Got Photoshop CS5? There are three apps for that
Continuing its foray in iOS software Adobe today released three companion apps for Photoshop CS5. The apps provide a range of new ways to interact with Photoshop with your iPad starting with Adobe Eazel, which enables you to paint and draw on the screen of your iPad using a range of tools before sending the completed work of art to your PC or Mac, or sharing it via email.
Next up is Adobe Nav , on which you can use your iPad to access the tools you use most frequently in Photoshop. A customizable toolbar enables you to access your favorite tools form your iPad as well as browsing through your documents. The app can be used to navigate through up to 200 open documents, and when you tap on the screen of your iPad it will become the active document on your Mac or PC.
Want Google Music? You could buy XOOM
There were enough leaks in Google's streaming music plans to sink Titanic. So it was no surprise that earlier today at Google I/O, the search and information giant launched a cloud locker for your tunes. Well, for the tunes of special invitees (I/O attendees for starters) or Motorola XOOM tablet owners (the music app is included with Android 3.1). It's a closed beta. You can't attend I/O now if not registered, but you could still buy XOOM to get beta access -- that's if your domicile is the United States. The beta's only open here.
Keeping with Google's mindless marketing approach to nomenclature -- with Android and Chrome being two of the few exceptions -- for now the service is called Music Beta by Google, presumably Google Music on release. If someone got paid to develop the brand, please tell me how to get such an easy cash-producing gig. If Music Beta by Google is the product name, seriously I want the brander's job. That said, I must concede Music Beta by Google does evoke a sense of exclusivity fitting with the invitee or XOOM "Honeycomb early adopter" status.
Hands-on with Samsung's first iPad-sized Android tablet: Galaxy Tab 10.1
For the last three years, Google has given away pretty desirable free gifts to attendees of the Google I/O developer conference, and this year is no exception. The more than 5,000 attendees this year received a limited edition 10.1" Samsung Galaxy Tab.
This is the same device that Samsung unveiled last month at the CTIA conference, but left untouchable under plexiglass shields. Now, a handful of people have access to the device before it is released on June 8th and that includes Betanews.
Sony: 'A few more days' until PSN is back up
As the outage of the PlayStation Network entered its 20th day, Sony says that it would still be awhile yet before it is able to bring the gaming network back online. In a short statement on Tuesday, spokesperson Patrick Seybold seemed to ask for a bit more patience from its users.
"I know you all want to know exactly when the services will be restored," Seybold posted to the PlayStation blog. "At this time, I can't give you an exact date, as it will likely be at least a few more days." Such words are likely not comforting to the millions of PlayStation 3 users who have been shut out of online gameplay for nearly a month.
Google touts Android successes, thanks developers
Android continues to gain momentum, with over 100 million Android devices now activated, and approximately 400,000 new activations daily, the company reported on Tuesday. That number is up from the 300,000 activations daily that it had reported in December of last year, and is likely now surpassing iOS overall.
Official activation data has not been available from Apple since September of last year, when Steve Jobs said the company was activating about 230,000 iOS devices per day. Some anecdotal data indicates that this may now be nearing 300,000 per day, but it has yet to be officially confirmed.
Google extends Android into embedded hardware, home automation
At the Android Keynote on the first day of Google I/O 2011, Google announced the next version of Android called Ice Cream Sandwich will unify tablets, phones, and Google TV devices under a single version of the operating system. Yet a new facet to Android was introduced today that may turn out to be the most left-field announcement of the conference: Android for embedded devices and home automation.
Android founder Andy Rubin summed up the operating system's progress in the following way at a press conference Tuesday morning: Android started with phones, then grew to tablets, and now it should grow to everything.
Android Market branches out again, now carries Movies
Similar to the e-book section of the Android Market which was unveiled last February, Google today launched Android Market Movies (U.S. Only) which lets users rent movies in their Web browser, and consume in their browser or on their Android devices. Rentals stay in the user's queue for 30 days and once opened, they can be viewed for 24 hours.
Google says "thousands of movies" can be rented starting at $1.99 today which can be viewed on the various Android devices, or even in Youtube in the user's browser. An update to the Motorola XOOM today will give users a new Movies application that is compatible with the new rental market, and Android 2.2+ devices will get the update "in the coming weeks."
Trillian for Windows users, whack your Linux and Mac friends -- you get pro features free
Cerulean Studios has announced that it's making Trillian, the cross-platform social networking and instant messaging client, free for desktop and mobile users. Features previously restricted to Pro users, such as the ability to sign in from multiple locations, support for themes and activity history viewer, will now be available in free editions of the software, starting with Trillian 5 for Windows, which has just been released.
