Adobe enables faster workflow with updates to XD, InDesign, and Illustrator

Adobe is doing some spring cleaning — by cleaning up creatives’ workflow with a handful of software enhancements. On Tuesday, March 13, Adobe launched updates to XD, Illustrator, and InDesign, all focused on user interface improvements and creating a faster workflow.

For web and app designers using Adobe XD, the spring update brings integration with Photoshop. Opening a Photoshop file will automatically convert over to XD’s interactive prototyping format, Adobe says. The compatibility allows users to edit artboards, layers, and assets originally created in Photoshop inside XD.

Additional XD updates mean spending less time adjusting multiple elements at once — groups can now be adjusted at once, with changes to fill and stroke applying to the entire group. Copying and pasting symbols now pastes the symbol as a whole, where the previous version would paste as a group of elements instead of a single symbol. Compatibility with Sketch and enhancements to viewport edits are also part of the update.

For designers working in Illustrator, the latest update allows for custom-sized anchor points, handles, and bounding-box settings. Adobe says the change helps make those tools easier to see and allows users to customize for their screen. Another update allows multi-page PDF imports where with the earlier version the file type had to be uploaded one page at a time. The pages automatically import into individual artboards. The update also brings compatibility with CSV files for creating variable text inside the design and enhancements to the Dropbox Smart Sync option.

InDesign also sees a handful of enhancements, including the option to switch to Photoshop’s keyboard shortcuts for users more familiar with that program. The update also brings back the preview document feature when creating a new file.

For users exporting multi-page documents to PDFs, a new multi-page PDF export option automatically exports the pages into individual PDF documents. The tool is designed for working with production and printers — printing documents such as newspapers often requires each page as a separate file. The update, Adobe says, saves time from manually exporting individual pages.

Additional InDesign updates include additional tracking and analytics to track reading time for the Publish Online tool, borders for multiple paragraphs, and new document presets for the latest smartphones and tablet screen sizes. InCopy, Adobe’s writing program that syncs with InDesign, also sees an update to support endnotes.

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Leak shows Inno3D cryptocurrency mining card based on the GTX 1080 Ti

Recent rumors suggest Nvidia will soon release dedicated cryptocurrency cards codenamed “Turing.” The cards would presumably be based on a modified version of the company’s latest graphics chip architecture Volta. But a new leak suggests that the upcoming cryptocurrency mining cards may use a version of the  older “Pascal” chips installed in the company’s GTX 1080 TI and Titan-branded cards. 

The leak stems from an upcoming Inno3D card packing the P102-100 graphics chip, but no bracket for attaching it to a mining frame, or video output. It also appears to use Inno3D’s Twin X2 cooler design sporting two fans and five heatpipes. Here are the specifications compared to the GTX 1080 Ti card: 

Inno3D card 

GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 

Graphics chip: 

P102-100 

GP102-350 

CUDA cores: 

3,200 

3,584 

Base speed: 

1,582MHz 

1,480MHz 

Boost speed: 

N/A

1,582MHz 

Memory: 

5GB GDDR5X 

11GB GDDR5X 

Memory clock: 

11Gbps 

11Gbps 

Memory interface width: 

320-bit 

352-bit 

Memory bandwidth: 

400GB/s 

484GB/s 

Power use: 

250 watts 

250 watts 

Power connection: 

2x 8-pin 

1x 6-pin, 1x 8-pin 

Bus support: 

PCI Express Gen1 x4 

PCI Express Gen3 x16 

Dimensions: 

Dual slot
8.46 (L) x 4.92 (H) inches 

Dual slot
10.5 (L) x 4.376 (H) inches 

 As the specifications show, Inno3D’s model for miners is a cutdown version of the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card for PC gamers. It has a lower core count, lower amount of on-board memory, a smaller interface width, and a smaller memory bandwidth. Additionally, the specifications show the card may simply run at 1,582MHz rather than fluctuate between two speeds as seen with the GTX 1080 Ti. 

Now here are the hash rates supposedly proposed by Inno3D: 

Ethereum: 

~47 MH/s 

Zcash: 

~660 Sol/s 

Monero: 

~879 H/s 

 Nvidia quietly introduced two graphics chips dedicated to cryptocurrency mining last summer: The P106-100 and the P104-100. Cards based on these two chips weren’t released by Nvidia, but rather third-party manufacturers including Asus, Colorful, EVGA, Galaxy, Inno3D, MSI, and Zotac. Both are based on Nvidia’s previous-generation “Pascal” design, and the new leaked Inno3D card could serve as a high-end Pascal-based product that will be cheaper than Nvidia’s rumored “Turing” cards for miners arriving this year.

