Adobe’s next mobile photo editor could be revealed in October
When Adobe announced it was discontinuing its mobile Photoshop Touch app earlier this year, it hinted at greater things to come in a mysterious project code-named “Project Rigel.” While it listed a vague “late 2015” availability at the time, a recent CNET report suggests we’ll be formally introduced to Adobe’s new offering this October. The company’s latest pro-level mobile effort will reportedly come in the form of a free iOS editing app that looks to offer much of the desktop software’s capability wrapped in a touch-friendly UI that won’t scare away novices.
There still aren’t many details, but CNET says the app is expected to make its official debut at Adobe’s Max conference in October. We can expect desktop tools that professionals are used to combined with menus and tools designed to be precisely controlled with a fingertip rather than a more accurate mouse pointer or stylus.
Of course, Project Rigel isn’t Adobe’s first entry built for smartphones and tablets. Previous efforts include the discontinued Photoshop Touch and the more consumer-oriented Photoshop Express (pictured above). It also offers Lightroom for mobile, but the app (available on iOS and Android) feels more like a powerful companion to its desktop sibling rather than a standalone option for mobile photogs. Project Rigel could represent the company’s strongest push yet to make an impact in the mobile market, but it looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer to find out.
Filed under:
Cellphones, Cameras, Tablets, Software, Mobile
Source:
CNET
Tags: adobe, Lightroom, LightroomMobile, mobilepostcross, photo editor, photography, Photoshop, Photoshop Touch, Project Rigel
Still waiting to buy the Fire Phone? Amazon lowered its price (again)
The Fire Phone has gone from an overpriced bombshell to a moderately priced off-contract choice during its thirteen months on the market. Amazon started selling the device in July 2014 as an exclusive for AT&T customers, a decision that was only the beginning of its phone’s problems. The price of the Fire Phone with a two-year contract was $199 and the off-contract price stood tall at $649. Those two prices are typically reserved for high-end devices. The Fire Phone, of course, is not “high-end.” So Amazon was left with no choice but to lower the Fire Phone’s off-contract price multiple times. Until today, the price of the Fire Phone was $159.
Hit the break to see how much Amazon’s flagship phone is after the most recent price cut.
Amazon is currently selling the Fire Phone for just $130. This is without any type of carrier commitment. The Fire Phone purchased through Amazon at the new price can be operated on any GSM network. While $130 is an excellent price, the Fire Phone is very hard to recommend to anyone but Amazon shopaholics.
[Amazon]
Come comment on this article: Still waiting to buy the Fire Phone? Amazon lowered its price (again)
Xiaomi RedMi Note 2 for $168.85 on Gearbest
,Xiaomi RedMi Note 2 is yet another Chinese phone up for pre-order on Gearbest. Xiaomi is one of the more beloved Chinese OEMs in the tech community.
Xiaomi’s Mi line is a highly sought after phone around the world. It doesn’t get much attention in the US, but then again, which Chinese phone does?
The RedMi Note 2 is a high quality device built by Xiaomi. Sure, it isn’t top of the line stuff, but it packs a big punch in a little price tag.
For $168.85, you can pick up the RedMi Note 2 powered by a Helio X10 Octa Core 2.0GHz CPU and a PowerVR G6200 GPU.
Yes, these aren’t the most well known components, but they are certainly enough to keep the phone running through daily tasks. Especially for the price point.
Other key specs include a 5.5 inch with a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080. This equals a nice 400 PPi for sharp images.
The cameras are pretty basic with a 13MP rear-shooter and a 5MP selfie camera, there really isn’t anything to write home about here.
They will take decent enough pictures, but probably won’t be able to hold up against a Galaxy S6 or iPhone 6, but those come at over three times the cost.
Sensors that are packaged into the RedMi Note 2 include:
- Gravity sensor
- IR proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Ambient light sensor
- Digital compass
- Proximity sensor
Pretty standard stuff here, but it helps to remember the price tag attached to all this coming in at under $200.
In addition to all of those sensors, the RedMi Note 2 also has a GPS just like any other phone in existence. Then you also get Bluetooth 4.0 along with it.
Just like the last phone we talked about, the ZTE Nubia Z7, this phone is lacking a removable battery, but there is expandable storage via a microSD card slot.
This “standard version” comes with 16GB of internal storage and 2GB of RAM which will be sufficient for most people’s daily needs.
Once again, that 16GB can be expanded with a microSD card up to 32 additional GB of storage.
The best thing about this phone is that it is running the latest and greatest! That’s right, the RedMi Note 2 is running Android 5.1! Sure, it is skinned witha MIUI 7, but MIUI is one of my favorite OEM skins.
MIUI has been one of my favorites since the Jellybean was the newest big sweet. Their theme engine is outstanding.
You could partially apply themes like you can in CM12 with MIUI. Except they had it back way at 4.1 as far as I remember. Maybe even earlier than that!
Anyways, enough about the software, let’s wrap up the hardware talk.
