Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) Press Release Out

Apple just released the press release for next week’s WWDC.  Apart from the release of the much anticipated OS X Lion, Apple is also releasing the iOS 5 and iCloud, Apple’s new cloud service.  According to the press release, Steve Jobs will be at the WWDC to kickoff all the goodies, now that’s real good news.

CUPERTINO, California—May 31, 2011—Apple® CEO Steve Jobs and a team of Apple executives will kick off the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address on Monday, June 6 at 10:00 a.m. At the keynote, Apple will unveil its next generation software – Lion, the eighth major release of Mac OS® X; iOS 5, the next version of Apple’s advanced mobile operating system which powers the iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch®; and iCloud®, Apple’s upcoming cloud services offering.

WWDC will feature more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers. Mac® developers will see and learn how to develop world-class Mac OS X Lion applications using its latest technologies and capabilities. Mobile developers will be able to explore the latest innovations and capabilities of iOS and learn how to greatly enhance the functionality, performance and design of their apps. All developers can bring their code to the labs and work with Apple engineers.

For more details, visit the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2011 website at developer.apple.com/wwdc.

Source – Apple

Rants on MTRC’s Website – Simply Inadequate – Shame

Had a photo shoot for the Standard Chartered Bank’s Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup the past Sunday at the Shatin racecourse.  Because of the size of the event, we had to do some research in terms of the logistics arrangements.  Went up to the MTRC website to check the first train scheduled inbound for the Shatin racecourse and guess what…. can’t find a single thing.  For someone who used to work at the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation prior to the KCR-MTRC merger, the lack of info on a well-listed public transportation company is …. hmm…. one word….. “shame”.  

Hope the PR and Operations guys pick up this post for this is a real disgrace considering how many tourist new to Hong Kong would like to take a trip out to the racecourse but only to find out that such a big ass company can’t even run a decent train schedule on their corporate website…. shame indeed.

Disclaimer: This post is written after a pitiful Monday at the office and due to a lack of attractive women at the bar where I had my happy hour…shame.

Apple Back to School Special with iPad 2011

Rumours on the street states that Apple will be announcing the new Back to School Special on 6 June 2011 during the WWDC and this time around, Apple will include the iPad2 (basic model) and knock off US$200 off the ticket price.  If that is true, it will definitely sweet up the deal but my question is, can Apple keep up with the supply?

Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Another Great Kickstarter Project – Hive Dock for iPhone

Okay, what is so special about the Hive Dock? well, it’s a dock for your iPhone and works in both portrait and landscape.  It also amplifies the audio output into a concave chamber which then projects upward, all without needing any power. The dock also features a piece of Fresnel lens which tugs away nicely at the bottom of the dock.  The lens stands parallel to the iPhone’s Retina Display at a set distance of 4 inches, providing crystal clear 2X magnification.

The project is 16 days have 16 days to go and they are still looking for another US$120,000 pledges.  For a pledge of US$45, you will get a Twitter Follow + Hive t-shirt plus a Hive dock.  For more information, check out the project over at Kickstarter, link here.

For a target retail price of US59.95, I think it’s priced a bit too high.  I like the idea of it but just don’t agree to the part on hands-on gaming.

Amazon Mac App Store is Up – $5 Discount Before 1 June 2011

Amazon’s Mac Software Downloads Store is open for business.  Not too many titles for the time being but you can find certain items that are not available in the Mac App Store such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Elements and Premiere.  From now till 1 June, 2011, you get a US$5 discount off a single purchase.  Coupon code is SAVE5MAC.  Keep checking back the Amazon for I truly believe that they will aggressively add more titles in the upcoming weeks.

Source: Amazon

Great App to Help Switch Between iTunes Accounts Fast

For those of you who uses multiple iTunes accounts and get fed up going through the tedious steps switching between accounts, this app, the iTunes Account Switcher (FREE) is just for you.  Macstories ran a story yesterday on this app which sits on top of your Menubar and with it, you can select which account you want to log into right there, instead of doing so in iTunes.

Basically the app is just a series of script. The only minor problem I noticed is that if I have my Chrome browser opened, it would not show up on the Menubar, could it be because my Menubar is all jammed with other apps, not sure.  Ways to work around it is to minimize whatever program I have and voila, there it is.  Another thing I also did is to drag the icon down to the dock to have fast access.

You can download iTunes Account Switcher here.

Source – iTunes Account Swticher via macstories

First Look – Seagate GoFlex – Wireless HDD for iPad

Imagine having a 500GB harddisk where you can stream 300 HD movies on-the-go to your iPad, or better yet, to three (3) iPads at the same time. A harddisk with up to 5 hours battery life. How about if I tell you that it can stream not only to you iPad but pretty much any mobile devices with WiFi connectivity? Well, this is the Seagate GoFlex.

Image from Seagate

The GoFlex Satellite mobile wireless storage device is part of the Seagate GoFlex Storage System. This innovative system makes it incredibly easy to upgrade or change the interface on your GoFlex Satellite device, so you can always get optimal transfer speeds when loading and syncing your media.

