Reviews
Photoshop CS4 Missing Manual
Lesa Snider King is at it again!
This time, she has written an incredible tome with Photoshop CS4 - The Missing Manual. When you are looking for books on Photoshop, they usually run a couple of different varieties: The ‘let me teach you step by step’ Book, The quick down and dirty book, and the Reference book. At over 800 pages, the book is definitely one of those Reference books, but what excites me about it is the level at which Lesa’s commited to explaining everything out for you.
She’s got a great style, the book looks really impressive, and I think is going to be one of those invaluable resources you have to take Photoshop to the next level. Congratulations Lesa. This one looks brilliant!
Give the Gift of Lesa Snider King for Christmas
If you’re looking for the last minute Christmas gift for the photo enthusiast who really wants to learn more about Photoshop Elements, consider the gift of a tutorial video by Lesa Snider King. It’s a very simple way to learn the essence of what Elements is really all about.
Just try it for one month. The cost is $20 per month or $200 for the year for Scott Kelby's video training to gain access to so many great photo tutorials. Besides getting Lesa’s insightful Photoshop Elements’ tips, you get her explaining image resolution wearing a chef’s outfit as she uses brown sugar in her demonstration. It’s definitely my favorite of all the Kelby training videos
Sensors, Shutters, Lenses: Camera-Rating Time!
It’s time once again for the wintertime stunt I’ve been conducting since 2001: a research project I like to call, “How much digital camera can $300 buy you?” The main thing we care about is image quality, not bells and whistles. We want you to send us the best camera you have with a street price under $300. And may the best cam win!
With only one exception, the cameras submitted for this roundup cost around $250 or less. Maybe it’s the economy, maybe it’s some quirk of consumer psychology — but there’s no such thing as a $300 camera anymore.
Quite a bit has changed in the camera landscape since this survey began in 2001 — and even since last year.
Griffin WindowSeat for iPhone 3G
Pro: Well designed, provides a real stable platform for your iPhone 3G and stands up quite well to daily use. Pricing is very reasonable for what you get in the box. The ability to switch to a regular iPhone or iPod Touch cradle, or expand the arm out more is a definite plus. Being able to also mount the WindowSeat unit to your dash or console area, based upon your needs or jurisdictional restrictions is also a plus here. Unit tilts for landscape or portrait viewing capability.
Cons: WindowSeat is not designed to seat an iPhone in any type of case. For those users who have their iPhone in a case, this may be a turn-off.
Review: Canon EOS Rebel XSi
The original Canon EOS Digital Rebel () was the first digital SLR (DSLR) to break the $1,000 price barrier. Since then, Canon has released other Rebel models with smaller bodies and larger feature lists, with the latest being the EOS Rebel XSi.
Pros - Great image quality; excellent low-light performance; improved body and control layout; Live View; big LCD screen; very good kit lens.
Cons - No top-mounted LCD screen; limited customization.
Adobe Photoshop CS4 and CS4 Extended
Make a note of who wrote this *excellent* review! :-)
Pros - Streamlined, less-cluttered interface; Masks and Adjustments panels make the tools easy to find; Kuler integration helps you choose color schemes; OpenGL enabled features improve user experience; selective editing in Camera Raw.
Cons - Missing Extract Filter, Contact Sheets, Picture Package, and PDF Presentations.
Matias Folding Keyboard
If you spend a lot of time working on the road—for example, in hotel rooms or at a remote office—bringing along a portable keyboard, a mouse, and a laptop stand lets you position your screen, keyboard, and mouse at proper heights, making for a more ergonomic workspace. Matias’s Folding Keyboard may work as part of your on-the-go setup, but a couple of quirks keep it from being all that it can be.
Pros - Compact folding design; includes number pad; good key feel; navigation keys overlay right hand’s home area; tab key on number pad.
C0ns - Doesn’t fully lock into open position, which is bad for lap use; no dedicated caps lock key; odd layout of some keys.
Ars reviews the 2008 MacBook Pro
A redesign of the MacBook Pro—Apple's professional level notebook—has been a long time coming. The machine's physical design has not changed at all since the MacBook Pro was originally introduced in early 2006 (which, in itself, was barely different than the PowerBook G4 before it), and its internals have only evolved over time. But as of last week's special launch event, Apple has finally answered the call for an updated MacBook Pro, giving its flagship mobile an overhaul on both the outside and the inside.
And boy, are there a lot of changes.
Bento 2
Pros - Inexpensive, easy-to-use database program that takes great advantage of Mac OS X technologies; dynamic access to Address Book, iCal and Mail data, and easy import and export of spreadsheet data; on-the-fly customization of forms; saved searches library (database design) templates can be shared.
