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Typekit, a company doing its part to help bring better typography to the web, has just announced an new partnership with Adobe.

The partnership means that Typekit users can now integrate famous fonts like Myriad, Cooper Black and Adobe Garamond into their own sites and designs.

Adobe took the time to optimize and hint its collection of fonts for the screen, ensuring that type looks its best. The web fonts support the same languages and scripts as their counterparts on the desktop.

We spoke with Bryan Mason from Typekit and he expanded more on the process of making these fonts web-ready: “Adobe has been working on the hinting and screen rendering of these (and others to follow) for months. On a pixel-specific level, Adobe reviews each font character-by-character, weight-by-weight. It is amazingly meticulous work — and the results show.” Mason also said new Adobe fonts will be added to the service as they are web-ready.

We also spoke with Jeffrey Veen from Typekit about what the company — which is celebrating its one-year anniversary — has planned going forward. He said in part: “We’re also adding more and more features that help designers focus on creativity and not compatibility. Soon, we’ll be launching some amazing CSS3 tools that not only focus on webfonts, but all of the new browser capabilities.”

These are the Adobe fonts that are now available to Typekit users:

• Adobe Garamond
• Adobe Text
• Bickham Script
• Caflisch Script
• Chaparral
• Cooper Black
• Cronos
• Garamond Premier
• Hypatia Sans
• Minion
• Myriad
• Myriad Condensed
• News Gothic
• Poplar
• Rosewood
• Rosewood Fill
• Trajan
• Voluta Script

Not all fonts and weights are available for all user plans, but select Adobe fonts are available at every tier.

What do you think of Adobe and Typekit’s announcement? Do you plan on integrating Myriad Pro in your designs? Let us know!

For more Dev & Design coverage:

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Even though it hasn’t officially launched yet, Adobe said today that developers are already embracing its AIR technology for building applications on smartphones and other devices.

Adobe first released AIR in 2008 as a tool for creating desktop apps that are connected to the Web, but the company is positioning the new version of AIR as a key part of its mobile strategy. Most of the focus in recent months has been on Adobe’s Flash, which is the company’s technology for creating video, games, and other content in the Web browser. But AIR could be just as important for Adobe on smartphones, since it allows developers to build apps that users can download from app stores, and that can run on multiple phones.

The company first announced a test version of AIR for Android at the Google I/O conference in May, and more than 7,000 developers have now signed up, AIR Group Product Manager Aaron Filner said at Adobe’s Android Summit in San Francisco today. That’s only a small part of the total Android ecosystem, which includes more than 100,000 apps (the number of developers is presumably a bit smaller than that). Still, it seems like a sign of healthy interest for such an early product.

Presumably that interest will grow once the mobile version of AIR has its full launch, which is scheduled for sometime before the end of this year. Interest in AIR could also get a boost as Adobe makes AIR available on other smartphone platforms, since one of its big selling points is the cross-platform functionality. Filner said AIR doesn’t quite achieve the ambition of “write once, run anywhere,” where developers can create a single application that runs on any device. But most AIR developers only need to do “a little bit of tuning” to customize their apps for each device.

Droid-maker Motorola and BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion are the only announced partners so far, but I’d expect Adobe to work with most or all of the same partners as it has with Flash, bringing AIR to most smartphones except for the iPhone, where cross-platform technologies, especially Adobe’s have been blocked (something that Adobe chief executive Shantanu Narayen said he has “moved on” from). And AIR should eventually work on some tablet devices too.

Adobe said we should “stay tuned” for more details about its AIR distribution strategy.

[image via Adam Coburn]

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Its actually pretty awesome. I watched a full length episode of weeds on megavideo the other night on a car ride. No heat, no battery drop, really outstanding quality. I usually only use it for little five minute videos here and there, or certain websites(my bank) that use flash, but it is nice to be able to watch videos that people haven’t/can’t put on youtube. I am amazed that they could implement flash video as well on a 600mhz droid as a 1.66ghz asus netbook.
BTW what is farmville?

  +4

The Motorola Droid 2 has just been made official today and we were surprised there wasn’t any grandiose press event filled with CEOs from companies like Motorola, Google, Verizon or Adobe to tell us how great the Droid 2 is and what amazing stuff it’s capable of.

On the other hand the full press release, which we shared with you earlier today, covered everything needed to be said about the Droid 2, and it basically confirmed everything we knew about the device from various rumors and leaks. So there’s no point holding a boring press release to announce stuff that everyone is already suspecting, is there? I’m not saying the Droid 2 isn’t a great device, far from it, actually, just making a point about Adobe.

So here’s my point: despite the fact that the Droid 2 didn’t get a glamorous press event, and despite the fact the press release did mention Adobe’s Flash 10.1 support for the Droid 2, the company decided to make it clear to everybody that the Droid 2 can do Flash 10.1, unlike other smartphones out there. And they have a video demo of Flash 10.1 in action on the Droid 2 (by the way, why is that lady frowning all the time?) available at the via link below.