The phone, just like with all other phones sold on Gearbest, is factory unlocked for use on any GSM network that supports the following bands.
2G: GSM 900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHz
4G: FDD-LTE 1800/2100/2600MHz
So what are you waiting for? Go check it out on Gearbest right now and pick up one of your own for $168.85.
Remember, this is a pre-order, so units won’t ship until September 16th.
The post Xiaomi RedMi Note 2 for $168.85 on Gearbest appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Verizon Hum turns your vehicle into a connected car
Those of us with older cars often feel envious about your connected cars, featuring OnStar and other similar services. We may not go and purchase new cars just to get those features, but Verizon has just announced a new product that will make your vehicle much smarter. They call it the Hum.
What exactly is this thing? Well, it’s actually a bundle with a couple products. The first component is a module that connects into your OBD (on-board diagnostics) port. Most vehicles from 1996 or later have it. This plug has CDMA and GPS antennas, which allow you to access your vehicle’s information remotely.
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The second device is a Bluetooth connected speaker that clips to your visor and serves as a speakerphone. You can connect your phone to it and make your typical calls, but the cool part is that users can also contact concierge and emergency services, just like OnStar users would be able to. You can also access all this information from the Hum app.
We have told you how this thing works, but we haven’t told you too much about what it does. You will find the price could be very much worth it if you spend a good amount of time driving around. Let’s show you the Hum’s main features.
Hum features
- Incident alerts – Hum will contact emergency services when an incident is automatically detected.
- Discounts – subscribers can get discounts on thousands of places.
- Parking location – I hate when I forget where I parked my car! With the Hum app, you can easily find your vehicle.
- Auto health – near real-time diagnostics for your vehicle.
- Maintenance reminders – the Hum app notifies you whenever it’s time to get some work done on your automobile.
- Roadside assistance – 24/7 help for flat tires, dead batteries, towing and more.
- Mechanics hotline – have a bigger problem? contact ASE-certified mechanics for expert advice.
- Theft assistance – GPS provides accurate information on your car’s location at all times.
Now, what’s the catch? There’s really no catch, you just have to pay for the hardware and a monthly fee. The Hum bundle costs only $120 and you get a 30-day free trial. The monthly price is set at $14.99 for a single vehicle. If you want to add this solution to multiple cars, you can pay $12.99 per automobile, with a limit of up to 3.
We wouldn’t say this is a bad deal, really. Sure, the monthly charges may add up, but it’s always better to be prepared for when something does happen. Not to mention, being able to keep track of your car’s performance can save you a bunch of cash in the long run.
Interested? Just head over to the Hum website and sign up. How many of you are looking for something like this? Also, would any of you recommend any other similar services? Hit the comments and share your 2 cents!
Verizon now allows you to bring your unlocked devices to its network
Verizon has the largest mobile network in the United States but it runs on a different technology than most of the world. It runs on CDMA which was part of the reason why you could never bring an early generation iPhone to Verizon even if it was unlocked. AT&T and T-Mobile both work on the LTE network which means devices can be swapped between networks with the simple change of a SIM card from the carriers.
Up until the iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S6, mobile phones were manufactured specifically for LTE or CDMA. Many Chinese phones like Huawei, operate on LTE and are not compatible with Verizon. But now that the iPhone 6 and S6 are manufactured with both CDMA and LTE functionality, Verizon has now made it easier to bring your own unlocked device. Big Red will now activate compatible devices rather than forcing you to buy one of their phones. This certainly bodes well for people who like to buy used phones from Craigslist, eBay, or similar sites.
You can check out the process on Verizon.com if you’re interested in Big Red’s new business practice.
The activation process is easy!
- Locate and enter your Device ID to see if your device is compatible for service
- Customize your Verizon Plan
- Activate your device and start using America’s largest 4G LTE Network
The post Verizon now allows you to bring your unlocked devices to its network appeared first on AndroidGuys.
YouTube Gaming is now available
Google officially launched YouTube Gaming today, a new service for easy live-streaming games while chatting with your friends simultaneously. The app is live on Google Play now, in addition it’s also available online at the source link.
YouTube gaming is a new service that has over 25,000 dedicated game pages and will support endless videos and live-streams. The app includes built in reminders that can alert users when a live-stream is taking place on their smartphone or tablet. Users can also stay up to date by adding their favorite games to a collection of their own. With YouTube Gaming, Google is making search very easy. For example, users can type in ‘war’ and get all games with the word ‘war’ in it. It won’t include all the other junk such as song titles a user won’t want and is guided specifically at gamers. It includes recommended content and a design language which is far superior when compared to competitors. Most importantly, the service runs very smooth without any lag and keeps advertisements to a minimum.
Google is hoping its new service will break apart the monopoly ‘Twitch’ has had for years. It’s very easy to set up and can be directly linked with the already widely popular ‘YouTube’ application. Google’s YouTube Gaming service can bring a ton of opportunities to gamers and could potentially leave competitors worried about their future.
