GLMPS adds a twist to the photo-sharing fad
updated 07:00 pm EDT, Fri August 5, 2011
Adds short video 'context' to shared pics
Instant social-sharing of photos snapped (primarily) on the iPhone or iPod Touch through apps like Instagram has caught on with both artists and amateurs as a way to quickly pass on discoveries and documentation of their lives. A new service and app, GLMPS (pronounced "glimpse," free) offers a twist on the idea by pre-recording the five seconds before a photo is taken, making the photo the last "frame" of a short video -- giving more context to the picture.
The GLMPS app utilizes the ability in most iOS devices to record video as well as pictures. It reflects the developers' belief that incorporating the few seconds prior to a photo being taken captures more than just the image, but rather the atmosphere that makes the moment less "static" and more of a "slice of life."
Whether it is nervous bridesmaids actually saying "cheese" while posing or a child laughing as they are pushed on a swing, GLMPS creates a packaged "moment" the developers call a glmps (lower case) that can be shared in real-time on Facebook, Twitter, or Foursquare, be sent as an e-mail or MMS, posted to Tumblr or anywhere else on the web through a unique embed code (requires Flash).
The app itself also offers moments uploaded and shared by others, and the option to find and follow friends on the service, creating video "replies" to others' glmps, push notifications and more. The actual photo (the last frame of the five-second video) is stored as a normal high-resolution picture in the camera roll, and the app supports both front and back cameras on the iPhone 4.
At present, the service and app work with iPhone 3GS and later, or iPod Touch running iOS 4 and higher (does not work on the developer version of iOS 5). The app and service are free but require signup.
