Adobe Lightroom mobile goes ‘Android native’ with slightly refreshed interface

Just because an update looks small doesn’t mean it isn’t important.

Adobe has updated its Lightroom Mobile app for Android with an all-new “Android native” interface, though the changes aren’t as big as you’d think with such a proclamation. The main change to the experience is better labeling of buttons and simpler sliders that make sense on a (relatively) small screen that’s used exclusively with touch.

Lightroom Mobile continues to be extremely powerful, and even though the new update isn’t adding any big capabilities it is aimed at making all of the fine adjustments and tweaks easier to accomplish on the smaller screen. Being that the app has been “designed from the ground up” to the latest Android spec, you can expect an improvement in performance as well. It’s not that the old version of Lightroom was slow, but it did take a couple extra beats to perform some actions — hopefully that has smoothed out now.

The new version of Lightroom is available from the Play Store right now — it’ll be worth snagging the latest version.

Tinder’s app tweaks make profile stalking more intuitive

If you regularly use Tinder, you may notice that the app looks different than it used to. The online dating service is rolling out an updated interface that includes new navigation and larger photos.

With the new interface, you can simply tap the left or right edge of a profile photo to navigate through a person’s pictures. Hitting the bottom will open a complete profile. It’s aimed at making profile information easier to access and Tinder navigation more intuitive. The update also comes with larger photos that extend to the edges of the screen.

Engineers used Swift 3 and a new architecture called DISCOVER to build the new Tinder app from the ground up. The update will roll out worldwide starting today, so it should hit your devices in the coming days and weeks.

Source: Tinder (1), Tinder (2)

Former ‘Mass Effect’ creative director returns to the franchise

Strange things are afoot at Mass Effect and Dragon Age studio BioWare. Mass Effect’s former creative director, Casey Hudson, is leaving his spot at Microsoft and will return to Edmonton to lead the studio, as general manager Aaryn Flynn has announced he’s stepping down. “I have been contemplating changes in my own life for some time, but when I heard that Casey had confirmed he was up for the task, I realized the opportunities before us,” Flynn writes. “I will be working with him over the next couple of weeks to catch him up and do my part to set him up for success to be the best GM he can be.”

Considering Mass Effect: Andromeda’s tepid reception, critically, from fans and, surprisingly from with in publisher Electronic Arts, maybe this shouldn’t come as a surprise. When something like that happens it isn’t uncommon for the head of a studio to step down. After all, BioWare founders Drs. Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk retired from the game industry wholesale after fans’ vocal reaction Mass Effect 3’s ending.

“With Mass Effect, the game wasn’t maybe as finished as people wanted it to be,” EA’s vice president Patrick Soderlund told Engadget ahead of E3 this year. “Of course, we take that seriously. What we do is we look at that toward the Mass Effect team themselves, but we also look at what learnings we can apply to the rest of the organization so that this doesn’t get replicated in another place around EA.”

The interesting part here is Hudson’s return. The Mass Effect lead parted ways with BioWare in 2015 to work on HoloLens projects at Microsoft. Now, he’s heading back to old stomping grounds. Maybe bringing him back is an attempt to find Mass Effect’s magic once again.

There’s also the chance that he’ll be helping with EA’s Destiny-alike, Anthem, but given that that game has been in development for a few years at this point, maybe that isn’t the case. Regardless, perhaps this is the good news BioWare fans have been waiting for since March.

Source: BioWare

Bluetooth LE Standard Gains Mesh Networking for Improved Smart Home Connectivity

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group today announced that its Bluetooth technology has been updated with support for mesh networking, designed to create large-scale device networks by connecting multiple Bluetooth devices to one another.

Bluetooth calls these “many-to-many” connections, which can support just a handful of devices or up to thousands. In a home setting, the mesh feature will be useful for connecting smart home devices to one another to establish a network that spans an entire house, with no areas that are out of range.

Mesh networks are an improvement over single-point connections because a Bluetooth signal can be transmitted from device to device, reaching further distances. Some products, like the ZigBee-based Philips Hue line of lights, already use mesh networking techniques that are similar to what’s being implemented today.

Bluetooth mesh also has many commercial uses, because it creates a reliable network with no single point of failure, it can scale to support thousands of nodes, it supports multi-vendor interoperability, and it offers industrial-grade security. Bluetooth SIG believes Bluetooth mesh will be essential for commercial building and factory automation.

“By adding support for mesh networking, the Bluetooth member community is continuing a long history of focused innovation to help new, up-and-coming markets flourish,” said Mark Powell, executive director for Bluetooth SIG, Inc. “In the same way the connected device market experienced rapid growth after the introduction of Bluetooth Low Energy, we believe Bluetooth mesh networking can play a vital role in helping early stage markets, such as building automation and wireless sensor networks, experience more rapid growth.”

Existing devices that support Bluetooth 4.0 or 5.0 can be updated with support for Bluetooth mesh, but implementing support requires a firmware update.

Bluetooth mesh networking specifications and the tools that qualify Bluetooth products with networking support are available on the Bluetooth Website. Bluetooth SIG told The Verge that it often takes approximately six months for manufacturers to adopt new Bluetooth technology, but mesh could start rolling out sooner because it doesn’t require new hardware.

Tag: Bluetooth
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Apple Updates Logic Pro X With New Drummers and Performance Improvements

Apple today updated its professional audio editing software Logic Pro X to version 10.3.2, introducing bug fixes, performance improvements, and a couple of new features.

Today’s update brings three new Drummers able to play percussion in the styles of Pop, Songwriter, and Latin, and the new Drummer loops can be added to songs and customized with performance controls.

Apple has also improved the responsiveness of the graphical user interface, introduced an automatic time align feature for improved morphing in Alchemy, and debuted new tools for fine tuning the pitch of an audio region. The full change list is below:

What’s New in Version 10.3.2
– Includes 3 Drummers who play percussion in the styles of Pop, Songwriter, and Latin
– New Drummer loops can be added to your song and then customized with performance controls
– The pitch of an audio region can now be transposed or fine tuned
– Improves responsiveness of the graphical user interface
– Alchemy includes an automatic time align feature for improved morphing
– New additive effects in Alchemy expand the options for filtering and modulating sound
– The length of individual steps in the Arpeggiator plug-in are adjustable
– Volume automation resets as expected when a cycle returns to the beginning
– Low Latency Mode works as expected for hardware outputs above Output 1-2

Apple has also updated Logic Pro X companion app MainStage 3 with stability and performance improvements.

Logic Pro X can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $199.99. [Direct Link]

MainStage 3 can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $29.99. [Direct Link]

Tag: Logic Pro X
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