Cons - Somewhat limited design options for printed reports; can’t password protect libraries; no network sharing with users on other computers.
First Look: Photoshop CS4
Update arrives just 18 months after predecessor, but offers plenty of additions.
Typically a first look at a newly-updated product starts out with phrases like, “the long awaited” or “the much anticipated.” Not so with Photoshop CS4. The truth is that latest version of Photoshop will hit the streets practically on the heels of Photoshop CS3, its predecessor which debuted a little less than 18 months ago.
What kind of features could Photoshop CS4 have now that it didn’t have slightly over a year ago? As it turns out, the Photoshop product managers have barely slept since herding CS3 out the door and the answer is, “Quite a lot, thank you.” Photoshop CS4 sports an overhauled workspace, OpenGL features like a rotating canvas, new panels for Masks and Adjustments, on-image controls for some adjustments (a la Photoshop LightRoom), a 3-D engine, and that’s just for starters.
Here’s what to expect from the latest version of Photoshop when CS4 ships in October.
NetNewsWire 3.1.7
I *love* NetNewsWire! I'm completely addicted to checking it multiple times a day.
Pros - Great interface; handles hundreds of subscriptions with ease; useful feed-organization features; lots of feed- and article-viewing options; Clippings feature; Smart Lists; can sync feeds, clippings, and article statuses across multiple devices; built-in Web browser with tab support; excellent keyboard-based controls; can track changes to published articles; useful reports.
Cons - Occasional (infrequent) sync/refresh issues; custom column widths occasionally forgotten.
ContentBarrier X4
Pros - Easy-to-use interface; can create custom filters; flexible scheduling features.
Cons - Can’t edit preset keyword category lists; buggy scheduling behavior.
NetBarrier X5
Pros - Easy to configure, extra privacy tools
Cons - Sometimes blocks legitimate network traffic.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2
From DigitalArts
Pros - Fast, intuitive workflow for previewing, sorting, and processing digital photographs; now with 64-bit processing; improved keywording; remote volume access and localized retouching; available for Windows.
Cons - Handover to Photoshop Camera Raw is inconsistent; brushes are circular only; Apple’s Aperture is less expensive.
Delicious Library 2.0
From Macworld UK
Pros: Barcode scanner works quickly and easily, categories automatically generated
Cons: You can’t choose which Amazon site to sell to, no direct eBay support
Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 Review
Photoshop Lightroom, Adobe’s first attempt at a photo-management and -editing tool specifically for photographers, was a solid application when it was first released in 2007. And Lightroom 2.0, which is available now, comes with a large list of new and enhanced features. Many of the improvements are small ones that focus on usability and productivity, but they add up to real improvements that make it easier to manage photos. Adobe has also expanded Lightroom’s editing functionality significantly, making it less likely that you’ll need an external photo-editing program (such as Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements to work on your photos.
Pros: Lots of productivity and user interface improvements; Library Filter makes finding images easier than before; new Adjustment Brush and Graduated Filter tools let you create localized edits; improved integration with Photoshop; support for multiple monitors
Cons: Clone and Heal tools not upgraded to brushes; no links to online photo books; no soft proofing
Every Voice Recorder, Reviewed
From iLounge
Voice recorder technology first appeared on iPods back in 2003, when Belkin released the original Voice Recorder for iPod. Since then, additional full-sized iPod and nano models have offered basic voice recording capabilities, using software that Apple included in the devices’ firmware. All you needed was one of several microphone-laden accessories from Belkin, Griffin, XtremeMac, or others.
Then something changed: the iPhone came with a built-in microphone. Yet it didn’t have any voice recording software to take advantage of that feature. Today, less than a month after the opening of the App Store, there are 13 different pieces of voice recorder software—a lot to choose from—so we’ve tested them all, and created this iPhone Gems feature to help you figure out which is best for your needs.
Firefox 3.0
Pros - Dozens of useful add-ons; first-rate rendering engine; improved interface.
Cons - Significantly slower rendering than Safari; bookmarks must be edited in separate window; a few minor bugs.
Review of USB Microphones
From Macworld
Grateful as some are that Apple builds microphones into the iMac and its laptops, no one with a fully-functioning set of ears would claim that the results of recordings undertaken with these built-in mics are wholly satisfying. No, to avoid the kind of background noise and generally-lo-fi results you get from Apple’s mic you need an external microphone. And one of the easiest ways to connect one to your Mac is via the Mac’s USB interface. A variety of companies make USB mics that work with plug-and-play simplicity.
I recently rounded up a collection of popular USB mics, compared their specifications, and recorded test files; I now present the results of my work.