• Includes USB 3.0 connectivity for fast data transfers (fully compatible with USB 2.0)
• Other available interfaces include FireWire 800 and powered eSATA (sold separately)

The GoFlex is to be launched this coming July with a price tag of US$199.99.  I personally cannot wait to get hold of one, what about you? For more, check out the following video.

Source – Seagate, evadianita

iOS App – Awesome App to Read You Your Emails, RSS Feeds, Tweets & Almost Everything

Too busy to find time to catch up with your emails, RSS feeds or even your your tweets? Fear not, there is an awesome app out there which can actually read stuff you don’t have time to read on the go or in the background. Voice Brief by Dong Baik (US$3.99 for full version, free for lite version) was first released in March and was just updated. Check out the neat features below.

Voice Brief Features:
• Customizable contents such as Calendar, Weather, RSS news, Google Reader, Facebook, Twitter, Stocks, Gmail (inbox summary only) and any sentence you type
• Built in Alarm – wake up with your own news.
• World’s best voice synthesis
• Four different high-quality voices
• Works with any remote control, bluetooth audio
• Airplay
• Background listening with multi-tasking
• Internal web browser
• Musical bridge.
• On-the-fly News Share via facebook and twitter.
• Voice synthesis within your phone – (Private, Secure, no data usage)

Colton101998 had a pretty good review off an earlier version and I’m embedding below for you to check out some of the features.

Source – Colton101998, Voice Brief by Dong Baik

Apple Digital Camera RAW and Apple Prokit Updates Live

Digital Camera RAW compatibility update version 3.7 update is out.  Adding import savvy the following camera models to iPhoto ’11 and Aperture:

• Fujifilm FinePix X100,
• Nikon D5100,
• Olympus E-PL2,
• Olympus XZ-1 and
• Samsung GX-1S.

The update requires Mac OS X 10.6.6 or 10.5.8 and you can find it once you perform a Software Update.  For more information on supported RAW formats, see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3825.

ProKit 7.0 update is also available and it offers the following fixes:

• Improved support for PopOver style tooltips.
• Improved support for Font Smoothing.
• Addresses an issue with an unwanted gap between a menu and submenu.
• Fixes leaks and improves stability for the color picker and timecode interface in Final Cut Pro and Motion.
• Improved compatibility when importing assets from older versions of Soundtrack Pro.
• Fixes an issue with the scrubber appearance in Logic Express and Logic Pro.
• Addresses AppKit related crashes in Motion.

The ProKit 7.0 update is for all current users of Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, iPhoto, Aperture, Final Cut Express, Logic Pro, MainStage, Logic Express and iAd Producer, requires Mac OS X 10.6.7.

Kelby Training Online App is Available on iTunes App Store

Being a great fan and member of Scott Kelby’s Kelby Training Online and National Association Of Photoshop Professionals, I am so thrilled to see the Kelby Training Online App hit the iTunes App Store.

The new app features 720p HD video streaming on your iPad or iPhone. For those who subscribes to KelbyTraining.com, this is an awesome app as you can watch the courses on the go, of course you need to have an active subscription.

I downloaded the app and it looks great on an iPad.  For those looking for a reason to subscribe to Kelby Training, this might be the one.

About Kelby Training:
At KelbyTraining.com you’re always on-location and in-studio. Become part of the action as we take you behind the scenes of professional photo shoots and show you exactly how the pros do it, step-by-step, from start-to-finish. They share their gear, setup, settings, and tips and tricks that took them decades to master. Spend a day learning lighting and flash with Joe McNally and Scott Kelby. Learn to shoot wedding portraits with legendary wedding photographer David Ziser. Learn the pros secrets to creating jaw-dropping Photoshop effects for fashion photography with Frank Doorhof. Photograph “Big Game” in Yellowstone with Moose Peterson, or study composition, light, and photo compositing with Jeremy Cowart, and so much more! And, that’s just the start! Master Photoshop® and Lightroom® in record time with the world’s top creative design gurus! Enhance your photography, retouch like a pro, and add stunning effects to your portraits.

Instagram App on Your Mac – Carousel

For those who loves shooting and sharing their pictures using Instagram on their iPhone, don’t you just wish that you can view your feeds on your Mac.  Well, the guys over at Mobelux have come up with an Instagram client for the Mac, the Carousel.

The app is not on the App Store yet but for now, you can buy it for half the introductory price of US$4.99 on their website.  The app features allows one to

view their Feed, Popular and Profile photos with a choice of app themes;

follow and explore users, like, comment, moderate comments, and more;

use keyboard shortcuts to quickly traverse your feed, like, comment, and more; and

drag & drop to save full-size photos to your Mac, or iPhoto.

Check it out now, with all the hype with the Instagram app, this is must-have extension to it. The interface is slick and simple.  Highly recommend.

Source –Carousel

Adobe Released Three Photoshop Touch Applications for the iPad

Finally, Adobe just released the three long awaited Photoshop Touch applications for the iPad platform earlier.  The Adobe Color Lava (US$2.99), the Adobe Eazel (US$4.99) and the Adobe Nav (US$1.99).

