As I’m sure many of you know, Spotify recently submitted their iPhone application for Apple’s approval (see Spotify in the iPhone App store - will Apple approve it?). It looks really exciting, especially considering it’s ability to cache playlists, eliminating the need to hang around WiFi hotspots all day.

In my opinion it’s an incredibly difficult decision on Apple’s part. On one side they have to consider that Spotify could potentially be (as it has often been dubbed) an ‘iTunes killer’, but they also have to consider the Public Relations side of things. If Apple reject this app, to what extent will Apple’s reputation suffer in the minds of the many passionate and excited iPhone wielding Spotify users?

In addition, of course, this app could bring more people to buy an iPhone. After all, word on the street is it will be the most groundbreaking iPhone app to date. Many people are questioning whether users will pay the premium subscription fee, but I don’t think this will be an issue.

I for one will have my bank card ready and my fingertips poised.

Viadeo, the French based professional networking website and competitor to LinkedIn, is soon to be rebranding its service in an attempt to be more organic and appeal to a wider audience. Check out their teaser site introducing the new brand and also the video below. What do you think?

Tilt shift photography is an effect traditionally achieved using small to medium format cameras and special lenses. The resulting photograph gives the impression that a life sized subject or location looks like a miniature model. I am going to show you how to quickly (depending on your processor speed) achieve this effect by using Photoshop.

First, you will need a photo taken from a good vantage point. Choose something taken from a high altitude or from afar. I took this one whilst walking along the Thames in London:

Now open your image in Photoshop and click the Quick Mask button located at the bottom of the tool bar (see image on the right).

Select the gradient tool and apply it onto the quick mask layer so that the areas you wish to be out of focus are red. See the screen shot below:

Now click the quick mask button once again, and go to Filter > Blur > Lens Blur. You will see dialog below:

You can then simply play with the Radius and other sliders to simulate your desired ‘depth of field’. Check out my final tilt shifted photo here. Have fun

The first person who can send me a nice 175×180 JPEG advert can have a placement just under my twitter status (on the right of this page) for one month! Just send the image itself, and the link to your site.

Please ensure that it is relevant to the content on this site (web design & development) and that it also looks pretty!

Send your image and link to rich(at)blemble(dot)com.