Yes, it’s August, and Flash is finally available for an Android smartphone from the moment you purchase it in store. Better late then never, right? I’m not going to pass on judgment on the way Adobe does its business, nor will I come up with any Thoughts on Flash, but I bet there are plenty of people that have been waiting for a while for Flash 10.1 to come installed right out of the box on plenty of mobile devices.

I used Ulead (bought out by Corel) VideoStudio 11 Plus for nearly a year before X2 came out. I liked it more than any other video editor I have ever used because of its ease of use, flexibility, nice interface and fairly robust features. New features in X2 include: Intel Quad core support, Blu-Ray support, a series of improvements of old features such as the MPEG optimizer, the Pan & Zoom filter, and miscellaneous changes such as being able to use two title tracks rather than one.

VideoStudio is very straightforward to use, flexible and rather powerful for a consumer level video editor. I have personally used several video editors like Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 and Sony Vegas 7, both of which were difficult to use and did not seem to offer anything VideoStudio didn't. I also tried to use EDIUS Pro 5, Avid Xpress Pro and Avid Liquid, all of which would crash on my fairly powerful computer. In addition, I used the now discontinued Ulead MediaStudio 8, which was the professional version of VideoStudio, and it was also unnecessarily complicated to use and most of the extra features it contained are now included in VideoStudio X2.

It has a very nice interface especially when compared to most other video editors. The interface may not seem very important, but keep in mind you will be using this program for hours on end, dragging and dropping and trimming. I have selected a few components that I will describe. If you want a gap between two videos because you want to place a title by itself, then this is what you need do: Open Paint, go to Image -> Attributes and resize the picture to the size of your video. In my case, it is 720 X 480. Use the paint bucket tool to fill in the whole picture with any colour you wish, though black is the preferred choice. Save it as a bitmap file (for best quality). Then drag and drop it into the timeline. To import video, go to the Capture tab. To import from a camcorder, go to Capture Video, and select split by scene if the option is available. If you have a camcorder that uses a tape like DV, remember to rewind the tape first. To import a file on your computer, go to Import Digital Media. To trim clips, you can select the clip in the timeline and drag the yellow sidebars. To split up clips, you can select and move the red arrow in the preview window to the place you want it to be split and then click the scissors. If you install the VideoStudio Content Pack, you get extra content such as SmartSound which is a program that integrates into VideoStudio and generates sound loops you can utilize in your video. The content pack also includes some generic videos like the 5-4-3-2-1 countdown video you see in the screenshot. When you go to the Share tab, you will find numerous export options. You can create an MPEG file, upload directly to YouTube, burn a DVD with menus and create video files for iPod and Zune to name a few. If you are going to burn a DVD, you will have to pick either NTSC or PAL. NTSC is the standard for North American TVs and PAL is the standard for European TVs. I recommend Corel VideoStudio X2 Pro for any beginners wishing to use a video editor with a small learning curve or anyone who has used other video editors but found them too difficult or ugly to use. After all the video editors I have tested, VideoStudio is the only one I like use regularly. It has most of the features included in more complicated video editors and is much simpler to use, not to mention a smaller disk space requirement. Remember, it is not size that counts, but how you use it.

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Before the era of photography, artists used many techniques to try to capture the moment. Most of these included working with light, color, tone, and composition. When photography came on to the scene and did a good job of capturing reality, traditional artists moved toward impressionism and other more abstract movements. As both art forms have now entered the world of digital expression, these worlds are colliding and giving artists many more venues of expression.

To compose and create a photograph feels easy to most people, but when it comes to creating traditional artwork, most photographers feel that to paint from photographs, you must have a specialized talent. Like the book Painting For Photographers, the goal of this DVD to show that anyone who can photograph can paint using photos. The same visual sense that drew you to photography can also help you turn your photographs into digital art work. The first three lessons are the bulk of this training with the remainder a set of bonus features that show you how to work with the Corel Painter Image Hose.

Lesson 1, “Part I: Portraits – Introduction (17:38 min),” begins with an introduction to painting by looking at how you use light and dark tones to paint an image, how to work with the various tonal controls, the color choices you should make when approaching a painting, and how to work with color schemes.

In this lesson, as with all of the following ones, you will work with both Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter. In this lesson you will examine some of the basic operations such as opening and saving files. You will also learn some specifics you need when working with Corel Painter 11 such as the dialog boxes, using brushes, and working with tracing paper.

Lesson 2, “Part II: Portraits – Painting Eyes and Lips (17:58 min),” begins with what many call the window to the soul — the eyes. Here you will see how to determine the light source so you can make sure to show the catch light You will see the steps for painting eyes, learn quite a few shortcuts that you can use to lift a color, undo, resize, show and hide a color pallet, and more.

I'm an attorney too, and I share your frustration. I do not think that there is a magic bullet out there. (I'll follow this thread just in case, though, because if there is one, sign me up!)

The one thing I've learned is that you have more time than you think. Your boss would rather have you get it right, so ask if you can have one more chance to read it through before it gets filed/sent.

