Adobe needs rebound with latest Creative Suite

Pent-up demand is expected to boost sales of the newest installment of Adobe Systems Inc.'s Creative Suite, the software package for professional designers and Web developers that brings in most of Adobe's revenue. The product launches Monday.

Bad timing hurt sales of the previous version, Creative Suite 4, which went on sale in the fall of 2008 just as the financial crisis hit. As a result, many customers — which range from small design shops and Web developers to large ad agencies — held back on buying upgrades.

In a challenge for Adobe, the launch of Creative Suite 5 comes just a few days after Apple Inc. updated the contract it has software developers sign and effectively prevented them from importing Flash applications to the iPhone and other devices.

Adobe's Flash, the format many Web videos, games and interactive graphics are created in, does not work on the iPhone or the iPad. Adobe has tried to work around this by giving developers a tool to translate Flash applications for the iPhone. Now, Apple says in its updated contract that developers must use Apple's own tools if they want to create apps for its gadgets.

In a statement Friday, Adobe said it was "looking into" Apple's new language and that it will continue to develop its app-generating technology and include it in Creative Suite 5.

Overall, the latest update of Creative Suite aims to make it easier for its users to include interactive elements in their designs. A new tool called Flash Catalyst, for example, lets traditional designers create interactive Web content without knowing how to code software. It uses drop-down menus that can turn boxes on a screen into buttons, for instance.

"It can take traditional print designers and help them get into interactivity," said Chris Kitchener, a senior product manager at Adobe.

This is also the first time Creative Suite includes services from Omniture, a company Adobe bought last fall for $1.8 billion. Omniture's technology helps companies measure the ways people interact with Web sites, ads and online applications.

Creative Suite 5 includes an upgrade of the Photoshop software that makes it easier to detect the borders of images within a photograph, among other new features. This could come in handy when trying to delete or move an image of a person from a photograph. Typically, detecting just where a person's hair strands end and the background begins is a painstaking process.

CS5 will cost between $1,299 and $2,599. It will ship in the next 30 days and will be available in "major languages," which in the past meant English, French, German and Japanese, by June 4, the end of Adobe's fiscal second quarter.

David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer

Read More

Tech firm says Wi-Fi here to stay; plans to put up RP office

Despite the emergence of new wireless Internet technologies such as 3G and WiMax, a Silicon Valley-based firm is convinced that Wi-Fi has yet to reach its full potential and is, in fact, just starting to make its presence felt in the Philippines and around the world.

Ruckus Wireless, headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, said Wi-Fi technology is still the easiest and cheapest way to access the Internet wirelessly.

Selina Lo, co-founder and president of Ruckus Wireless, visited the country recently as part of her Southeast Asian swing where she announced that the company is currently forming a Filipino-led local subsidiary to manage its business here.

The company manufactures and sells specially designed Wi-Fi systems such as access points. It is credited with developing the first “smart" Wi-Fi products that extend the range of Wi-Fi signals and automatically adapt to environmental changes.

It recently signed up mall operator SM, which deployed its outdoor routers in nearly all of its branches across the country.

Lo said Ruckus Wireless had posted $1 million in total revenues in the Philippines last year. “We intend to double that revenue this 2010," she said.

The company is represented in the country by its local channel partners. Its regional office is based in Singapore, while its R&D center is located in China and Taiwan.

The lady executive, who is viewed as a visionary in Silicon Valley and was recognized as technology pioneer by the World Economic Forum, said Wi-Fi will also increasingly become mobile.

“And the reason is because phones are now being used not just as a voice device but as a tool to access the Internet," said Lo, who is originally from Hong Kong but has spent most of her life in the US, including studying for a degree in computer science from the University of California in Berkeley.

She said that because 3G and WiMax are hindered by the lack and high cost of frequency spectrums, telcos are still looking at Wi-Fi to increase their Internet capacity.

“Wi-Fi is still faster than 3G, while WiMax devices are not yet widespread," Lo said. “The challenge, however, is how to bring Wi-Fi to the enterprise level where a robust system is required. That’s what we’re addressing."

