adobe-creative-cloud

Adobe Creative Suite Subscription Only

Adobe’s flagship product, Creative Suite it’s going to be subscription only.

That means that users won’t be able to buy Photoshop CC or other apps individually from Adobe for a flat rate (known in the industry as perpetual licensing). Instead, users can pay a monthly subscription to access all of Adobe’s products.Adobe introduced its Creative Cloud subscription service last year with Creative Suite 6. Users could pay $29.99 to access one Adobe product each month or $49.99 to access the entire Creative Suite (the equivalent of the CS6 Master Collection).

Shifting completely to a subscription model — especially after building its business on perpetual licensing — is a big shift for Adobe. Still, the company maintains that this shift is necessary for the future.

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Apple Today

Apple’s stock price is down about a third over the past six months, Apple has lost its designation as the world’s most valuable company and margins are on a downward trend. Apple’s share of the worldwide smartphone market is 20% vs. 70% for Google’s Android. Apple still has a commanding lead in tablets, but, if the fate of the iPhone is any guide, then the iPad’s lead should also winnow away over time.

In other words, Apple is a company that — at least for the moment — is managing its decline rather than continuing its torrid growth of the past few years. Apple is maintaining its business about as well as can be expected. If the company didn’t introduce the iPad Mini, then it would probably be losing more overall share. The iPad Mini may be dragging margins down, but half a loaf is better than none. The same situation is playing out with the iPhone 4S, which presents a credible “better” to the 5′s “best.” Apple did a great job anticipating the price erosion in the market and did its best to gracefully ride the downward wave.

If Apple doesn’t come up with another new product category like the iPhone or the iPad, though, it’s hard to see how that will change. Right now, the company appears to be betting on a smart watch. Yet for once Apple has been one-upped in the hardware arena by Google whose Glass will make a smart watch superfluous and comparatively timid. The advanced buzz for Glass rivals that of the iPad in 2010 and it appears to have a similar shot at establishing a new consumer segment. Investors have noted the shift in momentum, which is why Google’s stock is up about 20% in the last six months.

During his call with analysts, CEO Tim Cook noted that Apple’s stock price decline has been “very frustrating to all of us” and blamed comparisons with the stellar 2012 fiscal year for Apple’s comparatively tepid results. Cook said some “amazing” new products are on the way, though, this fall, which means that it will be a year or so between major product launches. Let’s hope the new products are as amazing as advertised. Otherwise, these Apple’s strategy going forward looks more like a company that’s coasting than one that’s still charging ahead.

Via Mashable

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iOS Wireframe

Are you planning to design and develop an iPhone App?
iOS Wireframe will help you lots:

  • All iOS UI controls (most are interactive)
  • Modal and popover windows
  • Different scrollable lists
  • Interactive Google Maps with pins
  • iPad and iPhone fullscreen Web Applications
  • Fully customizable and resizable

Download

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Adobe CTO to Apple

Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch is leaving the company to take a job at Apple. The news was leaked in an SEC filing and confirmed by Adobe.

Lynch joined Adobe in 2005 as part of its acquisition of Macromedia. At Macromedia, he helped create Dreamweaver and other web technology tools. More recently at Adobe, Lynch has overseen the company’s push into more subscription software territory with the Adobe Creative Cloud and the Adobe Marketing Cloud.

Tech followers might be most familiar with Lynch as one of Adobe’s more public figures — he frequently engaged with the community via blog postings — and a vociferous defender of Flash at the height of Apple and Adobe’s “war” over the format’s worthiness for the web.

In recent years, Lynch, like the rest of Adobe, has recognized that Flash as a format doesn’t make a ton of sense on mobile and that the focus should instead be on HTML5 tools moving forward.

Still, that incident makes Lynch’s move from Adobe to Apple a bit more interesting.

Could Apple’s iPhone Mini and Phablet Look Like This?

Although the iPhone 5 only launched five months ago, designers are already imagining how Apple’s next line of smartphones will look.

Peter Zigich, a Toronto-based 3D designer, posted concept images of the iPhone 6, the iPhone mini and a phablet on his website.

For Apple‘s next flagship phone, Zigich proposes moving the home button to the side, leaving room for more screen room and another row of icons. The change, he adds, would maintain the same physical dimensions as the iPhone 5. Zigich also mulls over the possibility of two home buttons — one on each side of the phone.

For the iPhone mini, he imagines it as a cheaper, smaller version of the flagship — as some reports suggest — that would compete in developing markets, alongside some Android phones. But contrary to online rumors that claim the iPhone mini would be made from plastic and have a 4-inch screen, Zigich’s version would be made from the “same premium materials” as the regular iPhone, but have the iPhone 4′s 3.5-inch screen.

While Apple has made no indication that it is developing a phablet — the extra-large phone and tablet combination that’s been a hit with consumers — Zigich also provides a concept design for the device. His version would have a larger screen, and allow for one extra row and one extra column of icons.

For more detailed specs, check out the video, above. What do you think of Zigich’s designs? Tell us in the comments.