And I second the suggestion to read your work aloud. You would be surprised how many errors you can catch that way. (And although you may feel dumb, you can always hold up your phone so it looks like you're talking on the phone.) You won't need to do it forever – it's kind of like training wheels. It gets you to the point where you can see your mistakes as you're making them.
posted by slmorri at 5:29 PM on July 25
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Corel Painter 11 has spotlighted the art media and tools other than the normal paint and brushes that it takes its name from. There are at least 30 new tools in the Corel Painter 11, all Real Hard Media, which allows this honored natural media program that is meant for Windows as well as OS X to make re- creations with pens, chalk, pastels and other tools that are meant for drawings that are almost uncanny in their resemblance to the actual art.

Wacom has hardware like Intuos and the Cintiq Graphics Tablet in which you can directly work on the display screen with a pen. When you use the Corel Painter 11, you will find the Hard Media tools that are there in this application will adjust to the angle of the pen. This allows you to draw your details using the point of an ordinary 2B pencil. You can fill up the larger areas by just scribbling with this pencil in strokes that go back and forth. The Painters markers in Corel Painter 11 are very realistic and just like the ones that are available from art stores. So like the art stores markers you can build up a layer by a number of strokes when you want to darken the area in your artwork. There is also customization options that will allow you to play around with the hard media in the application and create your own hard media right from scratch.

Corel Painter 11 has Photoshop-like features that are additional and will support the format for a PNG file. There is also a tool that allows you to select a polygon and also another that allows you to rotate, skew or scale the elements in your artwork. However in spite of all this Corel Painter 11 remains what it is, which is being specialized in natural media and does not aspire to be a replacement for Photoshop. This fact is acknowledged in this Corel Painter 11 version by allowing images in the two different programs to move between the two while still retaining their colors as well as the layers. Management for color has been strengthened, so the colors always remain accurate and the Corel Painter 11 can save images in a number of formats and also print them out in the media required.

Corel Painter 11 has an interface that has been fine tuned. You can resize the color wheel and the mixer when you want to blend paints. There are critics however who feel the entire interface in Corel is cluttered and could do with a thorough overhaul. But all said and done, you can produce traditional and realistic art with the Corel Painter 11. So, if you are one of those who use Corel Draw products frequently, and are quite adept at using a virtual pen or paintbrush, you would benefit largely if you do upgrade to Corel Painter 11.

Source: Corel Painter 11

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With the popularity of sites like Facebook, YouTube and MySpace, amateur movie making is becoming more and more popular. There are now websites that offer awards for amateur films. Although many of us are interested in trying to make our own movies, most of us do not know which software will provide the best results. These top software programs will make your movies easy to create, upload and share.

CyberLink Power Director

Many of us deal with the frustrations of having a picture that may not upload due to the type of file it is. This software takes that problem away when it comes to editing and creating films. It supports most media files and includes HD. It offers easy upload to such sites as Facebook and YouTube. It is also a very user friendly software program. There is a tremendous amount of choices for special effects. Priced right at under $75 dollars. You can purchase it at the online retailer www.hermanstreet.com

Movie Magic Edit Pro

There is alot packed into a software product that cost less than $100 dollars. Some of the amazing features include multi cam editing. This allows for the user to record and edit two video channel live and at the same time! The software also works with both blue ray and DVD. It is also compatible on playback with PSP,IPods and more. After playing with this program for a while, you will be very pleased with how much you can do with your films. You can purchase it directly from the publisher.

ShowBiz DVD

If you are looking for film making software ready to use out of the box, then ShowBiz is the right software for you. However, if you are looking to mainly upload the movie rather than burn them on DVD then you may want to upgrade to better package. The price for this software package is around $100. This may be a great gift for someone who wants to create films for family and friend enjoyment.

Power Producer

Looking to spend under $50 dollars for film making software? Then Power Producer is your best choice. This software allows for importing images, adding music, create slide shows, split scenes, add background and more. This software is perfect for a business that may want to create a informational presentation. You can purchase it from the publisher Cyberlink.

Adobe Premiere Elements

Adobe is a leader in computer software. Its attempt at film making software is no different. Adobe Premiere Elements is top of the line. Hollywood filmmakers similar software from Adobe to produce major films. This software's use is fairly easy but required some patience in learning. It allows for complex editing, compatible with Blu Ray and DVD, and a online library of templates and effects that is constantly being updated. It is well worth the price at under $100. You can purchase it directly from www.hermanstreet.com

Filmmaking for a amateur is made easier with software that works to make the experience rewarding and fun. Most software today for fun take into consideration that many of the works produced will end up as enjoyment to be shared on social networking sites and may even be featured on search engines.

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Photo editing software allows photos to be edited in various ways. There are a good few potential photo software packages available, both commercial and freeware alternatives. The best photo editing software has a variety of options and features for the photographer.