Other supported platforms, including Mac and mobile devices (iPhone,Android and Blackberry), will get these features added to the next updates when they're released. For now, though, only Windows users get the full gamut of features with the release of version 5.
Chrome 12 moves closer to stable release
Hot on the heels of the stable release of Chrome 11, Google released a new beta version of Chrome 12. It is obviously very early days for Google's latest browser, but there is already a great deal to look forward to. There is support for the latest web standards, which means that hardware accelerated 3D CSS can deliver rich content in style, assuming you have a recent graphics card installed.
Security has been enhanced in the latest version of Chrome. New algorithms check websites to ensure that downloads are not malicious, and this is in addition to the phishing protection we have become used to. The download checking works in much the same way as checking for phishing website and it means that malicious software can be intercepted before it has a chance to cause any problems.
Why is Microsoft buying Skype?
Steve Ballmer and Tony Bates explain, in a video-teleconference that took place late this morning. While this sounds cliché, the deal is about synergy around personal communications -- for work and home -- and the direct sales and potential advertising possibilities, particularly video.
Additionally, and this is something Ballmer only alludes to: Skype fits nicely into Microsoft's three-screen strategy around the TV, smartphone and PC.
iPad isn't hurting PC sales, claims NPD
Talk about raining on the barbecue -- NPD claims iPad isn't cannibalizing PC sales after all. It's all just urban legend. Tell that to AdMob, Gartner and Nielsen, which all see a different trend.
Perhaps, it's all about positioning, or interpretation. Nielsen found that 3 percent of U.S. tablet owners had given up desktop PCs, while 2 percent gave up laptops. AdMob puts the number at 28 percent for both categories combined. NPD's survey of U.S. iPad owners falls between AdMob and Nielsen -- 14 percent for people who owned iPad six months or more and 12 percent for holiday purchasers. Those seem like pretty big numbers to me for a device only one year on the market.
Microsoft snags Skype for a hefty $8.5B
Today, Microsoft announced a definitive agreement to buy Skype for $8.5 billion. The deal is simply stunning, for the potential brand reach Microsoft will gain, the boost to its real-time communications strategy and the potential for empowering Windows Phone-powered handsets with robust video communications.
The deal is also the kind of payday venture firms dream about. Auction site eBay acquired Skype in September 2005 for $2.6 billion, which at the time seemed like an odd fit -- a square box trying to fit a round hole. Investment group Silver Lake bought Skype in September 2009 for around $2 billion. Microsoft will deliver the big payday. Can you say return on investment?
Siege Hero for iOS, Angry Birds for the 1980's nostalgic
We don't typically review games here at Betanews, but a new game called Siege Hero that was released for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch today sparked a pang of nostalgia in Tim Conneally, so we said he could write a quick review.
When we were children, my older brother and I were lucky enough to receive a game called Crossbows and Catapults as a gift. The premise of the game was simple: knock down your opponent's building block castle using rubber-band powered siege weaponry and red and blue "battle caroms" (essentially junior-sized plastic poker chips).
Microsoft will squeeze juicy new features from Mango on May 24
Today, I learned that I'm no VIP in Microsoft's eyes. I didn't receive one of the invites for the May 24 Windows Phone "Mango" event in New York City. Or perhaps PR people were being pragmatic, acknowledging that I'm on the wrong coast for the event. That triviality aside, yeah, the big Windows Phone next-version -- codename "Mango" -- sneak peak comes in 15 days. I guess the MIX 11 demo wasn't enough.
Invites to the event follow buzz stemming from the Windows Phone Dev Podcast Episode 15, featuring Brandon Watson, Microsoft's director of Developer Experience. Posted yesterday, hosts Ryan and Travis Lowdermilk discuss the new features, which include:
Internal emails show Google's tight control over Android
Google may have become heavy-handed in pressuring its Android device manufacturers to follow certain guidelines, recently released internal documents show. The documents have been released as part of a continuing lawsuit between it and Skyhook wireless over Google's insistence that Motorola use its own GPS location services.
Skyhook had originally won a contract to replace Google's location services with its own in all Motorola phones. The move apparently bothered the Mountain View, Calif.-based company, and it allegedly pressured Motorola into dropping the agreement. Skyhook then sued Google, alleging anti-competitive behavior.
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