Software : In Depth: Photoshop CS6 Beta: 10 things you need to know

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• In Depth: Photoshop CS6 Beta: 10 things you need to know
• Spotify boosted by new wave of apps
• DirecTV iPad app adds on-the-go video
• Hipstamatic and Instagram iPhone apps teaming up

In Depth: Photoshop CS6 Beta: 10 things you need to know Posted: Photoshop CS6 Beta: 10 things you need to know Hot on the heels of Adobe Photoshop Touch, Adobe has unveiled the beta version of Photoshop CS6, and it's available for anyone to download and try for free, whether you're an existing Photoshop user or not. While there are no unexpected must-have features, there are lots of tweaks and minor upgrades to the existing Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop Elements 10 tools. When starting up the Adobe Photoshop CS6 beta for the first time, for example, you will notice that it has a new darker interface to help you focus on the image you're editing. But there's more to the update than a superficial interface makeover. So here we explore 10 of the most important things about the new software. Download Photoshop CS6 Beta here 1. Photoshop CS6 Beta introduces GPU-acceleration Adobe has introduced the Mercury Graphic Engine to enable Photoshop CS6 to make greater use of a computer's graphics processing unit (GPU). Consequently, it makes some adjustments and edits render more quickly. 2. Photoshop CS6 Beta uses on image controls Adobe is moving to more intuitive 'on image' controls, so the strength of some filters, for example, can be adjusted by moving a control displayed on the image itself rather than on a dialog box on the side. This enables you to keep your eyes on the picture, not jumping back and forth to dialog boxes or sliders. 3. Photoshop CS6 Beta has a black interface By default, the Photoshop 6 interface is dark, but if you prefer the old style you can change it back via Preferences>Interface. 4. Photoshop CS6 Beta has a new Crop tool The Crop tool has been overhauled, and is now similar to the one in Lightroom, so if you're a Lightroom user, you'll have no trouble adapting. When it's rotated to straighten the image, the image rotates instead of the crop rectangle, and you can use guides such as the rule of thirds. Helpfully, it quickly switches into the straightening mode, enabling you to you drag a line along an element such as the horizon that needs to be level. The guides can be changed by hitting the O key. There are also shortcuts to a range of customisable aspect ratio options, and there's a handy command that switches the crop rectangle between landscape and portrait orientations. Another useful new setting is Delete Cropped Pixels. Untick it to crop the canvas but leave pixels on the layer, in case you change your mind. However, if you really don't like the new style, tick 'Use Classic Mode' in the Options Bar's fly-out menu to revert to the old Crop tool you know and love. 5. Photoshop CS6 Beta has a new Filters menu Adobe has reviewed the filters provided in CS5 and reorganised the menus for CS6. It's also dropped a few of the filters, including the Pixel Bender options. A new Oil Paint filter is an astonishing way to transform pictures and offers a lot of control over the way a seemingly random pattern of brushstrokes is added to an image. 6. Photoshop CS6 Beta has a new Layers Filter This is useful with images that have numerous layers, since it enables you to filter the layers in the Layers' panel by type, characteristics or by searching by layer name. It's even possible to see just those layers with a certain colour. The filter also enables you to quickly toggle between a subset of layers and the entire stack. 7. Photoshop CS6 Beta reveals a Tilt Shift filter Photoshop CS6's new Tilt Shift filter (found in Filter>Blur>Tilt Shift) enables you to replicate the popular miniaturisation/tilt-shift effects by adding blur from a plane. This filter uses 'on image' controls so you can drag and adjust the effect on the image, rather than through a dialog box. This is also one of the GPU-accelerated effects. 8. Photoshop CS6 Beta brings Character and Paragraph Styles Just like in fellow Adobe Creative Suite program InDesign, Photoshop CS6's new Character Style and Paragraph Style Panels enable you to save your favourite font, size, colour, and other type-related settings and edit them via the fly-out menus. 9. Photoshop CS6 Beta enables local white balance in Adobe Camera Raw Photoshop CS6 enables local white balance adjustment in Adobe Camera Raw using the Adjustment brush and/or the Graduated Filter tool. Another new local adjustment is Moire Reduction, and the other sliders have been updated to match the basic adjustments. Other changes have been made to Adobe Camera Raw too, including its adjustment sliders and save versions. 10. Photoshop CS6 Beta has a Content-Aware Move tool Adobe's new Content-Aware Move tool is found in the same Tools Panel button as Spot Healing and Patch. It extends the Content-Aware Fill technology to moving a selection, blending it into its new location, and simultaneously filling in the hole it left. It needs to be used with care, but when it works well, it's a great time saver.

