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Free Google app to scan all your physical pictures powered by magic

GeneralEdward Kiledjian

The title may have been just a little exaggerated but most people, computational photography does feel like magic. Google knows you have boxes of photos just collecting dust and deteriorating. Our unofficial benevolent leader (aka Google) has decided to use its computer science chops to help Joe Regular digitize those boxes of old photos without having to fork over $500 for a flatbed scanner or spend hours retouching pictures.

The app takes multiple pictures of each photo and completely get's rid of glare. Then it automatigically  performs edge detection, perspective correction and smart rotation.

If you so chose, you can then upload your new digital cherished memories into the loving arms of Google Photos. 

If you are a computer geek and want to understand the magic of computational photography in an easy to understand manner, check out the new NAt & Lo video below.

Download the free app now:

 

You won't believe how Moleskine betrays Evernote

technologyEdward Kiledjian

Sorry for the sensational title but it grabbed your attention didn't it?

I have tried handwriting capture apps on tablet for years now. I have tried over 100 different stylus' with dozens of different capture apps on Apple, Microsoft and Google powered tablets. Nothing matched the efficiency of writing with pen on paper. 

In 2012, Evernote partnered with Moleskine to create the new Smart Notebook. This was an attempt to move the traditional world of the handwritten note into the digital age. Instead of pushing you to write with a special stylus on a slab of glass, the Evernote / Moleskine team encouraged you to continue writing the same old way. 

“[...]automatically improves the contrast of the page and removes any shadows. For the Evernote Smart Notebook by Moleskine, it finds the dot pattern and even corrects the skew of the photo”
— Evernote Blog

This worked and works wonderfully well. It was, for me at least, a fantastic marriage of traditional note taking with my love of Evernote. 

Now jump to November 2015 and Moleskine has partnered with Adobe. Like the Evernote partnership, the purpose of this partnership is move your notes (or doodles in this case) into the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. This tool allows creative designers to move their sketches from paper to the Adobe cloud enabling editing in Photoshop or as a vector in Adobe Illustrator using the special Moleskine IOS app (you also need an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription of course).

Right now these notebooks are available directly from Moleskine (link); 

Fax 50 pages for free per month with Google Drive

technologyEdward Kiledjian
Hellofax is a well known online virtual faxing service and they have now integrated with Google Drive. This integration means you can fax any document from Google Drive (and Google Docs) and even receive faxes directly into a special Google Drive folder.
In addition to the faxing, they also offer the ability to edit and virtually sign documents (eliminating the need to print, complete, scan then fax).
They have a promotion where you get 50 free fax pages per month and unlimited signature request and document signing as long as you sign up for the service using your Google Drive enable Google Account. So make sure you have Google drive then sign up using this link.