Apple MacBooks Now Faster, Better, Cheaper

Apple today said it would cut the price of its 13-inch MacBook Pro With Retina Displaywhile simultaneously updating it with faster processors. The 15-inch model is also getting improved specs, although its price remains the same.

The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro now starts at $1,499 for 128GB of solid-state flash storage, and $1,699 for 256GB of storage. The higher-end model also includes a more robust 2.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor.

The 15-inch model still starts at $2,199, but now that gets you a quad-core 2.4GHz Core i7 processor. If you want the best of the best, you can now get a 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro with a quad-core 2.7GHz Core i7 processor with 16GB of RAM for $2,799.

In addition to the adjustments to the Retina MacBook Pro line, Apple also took the price of its 13-inch MacBook Air down a notch: The 13-inch model with 256GB of flash storage now costs $1,399.

The new prices and specs are effective today, both online and in Apple Stores.

The price cuts and speed bumps of the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro make a lot of sense in the light of reviews, which praised the laptop’s high-resolution 2,560 x 1,600 display, but lamented that it didn’t have the same kind of power to drive those pixels as its larger 15-inch sibling.

“What’s inescapable is that this first version of the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro isn’t a winner when it comes to price and performance,” wrote Mashable senior tech analyst Christina Warren in her review. “It’s just a bit too expensive.”

Will the price cuts and improved specs make you more inclined to buy a MacBook in the next few weeks? Let us know in the comments.

Apple is ‘experimenting’ with curved glass smartwatch, say NYT and WSJ

The New York Times is reporting today that Apple has begun developing an iOS-based smartwatch. Sources familiar with the company’s plans tell the Times that the watch will be made from curved glass, setting it apart from competitors such as Pebble’s smartwatch. At the moment, however, it seems the watch is still in a nascent stage of development. Sources said Apple is currently experimenting with wearable form factors, but gave no details of the device’s design, or whether it will be released to the market anytime soon.

Rumors of a so-called “iWatch” have been circulating since at least 2011, when theTimes first reported about Apple and Google’s forays into wearable computing. At the time, Apple’s experiments were described as a logical extension of the iPod Nano — a “curved glass iPod that would wrap around the wrist.” Then, sources close to the company said users would be able to communicate with the device using Siri, though it remains to be seen whether or not this is still part of Apple’s plans.

 

 

The Apple Versus Android War Song

Haven’t you heard? It’s not just a phone, it’s a war.

So pick a side and choose wisely. You’re making a lifetime commitment; is it Apple or Android? And there’s no going back for fear of being called a traitor, a war criminal even a flip-flopper.

And if you’re spending any time liaising with the other side, prepare to sever ties. There’s no sleeping with the enemy when it comes to this conflict.

This song is your official war cry, begin preparing for battle.

Is This the iPad 5?

New images have surfaced of what may be our first look at the iPad 5.

Obtained by 9to5Mac from a accessories maker in China, the photos show the rear-panel of a 9.7-inch iPad, with a similar look and feel to Apple’s recently released iPad mini. The panel is all black, with an iridescent black apple in its center, and looks to be almost as thin as its pint-sized counterpart.

The images on 9to5Mac fall in line with an iLounge report from last week. In that report the writer claimed to have spent time with the iPad 5, and described the tablet as a “stretched iPad mini.” Smaller than the current iPad, the device he saw had relatively no left or right bezels, with the only area around the screen being that required for the camera and home button.

Originally rumored to be launching in March, current rumors point to the next-generation iPad launching in October. Apple is also rumored to be launching a 128GB version of the iPad 4 in the coming months.

Do you think this is the iPad 5? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Apple Revenues Hit Record High With 75 Million iOS Devices Sold

Apple had record sales in the December quarter, but the numbers were still not strong enough to please Wall Street.

Apple sold 47.8 million iPhones in the quarter, compared to 37 million in the same quarter a year ago and a new record for the company. However, it missed Wall Street’s estimates of 50 million iPhones. Meanwhile, the company reported selling 22.9 million iPads for the quarter, which came in just shy of the 23 million iPads analysts had expected Apple to sell.

Apple reported revenue of $54.5 billion — more than the entire annual revenue of Google in 2012 and a new record for the company — but it still came in slightly below analysts’ estimates for revenue of $54.7 billion. On the bright side, Apple’s profits beat estimates with earnings-per-share of $13.81 compared to estimates that it would fall to $13.44 per share.

“We’re thrilled with record revenue of over $54 billion and sales of over 75 million iOS devices in a single quarter,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in a statement. “We’re very confident in our product pipeline as we continue to focus on innovation and making the best products in the world.”

The company’s stock has taken a beating in recent months, declining by about 30% since September on concerns about iPhone supply issues, management changes and a potential decline in the company’s profit margin. In recent days, Apple’s stock has hovered around the $500 mark as investors appeared unsure whether the company was heading back towards its high of $705 a share or lower into the 400s. These earnings numbers appear to have confirmed investor fears of the latter.

Shares of Apple declined by nearly 5% in after hours trading to $490 following the earnings report.