The next iPhone will reportedly support slow-motion video, just in time for the mobile video boom.
The internet is about to get real slow, real quick.
The internet is about to get real slow, real quick.
GIF by John Gara. Clipped from this video.
In any other iOS release cycle, this would be small news: According to features found in the iOS 7 beta releases,
the next iPhone may record slow-motion video. But it’s July 2013, and
the new iPhone is expected to come out in September. Snapchat, an image
and video texting service, is arguably the most important app of the
moment. Vine appeared out of nowhere and became huge overnight.
Instagram just added a video feature for its millions upon millions of
users.
A year ago, almost nobody was sharing video on their phones. A year from now, it’s possible that sharing video will be as commonplace as sharing photos. That’s the context in which we’re finding out that the next iPhone may shoot slow motion — and what could make slow motion the defining internet aesthetic of the year.
The software trail suggests that the iPhone camera will support up to 120 frames per second, which is about the speed shown above. Further clues suggest that third-party apps may be able to capture at only 60 frames per second, or about half-speed, which is enough to produce a dramatic, if not cinematic, effect. Dramatic enough for Instagram, at least.
Slow motion could be to mobile video what filters were to mobile photography. Gradually, despite inevitable backlash for “overuse,” it will become a standard part of the video-sharing process; like filters, it’s a way to make bad, hastily shot media seem sort of cool. It would work particularly well in the context of Snapchat, where video is often just background for a text message.
Samsung’s newer Android phones support high-frame-rate video recording, and it looks pretty good:
A year ago, almost nobody was sharing video on their phones. A year from now, it’s possible that sharing video will be as commonplace as sharing photos. That’s the context in which we’re finding out that the next iPhone may shoot slow motion — and what could make slow motion the defining internet aesthetic of the year.
The software trail suggests that the iPhone camera will support up to 120 frames per second, which is about the speed shown above. Further clues suggest that third-party apps may be able to capture at only 60 frames per second, or about half-speed, which is enough to produce a dramatic, if not cinematic, effect. Dramatic enough for Instagram, at least.
Slow motion could be to mobile video what filters were to mobile photography. Gradually, despite inevitable backlash for “overuse,” it will become a standard part of the video-sharing process; like filters, it’s a way to make bad, hastily shot media seem sort of cool. It would work particularly well in the context of Snapchat, where video is often just background for a text message.
Samsung’s newer Android phones support high-frame-rate video recording, and it looks pretty good:
But on the Galaxy S4, this feature is marooned in the camera app —
there’s really nowhere to put a video like this except for YouTube. And
it’s possible that the iPhone’s feature will end up the same way;
Instagram and Vine and Snapchat have to decide that slow motion is a
good idea and build it into their apps.
But if they do? Get ready to get tired of slow motion, and fast.
But if they do? Get ready to get tired of slow motion, and fast.
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