(Last edited Feb 26, 2008)

The Photos Application is not generally included in most Palm devices since most Palm devices except for a few, do not have a built-in camera. Even on the Zire 72, which is the newer version of the Zire 71, doesn’t have the same Photos application since the Zire 72 has both camera and video capability and the camera is of a higher resolution (1280 x 960 vs 640×480 (Zire 71)). I will be discussing the Photos application found only on the Zire 71, which is part of the software included in the Zire 71.

A Lexar branded Secure Digital (SD) flash memory card

Second, it provides a photos viewing software that can display photos either taken from the built-in camera, or photos imported from the Windows computer via the Palm Desktop software. So, the Palm can become a virtual photo album. What a better way to show off your children’s pictures, or of your vacation, or of others who are important to you.

What better way to explain or show how the picture rendering part of the Photos application works on the Zire 71 than with a simulation.

Simulation of viewing photo images in the Photos application

Alternative links: Photobucket, Image Shack

This simulation shows the display of photos (default Palm photos) in the Photo Application as well as the navigation of the menus and preferences.

The simulation will play through to the end unless I’ve inserted a pop up note to explain specific points.

To continue playing the simulation, press the button.

To go back to a previous paused segment, click on the button.

To pause the simulation at any time, press the button. To continue after it’s paused, press the button again.

To scroll forwards or backwards in the simulation, click anywhere on the left (to go back earlier in the simulation), or right (to go forward in the simulation) on the progress bar.

Here are some screenshots of the Photos Application showing how photos or digital images are displayed in the software.

Thumbnails view of the photo image files, showing a smaller image of the digital image file in a photo album layout

You have the ability to change the current thumbnails view to list view, show the pictures in a slideshow, view only specific Albums categories and viewing a specific photo by tapping on the image.

Image view of the digital photo image file

Tapping on the image will return you back to the previous screen.

List view showing the name of the digital image file, the date of creation

Details view of a particular image file shown when the yellow note icon is tapped.

You can view the name, date of creation, size of the image file, resolution of the picture, notes, where the file is stored, and the Album category it’s listed under.

The drop down menu of Album categories available

Select any of the categories and the current image file will be categorized in that Album category.

The Photo menu: Details, Delete Photo, Rotate Photo, Copy to Card, Beam Photo

You can view the details of a particular image file (shown in Details view screenshot), Delete, Rotate a photo by 90 degrees, Copy the image file to the flash memory card, or Beam (transfer image file via infrared to another infrared capable device)

Options menu: Preferences, Photo Help, About Photos

The Options menu allowing you to change the delay time for the slideshow feature (Preferences), Photo Help provides brief notes on how to use the application, and About Photos provides the version number of the Photos application.

The pop up Preferences screen

Tapping on preferences in the Options menu will bring up this pop up menu. You have the ability to set the time delay of the slideshow feature. You can set the delay in the range of (1, 2, 3, 5 seconds or 1 minute).

The drop down menu of Album categories. Categorized image files will be displayed according

Unfortunately, I can’t create a simulation of capturing a photo with the Zire 71 so I will try to describe the process.

The Zire 71 has a slider mechanism that allows you to “slide out” the camera to take a picture and slide it back in when not in use. This kind of “spy” camera seems like it’s out of a James Bond movie, but I can assure you that it does work that way. It’s kind of cool to get the “looks” when you slide out that hidden camera.

The Palm Zire 71 device with the camera slider closed and hidden

Here’s a photo of the Zire 71 device as it normally looks with the camera hidden, looking like most other Palm devices.

Sliding and opening up the camera

The Zire 71 with the camera slider open and ready to take a picture

Normally, when the camera is hidden inside and the slider is closed, tapping on the Photos application icon will only bring up the photo viewing application because the camera is hidden inside and can’t capture anything anyway.

To activate the camera mode, you will need to slide out the camera so that it’s exposed and the camera mode is activated. Put your thumb at the bottom of the Palm, directly below the 5-way navigator/joystick button. Push up so that the camera slides out and the top part of the Palm slides out to expose the camera at the back and the previously hidden shutter button located underneath the four hardware and 5-way navigator buttons.

Screenshot of what’s shown on the Palm screen when the camera is activated

This is a screenshot of what the Palm screen displays when the slider is out exposing the camera lens and camera mode is activated. You have the option to change various settings like contrast, white balance, brightness. Tap on the Options button to access these settings.

Capturing a photo

Pressing on the shutter button will capture the picture. Or, pressing down on the 5-way navigator joystick button (directly above it) will also capture the picture

To capture a photo, simply look at the display and position your subject in the way you wish and when you’re ready to take the picture, press on either the shutter button located at the bottom of the Palm, or the 5-way navigator button located directly above it. Keep your hands very still for a few seconds, making sure that you don’t move while the camera is capturing the picture.

Once the shutter button or the 5-way navigator button is pressed, if the shutter sound is enabled, you will hear a shutter sound. The screen will freeze for a few seconds with the capturing of the picture. Also, if you have it set up that you can review a photo before saving, there’s an additional 3 seconds where you can delete the photo before it’s saved onto the storage medium. The countdown seconds are indicated on the bottom right, right underneath the gray garbage can icon. If you tap on the garbage can while the countdown is still on, you will delete the photo. Otherwise, the photo is saved. Once the photo is saved and the camera is ready to capture another photo, the screen will unfreeze and you can capture another photo. You can always delete photos or move them from being stored on the Palm (in RAM) to the expansion SD card (or vice versa) at any time.

Here are a few screenshots of the Photo application in camera mode:

What many Palm users will discover is that their pictures don’t turn out as well as they thought it would. Maybe the subject moved shortly after the shutter sound was heard, or the Palm user moved his hand shortly after hearing the shutter sound. The Palm takes about a few seconds AFTER the shutter button is pressed and the screen freezes to capture the photo If either the subject moved or the Palm user moved shortly after the shutter button is pressed, the picture will become blurry because the Palm was still in the process of capturing the photo. It is not as immediate as we are led to believe. So, in order to take better pictures, make sure that the hand and subject is kept motionless for a few seconds after the shutter button is pressed.

1 - Keep your subject/focus still, especially for the few seconds after you’ve pressed the shutter button.

2 - Keep your hands still and steady, again, for the few seconds after you’ve pressed the shutter button.

3 - Get adequate lighting. Pictures taken in low light will not turn out very well. You may want to try to adjust the brightness and contrast to make the picture turn out better. This involves a bit of tweaking in order to get the best picture.

4 - Make sure that there is lighting “on” the subject/focus and NOT behind the subject/focus. Having the lighting behind will make the subject look dark against a bright background. You want to use the light to your advantage to light up the subject.

5 - When positioning the subject in the photo, don’t get too close to the subject/focus so that the image you see is a blurry and distorted one. The camera lens is mainly designed to take pictures from afar.

Applying these tips should help and I’ve found improved results.

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