Gimp 2

The Gimp freeware software is perhaps one of the best free photo editing software applications. It has a number of editing, image and animation options as well as effects that can enhance photos. Gimp is also customizable, with variable widget themes. The Gimp website provides various updates for the package, documentation and tutorials which can only be a bonus.

Google Picasa 3

Google Picasa 3 is also a good photo editor. While it is more of a photo library, with presentation options, it also includes some good photo editing options. Picasa 3 has a number of basic fixes, as well as other tuning options. Picasa 3 also has a range of effects such as sharpen, saturation, blur and soft glow, with options for collages and presentations also available. Overall, as freeware software it is recommended.

Adobe Photoshop CS4

Adobe Photoshop is a commercial photo editor software package. Many regard it as the best professional photo editor, with a variety of photo editing options available. There are a number of versions, but currently Adobe Photoshop CS4 is perhaps the best. Alternatively, Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended has a few new features such as 3d painting and object editing and also an adjustment panel is included. Admittedly, while having the most advanced options, they are not especially cheap, with up to $1,000 dollar software packages. The website can provide further details on the Adobe software suite series.

Paint Shop Pro Photo X2

Corel's Paint Shop Pro X2 is a potential alternative to Adobe Photoshop. It is more popular with amateurs, due to better value. Currently, Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 is one of the best Paint Shop versions and has comprehensive editing options and effects. New features include a background remover, Express Lab and Corel painter. Free trials, or demo software, of Paint Shop Pro are also available. Again, it is worth visiting the Corel web-site for more.

Overall, those are some of the best image editing software. From the freeware software such as Gimp 2 and Picasa 3, alongside Paint Shop Pro X2 and Adobe Photoshop CS4 which has the most features. As stated, further details are available via supported web-sites.

Sources: www.corel.com, www.adobe.com

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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has denied a Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to a complaint filed by Adobe against Apple, stating that the release of the information would impede the commission's “law enforcement” duties.

Nearly 200 pages of records regarding Adobe's complaint were requested by Wired this week, and rejected. Adobe filed the paperwork with the FTC after Apple announced it would not allow iOS applications ported from other languages or development environments, such as Flash.

The FTC justified its decision to keep the documents, stating that making them public “could reasonably be expected to interfere with the conduct of the Commission's law enforcement activities.” The FTC said that 189 pages are related to the case, but the records are exempt from the FOIA request. The response strongly suggests that the FTC is currently conducting an investigation into the matter.

“The FTC never publicly confirms or denies when an investigation is open or closed, except when it sues or reaches a settlement with a company,” author Ryan Singel wrote. “However, both Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal reported in May that the FTC had gotten a complaint from Adobe and opened a formal investigation.”

The fight between Apple and Adobe came to a head after Adobe announced it would create an application that would allow developers to port software written to Flash to the iPhone. That software would allow developers to circumvent Apple's ban of Adobe Flash from iOS devices, including the iPhone and iPad.

But Apple changed its developer agreement, banning applications written in non-native languages and ported to the iPhone. That prompted Adobe to abandon development of its Flash-to-iPhone porting software, and file a complaint with the FTC.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs publicly commented on the matter in an open letter published in late April, in which he slammed Adobe Flash as a Web tool that is unfit for the modern, mobile era of computing. He also said that an intermediary tool for converting Flash applications to the iPhone would produce “sub-standard apps,” and would hinder the progress of the platform.

Jobs said he knows from “painful experience” that allowing developers to become dependent on a third-party tool, such as Adobe Flash, rather than writing natively for the iPhone is restrictive. “We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers,” Jobs wrote.

And we’re here at Adobe HQ.  Updates and goodies on the way…

9:37AM – First up is a Flash 10.1 overview/intro from Anup:

Current devices…

-Nexus One, HTC Desire, HTC EVO, and DROID 2.

On future delivery to devices…

-OTA updates:  content triggered downloads, system software updates, and via on-device app catalogs (Android Market).

-Ship pre-installed like on Droid 2

Adobe AIR overview/intro…

-Support for Android is coming in Q4 2010.

-No word just yet on how it will be introduced.

Digital Video and TV Delivery overview/intro:

-Delivery:  HD video and allow playback of online content through your television.

-Gaming:  Bringing Flash games to TVs.

10:05:AM  - Paul Betlem Director of Flash Player…

Release Goals/Focus:

-Performance and battery life

-Usability and user experience

-Existing content compatibility

-Deliver new capabilities

-Partner collboaration

The Flash device lineup.  Who has it and who will get it…

How about Flash on the Droid tablet in 3D?  It’s under consideration…

10:55AM – Adobe AIR for Android now by Aaron Filner…

-DEMO TIME!

-Aaron just demo’d Youtube, a game called Meteor and FITC event apps for AIR.  So clean, so much potential.

-How AIR works with Flash, deployment as applications, features and requirements, and rollout…

11:41AM – NJ talking Flex Mobile and Flash Builder…

The rundown on Flex…

The rundown on Flash Builder…

LUNCH.  Check out our second half post coming this evening!

