Photoshop Touch apps extend desktop functionality to iPad and other tablets
April 10, 2011 No Comment
Any discussion about Adobe and the iPad seems to always devolve into a Flash vs. HMTL5 debate. For today at least, Adobe’s hoping to temporarily refocus the conversation on a trio of new tools that extend desktop Photoshop functionality to the iPad via native iOS apps. First up is Adobe Eazel, an iPad drawing app that lets you create a five-fingered painting on the iPad before transferring it back over WiFi to the Photoshop application running on your Mac or PC. Adobe Nav turns the iPad into a Photoshop companion device by extending live controls and menu bars from the Photoshop workspace to the iPad’s display. Finally, there’s Adobe Color Lava which turns the iPad into a hi-tech color mixing palette. Of course, these are just the first in what Adobe hopes to be a full range of Photoshop extensions hitting app stores just as soon as Adobe launches its Photoshop Touch programming tools (consisting of a Photoshop scripting engine and enhanced SDK) for Android, BlackBerry, and iOS devices. Expect to see the Eazel, Color Lava, and Nav Photoshop Touch apps arrive next month — alongside a 5.5 update to Adobe’s Creative Suite (and free Photoshop update for CS owners) — with prices ranging from $1.99 to $4.99. Until then, why not feast your eyes on a video preview posted after the break? Continue reading Photoshop Touch apps extend desktop functionality to iPad and other tablets Photoshop Touch apps extend desktop functionality to iPad and other tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 02:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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See that flaming wreckage in the picture above? A laser did that, mounted on board a second vessel similarly bobbing on top of the ocean last week. Yes, even though the United States Navy told us that legitimate seafaring death rays might take another decade to materialize, basic weaponized lasers are ready today, as the 15-kilowatt gun attached to the USS Paul Foster happily demonstrates. Of course, as you’ll see in the video after the break, a beam of such minimal power takes a moment to burn through even an unshielded engine and ignite the fuel therein — once we get some 100+ kilowatt lasers up in there, we shouldn’t have such problems. Continue reading US Navy’s solid-state laser sets boat ablaze (video) US Navy’s solid-state laser sets boat ablaze (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Apr 2011 21:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Mushroom TelePorter does HD streaming over cellular, won’t beam your on-air talent anywhere
April 10, 2011 No Comment
If you need to be live and on the scene but can’t be followed around with a remote truck and its retractable 100-foot antenna, you need a TelePorter. The camel-case ‘P’ should tell you that this is not the final realization of Gene Roddenberry’s dream, rather a device created by Mushroom Networks , long known for products with goofy names like the PortaBella , which aggregates the bandwidth from multiple wireless modems to make one super mobile hotspot. The TelePorter basically takes that tech and adds some video wizardry to it, plus packaging that enables it to be mounted to the back of a camera. The result is live, full-HD streaming of footage straight from the camera and into the ether. Mushroom wouldn’t tell us a price, saying that it varies based on configuration, but unless your camera’s as big as the one pictured after the break we’re thinking this might just put a real hurting on your budget. Continue reading Mushroom TelePorter does HD streaming over cellular, won’t beam your on-air talent anywhere Mushroom TelePorter does HD streaming over cellular, won’t beam your on-air talent anywhere originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Don’t get us wrong, we know that Nintendo’s original 8-bit portable can create some killer sounds — we’d never sell chiptunes short . That said, you haven’t truly heard Game Boy music until you watch the video above. Game Boy makes music of a different sort (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Apr 2011 23:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Vulkano Flow now available, does 480p placeshifting for under a hundred bucks
April 10, 2011 No Comment
Monsoon has announced the “general availability” of a new placeshifting box, the Vulkano Flow. As we learned during CES , this box has a $99 price tag and trims last year’s Vulkano to just the placeshifting essentials. It’s most similar to the Slingbox Solo in that it will accept HD inputs but can only stream video at a max 720×480 resolution, which could be passable watching on a PC with a small screen or one of the mobile apps (iOS, Blackberry, Android, $12.99/ea.) There are a few hands-ons and reviews out already, with ZatzNotFunny noting a few tweaks were still necessary to get things running while The Gadgeteer has a bevy of screenshots for you to check out the UI. Monsoon’s other new box, the Blast, is still launching in “the near future,” which builds on the Flow’s specs (detailed after the break) with DVR recording capability and HDMI output for $199. Continue reading Vulkano Flow now available, does 480p placeshifting for under a hundred bucks Vulkano Flow now available, does 480p placeshifting for under a hundred bucks originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …EraThink EraPalm runs like a netbook, looks like a portable gaming handheld
April 10, 2011 No Comment
Looking at this odd bird of a device on display at the China Consumer Electronics Fair inspires tired cliches about mating gadgets. But really, it took a wild night between a Windows 7 tablet and a portable gaming console (with a possible cameo by a UMPC) to spawn the EraThink EraPalm. This handheld runs Windows 7 and has a 5-inch (800 x 480) capacative touchscreen that slides out to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard — all of which is reminiscent of the extinct OQO Model 02 , except for the gaming controls flanking the display. Newpad spent some with the little guy, and reports some netbook-like specs including an unspecified Atom Z processor, 3G connectivity, and Ethernet, HDMI, VGA, and USB ports. (Then again, it does one better with GPS and support for 1080p video.) Want a closer gawk? Click the source link for a couple more hands-on shots. [Thanks, leungxd] EraThink EraPalm runs like a netbook, looks like a portable gaming handheld originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Apr 2011 18:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Inhabitat’s Week in Green: magic airplane skin, Japan’s nuclear leak, and the circuit board table
