Software : OnOne releases Perfect Photo Suite 9

OnOne releases Perfect Photo Suite 9
Google Drive, Docs, Wallet, and Play Games get Material Design makeovers
Android Lollipop might make it easier to uninstall carriers' junk apps
Sony just extended PS4 Remote Play to Android phones
IBM can now push Twitter data into its analytics tools

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OnOne's Perfect Photo Suite is more than just a collection of plug-ins. The Browse module lets you view your whole photo collection with a folder tree and thumbnail previews, and version 9 adds the ability to apply ratings and keywords and filter your images.

The Perfect Layers module is equally interesting, because if you use the suite as a plug-in for Aperture or Lightroom, it effectively adds layers capability to these programs without the need for Photoshop. You can combine images and use masks to control which areas are visible, and blend modes to control how they interact.

Perfect Photo Suite 9 has a new Quick Mask Brush to help you make detailed selections quickly, and OnOne has reconfigured the masking options to make them simpler. Previously, Perfect Mask and Perfect Layers were separate modules with separate masking tools – now, Perfect Mask has been made part of Perfect Layers. There's now a noise reduction feature, too, in response to user requests, and a new lens flare filter.

The bottom line

Perfect Photo Suite has evolved through many different versions to reach this point, but each one is a carefully thought-out improvement over the last. As a plug-in collection, it's probably not as well-known as the Google Nik Collection, but the Browse and Perfect Layer modules take it into areas that the Nik Collection doesn't cover. You probably could use it as your sole image-editing tool.

OnOne has also rationalised the versions available, and Photo Suite 9 now comes in two versions rather than the previous three: Basic and Premium.

The Basic versions costs $96/£60/AU$109 but only works as a standalone application. If you want to use the Perfect Photo Suite 9 modules as plug-ins for Elements, Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture, you'll need the Premium Edition, which costs $168/£104/AU$190.

Perfect Photo Suite 9 is now available as a 30-day trial from the OnOne website.

Google Drive, Docs, Wallet, and Play Games get Material Design makeovers

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Retailers may be shunning Google Wallet along with Apple Pay, but Google certainly isn't.

And as the official release of Android 5.0 Lollipop approaches with the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 right around the corner, Google is updating more and more of its apps with the Material Design look.

The Google Wallet app for Android has been updated along with several other Google apps with a Material Design makeover, not to mention some new features.

For Google Wallet, that means the pretty cool ability for the app to tell you when your balance is low and even add money automatically with recurring bank transfers, according to a Google Commerce blog post.

Lollipop paint job

Other Google apps to get the Material Design treatment today include Google Drive, Google Play Games and Google Docs.

The new UI style has bold colors and clean lines, with updated icons and various other tweaks.

It's a staple of the upcoming Android Lollipop update, and we're going to be seeing a lot more of it very soon.

Android Lollipop might make it easier to uninstall carriers' junk apps

Android Lollipop might make it easier to uninstall carriers' junk apps

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Android Lollipop is the most significant change to Google's mobile operating system in years, but not every change is a black-and-white improvement.

Then again, some are, like the new Lollipop feature that lets Google Play install carriers' bloatware junk apps for them.

These unwanted apps are usually installed to devices' system partition, making it difficult or downright impossible to delete them.

But if they're installed through Google Play - even if it's done automatically when you first boot up a phone or tablet - they'll land on the data partition, and users can subsequently remove them, Google Vice President of Engineering for Android and Nexus Dave Burke and Android team Group Product Manager Gabe Cohen told Ars Technica.

Of course there's a 'but'

The obvious concession is that this is an optional feature that carriers have no reason to take advantage of.

After all, what's the point of making all those terrible crapware apps if your customers won't be forced to look at them day in and day out?

The Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 will launch with Android 5.0 Lollipop soon, so we may get to see then whether this feature will be of any actual use.

Google wants you to make fun of friends without Android Lollipop

Sony just extended PS4 Remote Play to Android phones

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Remote Play is one of the most interesting features of the PS4, letting users stream games from the console to other platforms.

The feature gave the PS Vita a much-needed boost, and now it's arrived on Android via a just-released update to the PlayStation App.

There's one caveat, and it's a big one: Remote Play for Android currently works only on Sony Xperia Z3 devices, like the Xperia Z3 phone and Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact.

And unfortunately Sony has already confessed it has no plans to add Remote Play to other Android devices.

YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyCgxo4tNJ8

Don't forget the mount

Sony has also released a GCM10 GAME Control Mount that snaps to the PS4's DualShock 4 controller and uses suction to suspend an Xperia device above your hands.

The video above has a demonstration, plus a condescending and stereotypical depiction of a pesky girlfriend getting in the way of hardcore gaming (as they do).

To take advantage of PS4 Remote Play update the console and the PlayStation App to the latest versions.

Here's what Android Lollipop looks like on an HTC One M8

IBM can now push Twitter data into its analytics tools

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Twitter and IBM have formed a partnership that will enable IBM to provide its clients with Twitter data as part of its suite of analytics tools.

The partnership will give app developers the ability to embed Twitter data into applications that leverage IBM Watson and IBM's Bluemix platform, among other uses.

As part of the agreement, the two companies will produce enterprise applications that integrate Twitter data with IBM's ExperienceOne customer engagement solutions. This tool will give sales, marketing, and customer service teams the ability to trace tweets back to product and brand sentiment.

IBM and Twitter have also collaborated on a consultancy that will provide specific verticals with practical information on how to leverage IBM solutions and Twitter data to improve business results.

It happened again

This isn't the first time Twitter and IBM have gotten together to deal. Earlier this year, Twitter paid $36 million (£21.5 million, AU$39.5 million) to buy 900 patents from IBM.

Twitter bought the patents to avoid a legal dispute with IBM over the possible infringement of three or more of its patents, according to an SEC filing.

Crossover appeal

The industry has witnessed a significant amount of crossover recently, as analytics vendors and enterprise app developers partner with consumer-focused technology companies to improve access to data.

IBM recently formed a partnership with Apple to develop more than 100 industry-specific apps developed exclusively for Apple's mobile devices, including native applications.

Earlier this year, Twitter agreed to acquire social data technology provider Gnip. The acquisition was designed to enable Twitter to provide enhanced user data to third-parties.

Yahuui Blog

Thursday, October 30, 2014