Image

Creative photo editing

Alexey Ivanov's Photofunia is a photo-editing tool that makes image editing a no-brainer. It takes only seconds to put your face (or anything you like) on a billboard, a stamp, or in a Warhol-like work of pop art (our favorite effects). In other words: special effects created in no time.

The well-designed interface is so easy-to-use that most won't even need the Help file. We loved the fact that Photofunia is able to access your picture gallery or new images. Simply select the image and the app automatically finds the faces in any image. You can easily insert … Read more

Offbeat photo apps to make something unique on your iPhone

Photo taking apps are a dime a dozen in the App Store, but if you look a little deeper, you can make some really cool projects as long as you use some creativity.

Instead of simply giving your photos a retro look like many of the popular camera apps, there are a number of options that turn your images into a creative project in which you can use your imagination to come up with something unique.

This week's collection of apps are all about doing something different with your images on your iPhone. The first quickly turns your photos … Read more

The 404 1,116: Where we keep up the good work (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Microsoft squares off with new logo.

- Scientists discover that music memories are stored in a different part of the brain than the rest.

- Buzzfeed interviews a Google employee whose job required vetting thousands of terrible images a day.

Bathroom break video: Ghostbusters theme on eight floppy drives.

Video voice mail: Matt from Colorado Springs deserves a trucker hat.

Episode 1,116 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video  

Carlyle takes controlling interest in Getty Images for $3.3 billion

Global alternative asset manager Carlyle Group has agreed to acquire control of Getty Images for $3.3 billion.

According to Carlyle Group, the acquisition will not give it 100 percent ownership in the company. Instead, the asset manager has bought out Getty Images' major owner, private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, giving it a "controlling stake" in the company.

Getty Images co-founder and chairman Mark Getty, along with his family and co-founder and CEO Jonathan Klein, have rolled "substantially all" of their equity into the transaction, effectively making them Carlyle's partners.

Getty Images has been … Read more

Kodak patent auction drags on past deadline

Eastman Kodak failed to announce a winner for its patent bid yesterday, saying that the process is still "ongoing."

Kodak, which was supposed to announce the winners by 2 p.m. PT yesterday, said just minutes before the deadline that it was extending the time for its announcement. The company said that its creditors were onboard with the move, and indicated that all participants were still bound by a "court order on confidentiality."

"Kodak and its creditors have agreed to extend the timeline for announcing the outcome of the patent auction in light of continuing … Read more

Edit images quickly with PixelSwapper

In graphics software, sometimes less is more, and what you really need is a simple, fast, lightweight tool that can do the most common jobs quickly and neatly. Zeta Centauri's PixelSwapper is just such an app. With basic commands like Rotate, Resize, Crop, and Grayscale, it can manipulate your images in less time than it takes to learn which menu to use on those feature-packed Photoshop clones. PixelSwapper can also convert images between several image formats.

PixelSwapper has one of the simplest user interfaces we've seen for any kind of tool, let alone a graphics editor -- even … Read more

Get Pixelmator 2.1 image-editing app (Mac) for $15

Pixelmator was already one of the great deals in Mac software, offering Photoshop-style image editing at a fraction of the price.

Now it's even better: for a limited time, you can get Pixelmator 2.1 for just $14.99. It normally sells for $59.

Actually, it's been $14.99 since June, but the just-released version 2.1 adds a wealth of new features -- including Mountain Lion support -- while keeping that tantalizing price.

For those unfamiliar with it, Pixelmator offers advanced image editing via a Photoshop-like interface. Said CNET's Jason Parker in his review of an earlier version: … Read more

A 'Google Earth' approach to researching cells

Imagine being able to navigate our own biological tissue much in the way Google Earth allows us to zoom in on our own backyards. Only instead of mailboxes and fences, you could spot, say, rogue cancer cells.

Researchers out of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands may be making such a future possible by stitching together molecular- and cellular-level images of biological tissues into truly gigantic composite images.

One such landscape -- of a zebrafish embryo -- consists of 26,000 images, is 281 gigapixels, and boasts a resolution of 16 million pixels per inch.

The researchers explain their … Read more

Bids come in low for Kodak's digital-imaging patents

Opening bids for Kodak's digital-imaging patent portfolio from two competing investor groups backed separately by Google and Apple came in far below the $2.6 billion that the troubled company says it is worth.

The photography pioneer received bids from the two groups in the $150 million and $250 million range, people familiar with the auction process told The Wall Street Journal.

Kodak representatives declined to comment on the reported bid range, citing a court confidentiality order.

"The auction process, including information about bids and the identity of bidders, is confidential pursuant to an order of the Bankruptcy … Read more