O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: March

  • Adobe releases Lightroom 5

    lightroomlogo

    A spiffy program just got a hefty upgrade.

    Per AppleInsider, Adobe on Monday announced the availability of the latest version of its prosumer photo editing software, Lightroom 5, bringing improved workflow features and functionality highlighted by a new perspective-correcting “Upright” tool.

    First released as a beta in mid-April, the final version of Lightroom sports a new Healing Brush and an Upright tool that automatically corrects perspective for images with skewed elements. Adobe has also added a new Radial Filter and the ability to create off-center vignettes.

    In addition, the latest Lightroom features new tools to improve user workflows. A Smart Preview function allows users to edit offline images when away from their primary image storage device by keeping a smaller version of the image locally. When a user edits the Smart Preview version, those changes are saved and automatically applied to the original once the user reconnects to the primary image repository.

    The new version also adds PNG file support, a true full screen mode, and assorted drag and drop capabilities for moving pictures between folders. It also gives users the ability to publish directly to Behance, as well as assorted new keyboard shortcuts to ease transitions between regularly used features.

    Lightroom saw its last major version change in March of last year with an update that added geotagging support, as well as improvements to handling highlights and shadows. The latest iteration builds on its predecessor, Adobe reps said, by adding features that the Lightroom community continually requested.

    Lightroom 5 is available for both Mac and PC platforms. Mac users will need a multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support, running OS X 10.7 or later along with at least 2GB of RAM (4GB recommended) 2GB of available HDD space, and a 1024×768 resolution to install and run.

    The software is available from Adobe’s website for US$79 when upgrading from an earlier version, or US$149 for new users. Those already subscribed to Adobe’s Creative Cloud service will find that the new software is included in their memberships.

    If you’ve tried Lightroom 5 and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.

  • Foxconn begins gearing up for iPhone 5S mass production

    Don’t worry…your next-gen iPhone is en route.

    Or at least being constructed.

    Per iMore and the Wall Street Journal, Apple has been targeting an August time frame for the next-generation iPhone 5S, and while that may or may not include more recently rumored software scheduling issues, it does sound like the general time frame is still accurate enough for Foxconn to start ramping up for production. Lorraine Luk of the Wall Street Journal writes:

    [Foxconn] said Monday it has added about 10,000 assembly-line workers per week in Zhengzhou, its major production facility for iPhones, since the last week of March.

    “We have been very busy recently as we will start mass-producing the new iPhone soon,” said a Zhengzhou-based executive who has direct knowledge of production plans.

    If Apple sticks to its 2009 and 2011 pattern of keeping the same casing two years in a row and releasing an S-class update, then presumably it’ll be an easier ramp up than last year where the manufacturing technology needed to produce the insanely redesigned iPhone 5 led to the usual transitional hiccups and supply constraints.

    If that’s the case, then software and services, namely iOS 7, and iCloud could be the major factors in determining the final release window for Apple next iPhone.

    To date, every new iPhone has shipped with a new version of iOS, and the iPhone 4S shipped with iCloud. That coupling makes for greater product impact, but also greater dependency.

    Hopefully, if hardware is ramping up, that’s a sign everything else is also starting to line back up.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

  • BlackBerry posts $98 million quarterly profit, sells 1 million Z10 smartphones

    blackberry

    Maybe there’s some life left in the old girl…

    Per AppleInsider, BlackBerry on Thursday said demand for its new flagship Z10 handset helped produce a net income of US$98 million — a minor surprise during a transitional quarter for the previously spiraling company.

    While the Canadian smartphone maker, formerly known as Research in Motion, surprised by posting a profit, its quarterly revenue of US$2.7 billion was still seen as a disappointment. In addition, the company only sold 6 million total smartphones, while a million of those were its new Z10.

    A poll of Wall Street analysts by Thomson Reuters had forecast BlackBerry to post a loss of about 29 cents per share. In the same quarter a year ago, the company had lost US$118 million.

    Still, the Z10 sales were a relatively positive sign for the company’s revamped BlackBerry 10 platform. That device launched a few weeks before the end of the quarter, and only in Canada, the U.K. and United Arab Emirates. It began expanding to the U.S. last week.

    While BlackBerry was once a dominant player in the smartphone market, major shifts in recent years have made it a fringe competitor. For example, Apple sold nearly eight times as many iPhones last quarter as BlackBerry sold smartphones in its latest print, demonstrating the gap between the two companies.

    As of the end of the company’s fourth fiscal quarter of 2013, which concluded on March 2, BlackBerry had about US$2.9 billion in cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

  • iPad mini supply improves, shipment times now 1-3 days from online Apple Store

    The iPad mini you just ordered, it should be at your doorstep a little sooner.

    In an update to its U.S. online storefront on Sunday, Apple is now showing ship times of the popular iPad mini stand at 1-3 business days, down from the 3-5 days quoted late last month.

    Per AppleInsider, the new ship-by times suggest Apple may finally be overcoming the severe supply constraints seen shortly after the 7.9-inch tablet launched in November and continued throughout the lucrative holiday quarter.

    Apple saw high demand for the device when pre-orders went live at the end of October, with the U.S. store selling out of the White & Silver model in a matter of hours. The company later announced that the iPad mini sold three million units over its first weekend on sale.

    Chief executive Tim Cook said in the company’s quarterly earnings conference call for the first fiscal quarter of 2013 that suppliers were having trouble meeting demand, but estimated a balance could be reached by the end of the March quarter. Sunday’s new shipment estimates suggest supply is catching up to demand.

    At the end of January, the ship-by time for all models, including the Wi-Fi + Cellular versions, was quoted at 3-5 days, which itself was an improvement from the one-week estimates seen in December.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

  • Rumor: Apple to begin building preliminary “iPhone 5S” units this spring

    If you were holding out for the next-generation iPhone, you can probably expect Apple to once again release something this summer.

    Per AppleInsider, Apple will begin preliminary builds of the successor to the iPhone 5 in March, setting up for an earlier-than-expected debut in June or July, according to a new report.

    Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said in a note to investors this week that two future iPhone prototypes are currently testing. At least one of these is said to be a so-called “iPhone 5S,” while the other could be Apple’s rumored low-cost iPhone.

    Misek previously predicted in December that Apple will launch an incremental upgrade to the iPhone 5 this summer. He also believes the company’s next-generation iPhone, referred to as an “iPhone 6,” will sport a larger 4.8-inch display.

    As word of the “iPhone 5S” production begins to spread, Misek expects there to be a slight slowing of demand for the iPhone 5.

    He expects Apple to sell 44 million iPhones in the current March quarter — a number he noted is “still well above” recent concerns that shipments might be in the mid-30-million range.

    Like some other analysts, Misek believes an apparent decline in iPhone 5 component orders from Apple is not related to significantly reduced demand for the popular handset. Instead, he believes the order cuts are related to three factors:
    An assembly bottleneck that caused component inventories to rise in the holiday quarter.

    Demand may be either in line or “slightly below optimistic expectations,” Misek believes.

    While Misek expects Apple’s next iPhone to launch sooner than expected in the June-July timeframe, he also believes Apple is separately planning a low-cost iPhone that would be geared toward emerging markets like China. Such a device may already have been greenlit, he said.

    “Similar to the iPad mini, we expect a concentrated low-cost iPhone rather than a ‘cheap’ one,” he said. “Likely specs: polycarbonate case with 4″ non-Retina display and no LTE.”

    In his view, a less expensive iPhone would increase Apple’s smartphone market share, but would also decrease the company’s gross margins. He does not expect the rumored product to have much of an effect on the company’s earnings per share.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.