Internet Cleanup 5.0
From Macworld
Pros - Can schedule tasks to run automatically; securely deletes files; merges bookmarks; blocks unwanted Internet content; protects against some phishing attempts.
Cons - Can’t search cookies or browsing history; doesn't remove Mail attachments from IMAP/MobileMe accounts; can’t unblock individual Flash items on the fly; doesn’t delete Skype transcripts; produces many false positive warnings.
iPhone 2.0 Software
From Macworld
Pros - App store enables powerful third-party applications; robust enterprise support; push synchronization for MobileMe users; bulk e-mail management; better e-mail attachment support; broadened international language support; numerous small improvements.
Cons - Certain features still lacking: no built-in support for task management; no support for iCal event invitations; Safari lacks password management; Notes do not sync; some instability issues.
The Second Coming: Ars goes in-depth with the iPhone 3G
From Ars Technica
Buzz about the next version of the iPhone began before even the original iPhone was released just over a year ago. Although the EDGE-capable "2G" iPhone ended up being a smash success during its one-year reign, critics wanted a 3G version from the very beginning. And so Apple giveth. Even though the iPhone 3G may not seem much different than its predecessor to the average person on the street, that didn't stop the Apple RDF from permeating excited customers' brains as iPhone Launch Day 2.0 drew near.
Unfortunately, most of us know what happened on Launch Day 2.0. Activation woes galore turned what could have been a hype-worthy day that surpassed the original iPhone launch into a headache for pretty much everyone involved—and not just in the US, but across the entire world. Whether this affected Apple's first-day sales in any significant way we will probably never know. However, launch day is just one day, and things appear to have smoothed out since then. Customers lined up down and around the block for days in a row after the launch, making the iPhone 3G launch apparently far more successful than the original iPhone's launch.
In this review, we take a long, hard look at the iPhone 3G, both as a consumer device and as an enterprise device. After all, part of the appeal of the new device is that a number of software improvements have finally made it enterprise-ready, or so claims Apple's marketing. From a business user's point of view, however, if you think that the iPhone is a drop-in BlackBerry replacement, think again.
Click here to read more "The Second Coming: Ars goes in-depth with the iPhone 3G"
Xerox Phaser 6130
Pros - Easy setup; prints clean, legible text.
Cons - Slow; color prints look faint and lack detail.
Canon Vixia HV30
Pros - Shoots stellar high-definition video with vividly accurate colors, smooth motion; includes microphone jack and accessory shoe; user friendly.
Cons - Awkward design makes for clumsy handling; still images are slightly noisy.
Griffin iTrip AutoPilot
From iLounge
Having only recently reviewed Griffin's iTrip Auto with SmartScan, a good but not great FM transmitter and car charger released early this year for iPods, we don't feel it necessary to rehash all of the details for today's review of iTrip AutoPilot ($100) -- a newly revised, iPhone- and iPod-compatible version. But there's no question that iTrip AutoPilot is a substantially better product, limited only by a price tag that makes it as expensive as cabled FM transmitters get.
Aliph Jawbone Earwear
The first Jawbone was a wireless Bluetooth headset with breakthrough noise-cancellation abilities, but suffered from two serious issues: an uncomfortable design and a high price tag.
Retailer discounting eventually helped solve one of those problems, and now Aliph has taken care of the other one in a brand new version with the same name: Jawbone ($130), known alternately as Jawbone Earwear or Jawbone with Noise Assassin.
Simply put, the new Jawbone is the best Bluetooth headset we've yet tested with the iPhone -- the first one ever to receive our high recommendation -- and only two things stand in the way of it being a complete replacement for every other option we've seen.
Sorenson Squeeze 5
From Digital Arts
Pros - Powerful feature set; built-in FTP upload; excellent quality; fast encoding; intuitive interface; support for Blu-ray content.
Cons - Watermark filter needs tweaking; no built-in or bundled SWF or FLV viewer; expensive for basic compression tasks.
Epson Stylus Photo R1900
Pros - Excellent print quality on all paper types; glossy output is superlative; speedy; supports thick fine-art media and roll paper; can print on optical media.
Cons - Doesn’t produce great black-and-white prints.
Canon Pixma MX850
Pros - Speedy; user-friendly; Superior text quality comparable to lasers; includes duplexer and automatic document feeder.
Cons - Scan resolution is slightly fuzzy and jagged; some colors look muted in scan output.
Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drive
Pros Small; good bundled backup software; bus powered.
Cons Slow performer; drive activity light in rear.
Get the Canon SD880 IS, if it’s in stock; its speed, design and quality tower above the also-rans. The Panasonic and the Fujifilm tie for second. No, these three don’t cost anywhere near $300 — but when you see their photos, it’s easy enough to pretend.