Co-opting HDR

Slipping HDR into the latest iPhone iOS update is a shrewd, opportunistic move by Apple which I imagine was nowhere on their release schedule a month or two ago, before decent HDR apps began to appear - then a lightbulb went on somewhere in the immediate vicinity of Steve Job's office in Cupertino.

Adding HDR enables Apple, in a single move, to occupy a marketing position where they can advertise that the iPhone takes infinitely better photos than any other smartphone; I can see the comparison photo advertising in my head already. People won't need to understand what HDR is, they'll just quickly associate amazingly more vivid and hyper-real photos with the iPhone, even though other handsets will replicate it. Apple will be first to capitalise.

Very smart move, particularly considering it's not even their concept, but they've brought HDR to the masses and added to their marketing armoury in a single, simple update to an existing product.

I'd probably be pissed off if I had just spent 2 months developing an HDR app hoping to sell it, but those guys should move up a level into the HDR Time Lapse video creation space, doubtful that Apple will go there and it should be easy to branch their existing apps off in that direction.