JOBY products popped up everywhere this week from prime time TV to high end design catalogs, with a slight layover in some European capitals.
Awesome news – GorillaMobile Ori was selected as a finalist for the 2011 International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) by ISDA!
iPads as the next generation of surveillance technology, may not be the most catching or realistic thing to ever appear on a TV show, but if you are going to do it – do it right. We were tickled pink to see GorillaMobile Yogi’s for iPad crawling around the control center in the season finale of the Mentalist last week.
Going a little more high brow? If you happen to get the Kartell catalog at home. You may see some surprisingly familiar imagery on products. We were psyched to see our office and products featured…sure they really cared about the bookcase, but that’s just gravy.
GorillaPods reintroduced themselves to the German market this week thanks to our new partner – HAMA Germany.
And then, the JOBY products were off to France to hang out with blogging and photography fun of Fanny’s Party – a hip press event held in Paris. There the team showed off the full product line with a special emphasis on GorillaMobile for iPhone 4 and Frame X Frame. It’s ironic that this picture could really use a tripod…
To round a very active week – GorillaTorch was featured in the Redbook and the JOBY|Peter Stathis Venture Collaboration had a great feature in the Huffington Post.
If you haven’t downloaded Frame X Frame, the first indispensible free iPhone 4 camera app that easily creates and shares stop motion videos…then today is the day to do so.
The Stop Motion Addict Contest has officially begun. The competition will be fierce as participants compete to win a grand prize bundle including a Canon 7D DSLR, a GorillaPod Focus and Ballhead, and a screening of their Stop Motion film at the Renderyard Short Film Festival in Spain this November. The contest will close on May 31st and the winner will be announced on June 8th.
Contest judges will include Mark Reid, Founder and Director of Renderyard Short Film Festival, Estafania Merino, Co-Director of Renderyard Short Film Festival, Trevor Hardy, Animator of Watermill Farm on Nick Kids, Gregory Han of Apartment Therapy, Mike Doyle from About.com’s Skiing Guide, and pro-photographer and JOBY pro-team member, *Safe Solvent. A Canon Powershot S95 will be awarded to the fan favorite video entry which receives the highest number of YouTube “thumbs up” votes.
Stop motion is simple and easy using Frame X Frame. Users just shoot, stitch and share their videos within the iPhone app. To enter JOBY’s “Stop Motion Addict” contest, participants must download the free Frame X Frame iPhone 4 app from the iTunes store, shoot a stop motion video using the Frame X Frame app and upload it to the JOBY YouTube page.
You can stay up to date as the contest unfolds by following the #JOBYFXF on Twitter or by liking JOBY on Facebook.
And now the nitty gritty contest rules:
Contest runs 5/2/2011 – 5/31/2011
To enter the STOP MOTION ADDICT CONTEST
1. Download Frame X Frame free from the iTunes Store
2. Shoot a killer stop motion video with Frame X Frame
3. Upload the video to your YouTube account and share in on this page
4. Get your friends to vote by giving it a thumbs up
5. Repeat! (Up to 3 entries per person)
PRIZES
–Grand Prize: 7D + GorillaPod Focus plus Ballhead X plus featured at Renderyard film festival (link to: http://www.renderyard.com/)
–2nd prizes: choice of GorillaPod SLR Zoom plus ballhead and your choice of a GorillaTorch Blade or GorillaTorch Switchback
-Runners Up: prize (10 winners): GorillaMobile for iPhone 4
–Fan Favorite: Point and shoot Camera
ENTRY GUIDELINES
•Winners (except for the fan favorite) will be judged by an esteemed panel of judges based on –25% Creativity, 25% Technical Skill, 25% Virality, 25% Overall execution
•3 stop motion entries per person (must be shot using Frame X Frame app in either continuous or manual mode)
•Videos cannot exceed 3 minutes
•Contest ends 5/31, Winner Announced 6/8
•Fan favorite will be based on # of thumbs up to the winning entry (thumbs down will not impact fan favorite calculations
•Entrants must have actually taken the video. Purchased or stolen images or videos are not permitted.
•Edgy and creative is good, but pornography will be removed. JOBY ultimately reserves the right to disqualify entries it deems inappropriate.
