Hasta La Gadget!

So, here’s the situation. The current fleet of netbooks would be rendered next to useless with Vista loaded on, but having Windows XP on there forces manufacturers to regurgitate specification lists. Rather than using the introduction of Windows 7 to fully pursue a world where netbooks can actually run around freely with 2GB (or even 3GB!) of RAM and chipsets powerful enough to open seven Excel sheets simultaneously, Intel is today sparking up its Atom Processor Developer Program. The reason? To “spur a new wave of applications for… netbooks, with support for handhelds and smartphones available in the future.” Call us calloused, but that sounds a lot like a company pushing for “lite” software that functions on sluggish hardware.

Granted, we know that’s not exactly the case here — after all, even we wouldn’t argue that some applications could benefit from being re-written to operate on a 10.1-inch display — but it still feels like Intel’s pushing software programmers to cater to underwhelming hardware rather than innovating its chips to work faster and more efficiently. There’s no doubt that this feeling is compounded by just how long we’ve been waiting for a new wave of Atom CPUs, but at long last, we digress. The program actually has quite a few positive merits, such as striving to “reduce overhead and streamline the creation of new applications” for smaller devices — something that would benefit every user regardless of processor. So far, both Acer and Dell have voiced their support for the program, giving us at least a modicum of reassurance that the Aspire One and Mini lines aren’t vanishing anytime soon. Hit the read link for the glorified details, if you’re into that type of thing.

[Via jkkmobile]

Filed under: Software

Intel Atom dev program launched, seeks to inspire netbook-centric applications originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s next-generation operating system Mac OS X Snow Leopard is two days away, and the $30 price tag is a strong incentive for Mac users to upgrade. But this news might get some eager Mac fans to slam on the brakes: Adobe Creative Suite 3, including Photoshop, may have some compatibility issues with the new OS.

In a frequently-asked-questions document, Adobe said only its newer Creative Suite 4 has been tested for compatibility with Apple’s new OS. Adobe, however, could not make the same promise for Creative Suite 3.

“Adobe will support Creative Suite 4 software running with Snow Leopard according to its standard customer support policies,” the document states [PDF]. “Older versions of Adobe Creative Suite software were not designed to run on Mac OS X Snow Leopard (v10.6), so you may experience issues installing and using the software for which there are no solutions.”

John Nack, principal product manager of Adobe Photoshop, said in his blog that this does not mean CS3 will not be supported at all. He said CS3 has not been tested on Snow Leopard and “The plan, however, is not to take resources away from other efforts (e.g. porting Photoshop to Cocoa) in order to modify 2.5-year-old software in response to changes Apple makes in the OS foundation.”

Nonetheless, those who purchased Adobe’s Creative Suite 3 will undoubtedly be peeved. When it became available in 2007, the CS3 software bundle cost at least $1,700, and Creative Suite 4 came out just one year later.

Here at Wired.com we’ll put Adobe CS3 to the test when we get our hands on Snow Leopard. Stay tuned.

See Also:

• First Look: Photoshop CS 3
• Adobe CS4 Icons as Cushions
• Photoshop CS4 Exploits Mac Hardware Features

Slowly but surely, the mega-corp who has historically clung tight to its own formats while the world opts for others is finally seeing the light. Just over a year after Sony pushed out an update that enabled its Reader to use purchased books in the open EPUB format, the outfit is now promising to sell digital books only in that format by the year’s end. Moreover, Sony is aiming to nix its “proprietary anti-copying software in favor of technology from the software maker Adobe that restricts how often e-books can be shared or copied.” Once the switchover takes place, books purchased in Sony’s online store will be readable on any device that supports EPUB, one of which will be Plastic Logic’s forthcoming e-reader. And to think — if only this change of heart would’ve happened prior to the introduction of ATRAC…

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Sony takes Reader openness one step further, will offer EPUB titles only originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 07:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on March 19, 2007 by CyberNet.

Adobe has just hit a huge milestone today by releasing an Alpha version of their much anticipated Apollo software. This is something that I had been waiting to hear, but are you wondering what the heck Apollo is? Here is how Adobe explains it in their press release:

Apollo is the code name for a cross-operating system application runtime that allows web developers to leverage their existing skills in HTML, JavaScript and Ajax, as well as Adobe Flash and Adobe Flex software to build and deploy rich Internet applications (RIAs) on the desktop. Apollo combines the reach of Internet technologies with the richness of desktop applications, working seamlessly across operating systems and outside the browser to deliver a more consistent and engaging user experience.

The press release even states that eBay is working to take advantage of Apollo to bring in a better experience for their users. It is kinda hard to explain how this could revolutionize the future of online websites, so why don’t I just show you in the eBay demo for Apollo where it is pretty apparent the benefits it will have:

Now I’m not exactly sure if you think that is as cool as I do, but this is going to change the way that we interact with online information. The other thing that is huge is that the software developed using Apollo is cross-platform…so it won’t matter what operating system your website visitors are using because they should all be able to take advantage of Apollo’s offerings.

A little over halfway through the video you should have seen what happens when these Apollo applications go offline. Despite being offline the user is still able to utilize certain features that would ordinarily be rendered inaccessible. It is exciting to think that developers will be able to start taking advantage of a technology that is cross-platform like this.

Right now there is just the Apollo Alpha developers kit, so it is still in the very early stages. However, I’m sure many people are going to start looking into how this works and how they can take advantage of it.

All I can say is…I want that eBay “application”!

Apollo Homepage (mostly for developers)

News Source: Information Week

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• Sign up for the Firefox Companion for eBay
• YourMinis uses Adobe Apollo to Create Desktop Widgets
• Adobe CS3 Design and Web Editions Released
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As part of the Open Screen Project, which should be getting Adobe Flash onto many new platforms, Adobe, NVIDIA and Broadcom are all hard at work getting GPU acceleration to do what it ought for Flash Player, with improvements in store for everything from Tegra MIDs to Broadcom Crystal HD netbooks (like HP’s new Mini 110XP, pictured) to tablets and beyond. Of note is H.264 playback acceleration, which should at last make Hulu and YouTube bearable on netbooks and nettops — a major shortcoming in the otherwise enticing form factors. Unfortunately, the most precise timeline we have on all this is from Broadcom, who says its Flash Player support will be available in the first half of 2010. We’re also going to be bugging Adobe and Intel about when this functionality might hit mainstream Intel integrated chipsets as well, though at least Broadcom’s Crystal HD accelerator can be added to some existing netbooks such as a PCI Express mini-card or ExpressCard 34 add-on. Perhaps we sound ungrateful, but this sort of acceleration for Flash — the internet’s most popular multimedia delivery method — is long overdue, and we’re not overly impressed with the idea of waiting until mid-2010 for it to happen.

Read – Adobe and NVIDIA
Read – Adobe and Broadcom

Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops, Tablet PCs

Adobe, NVIDIA and Broadcom bringing GPU acceleration to Flash at long last originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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