Adove Lava

With Adobe Color Lava —a Photoshop Touch app for Adobe Photoshop CS5 software (version 12.0.4 or later required)— you can now use your iPad and your fingertips to mix colors and create custom swatches and five-swatch color themes. Immediately access those color creations within Photoshop CS5—all you need is a network connection between your iPad and your computer. Or use Adobe Color Lava on the go whenever inspiration strikes, and then save your colors on your iPad to bring into Photoshop CS5 when you’re connected. You can also email your Adobe Color Lava creations to yourself and others.

•Dab, smudge, and swirl your way to creating unique individual color swatches and five-swatch color themes.
•Interact with Photoshop CS5 in real time. Simply tap a swatch on your iPad to make it the foreground color in your Photoshop CS5 Color panel—or create a color theme and see your colors instantly in the Color panel.
•Make fine adjustments to your color creations using Hue/Saturation sliders, and view HSB and RGB values.
•Mix colors even when you’re away from your computer. You can save them on your iPad to bring into Photoshop CS5 when you’re connected.
•Easily share your swatches and color themes by emailing them directly from Adobe Color Lava.

Adobe Eazel

With Adobe Eazel —a Photoshop Touch app for Adobe Photoshop CS5 software (version 12.0.4 or later required)— you can now use your iPad and your fingertips to create beautiful paintings. Get amazing color blends thanks to a painting technology that offers a new kind of interaction between “wet” and “dry” paint. Enjoy a unique user interface that lets you paint across the entire expanse of your iPad screen and easily access the tools you want.

As long as you have a network connection between your iPad and computer, you can send your Adobe Eazel artwork directly to Photoshop CS5 from anywhere you are. Then you can enhance a higher-resolution version of your artwork using industry-leading image-editing tools. Or do all your painting in Adobe Eazel. You can always share your work via email or save it to the built-in Photos app on your iPad.

•Paint beautiful works of art using just your fingertips.
•Mix “wet” and “dry” paint to create rich, realistic color blends. Breakthrough technology allows digital paint to “dry” over time.
•Paint more freely using the entire iPad screen. Controls for changing color, opacity, brush size, and other settings appear only when you place all five fingers on the screen.
•Send your paintings directly to Photoshop CS5, where they’ll be re-rendered at a higher resolution and can be saved in any file format you choose. (Photoshop CS5 must be open, and a network connection between your iPad and computer is required.)
•Save paintings to your iPad Photos app, and then email them as JPEG files.

Adobe Nav

With Adobe Nav—a Photoshop Touch app for Adobe Photoshop CS5 software (version 12.0.4 or later required)—you can now use your iPad to activate Photoshop tools and browse and select open Photoshop documents. As long as you have a network connection between your iPad and computer, you can customize the Photoshop CS5 toolbar on your iPad to easily access the tools you use most. Browse, reorder, view, and zoom in on up to 200 open Photoshop documents on your iPad. Tap a document on your iPad to immediately make it active in Photoshop CS5. And use your iPad to easily share and review files you are working on in Photoshop CS5 while you are away from your desk or computer.

•Use your fingertips to select Photoshop CS5 tools from your iPad screen.
•Customize the way the Photoshop CS5 toolbar appears on your iPad screen to make your most-used tools easily accessible. You can save one Adobe Nav toolbar configuration with up to 16 tools.
•Browse, reorder, view, and zoom in on up to 200 open Photoshop documents on your iPad screen.
•Tap any open document in Photoshop on your iPad to make it the active document in Photoshop CS5.

The full press release after the jump.

Cloud – Easily the Best File and Link Sharing App for Mac

Ever want to share a file or a picture with your friends instantly? In the past, I used to upload whatever files or pictures I want to share with my buddies to Dropbox or SugarSync and then share it.  It is a bit cumbersome as I have to first upload and then share it.  Although I have quite a bit of storage on both my Dropbox and SugarSync account, but the files or pictures might not be something that I want to store.  That’s quite a bit of a problem as that creates a housekeeping chore, that is, I have to remember to go back and delete all those unwanted files.

In come CloudApp (or “Cloud” in the Mac App Store), a free file and link sharing app available on the Mac App Store last week.  The app itself been around for some time and this new version 1.5 is a gorgeous makeover which features a chic yet simple interface.

The application, once installed, sits on the menu bar.  You can drag any files or picture to it and it will copy the link to whatever you dragged to your clipboard and you can instantly paste it in Twitter, Facebook or email.  The uploaded file resides in your CloudApp webpage and another neat thing is there’s a view counter to each of the linked files, great for those stats lover.

The CloudApp also features plugins called Raindrops allowing you to share using CloudApp without leaving your favorite Mac apps. There’s a Raindrop to share pictures from iPhoto, bookmark the page in Safari, Chrome, and Firefox, the canvas you’re working on in Photoshop, automatically upload screenshots, upload selected iTunes tracks and many more.

To get your free copy of the CloudApp, hop over to the Mac App Store or check them out at he website, http://getcloudapp.com/.

How to Get your iPhone Screen Back in Normal

Was drunk as a skunk tonight and somehow got the iPhone screen blown out.  The cure… not by  rebooting or resetting… actually all in the fingers.  Just tap three fingers on the screen and voila…. you’re back in business.  Handy little tool.