At the recently concluded Photoshop world event Adobe unveiled a working prototype of a future Tablet centric version of Photoshop.
In this case they focussed on the iPad version of the app, which was more on the lines of a full-blown Windows version of the application rather than being similar to the current barebones Photoshop Express which is available for free on the iPad.
In the demo Adobe showed off signature Photoshop features such as Layers, which were successfully adapted for a touch based interface. In the demo the image could be easily be scaled or rotated through the multi-touch interface.
While the Layers feature has been seen in apps like Layers Pro, it is still in its infancy and the
functionality is pretty basic.
Speaking at the conference Adobe's John Loiacono, Head of Photoshop division stated it was a "technology we're looking at".
According to Loiacono, "This is just a concept about how do we take technologies we found in Lightroom and Photoshop and actually extend those to these devices as they become more important to your workflows."
It is no secret that Adobe is investing into image editing apps for touch based devices; already they have Adobe Ideas and Photoshop Express for Android and iOS devices. A more beefed up version of Photoshop would be the natural evolution of the Photoshop Express technology.
Currently the tablet market is already loaded with a plethora of image editing software's such as the award winning paint app Brushes, the vector graphics app InkPad and AutoDesk's SketchBook Pro.
While all these apps work very well they have limited functionality, as heavy-duty image editors require lots of processing power. Hopefully, Adobe will combine all the features available in separate apps. The new found processing power of tablets can only help in making this possible.
This is no April fools joke. Sony Ericsson has launched the Xperia Play also known as the PlayStation phone in India. The device should be visible on store shelves in the coming fortnight. India is the among the 11 countries where the Xperia Play will be launched first.
More than 60 games will be available at launch including the likes of Assassins Creed, Need for Speed and The Sims. PS1 classics too will be available for download via the Android market place exclusively for the Xperia Play. Some of the PS1 classics include Cool Boarders 2, MediEvil, Syphon Filter and more.
No official price for the device is known but it is listed on flipkart.com for Rs. 30,999 and is currently out of stock. Below is the roster of games that will be available for the device within the first week of launch.
Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior from Digital Legends (pre-installed)
FIFA 2010 from EA Mobile
Sims 3 from EA Mobile
Star Battalion from Gameloft
Tetris from EA mobile
Asphalt 6 from Gameloft (free to download)
Dungeon Defenders: Second Wave from Trendy Entertainment
Galaxy on Fire 2 from Fishlabs
Assassins Creed from Gameloft
Need for Speed SHIFT from EA Mobile
Worms from EA Mobile
Nova 2 from Gameloft
Modern Combat Black Pegasus from Gameloft
Guns n Glory from Handygames
Reckless Racing from Polarbit
Real Football 2011from Gameloft
Gun Bros from Glu Mobile
Racer Luma from Arcade/Unity
Cordy from SilverTree Media
Aporkalypse from Handygames
Brothers in Arms Global Front from Gameloft
Guerrilla Bob from Angry Mob Games/Unity
Let's Golf 2 from Gameloft
Zenonia 2 from Gamevil
Cyberlords from Handygames
Guitar Hero� Warriors of Rock Mobile from Glu Mobile
Age of Zombies from Halfbrick Studios
Spectral Souls from HyperDevBox Japan
Splinter Cell Conviction from Gameloft
Air Attack from Art in Games/Unity
Armageddon Squadron from Polarbit
Uno from Gameloft
InfeCCt from Handygames
Spiderman total Mayhem from Gameloft
Millionaire City from Digital Chocolate
Avatar from Gameloft
Raging Thunder 2from Polarbit
Homerun Battle 3D from Com2us Games
Aftermath XHD from Jakyl
I Must Run from GameLion
Baseball Superstars 2011from Gamevil
Ground Effect Pro from Jakyl
ZeNonia from Gamevil
Super KO Boxing 2 from Glu Mobile
Farm Story from Team Lava
Wave Blazer from Polarbit
Soccer Superstars from Gamevil
Battle Bears from Skyvu
Tower Blocks New York from Digital Chocolate
Super Dynamite Fishing from Handygames
Iron Sight from Polarbit
Toonwarz from Polarbit
Restaurant Story from Team Lava
Escape from AMA
Raving Babies from AMA
Bakery Story from Team Lava
Denki Blocks! Deluxe from Jakyl
Rollercoaster Rush from Digital Chocolate
Launched in Dec 2010 the Nexus S is the first device to run Android 2.3 Gingerbread straight out of the box. The Internet is buzzing with rumours that Samsung is all set to bring the Nexus S to India. The device may be priced between Rs. 27,000 to Rs. 30,000 and is expected to launch in the first half of April 2011.
For those of you who cannot wait for Samsung to launch it, can check out Flipkart.com. They claim to have the device already in stock for Rs. 27,999.
Some of the specifications of the Google Nexus S are:
Multi-touch input controls
Accelerometer sensor
Three-axis gyro sensor
3.5 mm audio jack
512 MB RAM
Memory: 16GB internal, expandable via microSD, up to 32GB
3G HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps
Wireless LAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n , DLNA
Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP
USB v2.0 microUSB
CAMERA: 5 mega-pixel, 2560 x 1920 pixels, autofocus, LED flash ,Geo-tagging, touch focus
Secondary VGA camera
OS: Android OS, v2.3 Gingerbread
CPU: ARM Cortex A8 1GHz processor
GPS with A-GPS support
MP4/DivX/WMV/H.264/H.263 player
MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player
After announcing a new CEO and a partnership with Microsoft, Nokia is all set to change the way it looks too. The omnipresent Nokia Sans font is all set to be replaced by Nokia's new typeface, Nokia Pure.