As a reference, Nvidia provides the GP106 chip in its GTX 1060 graphics cards for PC gamers while the GP104 serves as the source in its GTX 1070, GTX 1070 Ti, and GTX 1080 cards. Meanwhile, the GP102 can be seen in the Titan Xp, Titan X, and GTX 1080 Ti high-end graphics cards. Previous rumors indicated that Nvidia would discontinue its Pascal-based graphics chips, but the Inno3D leak reveals Nvidia still has plans for its previous-generation GPU family. 

Exactly when Nvidia will reveal its new generation of graphics chips is still up in the air. “Volta” is its current GPU design seen in the Nvidia Titan V for desktop gamers costing $2,999 along with the Tesla V100 card for data centers. Following these cards will be the GeForce GTX 20 Series for gamers dubbed as “Ampere,” and cryptocurrency mining cards dubbed as “Turing.” But given the new Inno3D leak, whether Turing will depend on Pascal or Volta remains to be seen. 

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SteelSeries serves up the first Hi-Res Audio-certified headset for gamers

Despite the boom in technology regarding graphics cards and gaming displays, SteelSeries believes speakers and headphones are severely behind the times. That is where the company’s new Arctis Pro + GameDAC headset comes into play; it supposedly takes gaming audio to an entirely new level thanks to “breakthrough” technology cranking out hi-fidelity sound for a more immersive experience. 

SteelSeries says the new flagship headset is the first in the gaming industry slapped with the Hi-Res Audio label. Hi-Res Audio is a certification platform introduced by the Digital Entertainment Group, The Recording Academy, record labels, and other audio-focused organizations in 2017 to promote devices that deliver sound at CD-level or higher quality.  

“Until now, innovation in gaming graphics and displays have outpaced progress in gaming audio solutions,” SteelSeries CEO Ehtisham Rabbani said in a statement. “The Arctis Pro is designed for gamers who seek high-fidelity audio and who want to hear everything the sound engineers created, the same way they seek high-res, immersive visuals.” 

The new headset relies on the ESS Sabre 9018 Reference DAC chip to produce 96kHz/24-bit audio without the need to downsample. The headset also includes two 40mm drivers with a frequency response of up to 40,000Hz, almost double what you find with standard gaming headsets. Other highlights include 121 decibels of dynamic range and 95 decibels of total harmonic distortion and noise. 

Packed with this Arctis-branded headset is a USB-based digital-to-analog converter and amplifier for gaming. This unit consists of an embedded OLED screen so you can visually balance the game and chat audio, keep track of the volume levels, and tweak the 10-band equalizer bars. The device also includes a dedicated Hi-Res Audio mode for the best audio quality, and onboard controls for PlayStation 4 streaming. 

While the Arctis Pro and GameDAC costs a hefty $250, the vanilla Arctis Pro unit is easier to swallow at a cheaper $180. It’s not a Hi-Res Audio-certified system, as the GameDAC unit isn’t included with this model. But like its more expensive sibling, this model includes the company’s Prism RGB illumination system supporting 16.8 million colors. It also supports ClearCast microphone technology for “studio-quality” chats, Headphone:X v2.0, and includes an in-line dial to balance game and chat audio. 

If wireless is your thing, SteelSeries has a new Arctis Pro model priced at $330. It relies on Bluetooth connectivity and a swappable dual-battery system so you’re not tethered to an outlet to recharge the battery. Instead, one battery resides in the headset while the other is recharged in the included transmitter base station. 

The product page shows that the base station consists of four components: Adjust your volume level, manually adjust the game and chat audio levels, and tweak the sound levels using the built-in equalizer. The fourth component pertains to Bluetooth that will even display incoming call information if the headset is paired with a smartphone.

But as with the vanilla Arctis Pro unit, there is no Hi-Res Audio component or certification. Yet unlike the Arctis Pro, you won’t find RGB illumination on this wireless headset.

All three headsets are available now. 

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Report claims 13 new vulnerabilities in AMD Ryzen, Epyc processors

Just months after Meltdown and Spectre were disclosed to the public, security researchers have uncovered another set of critical processor vulnerabilities. This time Intel owners can breathe easy, these exploits are unique to AMD’s processors, including its latest Ryzen chips.