•Contest is open to eligible participants, 18 years of age or older. This contest is void where prohibited. JOBY employees or family members of employees are not eligible. JOBY reserves the right to disqualify entrants or photographs it deems inappropriate or offensive. Entrants must be the rightful owners of any/all copyrights associated with submitted image(s) or video(s), or else must have explicit permission to distribute the image(s). Copyright violations will result in immediate disqualification. By submitting an image entrant retains ownership of the image or video, but grants JOBY an unrestricted license to publish, promote and reuse the image or video in perpetuity. In the event that a selected winner resides someplace where terms of this contest are prohibited or is found to have violated the terms and conditions of the contest, that winner will be declared ineligible and a new winner selected. All decisions of JOBY, Inc. are final. The names of winners will be posted by 6/8/2011 at: https://blog.joby.com.
It’s Here! Following on the awesome success of the Gorillacam with 2.5 million downloads, the latest JOBY app is now available in the iTunes Store.
Frame X Frame makes stop motion a breeze. With easy set-up, the free iPhone app allows you quickly capture and stitch together a stop motion video that is ready to be shared with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, Email and YouTube. Plus, Frame X Frame provides with more great features that will turn your iPhone into a picture-taking dream.
Some great features to make this your new go-to camera app:
Geotagging –automatically attaches exif data to your pictures
Self-Timer, 3 Shot Burst & Press Anywhere allow you take the exact picture that you want – you included
Bubble level to frame up your shot easily
PS You can tweet about the app using #JOBYFXF and see some awesome dance moves on the JOBY Facebook page using Frame X Frame
Today, I stumbled across this intriguing image with a scary JOBY GorillaPod plus camera peering ominously over fright-filled cigarettes. The story behind the image is even more arresting as it is by a Spanish photographer, J. Tiogran Solana who recently quit smoking and used the money he saved from not smoking to buy himself a camera. The cigarettes are there to help celebrate his one year anniversary with the his camera.
Two fun videos appeared this week embracing outdoor adventures. The first is a video of a clear love affair with a Cannondale bike captured with a GorillaPod SLR Zoom.
The second, makes me want to hit the slopes as the film captures the child-like grin you get while skiing…and the inevitable fall that comes when you are filming yourself doing it.
Continuing to attract attention for it’s unique look and ergonomically-empowered positions, the GorillaMobile Ori for iPad had a few strong write ups this week in iPhone Life Magazine and MacStories.
Great opening paragraph in the MacStories article:
For those still holding onto the original iPad, have you ever thought about stepping your game up when it comes watching a family movie or utilizing the iPad as a bookstand? That folio case you have isn’t going to elevate the iPad above those popcorn jaws, and you certainly aren’t going to get a stable viewing angle on a leather cover as you tap through a recipe book. Even with a slew of gadgets and arms, the iPad is only as flat as its case. JOBY will help your iPad avoid disaster with a product that’s quite transformative.
We were pleased to find out this week, that our enormously popular iPhone app, Gorillacam, has been featured in not just one, but two different books. How to Create iPhone Photos by Allan Hoffman and iPhone Obsessed by Dan Marcolina both show off the Gorillacam app but the latter also features the lovely GorillaMobile for iPhone 4.
This beautiful film about Medieval Walls in Ferrara Italy by Giorgio Fochesato is shot in black and white and is an eerily beautiful vision of a UNESCO Heritage site.
The GorillaMobile Yogi won some new fans this week, due to it’s playful adaptability. In iLounge, the “highly recommended” Yogi, was praised for being “as close to truly great as any such accessory has come for the first-generation iPad.” On the other side of the pond both GorillaMobile Yogi and GorillaMobile Ori were reviewed by CNET.
And to leave on a humorous note…and how I felt at times this week:
This week has been very meeting filled, so I am actually looking forward to the bizarrely cold weather that appears to be coming our way. I don’t believe it, but the weather gods of the iPhone claim that it will somehow be snowing with a low of 36 degrees today. Looking out the window it is sunny – there does seem to be a disconnect here.
I love the title of this book, ” Do Carrots Make Nice People?” I am glad they clarified the species, because otherwise it would imply that rabbits are the nicest of all. To date, I just haven’t found that to be the case.
Press
In the meantime, this week we received great press for our newest additions to the product line – the GorillaMobile Ori and the GorillaMobile Yogi. CNET did a great hands on review of the GorillaMobile Ori and the GorillaMobile Yogi for iPad – Kama Sutra references and all.
In a much more family-friendly take on the GorillaMobile Yogi for iPad, the Dallas Morning News, highlighted the multiple positions of the Yogi.
