Silicon Valley start-up chaired by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone sparks the next phase in Polaroid's iconic historySEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Released exclusively on Apple's South Korean App Store today, the Polaroid Swing app enables people to create and share interactive photos on their phones with one easy tap and creates an engaging new visual medium to stand alongside photos and videos. Polaroid Swing is the result of a partnership between the iconic Polaroid brand and a Silicon Valley tech startup chaired by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone.
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Polaroid Swing photos capture one-second moments that magically come to life when you touch them or tilt your phone. They combine the compositional quality of a still photograph with the vitality of a world that's always moving.
Polaroid Swing today launches new features to coincide with its international expansion. The advanced camera technology now includes an improved frame-blending algorithm to enable higher quality, smoother 'interactive photos'. For the first time, users will be able to 'reply' to Polaroid Swing photos with text and emojis.
"South Korea is at the forefront of mobile photo innovation so we hope people will embrace Polaroid Swing here," says Tommy Stadlen, Co-Founder of Swing. "Korean photographers such as Hasisi Park have created amazing art with Polaroid and now Polaroid Swing gives them a new tool for expression. We are making the app available to iPhone users today, with plans to release on Android in 2017."
The Polaroid Swing US launch in July went viral when Apple selected the product as the main featured app on the US App Store home page and new iMessage App Store. This month, Apple has chosen Polaroid Swing to appear in physical retail stores across the world to demo the new iPhone. In the run-up to the US election, Hillary Clinton set up her Polaroid Swing account in an effort to connect with millennial voters.
The Polaroid Swing app aims to make available a new medium of expression for those with an artistic interest in the world around them. Polaroid Swing moving photos faithfully capture moments as we see them - the crash of the wave, the hair blowing in the wind, the blink of an eye.
Polaroid moving photos can be easily shared on the Polaroid Swing platform and beyond via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and the web. Polaroid Swing is available for free on the Apple App Store.
"Human beings see the world in short moments, not in stills or videos," says Stadlen. "Memories move, and now photos do too. The product combines Polaroid's iconic heritage with cutting edge innovation."
A tech startup backed by a unique partnership with Polaroid
Co-Founders Frederick Blackford, a media and sports entrepreneur, and Tommy Stadlen, a tech entrepreneur and former McKinsey consultant, have entered into a partnership with Polaroid to launch the Polaroid Swing app. They have quietly assembled world-class engineering and design talent. The company's R&D lab in San Francisco is centered around a team of former Apple engineers and computer vision experts.
Photographer Cole Rise, who designed Instagram's original filters and logo, is Chief Creative Officer. He has fostered a community of artists who co-created the new Polaroid medium in a highly secretive beta testing period.
"Polaroid Swing has the potential to change the way we think about images, just like Twitter's 140 characters changed how we think about words," says Biz Stone, Chairman of Swing and Co-Founder of Twitter. "People will start seeing the world in one second moments. It's a genre-defining medium."
Scott W. Hardy, President and CEO of Polaroid, says: "At Polaroid, we see ourselves as curators of innovation. We are delighted to collaborate with the extraordinary Polaroid Swing app team to help usher in a new era of sharing life's most memorable moments in an instant - which has always been at the very heart of Polaroid's iconic DNA."
Download the Polaroid Swing app for iPhone at https://itunes.apple.com/kr/app/polaroid-swing/id1035142291
Visit www.polaroidswing.com
The Polaroid Brand
Polaroid is one of the most trusted, well-respected and recognizable brands with a rich 80-year history beginning with Polaroid instant film. For more information, visit www.Polaroid.com
Polaroid, Polaroid & Pixel, Polaroid Color Spectrum, Polaroid Swing and Polaroid Classic Border Logo are trademarks of PLR IP Holdings, LLC.
Interactive Polaroid Swing photos for media to embed:
https://polaroidswing.com/press
https://polaroidswing.com/press/fashion
Contact for Polaroid Swing
Katja Schroeder
+1-646-757-6116
schroederk@ruderfinn.com
Contact for the Polaroid brand
Tracey Benjamini
+1-908-895-0787
tbenjamini@randjsc.com