Citing a report by the Dell’Oro Group, the company said the worldwide Wi-Fi market is projected to reach $9 billion by 2011. The enterprise segment is expected to represent over 32 percent of that total market.

David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer

Read More

VP bets say Villar endorsed by ‘womanizers’

Vice presidential candidates, at a church-organized forum Tuesday, ganged up on presidential aspirant Sen. Manny Villar Jr. (Nacionalista Party) for seeking the endorsement of popular personalities who are widely perceived as womanizers.

“Tila po hindi maganda talaga na gawin mong halimbawa ay taong may question sa bagay na moral," said former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando (Bagumbayan) during the vice presidential forum organized by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

(It’s just not right to bank on the endorsement of people whose morality is being questioned.)

No names were mentioned, but clues given by the panelists obviously pointed to Philippine boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, TV show host Willie Revillame, and veteran comedian Dolphy. The three have openly endorsed the candidacy of Villar.


The best endorsement

Veteran broadcaster Jay Sonza (Kilusang Bagong Lipunan) said the best endorsement a candidate could get is from the ordinary people on the streets. “Ang pinakamabisa at pinakamahusay na endorser ay yung mga taong naaabutan namin sa kalsada (The best endorsement is from the people we meet on the streets)," he said.

Sonza added that Villar, a self-made billionaire, was able to get the endorsement of some of the biggest names in show business and sports because of his wealth.

Domindor Chipeco (Ang Kapatiran) said the use of endorsers only shows the lack of platform of a candidate. “Hindi kami nagbabayad ng (We don’t have to pay for) endorsers, we have to rely on what we tell the people," he said.

Perfecto Yasay (Bangon Pilipinas) said the issue on the use of endorsers is the result of the loophole in the electoral process. “It is part of a system that we have to change," he said.

Pacquiao, Revillame and Dolphy all declined to comment on the issue, according to a report in GMA News’ “24 Oras."

Defense from a woman

Villar’s running-mate, Sen. Loren Legarda, meanwhile, defended the NP standard-bearer.
“Who am I to judge? Hindi ko naman alam ang kanilang pribadong buhay (I am not privy to the personal lives of those endorsers)," she said during the same forum.

She added that she respects Villar’s choice of endorsers.

“Kung sino po ang kinuha na endorser ng aking presidential candidate ay nirerespeto ko po at kung alleged womanizing po hindi naman po ako nasa posisyon para manghusga sa bagay na yun unless I have private knowledge of the alleged womanizing," Legarda said.

(I respect my presidential candidate’s choice of endorsers, and I am not in the position to judge on their alleged womanizing unless of course I have private knowledge about it.)

CBCP media director Bishop Pedro Quitorio advised the candidates to get endorsers whom the youth can look up to and emulate. “Why will you select a person who is immoral is your purpose is to lead the nation)?" he said.


David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer

Read More

Twitter to let paid tweets show up in searches

Twitter announced Tuesday that it is introducing advertising by allowing companies to pay to have their messages show up first in searches on its site.

The debut of "Promoted Tweets" comes as Twitter increasingly faces questions about how it can turn its wide usage into profits.

The ads apparently won't bring in much money during the experimental phase of Twitter's commercial push. Virgin America, one of the advertisers that Twitter invited to test the concept, isn't paying for its first burst of promotional messages, according to Porter Gail, the airline's vice president of marketing.

"I would expect that it would turn into a paid model in the future," Gail told The Associated Press.

Twitter declined to comment when asked whether it's charging the test group of advertisers. Besides Virgin America, Twitter identified Best Buy Co., Sony Pictures and Starbucks Corp. among the other companies using Promoted Tweets.

The ads will be rolled out gradually, with fewer than 10 percent of Twitter's users likely to see them Tuesday. The company says the ads should be appearing in all relevant searches within the next few days.

Twitter has grown quickly in popularity since it started in 2006, with celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Ashton Kutcher "tweeting" messages of 140 characters or less alongside everyday users. About 69 million people worldwide used Twitter.com last month, up from roughly 4 million at the end of 2008, according to comScore Inc.

