Tag: guides

Adobe’s ‘core’ design apps are now all touch-friendly on Windows

When the Surface Pro 3 was announced last spring, Adobe revealed that it was working on touch-friendly versions of its design apps for Windows. At today’s Max event , the company announced that its collection “core” apps are ready to accept your swipes and taps on compatible devices, like Microsoft’s slate, with new Touch Workspaces. Photoshop and Illustrator already had some touch-based features, but now there’s an expanded software lineup that’ll let you get hands-on with your work across audio, video, motion graphics and graphic design projects. This means that Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects and Audition all accept input with your fingers, in addition the regular ol’ keyboard, trackpad or stylus. And Photoshop’s finger-friendly tools have been revamped to improve performance. Adobe’s timing couldn’t be better either, as Microsoft is poised to announce some new devices in a matter of hours. Source: Adobe

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Adobe’s ‘core’ design apps are now all touch-friendly on Windows

Apple already blocked the first malware for non-jailbroken iPhones

With certain exceptions , most iOS-focused malware targets jailbroken devices whose compromised security makes them easy prey. However, there’s been concerns that a recent strain of malware, YiSpecter , can attack even ‘pure’ devices running stock iOS. Do you have to worry about catching a bug online and losing control over your device? Probably not, if you ask Apple. In a statement to The Loop , the company notes that it not only fixed the vulnerability with iOS 8.4 , but blocked the apps handing out the offending code. The victims downloaded apps from “untrusted sources” (that is, outside of the App Store) Cupertino adds. In short, Apple believes this is a non-issue as long as you install updates and stay cautious — and given that more than half of its users are already running iOS 9, it might be right. Via: AppleInsider Source: The Loop

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Apple already blocked the first malware for non-jailbroken iPhones

Scientists can watch HIV spread through a mouse in real time

Scientists have long been perplexed by HIV’s ability to spread through the body – until now, that is. A team of medical researchers from Yale University have for the first time recorded the retrovirus’ movement through a mouse host. The team did so by marking the virus with a fluorescent dye and then injecting it into a mouse’s lymph node (as seen in the video below). The lymphatic system is the seat of the body’s immune system. “It’s all very different than what people thought, ” Walther Mothes, associate professor of microbial pathogenesis and co-senior author the paper, said in a statement. Once there, the HIV went about binding itself to macrophages, immune cells tasked with consuming foreign particles and dead cells. But that’s only a temporary viral vehicle. The HIV particle will then jump ship and attach itself to a rare type of B-cell responsible for generating antibodies, as you can see below. What’s more, these cells can move between the lymphatic system and surrounding tissues. These B-cells basically act as invisibility cloaks for the virus, shielding them from the rest of the body’s defenses. And with it, HIV particles can quickly spread through the rest of the organism. This discovery could yield clues in slowing the virus’ movements or, potentially, a way to prevent it from infecting macrophages in the first place. The Yale team’s study has been published in the journal, Science . [Image Credit: UIG via Getty Images] Via: Yale University Source: Science

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Scientists can watch HIV spread through a mouse in real time

Apple made the iPhone 6s nearly waterproof and didn’t tell anyone

Leave it up to Apple to downplay a surprisingly useful engineering feat: A water-resistant iPhone. It turns out the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus sport a combination of new technology that makes them far more resistant to liquid damage than past iPhones, iFixit reports . Apple packed in a new gasket around the sides of the phone, and it incased every cable connector on the phone’s logic board with a waterproofing material. Given that the logic board that includes most of the iPhone’s sensitive electronics and is the most prone to water damage, Apple’s solution is particularly clever. Most other water-resistant phones focus on protecting external ports, rather than internal electronics. While it’s far from being truly waterproof, there are plenty of videos online showing iPhone 6s models surviving water dunks. The truly strange thing is Apple has never mentioned the feature — unlike Samsung and Sony, both of which championed water resistance as key features of some recent phones (though Samsung gave up on it for the Galaxy S6, and Sony is backtracking on its claims). From a consumer psychology perspective, it makes sense for Apple to keep quiet. Once you tell people your phone is water resistant, they will inevitably send their phones flying into glasses to test out that claim (at least, that’s what I did with the Galaxy S5). Now, people who accidentally drop their iPhones into the toilet might be pleasantly surprised to discover their phone didn’t die. Additionally, the increased water resistance means used iPhone 6s models will last a lot long longer and have fewer costly repairs, which will be particularly useful for Apple and its new iPhone upgrade plan. [Photo credits: iFixit ] Via: Wired Source: iFixit

