iPhone 3G's Download Speed Woes Get Surveyed by Wired

The iPhone 3G's network speed has been coming under fire recently, and over at Wired they've decided to investigate. They're running a global iPhone network speed study... head on over and add your data to their interactive map.[Wired]

credit - http://gizmodo.com/5036882/iphone-3gs-download-speed-woes-get-surveyed-by-wired

App Duplication is Apple App Store Fun, Awkwardness

It's App Store launch day, so there's bound to be a few bits of fun... check out To Do versus Todo in the image there, spotted over at BoingBoing. Different logos. Different spacing. And ... different pricing? Wonder if item #1 on both developer's list is "Fight!"? Updated: We've spotted some more amusingly duped apps. Check out the pics below.

Agreed, some of these apps will offer different functionality for doing a similar task (dare we say you get what you pay for?.) But do we really need three different "tip calculator" apps? Is people's grasp of maths really that bad?
[BBG]

iTunes 7.7 Out on Software Update

iTunes 7.7 is available in "software update" for Mac and Windows. Apple's iTunes page also has it. You'll need this version for the new iPhone OS 2.0 version. The new version hasn't changed from the confidential pre-release we tested alongside iPhone OS 2.0. Like we said then, the apps sync tab in iTunes will not show until you have iPhone Firmware 2.0 installed.

Apple's App Store is Live

Here it is: the much-anticipated Apple Application store for iPhone and iPod Touch is now live via iTunes. Click here for app goodness. Watch this space for our news on the various apps. [Apple]

Kickstart: First Blackberry Flip Phone Needs a Kick in the Design Pants

This fine piece of flip phone is Blackberry's very first clamshell, codenamed Kickstart. It's not very attractive—it's got a smugly RAZR-esque silhouette. The inside is Pearly, with a trackball and SureType keyboard. Boy Genius says that the internal LCD is "decent looking," but the shot of the external has a weird sheen over it, so it's hard to tell there. Sort of an odd choice from RIM, I think—was there an untapped demand for a flip Blackberry? No other specs, but expect it by the end of the year. Profile shot after the jump or hit BGR for the full five. [BGR]

• BLACKBERRY,
• CELLPHONES,
• GADGETS,
• KICKSTART,
• RIM,
• SMARTPHONES,
• TOP

Adobe Photoshop Express Now Live: Free Online Photoshop for Everyone

Adobe's Photoshop Express, its free, online version of Photoshop is live right now. Targeted at everyday consumers, it's Photoshop stripped down to a pretty slick Flash 9-powered web app we got a demo of earlier today. It's super easy to crop, adjust saturation or exposure, or perform several other simple, but solid photo tweaks, like pop color (pictured). You won't be doing any heavy lifting with it, since you can't work with layers, add text or do anything really awesome, like amazing Giz-style comic bubbles, but your mom will be able to make her pictures look better than ever.

You get 2GB of free storage in a quasi-Flickr setup, and it syncs up with Facebook, MySpace and Picasa—it pulls straight from your albums, and any saved changes show right up. Flickr syncing will happen in a couple of weeks.

One of the best features is that any change is reversible, and in any order—you can always go back to your original photo, or any step of the editing process. And because it's just a Flash 9 app, it'll run on any browser on Windows, OS X or Linux. Right now, it isn't integrated with Photoshop, like say, .Mac. But that's coming. A service aimed at pro users, with more storage, serious backup and other pro features is in the works, though it'll carry a fee. (BTW, if there's demand for more than 2GB free, they'll pony up.) Here's the whole press release, or you can just start playing with it right now. [Photoshop Express]

Press Release
Adobe Launches Photoshop Express Public Beta
Free Online Software Brings Photoshop Technology to Anyone Taking Digital Photos

SAN JOSE, Calif. — March 27, 2008 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe®
Photoshop® Express public beta, a free Rich Internet Application (RIA) available to anyone who wants to store, sort and show off digital photos with eye-catching effects. During the public beta period, Adobe will solicit Photoshop Express user feedback on product features and functionality, which will continue to evolve over time. As the newest addition to the Photoshop family line, Photoshop Express has taken much of Adobe's best image editing technology and made it simple and accessible to a new online audience. Photoshop Express allows users to store up to 2 gigabytes of images online for free, make edits to their photos, and share them online in creative ways, including downloading and uploading photos from popular social networking sites like Facebook.

"Photoshop is trusted technology that has changed the visual landscape of our world. Now, Photoshop Express allows anyone who snaps a digital photo to easily achieve the high-impact results for which Adobe is known," said Doug Mack, vice president of Consumer and Hosted Solutions at Adobe. "Photoshop Express is a convenient, single destination where you can store, edit and share photos whether you're at home, school or on the road."