…

Hello everyone. This article is for those looking to invest in a good photo editing or illustration program for their computer. I will be ranking some of the best and most well known programs on the market today. Those programs that are ranked #1 would be my first choice for anyone looking to create beautiful graphics or make excellent photo edits. Here we go!

PHOTO EDITING PROGRAMS-

#1: Adobe PhotoShop- I believe that this is the best overall program for editing photos and doing much more. It is used by professionals world wide and continues to be one of the most famous programs to ever hit the market. It can also be used as an illustration tool. It is available for PCs and MACs.

#2: Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo- This is a close second to Photoshop. It has great photo editing abilities with a wide variety of tools and methods.

#3: Xara Extreme- This photo editing program is not as complicated as others but operates in a lovely way. It can do most things as well and PS and Corel.

#4: Serif Photo Plus- This program packs some punch and has outstanding photo editing capabilities. Whatever you want to do, this program has it. It is almost a tie with Xara. Both are excellent programs.

#5: Gimp- Alone, it is not much, but with several of the right downloadable plug-ins, it can become a powerful tool. Gimp is very adaptable and can do a wide variety of tasks. The good thing about Gimp is that it is available on Unix/Linux operating systems.

ILLUSTRATION PROGRAMS-

#1: Adobe Illustrator- Like photoshop, it is at the top of it's game. It has almost unlimited options for creating graphics and is used quite a bit for everything from books to graphics and buttons on the internet. It also has the power to do much more.

#2: Corel Draw- Many would agree that this program is the equal of Illustrator. It runs smoothly and has a wide variety of tools including many of the same functions as Illustrator. You can't go wrong with the graphical power of Corel Draw.

#3: Macromedia Freehand- Macromedia Freehand is a high quality program used almost as much as Corel Draw and Illustrator. It has very professional functions and has the ability to create amazing, web-worthy graphics. The competition for the above three is so close, it wouldn't matter which program you chose.

Thank you for reading. HAPPY EDITING!!

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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has denied a Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to a complaint filed by Adobe against Apple, stating that the release of the information would impede the commission's “law enforcement” duties.

Nearly 200 pages of records regarding Adobe's complaint were requested by Wired this week, and rejected. Adobe filed the paperwork with the FTC after Apple announced it would not allow iOS applications ported from other languages or development environments, such as Flash.

The FTC justified its decision to keep the documents, stating that making them public “could reasonably be expected to interfere with the conduct of the Commission's law enforcement activities.” The FTC said that 189 pages are related to the case, but the records are exempt from the FOIA request. The response strongly suggests that the FTC is currently conducting an investigation into the matter.

“The FTC never publicly confirms or denies when an investigation is open or closed, except when it sues or reaches a settlement with a company,” author Ryan Singel wrote. “However, both Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal reported in May that the FTC had gotten a complaint from Adobe and opened a formal investigation.”

The fight between Apple and Adobe came to a head after Adobe announced it would create an application that would allow developers to port software written to Flash to the iPhone. That software would allow developers to circumvent Apple's ban of Adobe Flash from iOS devices, including the iPhone and iPad.

But Apple changed its developer agreement, banning applications written in non-native languages and ported to the iPhone. That prompted Adobe to abandon development of its Flash-to-iPhone porting software, and file a complaint with the FTC.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs publicly commented on the matter in an open letter published in late April, in which he slammed Adobe Flash as a Web tool that is unfit for the modern, mobile era of computing. He also said that an intermediary tool for converting Flash applications to the iPhone would produce “sub-standard apps,” and would hinder the progress of the platform.

Jobs said he knows from “painful experience” that allowing developers to become dependent on a third-party tool, such as Adobe Flash, rather than writing natively for the iPhone is restrictive. “We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers,” Jobs wrote.

Apple and Adobe may not be the best of friends right now, but Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen doesn’t seem too worried.  Describing the Cupertino company’s aversion to Flash on iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad as Apple “wanting to control the environment”, Narayen says his company would “rather work with partners who are interested in working with us” and that “they’ve made their choice. We’ve made ours and we’ve moved on.”

“Apple made some statements about the suitability of our technology for mobile devices.  I think we’ve proven that the technology is not only suitable but it actually significantly enhances the value on these mobile devices.  They’ve chosen to keep their system closed and we’d rather work with partners who are interested in working with us.  We believe in open systems. We believe in the power of the internet and in customers making choices and I think a lot of the controversy was about their decision at that point. They’ve made their choice. We’ve made ours and we’ve moved on.  It’s a business decision. With the energy and innovation that our company has, we’d rather focus on people who want to deliver the best experience with Flash and there are so many of them.” Shantanu Narayen, CEO, Adobe

The new stance seems a little less antagonistic than Adobe’s previous strategy: blanket ads accusing Apple of being against freedom of choice.  As for whether Adobe is now averse to any future dealings with Apple when it comes to Flash, despite Steve Jobs’ vocal criticism of the platform, Narayen is open-minded.  ”Our doors are open,” he said, “you will have to ask them about their part.”