The Friday before a long weekend here in the States, how lovely. My dance-loving-mood continues this week with a 80’s inspired groove fest with a dancing GorillaPod by Justin Bolduc Turpin.
Feeling the need to travel, but not quite ready to pay for a ticket to Barcelona? David Kenny stitched together a series of lovely time lapse videos from a trip.
This week we had two amazing stories sent into customer service.
The first comes from Australia, here’s what Lance Royce had to say:
“I live in Cairns Queensland Australia and in the aftermath of the Cyclone this month we lost power for almost four days. We had a gas stove to cook on, but no clean light to see what we were cooking, so I got my Gorillatorch and attached it to the metal range hood (see attached pic’s). We also used it to light up our living room by pointing the Gorillatorch on the white ceiling giving us a brighter area to help read and see better.
Thank you Joby for a fantastic, practical and useful product.”
Another customer, came up with a great new use for the GorillaMobile Ori – the workout.
I love the rainbow effect of the store aisles from the long exposure photo shot using a GorillaPod attached to a shopping cart by Dr Syntax.
And now for some valentine’s lovin’…
The GorillaPod video made the top Valentine’s picks for US Magazine.
Not to be forgotten, the GorillaPod Focus got a great write-up by Layers Magazine.
Welcome to Friday and hopefully the start of a lovely weekend. This first image is absolutely adorable at first glance…although it becomes a little more sinister as you take a deeper look. These precious fimo characters seem to be having a jolly good time at play with hearts and love in the garden. But then there seems to be a pile of (dare-I -say-it) poop next to them. And, the GorillaPod monster does look like it is about to feast on the cute little bunnies. Maybe the carrot will be saved by the bunnies – clearly they are way more interested in each other than the whole idea of eating.
I love the lighting in this beautiful study of childhood and well sharpened colored pencils by Stefan Bassman.
Not sure if this was shot with a GorillaPod or not, but it is interesting and so I thought it was worth including. This video is a compilation of time-lapse videos shot from hotel room windows over the course of a year by Phillip Bloom. It is an interesting way to look back on a year. I think if I were to do it for last year, it would include a few slightly less picturesque views of air shafts and alleys.
Finally, a great write-up of the GorillaMobile Yogi on Gear Diary. I am not so clear, why you would want to wear the Yogi as a necklace, but I am eager to find out more. This use on the other hand would come in very handy.
Last week at CES, we launched two incredibly different iPad products. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones excited by our creations. The GorillaMobile Ori won best in show for Beatweek Magazine. Notcot didn’t only love our product they also marvelled at our booth and the origami that we used in both our stop motion videos and to draw attention to our new products. This great in depth piece covers our partnership with Origami master Robert Lang who not only created a sculptural element for the booth, but also crafted amazing origami for our stop motion video to help launch GorillaMobile Ori for iPad.
Today, at CES Unveiled, JOBY is launching two new iPad products with distinct users in mind. After researching and observing how people interact with their iPads we realized that there are two very different types of iPad users. We wanted to provide each of these users with the ultimate positioning experience so they can enjoy reading, cooking, or watching movies for hours without sacrificing their neck.
GorillaMobile Ori for iPad is designed for the professional who seeks to get maximum the productivity on-the-go of their iPad. Inspired by the art of Origami, the Ori easily folds into ergonomic positions, allowing you to comfortably push the limits of the iPad.
Check out our fun stop-motion, Origami video entitled “Morning Folds to Night” to find out more about how the Ori works throughout the day:
For more in depth information on how this super lightweight, protective case + stand works, watch Eric walk you through the positions:
For users, who prefer to cuddle up with their iPad and use it in uneven and comfy situations like lying on the couch or the bed, the GorillaMobile Yogi for iPad allows for total flexibility in all environments. With chunky, playful legs that wrap around nearly anything, the Yogi makes itself at home easily in nearly an infinite number of poses to maximize your iPad experience.
So, really it just boils down to, what kind of iPad user are you?
Going a little more high brow? If you happen to get the Kartell catalog at home. You may see some surprisingly familiar imagery on products. We were psyched to see our office and products featured…sure they really cared about the bookcase, but that’s just gravy.
And then, the JOBY products were off to France to hang out with blogging and photography fun of Fanny’s Party – a hip press event held in Paris. There the team showed off the full product line with a special emphasis on GorillaMobile for iPhone 4 and Frame X Frame. It’s ironic that this picture could really use a tripod…