“The Ryzen chipset, a core system component that AMD outsourced to a Taiwanese chip manufacturer, ASMedia, is currently being shipped with exploitable manufacturer backdoors inside,” reads the whitepaper put out by CTS Labs, the company that discovered the vulnerabilities. “CTS has been researching the security of AMD’s latest Zen processors for the past six months, including EPYC, Ryzen, Ryzen Pro and Ryzen Mobile, and has made concerning discoveries.”

Before we get into what these vulnerabilities are and how they work, let’s be clear about one thing: There are no patches for these vulnerabilities as of this writing. If you’re compromised, there is not much you can do about it at the moment. That said, if you’re running a Ryzen processor, just be very careful for the next few weeks while we wait for a patch.

Chart illustrating which products are affected by which vulnerabilities, credit CTS Labs.

“Firmware vulnerabilities such as Masterkey, Ryzenfall and Fallout take several months to fix. Hardware vulnerabilities such as Chimera cannot be fixed and require a workaround,” CTS Labs reports. “Producing a workaround may be difficult and cause undesired side-effects.”

These vulnerabilities fall into four categories, dubbed Ryzenfall, Fallout, Masterkey, and Chimera. All four lead directly into the secure portion of AMD processors, where sensitive data like passwords and encryption keys are stored, but they achieve their goals in different ways.

“Attackers could use Ryzenfall to bypass Windows Credential Guard, steal network credentials, and then potentially spread through even highly secure Windows corporate network,” CTS Lab reports. “Attackers could use Ryzenfall in conjunction with Masterkey to install persistent malware on the Secure Processor, exposing customers to the risk of covert and long-term industrial espionage.”

The real danger of these vulnerabilities is their pervasive nature. Once someone has wormed their way into the secure processor via Ryzenfall or Masterkey, they are there for good. They can set up camp and spread throughout the network virtually undetected. This is a scary prospect for individuals, but for AMD’s enterprise customers, like Microsoft, it could mean the exposure of very sensitive data to malicious actors on a large scale.

Unlike the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities, which were disclosed to the impacted companies in advance of the information’s public release, these new flaws were not made available to AMD prior to the report’s publication. In response, AMD has released a general statement which digs at CTS Lab’s unorthodox means of disclosure. “This company was previously unknown to AMD,” the statement reads, “and we find it unusual for a security firm to publish its research to the press without providing a reasonable amount of time for the company to investigate and address its findings.”

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White House reportedly seeks tariffs of $60 billion on Chinese technology goods

Gage Skidmore/Flickr

The White House’s battle against imported goods rages on. Reuters has just reported that the Trump administration is looking into imposing heavy tariffs on as much as $60 billion worth of Chinese goods. While the new tariffs would largely target technology, according to Reuters, they won’t be limited to technology and telecommunications equipment.

The White House apparently rejected a proposal for tariffs on $30 billion of Chinese goods in favor of the stronger tariffs, and according to Politico, the request for the higher amount sent key agencies “scrambling” to finalize their proposal. Politico reports that in addition to tech, the tariffs will also target furniture and toys. They will be officially announced in the coming weeks, and are expected to include more than 100 Chinese products.

In particular, the tariffs will be aimed at tech products that are subject to intellectual property theft — an issue that has long plagued the relationship between the U.S. and China.

According to Reuters, China currently runs a $375 billion trade surplus with the U.S. — a figure that the current U.S. administration has pressed the Chinese government to try to reduce. The tariffs could also prove to have some serious consequences for U.S. exporters. For example, many U.S. farmers rely on the Chinese market for the sale of things like soybeans, pork, and so on.

The White House has also been exploring a way to limit Chinese investments, though the plans for those limitations have yet to be finalized. In particular, the U.S. objects to Chinese investment rules in which companies based in the U.S. have to transfer technology to do business in China.

The current administration has long promised to institute an “America First” trade policy. In the past few days, President Donald Trump blocked Broadcom, a Singapore-based company, from continuing to pursue a takeover of the U.S.-based Qualcomm, citing national security concerns as the main reason to block the deal. The deal would have been the biggest involving technology ever.

The new tariffs also come only a few weeks after the White House imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, a move that has angered allies of the U.S.