This article describes what a .FLV video file is and how you can download and open it on your computer using free software such as VLC, Adobe Media Player or Quicktime.

What are .FLV files?

.FLV files are Flash files. Flash is Adobe's form of content delivery used on Internet video web sites like YouTube and Google Video. When posted on web sites like Google Video or YouTube, Flash files (.flv) are played through your computer's Internet browser (Internet Explorer, Apple Safari, Firefox, etc.). However, many people download videos off of YouTube and similar video-sharing web sites. Thus, a market has arisen for software that can open and play downloaded .flv Flash video files.

How do I open .FLV files?

There are several free, easy ways to open .FLV files that you downlaod to your computer off of web sites like YouTube.

- Instructions to Open .FLV on a Windows PC

One of the best software options for opening .flv Flash video files on a computer running Microsoft Windows is the VideoLAN's VLC Video Player. You can download VLC for free at http://www.videolan.org/vlc/. It is an open-source software and has a hefty feature list which includes the ability to play .flv files.

Another good PC solution for opening .flv files is the Adobe Media Player. You can download Adobe Media Player for free at http://www.adobe.com/products/mediaplayer/.

A third free software program that can open .flv video files is RealPlayer.

- Instructions to Open .FLV on a Mac

VideoLan's VLC Video Player 0.86 can also run on a Mac. You can download VLC for free at http://www.videolan.org/vlc/. To date, almost 82 million people have downloaded VLC. However, one of the best .flv players is made by Apple and is called Quicktime. Quicktime can play .flv files easily. You can download Apple Quicktime to open your .flv files at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/.

How do I download .FLV files off of YouTube or Google Video?

My favorite web site to download Internet videos in Flash .flv form is keepvid.com Simply enter in the address of the Internet video you would like to download, and keepvid.com will give you a direct link to the file. On a PC, right-click and “Save As.” On a Mac, hold down your Option key and click on the link (or hold down “Control” while clicking, and select “Save”).

Keepvid.com works on many other sites besides YouTube.com. It can also download .flv video files from Google Video, iFilm, Break.com, Myspace, Lulu Video, and Metacafe.

Now, you know how easy it is to open .flv files on your computer, whether it's a Windows PC or a Mac! You also know how to download .flv Flash video files off of the Internet. Enjoy!

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As well as updating its range of Mac Pro computers, Apple has also updated its iMac range with a range of Intel Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 processors.

Prices start at $1,199 for the 21.5 inch iMac, and $1,699 for the 27 inch iMac, and both models boast more powerful graphics, up to 16GB of DDr3 RAM, an SDXC card slot, and a choice of ATI Radeon graphics cards.

You can see full details of what is new in the new Apple iMac range in the press release below.

Press Release

Apple Updates iMac Line

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Valve's Steam for Mac has boosted developers' interest in releasing Mac versions of their games, but according to Valve, that interest won't translate into more new Mac releases until next year. Still, Valve believes that 2011 will mark a sort of renaissance for Mac gaming.

Valve director of business development Jason Holtman said in an interview with GamesIndustry that, while hard numbers weren't available to share, there are plenty of Mac users on Steam. Even users with both PCs and Macs are using the Mac to buy games, instead of thinking of their PC as the sole machine for gaming. 

“They're not thinking about their PC and Mac being separate anymore, they're really thinking about both of them being together and the platform just being there,” Holtman said.

That behavior is driving new interest in delivering Mac versions of current game releases from publishers, as opposed to considering ports after the Windows version has shipped. “Developers who weren't thinking about the Mac a year ago are coming to us and saying, 'Wow! How could I make a Mac version of my game?'” said Holtman.

Graphics performance is still an issue on Mac OS X, though, and so is OpenGL coding for developers more accustomed to DirectX. Apple still has plenty of work to do to support newer versions of OpenGL and better optimize graphics drivers to achieve performance parity with Windows. But to help developers accelerate development schedules and work around these issues somewhat, Valve is making code it has developed for the GL layer available to Steamworks partners. 

Those developers “will have access to some of the hard work that we do to get our games up on Mac, and they'll be able to incorporate that into their games,” Holtman told GamesIndustry. “And our hope is it gets them there faster.”

Even with Steam for Mac making a great distribution platform and Valve providing OpenGL graphics tools, though, Mac gamers shouldn't expect a bunch of simultaneous releases from other top-tier developers just yet. For games already in the development process for 2010, adding a Mac version could ruin current schedules and cause release delays. Valve vice president of marketing Doug Lombardi said that publishers are instead looking at releases planned for 2011, and looking at how to incorporate making a Mac version from day one.

“The interesting thing we're seeing from publishers and developers alike is… they aren't thinking about porting their games to Mac,” Holtman said. “They're thinking, 'I need to write for a Mac. I'm not going to do a port six months later or maybe a year later, I should bring that in and do that now because there's a fair amount of people out there.'”

While gaming has never been one of the Mac's strong suits, Valve's efforts to bring more developers to the platform and generate interest in first-class Mac OS X versions of top-tier games is certainly welcome. 