You may recognise Nokia Sans as the font which reads "Nokia - Connecting People" in the Nokia logo. The Nokia Pure typeface has rounder letters, that are supposed to create better legibility on small screen devices. So far the font has just been seen on posters presented by Nokia and will soon become visible on millions of Nokia mobile phones.
Nokia developed the font with London-based typographic designer Bruno Maag, founder and MD of Dalton Maag. "It was a balancing act," admits Bruno Maag on Nokia brand book blog. "An elegantly simple typeface that doesn't draw attention to itself but is still distinctive and different. For me, it's the rhythm of the typeface and the relationship between characters that's critical. After all, when it's set in Arabic, you still need to know that it's Nokia, and this is achieved by creating a recognisable rhythm."
The new font will come in three variants - light, regular and bold.
A week after the launch of its desktop cousin, Mozilla has launched the full version of Firefox 4 for Android and Maemo. The mobile version of the browser possesses many features of its desktop counterpart and is available in more than 10 languages.
One of the key new features is the ability of the browser to synchronize the desktop and mobile device browsers. The users can now sync, history, bookmarks, open tabs and passwords between the desktop and Android device browsers.
Mozilla blog claims, "Firefox is up to three times faster than the stock browser on Android. Major enhancements to the JavaScript engine make everything from page load speed to graphics to overall performance snappy in Firefox."
The blog also states, "Firefox for mobile is built on the same technology platform as the desktop version. With modern Web technologies like HTML5, developers can build rich, interactive applications and websites."
But all is not good. In our initial tests, the browser did not support Adobe Flash, though we had the plugin installed on the device that we tested it on. So, as of now if you want to use Flash on your Android phone, please stick to your default browser.
Also, this version of Firefox only supports ARM 7 series processors. Devices like Google Nexus One, Samsung Galaxy S and Samsung Galaxy Tab are supported. But, popular devices like HTC Wildfire, LG Optimus, HTC Hero, Motorola Backflip, HTC Legend, Samsung Galaxy 3/5/Ace, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini/ Mini Pro and X8 are not supported. Visit https://wiki.mozilla.org/Mobile/Platforms/Android to check out the full list of supported and unsupported devices.
Sales of smartphones such as Apple's iPhone4 are set to top 100 million units for the first time this year in the Asia Pacific market -- excluding Japan, an industry analyst said on Thursday.
Smartphone sales are projected to hit 137 million units in 2011, up from nearly 84 million last year, the technology industry research company IDC said in a statement.
"Smartphones were a hot item in 2010, with more than double the shipments of 2009," said IDC analyst Melissa Chau, adding that the growth came from the region's more developed markets such as South Korea.
"In 2011, IDC expects this fire to keep burning as mobile phone vendors race to get consumers on higher-margin devices, operators look to pull up revenues on mobile data, and mobile platform stakeholders battle to woo app developers," Chau said.
'Apps' refers to 'applications' that allow smartphone users to do a range of activities through their mobile phones including sharing pictures, playing games or checking their bank accounts.
In addition to operating as a telephone, smartphones allow users to send and receive emails, access Facebook and Twitter accounts, download movies, music and books and perform multiple other functions while on the go.
By 2015, three in five phones sold in the region will be smartphones, up from one in five in 2010, IDC said.
In the face of the smartphones onslaught, feature phones -- or devices that perform the basic functions -- still held their ground.
Sales of feature phones grew 17 per cent in 2010, driven by low-end brands priced below $100 from China, India and other countries, IDC said.
Who would have guessed that a mobile game based on a group of malcontent birds and sinister pigs could become such a lucrative franchise?
Rovio Mobile, the Finnish game company behind Angry Birds, has raised $42 million in a financing round led by the venture capital firms Accel Partners and Atomico Ventures. Felicis Ventures also participated in the round.
Niklas Zennstrom, a co-founder of Skype and Atomic Ventures, is joining Rovio s board.
Angry Birds is one of the fastest-growing online products I ve seen, growing even faster than Skype, and the company has done a brilliant job of extending it across different platforms and merchandise, Zennstrom said in a statement on Thursday.
Rovio has become one of the fastest growing mobile game companies, thanks to the meteoric rise of Angry Birds, its flagship product. The game, which had its debut on iPhones in late 2009, now boasts 40 million active users and has become a full-fledged entertainment franchise, with its own line of plush toys. According to the company, its offline merchandise venture is flourishing, with more than two million units sold.
We will strengthen the position of Rovio and continue building our franchises in gaming, merchandising and broadcast media, the chief executive, Mikael Hed, said in a statement on Thursday.
The company said it planned to use the capital to push Angry Birds onto new platforms, including video game consoles, and extend its reach internationally.
As mobile devices and social networks become more engrained in consumer culture, game developers like Rovio and Zynga have become incredibly popular in the last few years.
Some analysts, however, are sceptical that these businesses, which often rely on just a handful of blockbuster games, can sustain growth in the long term.
But Richard Wong of Accel Partners says he is confident that Rovio is more than a one hit wonder.
Mario brothers started as a very specific arcade game and then moved across a lot of different platforms, Mr. Wong said in an interview with DealBook on Thursday. Once you have a huge audience, you can start to develop new pieces of intellectual property.
At the recently concluded Photoshop world event Adobe unveiled a working prototype of a future Tablet centric version of Photoshop.