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Apple made the iPhone 6s nearly waterproof and didn’t tell anyone

2016 Chevrolet Volt first drive

There’s a hit vehicle hiding in GM’s formula for the Chevy Volt. You can sense it in the enthusiasm that current Volt drivers have for their cars. You can see it in the amount of money GM has poured into its extended-range electric vehicle project. And perhaps most importantly, you can feel it from the driver’s seat of the new, second-gen model. The big question is whether or not GM will be able to turn its much-hyped ‘halo car’ into a best-seller this time around. After driving it in northern California, I can tell you that the Volt is tremendous. But we all know it takes more than that to create a hit.Slideshow-324913 GM has so far sold over 82, 000 Volts in the US. That’s respectable, but in the early, glory days before the car launched, company representatives were talking about much more impressive numbers . With a few years to talk to customers and potential prospects, GM has learned a lot about what makes someone buy a Volt. For the 2016 model, Chevy has changed just about everything for the better. The new Volt has more all-electric range (53 miles vs. 38 in the first generation), is more fuel efficient whether you’re looking at the overall value (106 combined MPGe vs. 98) or just when the car burns gas (42 miles per gallon vs. 37). All of that means that the car’s overall range is bumped up to 420 miles, from 380. The battery is smaller and lighter while offering more energy capacity. The range-extending gas engine is bigger (1.5 liters vs. 1.4) but it’s also more efficient and can burn regular gasoline instead of just premium. The Volt’s overall range is bumped up to 420 miles, from 380. The cost is lower, too: $33, 995 vs. $34, 170, before incentives. This is a car that GM thinks will compete against the Toyota Priuses and Nissan Leafs of the world (as its new ads make abundantly clear ). All three cars have completely different powertrains, but we all know that they’re the headline green cars of our time (along with Tesla), so buyers will have to want to pony up a bit more money if they like what the Volt is offering. The 2016 Leaf with its 107-mile range starts at $37, 640 (before incentives), while a 2015 Prius can be had for $24, 200 (pricing for the 2016 has not yet been announced). So, on paper, the new Volt is an all-around winner. I’m here to tell you that it wins on the road, too. You can’t help but notice the changes. They are literally front and center. When GM introduced the first Volt, the world was enamored by chic while iPods, and the Volt design team thought a giant, touch-sensitive panel was a way to make us love their plug-in car. Instead, that was one of the worst features of the first Volt. In the new model, the panel has been deleted like skeuomorphic design in iOS. In it’s place is a perfectly sized, eight-inch infotainment screen and HVAC controls. It feels strange to give thanks for real, physical buttons, but it’s simply true that they work better in almost all vehicles than a touchy-feely flat surface. Despite the new look that takes a step away from the iPod-ness of the original, the new Volt will totally love your smartphone, thanks to built-in Apple CarPlay and Android Auto software. The new Volt seats five, instead of four, and the interior and exterior have both been upgraded to something I would truly like to see in my driveway every morning. The new Volt seats five, instead of four, and the interior and exterior have both been upgraded to something I would truly like to see in my driveway every morning. My test vehicle had the Jet Black/Brandy two-tone interior. It looks great, but the big brown swoops of color that extend the inside of the door to the top of this dashboard can be a hassle. In the right sunlight, these threw unfortunate beige reflections onto the windshield. I was able to look through them most of the time when I focused on the driving, but if I were to buy a 2016 Volt, I’d choose a darker material here, for sure (there are four interior color and material options, with the most expensive leather adding $1, 340 to the price). While there’s plenty of room in the front seats for two fullsize adults, the rear really only seats three in a pinch. Unlike in the first-gen Volt, the battery pack no longer bumps up into the rear seats. Sadly, it still runs through the rear seat leg area, so whoever sits in the middle will have to straddle the bulge the whole time. It’s a small price to pay for the efficiency you gain, but something to be aware of. If you’re not trying to go all clown car with the Volt, there is enough head- and legroom in the front and back to fit four adults in the car, unless your friends all have six-foot, two-inch frames . Looks are subjective, but I find the 2016 Volt to be a fine piece of aerodynamic muscle. As wind tunnel time becomes more and more important, the general “aero” shape that defines cars like the Volt and the Prius are going to get more and more prevalent. To find an identity within that shape is going to become more