Hello everyone. This article is for those looking to invest in a good photo editing or illustration program for their computer. I will be ranking some of the best and most well known programs on the market today. Those programs that are ranked #1 would be my first choice for anyone looking to create beautiful graphics or make excellent photo edits. Here we go!

PHOTO EDITING PROGRAMS-

#1: Adobe PhotoShop- I believe that this is the best overall program for editing photos and doing much more. It is used by professionals world wide and continues to be one of the most famous programs to ever hit the market. It can also be used as an illustration tool. It is available for PCs and MACs.

#2: Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo- This is a close second to Photoshop. It has great photo editing abilities with a wide variety of tools and methods.

#3: Xara Extreme- This photo editing program is not as complicated as others but operates in a lovely way. It can do most things as well and PS and Corel.

#4: Serif Photo Plus- This program packs some punch and has outstanding photo editing capabilities. Whatever you want to do, this program has it. It is almost a tie with Xara. Both are excellent programs.

#5: Gimp- Alone, it is not much, but with several of the right downloadable plug-ins, it can become a powerful tool. Gimp is very adaptable and can do a wide variety of tasks. The good thing about Gimp is that it is available on Unix/Linux operating systems.

ILLUSTRATION PROGRAMS-

#1: Adobe Illustrator- Like photoshop, it is at the top of it's game. It has almost unlimited options for creating graphics and is used quite a bit for everything from books to graphics and buttons on the internet. It also has the power to do much more.

#2: Corel Draw- Many would agree that this program is the equal of Illustrator. It runs smoothly and has a wide variety of tools including many of the same functions as Illustrator. You can't go wrong with the graphical power of Corel Draw.

#3: Macromedia Freehand- Macromedia Freehand is a high quality program used almost as much as Corel Draw and Illustrator. It has very professional functions and has the ability to create amazing, web-worthy graphics. The competition for the above three is so close, it wouldn't matter which program you chose.

Thank you for reading. HAPPY EDITING!!

oem software

Adobe is showcasing the new Motorola Droid 2's ability to play Flash 10.1 out of the box in a new demo video (below). Other handsets, including the HTC Evo and Motorola Droid X, are currently in the process of getting the software update. The Droid 2 has hardware acceleration for Adobe's plugin, making for smooth videos and games shown off in the clip.

The Droid 2 will give users the ability to quickly share videos with friends or followers on the popular social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. Other Flash content commonly found on the web includes animations, rich Internet apps, e-commerce, music and other audio apps.

Verizon is due to start selling the Droid 2 on Thursday and should upgrade both the original Droid and Droid X to Android 2.2 in the near future.

A developer at Adobe Systems figuratively dislodged his tongue from his cheek on Tuesday after demonstrating a video calling system that carried a name strikingly similar to Apple's FaceTime.

The software prepared by Mark Doherty, Adobe's Flash platform evangelist, was called FlashTime. The name is a combination of the Adobe's Flash multimedia system and Apple's proprietary video conferencing program for the iPhone 4.

Doherty has since changed the name of his concept software to the less amusing P2P Video Calls on Android.

An Adobe spokeswoman said the app is not officially supported by the company and is rather a demonstration to developers that Adobe's AIR platform for Google's Android can be used to make video calls. Existing apps not associated with Adobe, such as Fring and Skype, already allow some Android phones to video chat.

"Mark initially used the name 'FlashTime' for his demo so developers would understand that his app had similar functionality to other video applications," an Adobe spokeswoman wrote in an e-mail. "Mark changed the name of his demo because this was causing confusion."

Apple and Adobe have had a very public battle over the last year. Despite pleas from Adobe, Apple's iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch products do not support websites using Flash or apps programmed on Adobe's platform.

Apple says it intends to open its FaceTime framework to outside developers in the hopes of allowing iPhone owners to connect with users of non-Apple devices.

– Mark Milian
twitter.com/markmilian

Photo: Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, right, with Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola. Credit: PR Newswire

With the popularity of sites like Facebook, YouTube and MySpace, amateur movie making is becoming more and more popular. There are now websites that offer awards for amateur films. Although many of us are interested in trying to make our own movies, most of us do not know which software will provide the best results. These top software programs will make your movies easy to create, upload and share.

CyberLink Power Director

Many of us deal with the frustrations of having a picture that may not upload due to the type of file it is. This software takes that problem away when it comes to editing and creating films. It supports most media files and includes HD. It offers easy upload to such sites as Facebook and YouTube. It is also a very user friendly software program. There is a tremendous amount of choices for special effects. Priced right at under $75 dollars. You can purchase it at the online retailer www.hermanstreet.com

Movie Magic Edit Pro

There is alot packed into a software product that cost less than $100 dollars. Some of the amazing features include multi cam editing. This allows for the user to record and edit two video channel live and at the same time! The software also works with both blue ray and DVD. It is also compatible on playback with PSP,IPods and more. After playing with this program for a while, you will be very pleased with how much you can do with your films. You can purchase it directly from the publisher.

