With high quality digital cameras on every smartphone and apps that make your pictures even better, just about anyone can be an accomplished photographer. Sure, you may not be an accomplished professional photographer, but you can certainly upload your images to photo sharing sites and receive feedback to make your shots even better.

As most people know, there are a number of popular services already out there that let you take your shot, add effects and other enhancements, then upload it for all to see. But the other thing that's great about photo sharing sites is the ability to browse through thousands of photographs and join the conversation in the comments. Seeing the world through others eyes has a voyeuristic quality and swimming through a sea of photographs can be incredibly addictive. So even if you're not an aspiring photographer or don't care about the social aspects of these services, you might just like to look at other people's work simply for the stories the images tell.

I rounded up a couple of the most popular photo sharing sites and put them together with some good quality lesser known services so you can decide which one is more up your alley.

Instagram (iPhone | Android) is a popular photo enhancement app that requires only a couple of touches to produce retro-l... [Read more]

Today's cameras are capable of capturing some pretty amazing shots, whether you're using a DSLR, a point-and-shoot camera, or even your cell phone. The average resolution of a contemporary camera can range anywhere from six to 20 megapixels--three to four times the quality of cameras of less than three years ago. However this clarity comes at a cost. As images get clearer, file sizes get bigger. JPEGmini helps you retake control over the enormous photo collection you have laying around by reducing the amount of space these files take up on your hard drive.

Originally developed for the Mac, JPEGmini (free webware) recently debuted its Windows version, which we were able to take for a spin. Does it hold up to its Mac counterpart?

The interface is clean and streamlined. After the speedy installation simply launch JPEGmini and you can begin dragging and dropping files. We found that conversion rate depends more on the number of files you're feeding the software rather than file sizes. 300 images seem to take about a couple minutes, while 1,000 files took less than 10.

The size reduction is truly impressive. JPEGmini took 400MB worth of vacation photos from a Canon T3i (18MP) and spit them back out at less than 100MB. We then fed i... [Read more]

Changes to Chrome 27 for Android deliver search tweaks.

Google made searching in Chrome for Android a bit easier with an update Wednesday to the browser.

The latest stable version of Google Chrome 27 for Android (download) now displays search queries in the location bar's Omnibox. The change obfuscates the URL display during searches, to show more results and make it easier to tweak the search terms, according to the Google blog announcing the update.

Another tweak hides the location bar entirely once you start scrolling, so that you can view a Web page in fullscreen. History viewing has finally made it to the tablet version of Android Chrome, viewable by long-pressing the browser's back button. The full changelog for Chrome 27 for Android is here.

Voice search improved in Chrome 27 for iOS.

For Chrome on iOS (download), the update will bring the kind of voice search that ... [Read more]

Software publisher Soluto made a PR splash last month when it issued its first PC purchasing guide, concluding that a Macbook was the best laptop for running Windows ... mostly because running Windows on Mac requires a clean install of the OS, unlike most default Windows laptops, which include varying amounts of OEM (original equipment manufacturer) software.

Soluto is back today with a new "Monthly Insights" report that looks at Windows Store app usage. Windows Store apps are commonly referred to as "Metro" apps, despite Microsoft's abandonment of the Metro code name for the new "modern," touchscreen-focused interface. Soluto continues to reinforce the misnomer in this new report.

Regardless, the results of the Windows Store app usage survey aren't pretty. Analyzing 10,848 Windows 8 machines and 313,142 Windows Store app launches across 9,634 unique apps, Soluto concluded that a whopping 61 percent of desktop users and a surprising 44 percent of Windows 8 tablet users launch Windows Store apps less than once per day.

The Windows Communicat... [Read more]

LAS VEGAS -- You won't see a new phone from Nokia at CTIA, but the company did reveal it was expanding its already impressive Here Maps for Windows Phone 8 devices.

Available today is an update that will integrate the company's LiveSight augmented reality feature. Previously available only through the CityLens app, LiveSight pulls up nearby locations and displays relevant information like the type of business or attraction, the hours, the address and phone number, and customer ratings.

You access LiveSight mode through a dedicated control in the Here interface. Once activated, you'll see the points of interest either overlaid on the standard map or in a mode that resembles Google's Street View. It also works when you're offline.