of a challenge, but GM is onto something with the Volt’s evolution. There are no wasted lines, no excess shapes. The design is clean without being bland, and the new look even comes with better rear visibility from the driver’s seat. The 2016 Volt comes in seven exterior colors , three of which are a $395 premium choice. Speaking of options, my volt stickered for $39, 830 with two “driver confidence” packages and a nav system. These packages each add $495 to the price, and the first one gives you Side Blind Zone Alert, Lane Change Alert, and Rear Cross Traffic Alert. If you get the first, you can opt for the second, which includes things like Forward Collision Alert, Lane Keep Assist and Low-speed Front Automatic Braking. You can chirp the new Volt to 30 miles per hour in a quick 2.6 seconds and a 0-60 run will take you 8.4 seconds. There is only one powertrain option, the Voltec drive unit. This includes the 1.5-liter Ecotec gas engine and an 18.4-kWh lithium-ion battery that sends juice to two electric motors (one offering 87 kW and the other 48 kW and no rare earth metals). This arrangement is up to 12-percent more efficient and 100 pounds lighter than the older Volt powertrain while still offering 294 pound-feet of torque and 111 kW of electric drive power. More importantly for how the car drives, Chevy has improved both the 0-60 and 0-30 times, by seven and 19 percent, respectively. That means that you can chirp the new Volt to 30 miles per hour in a quick 2.6 seconds and a 0-60 run will take you 8.4 seconds. In the hills of Marin county, this proved particularly fun, especially since the steering feels spot on. It’s not mushy or too tight, and feels effortless (in a good way) when you need it in the curves. Even though I’ve driven just about every plug-in vehicle available in the US and many that you can’t get here, I have yet to be bored with the instant acceleration of an electric vehicle. The new Volt comes in near the top of the pack in the “EV Grin” category. The low center of gravity, the 3, 543-pound curb weight, and the enhanced body structure all come together in a fun, punchy compact that lets you throw yourself through winding corners without emitting anything from the tailpipe. Of course, once you’ve spent your battery, the new Volt performs mostly the same, unless you really step on the gas. That’s when the loud-ish internal combustion engine makes its presence known and it feels like the acceleration doesn’t provide quite as much of a kick as it did when you’re only burning electrons. In normal driving, though, going 60 or 70 miles per hour on the highway, you most likely won’t notice the engine or hear much wind or tire noise, so commutes of any distance will be managed just fine with the new Volt. The transition when the gas engine kicks on is also imperceptible. You’ll have to be paying close attention to notice, even though the cabin is remarkably quiet on normal road surfaces. Chevy took a feature from the Cadillac ELR for the second-gen Volt, too. On the back, left side of the steering wheel, there’s a little paddle that engages the Regen On Demand feature. In practice, pulling the paddle feels like you’ve brushed the brake pedal or shifted down a gear. In reality the paddle engages the car’s regenerative brakes; an efficient way to recuperate energy and engage the driver. There’s real potential for the second-gen Volt to be a big hit. My drive was comprised of two routes, totaling 77 miles. The first leg started off with a full battery, so all 33.2 curvy, hilly miles were completed with 21 miles of EV range left in the pack. The second trip, of 34.6 mostly highway miles, was done using only gas (we didn’t have time to recharge) and the display said I managed 39.4 mpg. Combined with my drive partner’s time behind the wheel, we put 107.4 miles on the Volt, averaging 77.2 mpg and using up 14.2 kWh of battery for 50.8 miles and 1.39 gallons for 56.7 miles. The long and short of these numbers? It looks like the EPA got it right here. Fifty miles is a totally reasonable distance to expect from the new Volt, and you’ll almost certainly get 40 or so mpg if you go beyond that – and you won’t need to use premium gas to do so, like you did in the first-gen Volts. So many little improvements. Turns out, the 2016 Volt matches all its hype; it’s an efficient, no-compromise EV. My on-road experience tells me that there’s real potential for the second-gen Volt to be a big hit and I’ve now got my reasons why I think all of these changes, updates, and tweaks will turn a lot more people onto the Volt. Of course, I recognize that gas prices remain low right now, a lot of people still don’t understand what it means to plug in a car, and GM still hasn’t quite figured out how to market this plug-in hybrid, so there are hurdles to overcome. Still, the pieces are in place. Whether or not these things fly of dealer lots in the next 12 months is a story we will be watching with extreme interest. The 2016 Volt will be available in 11 states this fall. The rest of the US will get their first crack at the second-gen Volt with the 2017 model year next spring.