ShowBiz DVD

If you are looking for film making software ready to use out of the box, then ShowBiz is the right software for you. However, if you are looking to mainly upload the movie rather than burn them on DVD then you may want to upgrade to better package. The price for this software package is around $100. This may be a great gift for someone who wants to create films for family and friend enjoyment.

Power Producer

Looking to spend under $50 dollars for film making software? Then Power Producer is your best choice. This software allows for importing images, adding music, create slide shows, split scenes, add background and more. This software is perfect for a business that may want to create a informational presentation. You can purchase it from the publisher Cyberlink.

Adobe Premiere Elements

Adobe is a leader in computer software. Its attempt at film making software is no different. Adobe Premiere Elements is top of the line. Hollywood filmmakers similar software from Adobe to produce major films. This software's use is fairly easy but required some patience in learning. It allows for complex editing, compatible with Blu Ray and DVD, and a online library of templates and effects that is constantly being updated. It is well worth the price at under $100. You can purchase it directly from www.hermanstreet.com

Filmmaking for a amateur is made easier with software that works to make the experience rewarding and fun. Most software today for fun take into consideration that many of the works produced will end up as enjoyment to be shared on social networking sites and may even be featured on search engines.

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Reading between the lines, Apple may face an FTC investigation into its refusal to allow Flash support on the iOS platform. This is speculation based on a recent refusal on the part of the FTC to grant Wired access to the 200 pages of complaints against Apple filed by Adobe.

The FTC declined to make these documents available because it said doing so “could be reasonably expected” to interfere with its “law enforcement” duties.

In full, the FTC statement reads:

“We have located 189 pages of responsive records, all of which are exempt from the FOIA’s disclosure requirement,” wrote Joan A. Fina, the FTC’s assistant general counsel. “These records are exempt… because disclosure of that material could reasonably be expected to interfere with the conduct of the Commission’s law enforcement activities.”

Apple CEO Steve Jobs in April explained the ban as follows:

“We know from painful experience that letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the enhancement and progress of the platform.

“If developers grow dependent on third party development libraries and tools, they can only take advantage of platform enhancements if and when the third party chooses to adopt the new features. We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers.”

Of course, despite years to develop the solution, Adobe still hasn't delivered a version of Flash which delivers across devices on performance and battery life.

Meanwhile, RIM execs yesterday revealed the BlackBerry Torch 9800, which doesn't support Flash, though the company said RIM and Adobe “continue working on it”.

Computerworld tells us the two firms are trying to optimize Flash 10.1 for BlackBerry hardware so devices provide good battery life, performance and efficiency on wireless data transfers, said Tyler Lessard, vice president of global alliances and developer relations at RIM.

“We don't want to deliver an experience that users are going to get really excited about — perhaps buy a new device just because it supports Flash — and then find it doesn't work as they hoped it to,” he said.

Palm in June said it has no idea 'what the hold-up is' with getting Flash Player to webOS, even though Adobe promises to get Flash Player into shape for all smartphones by the end of the year.

Which says it all, really.

Microsoft has been helping Adobe develop a sandbox similar to the Protected View in Office 2010. Adobe Reader Protected Mode, a sandboxing technology based on Microsoft's Practical Windows Sandboxing technique, is a new mitigation feature scheduled for the next major version release of Adobe Reader. In addition to working with the Microsoft Office security team, Adobe also learned from the Google Chrome team as well as third-party consultancies and other external groups that have sandboxing knowledge and experience.

Adobe Reader Protected Mode will be enabled by default and will ensure that all operations required to display a PDF file to the user are run in a restricted manner inside a sandbox. Actions not permitted in the sandboxed environment, such as writing to the user's temporary folder or launching an attachment inside a PDF file using an external application, are funneled through a “broker process,” which has a strict set of policies for what is allowed and what is not. This first release will sandbox all “write” calls, mitigating the risk of exploits that seek to install malware on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7. In future releases of Adobe Reader, the company hopes to extend the sandbox to include read-only activities to protect against attackers seeking to read sensitive information from the user's computer.

Adobe's products are almost as ubiquitous as Microsoft's, and since Microsoft has been taking security much more seriously ever since Windows XP SP2, it made sense for cybercriminals to target software which had so many vulnerabilities waiting to be discovered. Last year, Adobe Reader took the crown away from Microsoft Office as the software with the most vulnerabilities. Brad Arkin, Senior Director of Product Security & Privacy for Adobe Systems, announced in May 2009 that a major Adobe Reader and Acrobat security initiative was underway: code hardening, incident response process improvements, and a shift to a regular security update schedule.

Microsoft's and Adobe's products compete on many fronts, but it makes sense for Redmond to help its partners in the area of security. The sandboxing approaches that Microsoft has pioneered in Office, including the sandbox for its search subsystem, the MOICE sandbox, and Protected View, are there to improve the overall state of security on Windows. The progress in security made by the Office team can thus be extended to other third-party applications for Windows, protecting the customers that Microsoft has in common with its partners.