April 10, 2011 No Comment
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green. As the nuclear crisis at Japan’s Fukushima power plant continues to devastate the region and one reactor sprung a leak releasing tons of radioactive water, this week Inhabitat reported that green algae could play a critical role in cleaning up the spill. We also brought you Japan’s latest radiation-detecting robot , and we took a look at how fallout from the controversial crisis is affecting energy policy around the world — China is cutting plans for future reactors in favor of solar fields while Germany may trade 17 nuclear plants for wind farms. In other news, green transportation went from the soaring skies to the deep blue sea this week as we looked at NASA’s self-healing “magic skin” that will protect planes from lighting, and Sir Richard Branson unveiled a streamlined eco sub that will explore the ocean’s depths . We also learned that the European Union is set to kick off an electric F1 racing championship just as Tesla took top place in the 5th Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally . Finally, we looked at two innovative technologies for enabling human movement — a robotic exoskeleton that gives paraplegics the ability to walk and a prosthetic suit that lets people swim like mermaids . This week we also spotted several awesome example of green gadgetry – a colorful Legotron camera made out of everyone’s favorite building bricks and a geek chic binary table constructed entirely from vintage circuit boards. We also spotted a concept for an energy-generating playground that harnesses the literal power of play. Inhabitat’s Week in Green: magic airplane skin, Japan’s nuclear leak, and the circuit board table originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Apr 2011 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On , a column about consumer technology. Last week’s Switched On discussed how some next wave notions from a decade ago were trying to reinvent themselves. Here’s one more: surging smartphone vendor HTC is seeking to bring back an input method that many wrote off long ago with its forthcoming Flyer tablet and EVO View 4G comrade-in-arms. We speak of the stylus, of course. A fixture of early Palm and Psion PDAs, Pocket PCs and Windows Mobile handsets, slim, compact styli were once the most popular thing to slip down a well since Timmy, so it was good that they were cheap. Then as now, users would poke the simple sticks at similarly inexpensive resistive touchscreens. After the debut of tablet PCs, though, more companies started to use active digitizer systems like the one inside the Flyer. Active pens offer more precision, which can help with tasks such as handwriting recognition, and support “hovering” above a screen, the functional equivalent of a mouseover. On the other hand, they are also thicker, more expensive, and need to be charged. (Manufacturer N-trig notes that its pens last for 18 month on a quadruple-A battery, but they do die regardless.) And, of course, just like passive styli, active pens take up space and can be misplaced. The 2004 debut of the Nintendo DS — the ancestor of the just-released 3DS — marked the beginning of what has become the last mass-market consumer electronics product series to integrate stylus input. The rising popularity of capacitive touch screens and multitouch have replaced styli with fingers as the main user interface elements. Instead of using a precise point for tasks such as placing an insertion point in text, we now expand the text dynamically to accommodate our oily instruments. On-screen buttons have also grown, as have the screens themselves, all in the name of losing a contrivance. Continue reading Switched On: Pen again Switched On: Pen again originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Apr 2011 19:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Google snags PushLife, will probably use it to push music to your Android phone
April 10, 2011 No Comment
At last year’s Google I/O we were tantalizingly teased with the idea of music streaming to our mobile devices. Since then, there have been hints and leaks , but nothing official from Google on when or how this new service would be rolled out. Well, now we can add a big piece to that puzzle with the news that Google has acquired mobile entertainment company PushLife, which has been developing a music app of its own for the Android and BlackBerry platforms. PushLife offers one-click purchases from an integrated music store, an overview of tunes you have both on your smartphone and on your computer (with the ability to access both sets on the phone), and automatic playlist syncing with iTunes or Windows Media Player libraries. There’s even more fanciness, such as recommendations based on the song you’re playing, artists bios and photo galleries, plus the inevitable Twitter and Facebook integration. The Canadian startup is believed to have cashed in to the tune of $25 million and will soon be shutting down its independent operations. Also soon: Google I/O 2011. Hint, hint, Google! Demo video after the break. Continue reading Google snags PushLife, will probably use it to push music to your Android phone Google snags PushLife, will probably use it to push music to your Android phone originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Apr 2011 16:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …New Symbian UI stars in pulled promo vid, takes Three UK for a dizzying spin
April 10, 2011 No Comment
Something’s going on in Espoo, and YouTube just gave us a very good idea of what it might be — with only two days remaining before Nokia’s London announcement , a new Symbian UI is popping up in promotional videos alongside the sleek X7 and stylish E6 . Unfortunately, all three such videos are listed as private now, but we managed to nab one right before it got canned, demoing an improved Symbian with smooth scrolling that follows one’s finger, a browser purportedly three times faster and a portrait QWERTY keyboard — yes — all courtesy of a Three UK representative. Find the remaining two (currently inactive) videos after the break, and let us know if you see them wake from cryo-sleep, please! Continue reading New Symbian UI stars in pulled promo vid, takes Three UK for a dizzying spin New Symbian UI stars in pulled promo vid, takes Three UK for a dizzying spin originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Apr 2011 15:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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