Adobe's Gargantuan Creative Cloud Grows Even Larger in 2014

I have to admit something really embarrassing: After Adobe updated all of the applications to Creative Cloud 2014, I didn't see any differences. Then I realized that the updates didn't update the icons I had pinned to the task bar. Once I figured that out, I started seeing changes. Lots of changes. It's clear that Adobe's developers have been busy and they've delivered a lot of big new features.

This year's big winner might be Muse. As with many Adobe applications, the first couple of versions act as a proof of concept and the beginning point on a road-map that stretches into the distant future. I wasn't impresses by the initial release of Muse, just as I wasn't impressed by the first release of Lightroom. Lightroom is now an indispensable tool for photographers and I have a feeling that Muse is going to be highly popular with website designers, even if they just use it as a tool for storyboarding site plans. Visual designers who don't want to learn complex programming techniques are going to love it.

But that's not this week's topic. Muse has advanced so much that I've been able to make my way through only about a third of the program's features. Muse will be a big story, but not now. Today, it's time to look at some of the mobile apps that Adobe has released for Apple computers. Those of us who use Android devices will have to wait a bit longer, but Ipad uses are going to have fun while being productive with these new tools.

The images you'll see here are from the Ipad that Adobe loaned me for a few days so that I could get an idea of how the mobile apps function and I can tell you that the function very well. This isn't enough for me to make a trip to the Apple store, but it is enough to make me wish fervently that Adobe's product managers will decide that users of Android deserve to have these tools, too.

Photoshop Mix is, from my perspective, the most interesting of the new mobile apps because it gives users the ability to review and modify photos that are stored on desktop systems and synchronized to a Creative Cloud account on an Apple tablet or phone. The changes made there can be synchronized back through the cloud to the desktop.

Additionally, any photos taken with the tablet or the phone can be included in the automatic synchronization.

Photoshop Mix is not the full Photoshop application, but it does include some of the most common features: Increasing or decreasing exposure, contrast, clarity and saturation.

And some high-powered features have been added from Photoshop, including Upright (to straighten images), Shake Reduction (to reduce the effects of blur caused by camera movement), and Content Aware Fill (to permit the removal of unwanted objects in the image).

Artists and designers will be able to use their fingers or a special stylus that's available from Adobe in the Sketch application. I am not an artist and I offer the image at the right as proof.

Even so, this illustrates that the application is responsive to pressure even when the implement that's being used to draw is just a finger. (Remember finger painting in kindergarten?) In fact, found that I can draw better using just a finger than using a pen. Probably my younger daughter, the graphic artist, would be able to explain why that is so.

Real artists can use Sketch to create far more than just a smiley face.

The true power of the application is that it can be used by an artist in a meeting with a client or a creative team. Sketches the artist makes can be reviewed immediately. The client or creative team can see what the artist has in mind and approve it then or make recommendations.

Then, when the artist is back at the desktop, the sketch from the tablet can be imported and used as the basis for the project.

This is a tool that's going to eliminate a lot of frustration while speeding projects toward completion.

It's almost enough to make me wish that I could draw.

Unlike freehand drawing, straight-line drawing (drafting) is something I can do and Adobe Line brings drafting to tablet-size devices.

This drawing is something I could have created. I didn't, but I could have managed to do something like this. The tablet has built-in features that make straight-line drawing easy, but it can be used with Adobe Ink (the stylus that works with Sketch) and with the ruler tool, Slide.

This is a more complex example of work done with Line.

As with Sketch, Line creates files that can be exported directly to Adobe desktop applications so field sketches become true starting points without the need to scan a paper sketch and then re-create the work.

Is It Time for a Wi-Fi Hotspot in Your Car?

Remember road trips the old way? The kids would ask about every 12 to 15 seconds if we were there yet. New technologies have eliminated paper maps and even if your car isn't a connected car, electronic devices can give the kids all the comforts of home.

As long as you're within the range of your cell phone carrier's signal (and virtually all Interstate highways are), you can use a portable Wi-Fi hotspot device to create a network connection that will be available inside the car.

General Motors provided a video this week that demonstrates some of the features that are available in new cars. Their example is a 2015 Buick LaCrosse that includes built-in OnStar 4G LTE that allows passengers to connect up to seven mobile devices such as tablets and laptops to a built-in Wi-Fi hotspot in the vehicle.

Even some low-end vehicles include GPS units so you'll never need a map.

The 2014 Expedia.com Road Rage report says that nearly 80% (78%) of Americans are using technology for directions and entertainment in cars. Manufacturers (both automotive and electronic) still need to address safety issues involving distracted drivers (or depend on people to have the common sense not to compute and drive), but there's no question that navigation technology can help drivers and entertainment technology can keep the passengers happy.

