blur

Split Pic Pro is a fun photo-editing app that lets you clone yourself (in a manner of speaking), create collage-like projects, add effects, then share your work with your friends.

To get started, you need to select one of the 12 different layouts. You have the option to move each of the bars that separates your layout for a little customization, but it really seems like it needs more default layouts. Fortunately, even with the small assortment, you'll be able to make some really cool projects.

The next step is to fill each of the panes with an image … Read more

Sometimes, privacy is utterly necessary. It's even a good thing.

This is something even Google is recognizing. Today, for example, it launches a fine new feature to help you feel more comfortable posting videos to YouTube.

For the company is now offering the ability to blur faces on YouTube videos with just one click.

Launching the service in an official -- and very clear -- blog post, YouTube policy associate, Amanda Conway explains that the site has become a significant source for news. Blurring, she says, is useful (though it didn't seem to be for the longest time … Read more

Big Lens is an image-editing app with a unique interface for adding effects and manipulating focus in your images. You start by snapping a picture or importing one from your photo library, then use touch-screen controls to set the aperture, change periphery blur levels, and adjust background light to create a bokeh effect. What's interesting about the app is that you have the ability to draw where you want focus or blur effects.

You start by drawing over the part of the image you want in focus, then hitting the arrow in the upper right to apply the effect. … Read more

TiltShift Generator combines blur and other depth-of-field effects to make objects in your photos seem miniature. To get the miniature effect, you'll ideally take photos from some distance, but even close-up shots can be put through TiltShift Generator with good-looking results.

TiltShift Generator does a great job of taking you through the process of creating tilt-shift images. The app automatically adds the tilt-shift effect, but you can also go through the process yourself. You start by either taking a photo with your iPhone camera or choosing an existing image from your library. From there you can adjust the blurred … Read more

This week on preGAME, hosts Jeff Bakalar and Mark Licea take a sneak peek at God of War III! Join us as we play it live on the show and talk to the game's lead designer, Todd Papy. We chat with Todd about wrapping up Kratos' epic saga, some of the new elements found in the game, and pushing the PlayStation 3 to its limits.

But before the demo, we kick off with some headlines that include a breaking announcement about a new game in the Rock Band franchise. That's right; Rock Band 3 will be hitting consoles … Read more

Canadian Google Android fans got more good news this week when Motorola announced a trio of handsets were headed north of the border. The three phones--the Quench (known as the Cliq XT south of the border), Backflip, and Dext (aka the Cliq in the U.S.)--each run Motorola's Motoblur user interface on top of Android. The smartphones are scheduled to arrive sometime within the first half of this year.

Though we don't know which carriers will get the handsets, three major Canadian service providers, Rogers, Bell, and Telus, are mentioned in the official press release.

Between this … Read more

Motorola will join the parade of companies paying through the nose for airtime during Super Bowl XLIV on February 7. Moto said Tuesday that it will show an ad during the game's third quarter that will feature a new MotoBlur handset.

And if that wasn't cagey enough, the company said that the commercial will feature "a well-known celebrity that you might be interested in seeing." By our measure, that could be anyone from Meryl Streep to Lady Gaga.

The company wouldn't provide any details, but you can check out a preview of the commercial (that'… Read more

Though the MotoBlur interface is a highlight of the Google-Android-powered Motorola Cliq, I wasn't sure if I liked it during my first experience with the phone. I enjoyed the capability to merge my contacts from various sources and access a universal in-box for e-mail and messages, but the constant flow of information seemed a bit overwhelming.

Now fast-forward three months. After spending a few weeks with the Cliq as a personal phone (I like to mix it up), I've changed my mind. MotoBlur can be convenient, informative, and a time-saver, as long as you use it wisely. Here's how.

The Happenings widget Moto pushes this as one of the best features of MotoBlur, but I would dump it immediately. It sits on the Cliq's central home screen and informs you of a variety of, well, happenings, from the essential to the exceedingly trivial. I enjoy knowing when a friend writes on my Facebook wall (that's the only social networking site I use), but I really don't care when some friend, distant or close, posts a new profile photo. What's more, I don't like that the Happenings widget can't screen out the friends that you've chosen to hide from your news feed (oh, come on, everyone does it).

Yes, I could just not look at the widget, but each "happening" causes the Cliq's LED above the display to flash. And while I could turn off the light, I want it to alert me when I have an e-mail from my partner or boss. The best solution is to drag the widget off the home screen. You still can access it from the main menu, but it's not always there flashing in your face.

Universal in-box This is my favorite MotoBlur feature. I love that the Messages widget combines my Outlook e-mail, Yahoo e-mail, text messages, and Facebook messages into one place. Gmail is not included, a fault that I hope is fixed soon, but I can scan through my latest communications and reply as needed.… Read more

I've been testing LCD monitors consistently for the past two years. In that time, I've run various tests designed to evaluate a monitor's response time. I've used games, movies, and the occasional scientific test to confirm if a manufacturer's claimed response time is accurate.

To be perfectly honest, I have a very difficult time seeing motion blur in movies and games. In fact, I'm not sure I've seen it any repeatable evidence of it on a modern monitor during a game or movie.

So it should go without saying that DisplayMate's recent findings on LCD response times come as no big shock to me. The findings come via an article by DisplayMate founder Raymond Soneira.

Here are Soneira's major conclusions based on tests conducted by DisplayMate on LCDs from major manufacturers.

1. A manufacturer's claimed response time specifications are not a scientifically accurate or a meaningful indicator of picture blur.

The motion blur DisplayMate measured on the HDTVs tested was more than 40 milliseconds. According to the article, this is more than a factor of 10 greater than the manufacturer's published specifications.

2. LCD manufacturers have made a big deal about refresh rates in the last couple of years with the jump from 60Hz to 120Hz and now 240Hz. CNET's own David Katzmaier suspected that benefits with the jump to 240Hz were dubious already, but here's more evidence to back it up. … Read more