Simple, Fun and Accessible
With Photoshop Express, digital photos can be uploaded and sorted anytime, edited non-destructively to always preserve the original image, and shared from anywhere, on any Web browser. In a few easy clicks, Photoshop Express empowers anyone to make standard edits, such as removing blemishes and red-eye, converting to black and white, cropping and resizing, and much more.

No experience is required to add special effects that will impress friends and family. In keeping with its one-click
approach, Photoshop Express offers tricks like Pop Color which selects an object in an image, mutes the background color of the photo and allows the user to swap the object's color so it jumps off the page. Sketch effects help photos look like drawings and the Distort feature allows you to distort facial features or objects within the images for a comical or artistic effect. Even users with limited photo editing knowledge can simply select what looks best from a line-up of sample photos with visual hints showing different variations of the added effect.

Photoshop Express offers a variety of creative sharing options, including uploading and showing off photos and
slideshows in your own online "Gallery" hosted by Adobe, or conveniently embedding or linking photos to social
networking sites and personal blogs without having to leave the application. Slideshows never looked better with
animation that makes photos float and fly across the screen, allowing for viewer interactivity and unique presentation styles.

Adobe Photoshop Family
Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended are at the heart of the Photoshop family, joined by solutions for users at every level who want to bring out the best in their digital images. Photoshop Lightroom™ addresses the workflow needs of professional and serious amateur photographers. Photoshop Elements provides exciting tools and sharing options for photo hobbyists.

Photoshop Express is the latest step Adobe is taking to leverage the advanced technology that underpins its awardwinning creative products and deliver it to new online communities. In early 2007, Adobe also announced the availability of Adobe® Premiere® Express, an online video editing and mash-up tool on partner sites such as MTV and Photobucket. Adobe Premiere Express leverages the functionality found in Premiere Elements, a fully-featured desktop video editing program.

Free and Available Now
Adobe Photoshop Express beta is available now for free via any Web browser at http://www.photoshop.com/express. Photoshop Express was created with Flex, Adobe's free, open source framework for building RIAs. Flex applications provide a consistent, rich user experience across operating systems and all major browsers, including Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and others. An Internet connection and an up-to-date Flash® Player 9 are all that are required to experience Adobe Photoshop Express. In its early phases, Photoshop Express is available to US residents-only in English.

Users may experience slow performance if accessed outside of the US. Future plans include availability in other
languages and countries.

• ADOBE,
• ADOBE PHOTOSHOP,
• DIGITAL CAMERAS,
• GADGETS,
• PHOTOSHOP,
• TOP

Audeo Neckband Translates Your Thoughts into Speech, Voicelessly

The science-fiction sounding Audeo can apparently detect nerve impulses your brain sends to your vocal chords, and then translate them into meaningful electronic speech without a sound escaping from your mouth. While secret agents everywhere are presumably rejoicing at the idea, it's actually intended to help people whose disabilities mean they can't speak. Don't believe it? The designers recently demonstrated it by making a cellphone call at a Texas Instruments conference, and recorded it on video.

For the brain to send the right nerve impulses, it apparently requires the user to think about speaking in a particular way— one designer calls it "a level above thinking." Despite the learning curve this causes, requiring users to go through lots of training, it brings another benefit: you can intersperse talking normally with voiceless speech.

The company has been working on the technology for a while, starting by using it to control an electric wheelchair. For the time being, though, the speech system is a technology in its infancy. The processing delay is evident from the video, and it has a limited vocabulary of only 150 words and phrases. By the end of 2008, the company is hoping to release a new version that recognizes the phonemes that comprise normal words, effectively giving it an unlimited vocabulary. [New Scientist]

• • ARTIFICIAL SPEECH,
  • AUDéO,
  • SPEAKING WITHOUT TALKING,
  • VOICELESS SPEAKING

  iPhone

iPhone to Get GPS Add-on, Courtesy of Nav N Go's iGO MyWay 8

At CeBIT this week, Nav N Go has been showing off its ghetto-looking iGO MyWay 8 for an "upcoming yet-to-be-announced iPhone GPS receiver." There's no more information beyond that, except that the software looks quite boring and doesn't seem to fully exploit the capabilities of multitouch. [Pocket-Lint]

Unlimited Calling Plan Cheat Sheet

Okay, so every major provider now has unlimited access plans. But what do you really get with each provider, and for how much? Here's everything broken down into a single chart. Note: These are for your phone only, and don't include tethering.

It looks like AT&T has the best deal, at $135 for unlimited voice, messaging and data, though it's capped at 5GB a month. Verizon's is $15 more a month, but it's got better coverage. Sprint's unlimited requires a separate Power Vision or Blackberry data plan for smartphones, otherwise it might come out on top. And well, T-Mobile doesn't have 3G. So, nothing to really jump providers for, yet, since there's more than flat pricing to consider.