The video was provided by General Motors. I usually ignore information such as this, but I found the video interesting and it reminded me just how much things have changed in just a few years.

But when you're driving, pay attention to what you're doing.

This is an image from KTVU television in Oakland, California. The driver of the truck was playing with his cell phone and didn't notice that traffic had stopped. He plowed into the back of the car at 60 miles an hour. The two people in the back seat of the car were killed. The crash occurred in March.

"Nicholas Tognozzi ... was driving a 2005 GMC Sierra truck at about 55 to 65 mph east on state Highway 12 around 5:20 p.m. on March 15 when he looked up after checking his phone and noticed traffic ahead of him had stopped [according to] California Highway Patrol Officer Kerri Post...."

When you're driving, don't be an idiot.

Short Circuits

Google Is Killing the Nexus?

That's what some rumors have suggested. Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be any truth to the rumor. I say "fortunately" because the Nexus 7 is one of the most outstanding bits of hardware that I've ever owned. A new version of the operating system is scheduled for release later this year and Google says a new version of the Nexus tablet will be ready at the same time.

The new version of the operating system is called Android L (for now) and Google is working on a program that will make it easier for additional manufacturers to build Android devices.

Android L was previewed late in June. "L" is just the code name and Google will undoubtedly give it a clever name with a reference to candy.

L completely reworks the operating system's appearance and adds a bunch (about 5000) of features that will allow it to power Android TV and Android Auto.

Among the updates: An updated interface for G-Mail, extra options to set the device to a do-not-disturb state, and a new theme that all but disappears. Notifications have been improved and combined with the lock screen, multi-tasking has been improved, and overall performance should see a boost. Oh, and the already excellent graphics capabilities will be even better on the new devices.

We'll probably have to say That's one L of an operating system.

The FTC Goes after T-Mobile and Amazon for Unauthorized Purchases

Both Amazon and T-Mobile are calling foul over charges by the Federal Trade Commission that they have charged consumers for things that the consumers haven't purchased.

The FTC filed suit in Seattle against T-Mobile and the Federal Communications Commission is also investigating. The federal agency says that T-Mobile billed consumers for subscriptions to premium text services that were never authorized by the account holder and then collected 40% of the monthly fee.

T-Mobile says that allegations are unfounded and complained that it has been working hard to change the way the wireless industry operates. T-Mobile CEO John Legere said that he was "disappointed that the FTC has chosen to file this action against the most pro-consumer company in the industry rather than the real bad actors."

The FTC had been negotiating with T-Mobile for several months, but wasn't able to reach an agreement on how refunds would be handled.

The FTC is also preparing for legal action against Amazon and plans to file suit if the company refuses to comply with terms the agency has stipulated. Amazon says it will fight the charges.

According to Amazon, the FTC is pushing for a deal similar to the one reached with Apple earlier this year. Apple refunded more than $32 million and agreed to change its billing practices to confirm that customers intended to make a purchase.

Amazon says its policies already comply with the standards that the FTC set forth in the Apple case and that the company already makes refunds for accidental purchases.

Facebook Says it Failed to Communicate Clearly

Perhaps you've already heard about Facebook's experiment that attempted to modify users' emotional reactions by modifying their news feeds. The way the information was presented made Facebook sound rather more manipulative than it really is.

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg apologized this week for "poor communication" and tried to justify the experiment. Sandberg characterized the experiment as ongoing research that many companies do "to test different products."

A Facebook researcher released information describing the testing of nearly 700 thousand users' emotional reactions during a one-week period. The users who were being tested hadn't been notified in any way.

The problem, critics said, was that the information was withheld from users. Doing so fails basic standards that are in place for academic and government research projects.

Unintended Consequences: Canada's Anti-Spam Law Increases Spam

A new law that went into effect in Canada on Canada Day (Tuesday, 1 July) is intended to reduce spam and e-mail clutter. It won't, of course, have the desired effect any more than the CAN-SPAM law has reduced spam in the United States. In fact, for several weeks, the new law caused a huge increase in what could only be considered spam.

The new law states that e-mailers must have either implied or express permission to send e-mail to Canadian citizens. The law is also supposed to apply to US companies that send e-mail to Canadians, but enforcement might be somewhat problematic.

In the weeks leading up to the effective date for the new law, Canadians found themselves all but submerged in millions of messages with subjects such as "Urgent Action Required!" You'd have to act quickly if you wanted to continue to receive e-mail from the sender.

Many of those messages were probably not needed because the Canadian law allows "implied consent". If a business has an ongoing relationship with a customer, then implied consent is assumed. The law defines that ongoing relationship as any purchase made within the previous 2 years.