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Amazon Cloud Cam now streams security footage to your browser

Amazon’s Cloud Cam just became decidedly more useful, especially for those moments when you can’t pull out your phone. You can watch your live view from your computer through a cloudcam.amazon.com web portal — handy if you’re at work and want to check on your pet. Web interfaces certainly aren’t new to home security cameras, so this was arguably an overdue addition.

There are some updates that give Amazon an edge, though. For one, two-way audio is now available through the Echo Show and Echo Spot — you can talk to a family member (or, perish the thought, a burglar) from whatever’s convenient. And whichever Echo you have, you can both turn on the Cloud Cam through Alexa as well as receive detection alerts. These might not convince you to buy a Cloud Cam if you weren’t already intrigued by the concept, but they make a better case for the device if you live in an Amazon-centric household.

Via: Android Police, The Verge

Source: Cloudcam.amazon.com

Elon Musk is poaching ‘The Onion’ staff for a comedy project

The one certainty about Elon Musk is that no two startups will be closely related: he has been responsible for city guides, online payments, electric cars, spacecraft, open AI and transportation tunnels. And that trend isn’t about to stop any time soon, it appears. Daily Beast sources has learned that Musk has lured several workers from satire site The Onion to work on a comedy project. Reportedly, former editor in chief Cole Bolton and former executive editor Ben Berkley have been working on the project ever since they left The Onion in 2017, and have poached both three writers and an editor in the meantime.

Those involved haven’t directly confirmed what’s happening, but it’s not hard to put the pieces together. Musk joked that it was “pretty obvious that comedy is the next frontier” in his strategy, while Bolton and Berkley have acknowledged that they’re working on a “brand-new comedy project.” It’s more a question of what they’re doing — is it mostly online? Will there be video? You get the idea.

The entrepreneur might have dropped a hint in a Rolling Stone interview last November. At the time, he mused that you could find “essential truth of things” on The Onion and “occasionally on Reddit.” The mystery project would let Musk indulge his view of the world with the help of top talent in the field.

Source: Daily Beast

YouTube plans ‘information cues’ to combat hoaxes

During a talk at SXSW 2018, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki revealed one way her company will push back against the spread of misinformation. “Information cues” including a text box linking to a third party source like Wikipedia could appear under some videos that could debunk hoaxes around “widely accepted events” like the moon landing. While she said that YouTube is “not a news organization” she said that it wants to deliver the “right information.” At least at first, however, the boxes will only appear around videos regarding conspiracies that have “significant debate.”

Over the last couple of years, as people have become more concerned about the ways hoaxers, trolls and even foreign governments use the internet to spread false information, we’ve seen more information about YouTube’s role. It’s not only playing a part in hosting and displaying videos that often push extreme conspiracies, but its algorithm can suggest (and therefore incentivize creators to make) videos that increasingly contain far-out ideas. We’ll see if a small text box (among other efforts YouTube is planning) helps turn that around.

YouTube spokesperson:

We’re always exploring new ways to battle misinformation on YouTube. At SXSW, we announced plans to show additional information cues, including a text box linking to third-party sources around widely accepted events, like the moon landing. These features will be rolling out in the coming months, but beyond that we don’t have any additional information to share at this time.

Catch up on the latest news from SXSW 2018 right here.

Apple Did Pull Calendar App That Mined Cryptocurrency From Mac App Store, Citing Excessive Use of Device Resources

Yesterday, it was discovered that a Mac App Store app called Calendar 2 had implemented a cryptocurrency mining feature that users could elect to use to unlock in-app features rather than paying cash, raising questions about whether Apple planned to allow such apps in the Mac App Store.

Calendar 2 was mining a digital coin known as Monero, and initially, Apple was slow to respond to questions from Ars Technica about whether or not such a feature was permissible, resulting in the app staying in the Mac App Store for a good 24 hours after Apple knew of its existence. Shortly after widespread media reports about the cryptocurrency mining feature circulated the app disappeared from the Mac App Store, but at the time, it was not clear if it was Apple that removed the app or the app’s developer.

As it turns out, the app was indeed pulled by Apple. According to Greg Magarshak, CEO of Qbix, the company behind the Calendar 2 app, Apple removed the app from the Mac App Store for violating rule 2.4.2, which states that apps should not put an unnecessary strain on device resources.

Design your app to use power efficiently. Apps should not rapidly drain battery, generate excessive heat, or put unnecessary strain on device resources.