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2016 Chevrolet Volt first drive

Mealworms convert Styrofoam waste into usable soil

Researchers have found a scourge for the 33 million tons of plastic dumped each year in the US: mealworms. A team from Stanford and China’s Beihang University found that the beetle larvae stay perfectly healthy eating just Styrofoam, which is normally considered non-biodegradable. Better still, the worms convert the plastic to CO2 and waste that’s safe to use as soil for crops. The scientists were as surprised by the discovery as you might be. “There’s a possibility of really important research coming out of bizarre places, ” said Stanford professor Craig Criddle. “This is a shock.” Mealworms don’t have some kind of magic digestive system, of course. Earlier research has showed that microorganisms in the stomachs of Indian mealmoths can digest the polyethylene plastic used in garbage bags. The scientists now plan to study such bacteria to see whether they can biodegrade plastics used in automotive components and microbeads that pollute water supplies. The goal is to eventually cut out the middleman (“middleworm”?) and isolate the bioenzymes used by microorganisms to break down the plastics. That could result in new methods of reducing plastic waste that’s already in the environment, and new types of bio-plastics that won’t accumulate on land or at sea. Source: Stanford University

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Mealworms convert Styrofoam waste into usable soil

Tim Cook: Apple won’t merge iOS and OS X

Now that Apple is blurring the lines between its mobile tablets and PCs with the iPad Pro , it’s tempting to imagine iOS and OS X merging into a single operating system ( Windows 10-style ) that works on virtually every device the company makes. You’ll want to put any such ideas on hold, though. In a chat with Box’s Aaron Levie, Apple chief Tim Cook dismissed the prospects of unifying iOS and OS X. It “subtracts from both, ” he said, arguing that you “don’t get the best experience from either.” This isn’t a completely new idea from Apple (it once explained in detail why OS X doesn’t have touch), but it’s clear that Cook doesn’t feel any pressure to follow in Microsoft’s footsteps on this front. Not that Cook and crew are giving Microsoft and its ideas the cold shoulder — just the opposite, in fact. The exec said he doesn’t believe in “holding grudges” against Apple’s frequent rival, and that the two tech giants can “partner on more things” than they compete in. Witness the slew of iOS-friendly Office updates that were unveiled in tandem with the iPad Pro and iOS 9, for example. The enterprise crowd, Cook adds, would rather see Apple and Microsoft collaborating than fighting. On that note, the CEO contended that Apple isn’t nearly as work-phobic as it used to be. The company is big on enterprise deals (it made $25 billion in enterprise revenue in the space of a year), and that there’s no real distinction these days between personal and office-focused devices. You don’t buy enterprise smartphones any more than you buy enterprise cars, he said. We’re sure that BlackBerry won’t be happy with that last statement, but it’s hard to dispute — with occasional exceptions, software is the only thing distinguishing an off-the-shelf smartphone from a locked-down corporate handset. [Image credit: Michael Short/Bloomberg via Getty Images] Source: ZDNet , Recode

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Tim Cook: Apple won’t merge iOS and OS X

