Splash

When a game mechanic works well, you're likely to see it in as many places as possible. Other designers and genres will borrow liberally from what has already been successful, and such is the case with Zombie Splash! Yet another take on the match-three genre of games that fill the App Store, Zombie Splash! brings little new to the table, while attempting to capitalize on the popularity of the zombie trend.

The game is very simple and likely familiar to anyone who has played a match-three game before, like Candy Crush Saga or Bejeweled. You are presented with a … Read more

Splash FX is a very simple app, but often when it comes to photography and the act of adding bits of flare to an otherwise pedestrian (or potentially funny) photo, that's all you need. Featuring multiple free filters, a speedy development time, and the option to export in multiple sizes, Splash FX is a great free photo-editing and FX tool for the iPhone. While not as powerful as many other paid apps (or its own paid version), the free version offers just enough features and has just the right balance of smart design to be worth a download.

When … Read more

There are a ton of image editors available for iPhone that let you play with photos -- many of which I've talked about here. But a specific set of editors lets you create a mask or lets you superimpose one image on top of another for some really cool effects. Recently, a popular Mac photo editor made its way to iOS (the third in this collection) and I thought I would put together a few apps to see how they compare.

This week's collection of iOS apps lets you add unique effects to your images. The first lets you superimpose images on top of each other and offers a ton of tools for tweaking the results. The second lets you blend images together and create masks to make them seem more realistic. The third doesn't bother with two images, but instead lets you add effects to only a portion of the image.… Read more

Bored with Instagram? Tired of Hipstamatic? Then perhaps your iPhone photography hobby should enter its color-splash period. Color splash photography creates arresting images, adding a dash of color to black-and-white photos. There are a number of color-splash apps (such as ColorSplash) for iOS, and MacPhun earlier this month brought its Color Splash Studio app from the Mac to the iPhone. Here's how it works:… Read more

A few of us here in the office have been looking for a portable Bluetooth speaker that will work in the shower. Alas, G-Project's new $69 G-Go speaker, which just became available in Target stores, is splash-resistant but not waterproof, so it might not quite fit the bill, but it's close.

The speaker comes in three colors and has an integrated handle for carrying it around. There are no built-in rechargeable battery like some portable Bluetooth speakers have, but you can get up to 8 hours of on-the-go use with four AA batteries, according to the company. You can stream music to it from any Bluetooth-enabled device, which includes virtually all smartphones and many tablets, including the iPad and higher-end Android tablets (the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet do not offer Bluetooth). … Read more

LAS VEGAS--One of the gadgets getting a little buzz here at CES is a spherical wireless waterproof speaker that floats in your pool.

It's called the Splash 100 and comes from Behringer, a German pro-audio company, which is surprising considering it will retail for a mere $99 when it comes out later this year.

We didn't get a chance to hear it yet (alas, the demo model didn't have sound) but it will allegedly have a 230-foot range (via a 900MHz RF signal) and deliver 3.5 hours of sound from its rechargeable battery.

MuldeR's MakeInstantPlayer is open-source freeware for converting video recordings into self-running executable files. By converting videos to program files, it makes it so they'll run when clicked, without requiring a media player. You can extract clips from movies and other sources and turn them into self-running videos that can be embedded, uploaded, and attached to lots of stuff.

MakeInstantPlayer's compact, efficient interface was easy to figure out: Click and browse to source and destination directories, select some options, and click Preview. The tool's player window opened and, after a moment, displayed our source video. Satisfied, we … Read more

Video technology is advancing by leaps and bounds, and it's no wonder that high-definition video is growing in popularity. The crystal-clear picture it provides is often stunningly life-like. Splash Lite is a sleek application that lets users view a variety of high-definition video formats that can't be handled by the average media player.

The program's interface is attractive and well-designed, with a menu that appears only when moused over. Using Splash Lite is as easy as using any other media player--the user simply opens the file they want to view, and Splash Lite plays it beautifully. The … Read more

IntroCreator allows people to create multimedia slideshows similar to that of PowerPoint. Although the program is not the most intuitive we've seen, a thorough Help file ensures that users have all the tools they need to create attractive presentations.

The program's interface is clean and well-organized, with thumbnails of each slide arranged in a grid. Large graphical buttons across the top give people access to the program's major features. Double-clicking each slide opens menus that allow users to customize the slide's appearance and content. Users who have never used a similar program before will likely need … Read more