The Calendar 2 app was supposed to be using currency mining as an opt-in feature, but it was riddled with bugs causing the mining feature to use excessive resources and run regardless of whether or not users opted in, which is what drew so much attention to it. Just before the app was pulled from the Mac App Store by Apple, Magarshak promised to remove the feature from future versions of Calendar 2 because of these issues.

As of today, the Calendar 2 app is back in the Mac App Store. Magarshak said on Twitter that he worked with Apple to get a new version of the app released that has no mining features. As an apology for the snafu, all Calendar 2 users, new and old, will be provided with upgraded features for free for a year. Calendar 2 uses should update immediately as the older version of the app continues to include the miner.

1st of all lets give credit where due: an hour after we updated Ars about removing the mining feature, Apple removed our app citing 2.4.2 &worked w us to put it back on the store. New release has NO mining and we are giving all old&new Calendar users ALL features free for a YEAR.

— Qbix Apps (@QbixApps) March 13, 2018

Though the cryptocurrency mining feature made it past Apple’s review team and into the Mac App Store, it appears that based on Apple’s response and the rule violation cited, Apple will not be letting Mac App Store apps use background cryptocurrency mining as a way to unlock premium features within apps.

Tag: Mac App Store
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ShotOn review: Automatic photo stamps to show off your phone

Apparently there’s a new trend developing among people who love to shoot photos with their smartphone. And that’s adding a “Shot on” custom watermark on your pictures. Want all your friends to know you shot that gorgeous image using your trusty Huawei Mate 10 or Pixel phone? Or maybe you’re looking to protect your vision and prevent your work from being used without consent?. Then you’ll definitely want to try the ShotOn app.

Setup

Simply download the app from the Google Play Store. But before you go ahead and do that, let us tell you this is a paid app. It costs $0.99 to download and use. Sure, a free version of the app is also available (here), but you won’t be able to use all the features.

Impressions

Once you open the app, it will show you a quick tutorial, so you can sense what it can do.

At first, you need to select the phone you’re using. There are a few pre-set options including the Google Pixel, Huawei Mate 10, Moto G5S+, Nokia 8 or Samsung J7.

If you want to play by the rules, you’ll pick exactly the model you have. But you don’t necessarily have to.

Once you’ve selected the type of phone you’re using to shoot your images, you can go on and customize the look of the watermark and what it says.

Basically, the stamp says “Shot on X phone model, by Your name”, but you can easily change that. Use the Settings section located in the upper right corner to Change the text and Change the logo, which appears on the left side of the text. You can opt for any logo you like, regardless of the phone you’re actually using.

ShotOn: watermarking photos made easy

The app includes a bunch of options to customize the stamp. You can choose the location of the watermark (left, right, middle, etc) and you can also easily change the text font and colors.

The app works as intended, although at times it’s a bit difficult to arrange the stamp in the right position using only the X, Y coordinates provided. Or to adjust the size.

Because the logo, “Shot On” text and “By your name” text each come with their own set of X, Y coordinates, sometimes they can overlap. Or stretch beyond the screen. This makes your job a little bit difficult and can easily lead to frustration.

I would have liked to be able to simply drag and drop the watermark and pinch it in an out to resize the logo and texts. It would have led to a more seamless experience.

Anyway, apart from stamp creation, the app also lets you auto apply the Watermark on all new photos.

You simply have to choose your preferred stamp and select the camera folder path. So the app will know to apply the watermark whenever you use a certain camera app. A message will be displayed once the watermark has been successfully applied to an image you just snapped.

The app will automatically stamp the default watermark (although you can tweak the text), so if you want to customize the size or color of the stamp, you’ll have to take the image first and edit later. The auto feature seems to work with some apps, but not with others.

You’re also supposed to be able to save the images stamped with the customized watermark from the app, but for the life of me, I couldn’t find them in my gallery after I had done so. That’s probably due to some sort of bug.

Conclusions

Overall the app delivers what was promised: you can stamp your photos with a watermark which lets viewers know who took the photo and using which device.

However, you can customize the text to say whatever you want. So if you wish to communicate something else entirely, you can.

You’re also not restricted to using the logo of the company which produced your smartphone, as the app does not recognize your device.

The problem with Shot on is that anyone with basic Photoshop skills could do what the app does within minutes. With perhaps better results. So the auto-stamp feature is probably the only highlight of this app.

Indeed not everyone uses Photoshop, so if you want to be able to easily apply custom stamps on your images, then this app is for you.