...

On the production side we have 150 optic modules assembled. But we have run into differences in opinion regarding some of the containers. We have different reports of container tolerances between the optics manufacturer and container manufacturer. So some parts are shuttling between each factory (they are in different regions) to get clarity on this. Our man on the ground, Jason, is coordinating. We will continue to push to get the Kickstarter rewards through (about 550)

Surveys will be coming your way to collect address information.

The HiLO Lens app was released today in the App Store. The HiLO Lens hardware is still in production but want your feedback on the app sooner rather than later. 

A couple of points to keep in mind:

• No native support for the iPad yet
• There will be updates to the app

There are options in the HiLO Lens app to turn off the HiLO Lens specific features. To do this:

• Set "Straighten photo" to OFF
• Set "Mirroring" to OFF
• Set "Field of View" to Wide*

Voice recognition is enabled with the "Voice recognition option". You can see what the voice recognition system is detecting by setting "Display phrases" to "Verbose".

You can give your phone a name in the "Command prefix" option it defaults to "HI LO". This word is expected before each voice command e.g.

"Hi lo take a photo"
"Hi lo begin video"
"Hi lo end video"
"Hi lo video mode"
"Hi lo photo mode"

If you like a firm answer try "Hi lo are you there?

Have fun and thanks for your patience. We still have plenty to do but it is nice to be delivering on one part of the rewards!!

* With the HiLO Lens attached and the "Field of View" option set to "Standard" reproduces the Field of View of the normal iPhone camera. When set to "Wide" the field of view is larger than the normal iPhone camera. The best image quality is achieved with the "Standard" field of view.

We are upbeat today :) The HiLO Lens app was submitted for review by Apple yesterday. If that goes smoothly it will hit the App Store in about 10 days.

It is great to be delivering something to all of you who have been so patient!  Your input on the app will help us focus on the right priorities. There are a couple of known issues:

• The app is not yet Universal so it will run like the iPhone app on the iPad. 
• Video capture on the iPhone4 is not as smooth as it should be

We invested a lot of effort into making best use of the 3.5" iPhone4/4S screen and the 4" iPhone5 screen. I'm guessing the future is the 4" screen but a lot of our backers have the 3.5" screen.

We added options to the HiLO Lens app so you can turn off all the HiLO Lens specific features. To do this you should go into options and

• Set "Straighten photo" to OFF
• Set "Mirroring" to OFF
• Set "Field of View" to Wide*

With those settings you have a free camera app. How does this compare to the Apple camera app ?

• HiLO Lens app has voice control
• HiLO Lens app has separate exposure + focus control (two finger tap)
• HiLO Lens app has rotation gesture
• HiLO Lens app has shutter delay (hold your finger on the shutter)
• HiLO Lens app can take square photos
• Apple camera app supports the flash and front camera
• Apple camera app has HDR and Panorama

You can give your phone a name in the "Command prefix" option which defaults to "HI LO". This word is expected before each voice command e.g.

"Hi lo take a photo" 
"Hi lo begin video" 
"Hi lo end video" 
"Hi lo video mode"
"Hi lo photo mode"

On the manufacturing front we have lens containers that passed quality inspection and some units have been assembled. We are in the middle of agreeing on the quality criteria for the assembled lenses. Assembly will take about 10 days. We are aiming to have rewards shipped by the end of the month.

* The "Field of View" option when set to "Standard" reproduces the Field of View of the normal iPhone camera. When set to "Wide" the field of view is larger than the normal iPhone camera. The best image quality is achieved with the "Standard" field of view.