The site has been slow to capitalize on that success — even though the investors who have backed the site have valued it at $1 billion.

Twitter has been making an undisclosed amount of money by providing Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. with access to messages for their search engines. Many people expected Twitter would eventually introduce advertising.

In a blog post Tuesday, company co-founder Biz Stone said the company took its time "because we wanted to optimize for value before profit."

These tweets are to be "called out" as ads on top of search results on Twitter, much as sponsors can pay for listings atop rankings on search engines such as Google, Microsoft's Bing and Yahoo. That means Twitter users would see the new ads when they search broadly for topics being tweeted about.

However, many users connect with the service not through such searches or even visits to the site. Rather, scores of outside programmers have written mobile and desktop software that can access the feeds of Twitter messages that users get from people they are "following" on the site.

Twitter said it might take the Promoted Tweets service further and make them also show up on those feeds.

Stone said Promoted Tweets will need to resonate with users. If a Promoted Tweet isn't replied to or forwarded by other users, it will disappear.

David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer

Read More

Facebook unveils revamped online safety site

Facebook is unveiling a revamped internal site designed to help people stay safe while surfing online.

Facebook's "Safety Center," which features new tools for parents, teachers, teens and law enforcement, is the first major endeavor from the social networking site and its four-month-old global safety advisory board.

The board is composed of Internet safety groups Common Sense Media, ConnectSafely, WiredSafety, Childnet International and The Family Online Safety Institute.

Some new features of the safety center include four times more content on staying safe, such as dealing with bullying online, an interactive portal and a simpler design.

The presence of sexual predators is a problem for social networking sites and their users.

Previously, Facebook, based in Palo Alto, Calif., has helped identify, and has disabled accounts of, registered sex offenders. In 2008, Facebook said it agreed to assist 49 Attorneys General to protect kids against Internet predators.

David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer

Read More

Some senior Lakas members mull dumping Gibo

Several senior members of administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD may withdraw their support from Gilberto “Gibo" Teodoro Jr. in favor of “another presidential candidate," House Speaker Prospero Nograles warned Tuesday.

These members were those who were “neglected" and “left out of the loop" in the current presidential campaign, Nograles said as he accused Teodoro of having a “wrong sense of priorities."

“The other senior Lakas members I think who have been neglected or even left out of the loop in this presidential campaign may now be thinking or considering the possibility of maybe adopting another presidential candidate who they feel would give them some political importance," he said in a text message sent to reporters.



Not threatened

Teodoro’s camp, on the other hand, was not threatened by this, saying it would “at least cleanse the party ranks."

“It is sad that people want to leave, but we cannot do anything about it. At least, there will be cleansing of the party ranks," said lawyer Mike Toledo, Teodoro’s spokesman, in a phone interview with GMANews.TV.

“Those unsure of their support for Secretary Teodoro would leave. Those who are staying are stronger and more united," he added.

Toledo said the possible defections would not affect Teodoro’s candidacy since the party still has the “great majority" of local officials supporting the administration party bet.

Out of control

In a separate statement, Nograles said the administration party has been “out of control" ever since Teodoro became its national chairman.

He said Teodoro “abandoned the party… at the most crucial hour [during the] start of the local campaign" when he resigned as its chairperson late last month to supposedly focus on his candidacy.

“When he was being looked up to as the leader who would marshal Lakas candidates in the local level the biggest number in the country, Gibo chose to resign as chairman," Nograles, considered as an administration stalwart, said.

On Monday, Nograles, who is seeking the mayoralty post in Davao City, expressed his plans to transfer to the Nacionalista Party (NP) in the face of various defections hounding Lakas-Kampi-CMD. He, however, clarified the next day that he is not leaving the administration party, although he admitted feeling out of the loop as far as party matters are concerned.

Consultations ongoing

At present, senior party members are consulting with their local leaders to determine if they should continue supporting Teodoro, Nograles said.

“We may know by the end of the week as they are now conducting consultations with their local leaders," he said.

To prevent this, Nograles said Teodoro should “shape up and address the grievances of Lakas members."

David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer

Read More