Source: YouTube Gaming
Come comment on this article: YouTube Gaming is now available
The Big Picture: ‘Mass Effect’ Reapers invade Los Santos
It’s a mod, mod world when a universe-destroying Reaper from the Mass Effect series invades Grand Theft Auto V‘s Los Angeles stand-in, Los Santos. What you see up above is the result of Flickr user berdu applying the pretty self-explanatory “Mass Effect 3 Reaper as Blimp” modification to the PC version of Rockstar’s stick-up simulator. It looks awesome and there’s video of it in action after the break. As creator JJxORACLE writes on the (currently in beta testing) tweak’s download page, sometimes the vanguard of our destruction will disappear from the skies completely and there doesn’t seem to be any collision detection here. Oh, and its legs can touch the ground while it moves every now and again, because, you know, it’s replacing Los Santos’ legless blimp.
Berdu’s Flickr page is rife with awesome screenshots (including fighter jets attacking this monstrosity) for all sorts of games, so give it a look. Oh, and let’s just hope this doesn’t follow suit with other airborne mods and install malware. I mean, it is a Reaper, after all.
Filed under:
Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Via:
Kotaku
Source:
Flickr
Tags: bigpicture, gaming, GrandTheftAuto, gtav, hd, hdpostcross, masseffect, mods, pcgaming, reapers, rockstargames, thebigpicture
Americans think it’s rude to stay glued to your phone, do it anyway
You’re no doubt astute enough to know that you should stop using your cellphone in some social situations, but how good are you at heeding your own advice? If Pew’s latest study is any indication, the answer is “not very.” The research center found that 82 percent of American survey respondents see cellphone use as a bane to social interaction, but that 89 percent of phone owners used their devices during their most recent gatherings. And they weren’t just checking for notifications, either — more than half of those surveyed were messaging, taking photos and answering calls.
Not that you’ll necessarily mind everyone staring at their screens, depending on how old you are. Respondents aged 18 to 29 were the most likely to say that they were fine with phone use in a given social situation, even in circumstances where gadgets are widely considered taboo. About 9 percent of this younger group is fine with using phones at houses of worship versus just 3 percent for people aged 30 to 49, for instance. Simply put, it’s increasingly normal to have your handset out as a matter of course. While the broader American public may have contradictory views on phone use right now, that’s probably going to change in the years ahead.
[Image credit: Getty Images]
Filed under:
Cellphones, Mobile
Via:
Fast Company
Source:
Pew Research Center
Tags: cellphone, etiquette, mobilepostcross, pew, PewResearchCenter, research, smartphone, society, study
Google’s been recruiting programmers based on their search habits
Want a job slinging code for Google? You might already be on the company’s radar. According to new Google hire Max Rosett, he never applied for a job at Google — the company reached out to him after he made a habit of using Google search as a programming resource. One day, a search for “python lambda function list comprehension” returned something unexpected: a secret Google recruitment test.
Seriously. If you search the right terms often enough, Google might interrupt your quest for knowledge with a question: “You’re speaking our language. Up for a challenge?” If you are, you’ll get access to Foo.bar, a UNIX-like interface that presents users with programming challenges. Foo.bar led Rosett through six different challenges, each with specific requirements and time limits. When he finished them all, it asked for his contact information — Google rang him up, ran him through the regular employment rounds and now he works there. Simple as that.
Don’t bother searching for Foo.bar though — the test is invitation only. Finding the page is easy enough, but it won’t let you play if you weren’t specifically asked to: “To log in, you haved to have logged in before,” the page reads confused visitors are invited to, you guessed it, search Google for answers. It’s a slightly creepy recruitment tool, but it’s also fun, quirky and refreshing. Try it out. If you can.
[Image credit: Shutterstock]
Via:
ReCode
Source:
The Hustle
Tags: code, employment, foo.bar, foobar, google, programing, recruitment
Snapdragon 808 will be the processor of choice for the LG Nexus 5 2015
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While we’ve got a pretty good idea of what the new Nexus smartphone coming from LG looks like, the specifications of the device are still hotly contested. The latest rumours courtesy of Weibo alleges that the Snapdragon 808 will be the processor of choice for the LG Nexus 5 2015, no real surprise considering that it was the same processor LG used in its own flagship, the LG G4. Some may balk at the idea that the processor isn’t the latest and greatest, but using a slightly older processor that can hold its own will likely keep costs down for the overall device – and we all know that’s what we want to hear.
That’s not all that today’s report uncovers – the LG Nexus 5 2015 will also have a 5.2-inch Quad HD display, 3GB RAM and a 13MP rear camera. The 3GB RAM is likely to worry some performance junkies, but it’s been proven before that even the Nexus 6 with only 3GB RAM can still stick it to the latest from Samsung with 4GB RAM when multitasking. Of course, all of this is unconfirmed, but we can definitely see these specs happening.
What do you think about the LG Nexus 5 2015 using the Snapdragon 808?
Source: Weibo via TalkAndroid
The post Snapdragon 808 will be the processor of choice for the LG Nexus 5 2015 appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
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