Microsoft promises that Windows 10 doesn’t violate your privacy

Microsoft famously accused Google of ” Scroogling ” users by selling their private data to advertisers. But when it launched Windows 10, Microsoft was itself roundly criticized for over-zealous personal data collection. Critics say it does things like send parents reports of their kids’ PC use, prevent users from opting out of certain types of data collection, and scan PCs for counterfeit software. The software giant has responded to those accusations in a Windows blog post , saying that it only collects data that makes its products work better and that it gives users control over information collected. Microsoft started by addressing the “telemetry data” it collects when Windows or an app crashes. Company VP Terry Myerson explained that such info “help(s) us provide a secure and reliable experience, ” and that it “doesn’t include any of your content or files, and we take several steps to avoid collecting any information that directly identifies you.” He added that the practice has already paid off, helping a Microsoft partner fix a faulty graphics driver within 24 hours. As for personal data, Microsoft says that it only collects it to “deliver a delightful and personalized Windows experience, ” to give you updates on scores for your favorite team, for instance. Additional data is collected for features like Cortana because of its nature as a personal assistant. However, Myerson pointed out that you can opt out of collection of speech, typing, location and other activities. Finally, Redmond insists that “neither Windows 10 nor any other Microsoft software scans the contents of your email or other communications, or your files, in order to deliver targeted advertising.” In other words, Microsoft doesn’t use Outlook to create targeted advertising, unlike Google’s Gmail. As Ars Technica points out, however, the wording seems to indicate that Microsoft reserves the right to collect advertising data via other apps like Bing and Cortana. So what to make of this? Many of the original accusations were false: MIcrosoft doesn’t send your personal files to its servers like torrent sites claim, for instance. Also, it’s not new that Microsoft sends parents reports on their kids’ surfing activities — that feature was also available in Windows 8. However, Microsoft promised that it’ll update its policies to take your children’s ages into account. As for the collection of crash data, Microsoft didn’t address the actual complaint: Windows 10 users can’t opt out of telemetry, unlike with previous versions. As for the collection of crash data, Microsoft didn’t address the actual complaint; namely that Windows 10 users can’t opt out of telemetry, unlike with previous versions (unless they’re a Windows 10 Enterprise licensee). You can, however, adjust the setting from full (the default) to basic, so that you transmit less data to Microsoft. And while the company collects unique user IDs after a crash, it only does so to determine how many users are experiencing an issue. Would it be good to be able to completely opt out of telemetry? Sure! Would you trade that for a potentially more unstable operating environment? Probably not! Microsoft concluded by saying it’s listening to users’ privacy concerns, and will update its policies if need be. That’s a good start — they probably don’t bother most users, but it needs to better communicate the hows and whys of them. It would do well to keep the dialogue going, especially considering Google’s ongoing problems in privacy-mad Europe. Source: Microsoft

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Microsoft promises that Windows 10 doesn’t violate your privacy

Gel-filled touchscreen creates real buttons on demand

There’s just something about the feeling of physical keys that haptic feedback simply can’t replicate on touchscreens. It’s part of the reason people buy keyboard accessories for tablets , or Ryan Seacrest’s strange iPhone case . It’s also inspired some to try to figure out a happy medium between the freedom of touchscreens and the tactile joy of real buttons. Tactus’ fluid pocket approach showed promise (the company makes an iPad case that gives the on -screen keyboard a physical presence), but it’s ultimately limited by a predefined layout. Now, though, a group of researchers at the Technische Universität Berlin have come up with a way to create soft, temporary buttons of pretty much any shape and size, anywhere on a touchscreen display. To make this magic happen, the researchers are using a heat-activated gel that’s transparent and fluid at room temperature, but hardens into an opaque, defined shape when warmed. The team’s “GelTouch” 7-inch prototype is fronted by a layer of this gel, with another layer of conductive film behind that. The film carries electrical current (and therefore heat) to discrete areas of the display, creating a variety of button layouts — proof-of-concept patterns include a rectangular key arrangement, a slider (albeit made from a row of the same keys), and a joystick-like nub. (You can check out a video of the team’s work here .) The GelTouch prototype isn’t exactly polished, but the researchers imagine the technology being used not only to bring tactile feedback to flat displays, but also where “feeling” your way around a touchscreen would be beneficial — on a car’s infotainment system, for example, so you can keep your eyes on the road. There are plenty of issues that still need to be overcome, however. For starters, the gel requires constant power to stay “activated, ” and there’s a lag period of a few seconds between soft and hard states. Also, the gel isn’t transparent when it takes on a distinct form, so you might have trouble typing on a keyboard, for instance, when you can’t see the letters behind white blobs of the hardened material. Still, it’s certainly an interesting concept, and who knows? One day we mightn’t need to choose between the clean face of an all-touchscreen smartphone, and the typing prowess of a BlackBerry . Via: MIT Technology Review Source: Jörg Müller (PDF)

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Gel-filled touchscreen creates real buttons on demand

Watch the first trailer for ‘The Angry Birds Movie’

Yes, folks, it’s all happening. The first trailer for The Angry Birds Movie has arrived. Directed by Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly (both first timers), and written by Jon Vitty ( The Simpsons ), the animated film seems to focus on the origin story of why these famous birds are, well, angry. Red, perhaps the most popular character, is voiced by Jason Sudeikis, while Danny McBride does the honors for Bomb — you know, the black bird who likes to blow up. The rest of the cast is made up by other well-known stars , including Bill Hader, Josh Gad, Maya Rudolph and Peter Dinklage. Interestingly enough, The Angry Birds Movie is now slated to hit theaters in May 2016, a couple of months earlier than originally announced . Source: Angry Birds (YouTube)

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Watch the first trailer for ‘The Angry Birds Movie’