filter

Lightbox for Android is a camera replacement and social photo browser app that automatically syncs all of your pictures to your Lightbox.com account. If you like, you can even choose to make any of your photos publicly viewable on your Lightbox.com photo wall as well.

When you first download and install Lightbox, you'll notice that two new icons pop up in your app drawer: Camera by Lightbox and Lightbox Photos. Don't freak out, though. These are just two different entry points to the same app--one brings you straight through to the photo browser, while the other … Read more

Vignette is a versatile camera replacement app that's equipped with nine different shooting modes, and a huge menu of effects and frame styles to modify your photos. Because it offers options both before and after snapping, Vignette gives you a virtually unlimited number of photographic possibilities.

Before shooting, Vignette lets you choose from nine different shooting modes: Normal, Blind, Fast shot, Steady shot, Self timer, Time lapse, Strip, Grid, and Double. The Strip and Grid modes are especially fun, as they mimic the 4-in-1 prints of novelty Photobooths. And Time lapse is a unique interval shooting mode that, frankly, … Read more

PicPlz for Android is a camera replacement app with a strong social component. Similar to Instagram, its rival and the leading social photo app for iPhone, PicPlz lets you snap, add filters to, and share photos from your mobile device, all in one fell swoop.

First thing to know when using PicPlz is that you need an account to get started. That's because PicPlz, more than just a camera app on your phone, is connected to a full Web-based service that backs up your photos online and posts your photos to its PicPlz network. It's important to note … Read more

As its name suggests, Camera360 is an all-around, effects-heavy camera app for your Android mobile device. Depending on how complicated you want to get, it could serve as a power-packed replacement for your device's stock camera app.

Camera360 rolls the functionality of several different camera apps into one. It lets you wrap frames or scenery around your photos, or add whimsical effects like Ghost, Infrared Thermal, or a Warhol-like Four-Color Poster. And, of course, there's also a long menu of filters to choose from, including two different HDR filters, Black & White, Retro, and Lomo styles among many … Read more

Action Snap for Android lets you use your phone's camera to take analog-looking lomographic photos.

Because it can snap a series of photos rather quickly, Action Snap is great for capturing action shots. Hit the shutter button, and the app will shoot four or nine photos (you choose) in quick succession, and arrange them into a single print. It can arrange your series into a horizontal configuration, 2x2, 3x3, or a single image. Adjust the shooting interval from 0.1s to 5s to capture different ranges of action. Or if you like, switch to custom mode to snap each … Read more

Contrary to its name, Little Photo for Android is huge on features. With an impressive list of filters and tools, and a seemingly infinite number of combinations to apply, Little Photo is an awesomely powerful camera app for your mobile device.

Open up the app, and either activate the camera, or load up an existing photo from your gallery. If you choose to take a new photo, you can either snap as you tap or enable a 3-second timer. From there, you'll be jetted over to the work space, where you can scroll through pages of effects to apply … Read more

We all like having things tailored to our specific needs and interests. But Eli Pariser thinks we should beware of the substantial risks inherent in the increasing personalization of the Internet.

Better known (so far) as the executive director of the progressive political action committee MoveOn.org, Eli Pariser is making noise these days as the author of "The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding from You." His new book, which was released yesterday, argues that the latest tools being implemented by the likes of Google and Facebook for making our Internet experiences as individual as possible … Read more

Windows supports text files natively and also incorporates a search function, but it doesn't go out of its way to put the two together. MuseTips Text Filter is a compact, portable, and free tool that can quickly and thoroughly search text files. It searches as you type and displays matching terms in contrasting colors. It also offers autosuggestions, full support for regular expressions, multiple query modes, and extensive filtering.

At less than 500KB unzipped, Text Filter is certainly lightweight, and since it's fully portable, it runs from any location, including from a USB drive or other portable device. … Read more

Acorn is an easy-to-use but still relatively feature-filled image editor that provides a lower-cost alternative to professional editing programs. With its slimmed-down interface--just a single palette and a document window--Acorn feels much like Apple's iLife applications, but it still provides a full array of editing features, including multiple layers (with masks), vector shapes, filters (such as tilt-shift, plus support for Quartz Composer compositions), blending, gradients, text and drawing tools (including a Brush Designer for custom brushes), and a hex color picker.

What makes this app most appealing is its ease of use and raw speed: Acorn takes full advantage … Read more