Spotify boosted by new wave of apps Posted: Spotify's desire to move from a simple streaming service to a full-on 'OS of music' has been bolstered by the latest wave of apps for the company's desktop client. Thirteen new applications have been unleashed in total, joining add-ons like Moodagent, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork TuneWiki and Songkick, which have been a huge success since arriving in November 2011. In the UK, there's a bonus extra app in the shape of the Now That's What I Call Music which brings all the majesty of the 80 Now compilations to the app interface. As well as perusing the hits of your youth, you can also use the app to create your own Now That's What I Call playlists and spin the Now Playlist Wheel to generate yet more hit-based goodness. Now that's what I call playlisting Among the new breed are entries from record labels like Warner (with The Warner Sound), DefJam, Domino, Matador and indie company PIAS, all bringing an enriched experience to their vast libraries. There's also an app called TweetVine, which collates playlists based on the #NowPlaying hashtags posted on Twitter, but not necessarily from those you follow. Lots of social curation Digster is another interesting addition. It trawls your listening history and Facebook likes to create new playlists, while Filtr curates track lists based around what your Facebook friends are listening to. Hot or Not is a game, of sorts, which allows you to judge which tracks are indeed Hot or Not while Classify is a portal for all of your classical music needs. The Complete Collection brings album booklets while The Legacy Of... brings historical insight into a host of your favourite musicians. As with the first wave of apps, they're all free to download and are available from within the App Finder section of the desktop client - although you need to check to see if they are available in your country. There's still no sign of an app store launch for the Spotify Premium mobile apps which serve the company's three million paying customers.

DirecTV iPad app adds on-the-go video Posted: Cable giant DirecTV has removed some of the shackles from its iPad app, by allowing limited content to be streamed outside the home. The company's mobile application had previously required subscribers to be connected to their home Wi-Fi network in order to access live TV streaming and video on demand. DirecTV Everywhere, as the update has been coined, will now allow users to access certain video outside the home, but live television is still a no-no. The app adds the likes of HBO Go, Starz and the Sony Movie Channel into the mix, while also opening up content from the DirecTV Audience Network. More channels may be added shortly. GetGlued to the second screen The app is also more social than ever before, bringing the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Miso and GetGlue on-board to help fulfil its remit as a second-screen companion. It'll also help the company's subscribers discover shows that are popular with other users. Check out this early hands-on from the Solid Signal Blog. YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV5aVOx7DEk

Hipstamatic and Instagram iPhone apps teaming up Posted: Users of the Hipstamatic iPhone photo-sharing application can now upload snaps directly to rival service Instagram as part of a new partnership between the companies. The agreement represents the first time Instagram, which has a whopping 27 million users, has allowed a third-party to access its API. The company hints at this being a first step towards creating an all-encompassing network for mobile photo-sharing, regardless of which camera app is used to snap the picture. Founder Kevin Systrom said: "It's a step in the direction that we're testing out. "We've been very careful about making sure that Instagram photos are about what's happening right now in your life, and we want to allow for more of those photos to end up on Instagram regardless of where they're taken." You filter my photo, I'll share yours Systrom added, in an interview with Fast Company, that more and more people had been using Hipstamatic to tweak photos before uploading them to Instagram. The new pact simply makes that process easier. Hipstamatic, which is a £1.19 download from the App Store, boasts a comparatively low 4m users, but is seen as having a more versatile range of retro-style filters and lens effects. CEO Lucas Buick says the company has already witnessed a large sway from uploads to Facebook and Twitter and towards Instagram. "We've never been a social networking company," he said, "but we clearly benefit from social networks. So this will be the first app outside of Instagram that lets you into their network. That's pretty cool for us." Instagram still plans to launch an Android version of its phenomenally successful app later this year.

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