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Best photo apps for Android

Snapseed (free) Snapseed is not your typical one-dimensional, tap-to-apply photo-editing app. No, this Google-made download is aimed at more-discerning photographers who need to get granular in their adjustments. You can use Snapseed to adjust photographic attributes like color levels, saturation, brightness, white balance, contrast, and more. Plus, the app lets you perform basics like straightening, cropping, and adding filters to photos. What's more, Snapseed employs a unique gesture-based interface that makes photo editing not only easy, but enjoyable. It might take a while to learn how to use the app, but trust me, it will be well worth it. … Read more

Best photo apps for iPhone

Camera+ (99 cents) Camera+ is a solid image-editing tool that makes creating cool-looking shots easy, and all the upgrades since its release mean it has tons of useful tweaks. You can use digital-camera-like scenes to apply common camera effects in specific situations like simulated flash, sunset, backlit images, and portraits. You also can crop your images to your specs or select from several standard sizes.

When you want to add filters and effects, Camera+ makes it easy with a gridlike layout you can touch to see nuanced or drastic changes to your original image. The filters are organized by category … Read more

Edit photos on the go with BeFunky Photo Editor

Every Android user deserves a good photo editor. BeFunky Photo Editor is one of the best apps in this category. It works well and is packed with many creative tools to assist in altering images.

Easy to download and set up, BeFunky Photo Editor enables a user to get right down to business. There are no advanced settings to adjust and the user is greeted with a bold and modern-looking home screen with a fun vibe. The first time this app opens, it greets beginners with helpful hints. This is a detail many applications regretfully leave out. Photos may be … Read more

This iPhone app will make your kid smile before every picture

It's always a bit frustrating when you're trying to get your child to pose for a photo and they won't even look at your iPhone, let alone smile for it. In the past I covered GroupShot, an iOS app that combines multiple photos to ensure everyone is looking at the camera in the final shot. A great app, but it doesn't solve the problem of actually getting your child to smile.

Instead of jumping around, making noises and embarrassing yourself, let the iPhone app Picasound make animal sounds for you.

Using the app is very easy:… Read more

Create, share photo albums using Dropbox for Android

Last week Dropbox released an update to its Android app. The update brought with it the ability for users to create and share photo albums from directly within the app. You'll need to have the Camera Upload feature enabled if you want to take advantage of the new albums.

To begin, make sure you have the latest version of the Dropbox Android app installed on your device. Once you have the app updated, make sure you have the photo tab selected along the top. Then tap on the box with a check mark in it to begin selecting photos. … Read more

Create multimedia photo collages with Microsoft Photo Story 3

Microsoft's Photo Story is a free Windows program that lets you create audiovisual presentations out of your photos and images. You can quickly crop, rotate, and edit your pictures; personalize them with captions and titles; and add sound effects, narration, and background music. Photo Story saves your presentations as WMV files you can play on your PC or convert using a third-party video converter. Finished files can be small enough to send by email, too. Many Windows users already have it; those who don't can download and install it or repair their current installation, if necessary. We looked … Read more

Google adds high-res photo zoom to Google+

Two days ago, I griped that the new photo zoom feature in Google+ didn't work with high-resolution images. But today, it does.

"The blurriness issue you mention has already been fixed," said Dave Cohen, a photographer and Google+ team leader, in response to my experiments posting images ranging from 22 to 80 megapixels.

If you want to take advantage of the full-immersion view that's now available, I uploaded a batch of high-resolution photos from a trip to New Mexico and some even higher-resolution 60- and 80-megapixel shots taken with medium-format Phase One cameras of San Francisco … Read more

Why Adobe (and other vendors) should give away older software

No doubt you heard earlier this week that Adobe is giving away Creative Suite 2, an older version of its popular (and pricey) image-editing and design bundle.

Then it turned out that, no, the software wasn't free; Adobe's Don Isaacs wrote that the company was merely "terminating the activation servers for CS2," and that the download page was only for those who already owned licenses for the product.

Ah, but it was too late: the story had gone viral (big time), and it appears Adobe has decided not to try stuffing the genie back into the … Read more

The Insta-Zombie Workout Plan

Like most folks, I've made "enthusiastic" commitments to be more resolute in staying healthy this year. Such crazy claims include getting off the buttocks and working out, eating healthy, and other life-changing nonsense. Recently, one of my friends started this diet called the TAO Diet, which stands for Ten and One. The premise is simple: You eat 10 salads and one meal of whatever you please. Then rinse and repeat.

I've come to realize that I'm an attention-seeking and easily distracted geek with a healthy track record of...falling off track. But rather than giving … Read more