During Nokia’s Lumia 925 event back in May it was revealed that Hipstamatic Oggl (hipstamatic.com/oggl) would be coming exclusively to Lumia Windows Phones, allowing the more serious photographer out there to share their images on the Hipstamatic network.
Previously available only on iOS and powered by filters and lenses, the potent photo network also allows users to post directly to Instagram via a deal reached with the company in mid-2012. Besides Instagram, Facebook and Twitter support are also included.
Now with the Nokia Lumia 1020 officially released today on AT&T, Oggl (for Windows Phone 8 Lumias) and Oggl Pro (for the Lumia 1020) will be available today as well.
What is Oggl?
Oggl is a photography app from the award winning company Hipstamatic that includes five pre-set filters, including landscape, portrait, nightlife, food and sunset. Described as "a community for creative people to capture and curate their lives through photography", Oggl is the latest expansion of the Hipstamatic brand into a more robust, photo creation network. You select the preset and snap away, saving the image to the device. Later, you can go back and re-apply numerous filters to it, changing it as many times as you want.
While Oggl comes with five filter presets, users can grab more “Gear” via the store. That gear includes additional virtual lenses and film types, giving your photos a very unique and hip look to them because you can mix and match. To get access to the more advanced gear, it costs $2.99 a quarter or $9.99 a year, but Nokia Lumia users get free access for 60-days to try as much as they like. The amount of extra “gear” is almost overwhelming, ensuring that you won’t get bored with the service. After all, while filters are old for mobile photography, it was Hipstamatic that pioneered it years ago, so they have a lot of experience.
Once saved to the device, you have the option of sharing to the Oggl network, where you can have people follow you or you follow others. Likewise from the Share screen you can post to Facebook, Twitter and for the first time (officially) Instgram.
What’s Oggl Pro?
Oggl Pro is simply the version for the Nokia Lumia 1020, announced just a few weeks ago. It’s the same as Oggl only that it was built around the deeper Nokia camera SDK, meaning users can have full access to manual control of exposure, white balance, ISO and shutter speed, as well as an auto-level indicator and high-quality zoom.
Such features should sound like the Nokia Pro Cam app and indeed, that is what Nokia’s camera SDK gives access too. Those who use Oggl Pro will get a more fine-tuned experience, giving a notch in professionalism to Windows Phone users who opt for the flagship camera phone.
Functionally speaking, Oggl and Oggl Pro are the same app, it’s just the Pro version is a bit more sophisticated (it’s also a bit more sluggish due to the 1020’s advanced setting abilities).
Instagram finally comes to Windows Phone! Kind of…
Sure we have Instance already available to browse and upload photos to Instagram and another third-party solution is coming from Rudy Huyn in the future, but Oggl is the first commercial application that allows you to post directly to the famous hipster network with their blessing. Granted you can't browse the Instagram network, but for those looking for a legal and safe approach to posting to Instagram, you now have a solution.
That’s because back in 2012, Hipstamatic was one of the most popular imaging apps on iPhone, having won app of the year in 2010. However, in 2011, Instagram won that title and instead of going head to head, Instagram allowed the popular app to post directly to the network. That carried over to the Oggl network launched in late May of 2013, the same time frame during the Lumia 925 announcement.
Interestingly, Oggl is available on iOS and now Nokia Windows Phones but there is nothing official yet for Android, making this a rare win for the burgeoning platform (we have a feeling Nokia played a role here).
We'll update this post as soon as we get the Store links...
Update: You can now download Oggl here and Oggl Pro for the Lumia 1020 here from the Nokia Collection.
Oggl
Oggl Pro
