Tuesday, September 24, 2019

iPhone 11 vs Android

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How does Apple's new iPhone 11 shape up against the best Android handsets from Samsung, Sony, Google, OnePlus and more for specs, features and price? Our comparison helps you make the right decision

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Adobe Launches 'Fresco' Painting and Drawing App for iPad

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Adobe today announced the launch of Fresco, its new painting and drawing app designed for the iPad.

Adobe Fresco (formerly Project Gemini) is designed to allow artists to create professional quality drawings, but the interface has been created with simplicity in mind so anyone can use it.


Adobe Fresco features infinitely scalable vector brushes, adaptable Photoshop brushes, and Live Brushes that are powered by Adobe's machine learning and artificial intelligence engine, Adobe Sensei.

The Adobe Sensei-powered brushes are meant to recreate the experience of painting with oils or watercolors right on the display of the iPad, so it's like painting with real-life materials.


There are thousands of brushes to play with in Adobe Fresco, and Adobe has built in intuitive tools for selections, masking, and more.

Adobe's blog has a series of examples of the kids of artwork that can be created using Fresco's range of brushes, including oil brushes, watercolor brushes, photoshop brushes mimicking crayons, ink pens, foliage, acrylic paint and tons more, and vector brushes for creating infinitely scaleable art.

Adobe says that in celebration of the 2019 Big Draw Festival, Apple retail stores are offering free art sessions where participants can try Fresco for themselves and take part in fun drawing activities.


Adobe Fresco creations are compatible with Photoshop, which means files can be transferred back and forth seamlessly between Fresco and Photoshop, plus for Creative Cloud subscribers, all files, brushes, colors, and content libraries are integrated.

Creative Cloud users can download Fresco for free, and it is included in all Adobe Creative Cloud plans and the Adobe Photoshop-only plan, but it is not included in the CC Photography Plan that includes Photoshop and Lightroom.

A freemium version of Adobe Fresco is available for non-Creative Cloud users with many of the same features, but access to brushes is limited and high-resolution files can't be exported.

A standalone $9.99 per month plan is available for those who don't have a Creative Cloud subscription but want to unlock all of the Adobe Fresco features. More information is available on Adobe's website.

Tag: Adobe

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Kik Messenger Shutting Down as Company Pivots to Focus on 'Kin' Cryptocurrency

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Kik Messenger CEO Ted Livingston has announced that the iOS and Android messaging service will be shut down. The decision to shutter Kik was made not because the app receives poor engagement or user downloads, but because the company is in the midst of a legal battle with the SEC over its "Kin" cryptocurrency.


In a blog post, Livingston explained that at this point Kik is one of the largest apps in the United States, with industry leading engagement amid a recent growth period over the past few months. Nevertheless, the team has decided to shut down Kik, reduce the company from over 100 employees to just 19, and focus on converting more users into Kin buyers.

Livingston said that no matter what happens to Kik, the Kin cryptocurrency is "here to stay."
While we are ready to take on the SEC in court, we underestimated the tactics they would employ. How they would take our quotes out of context to manipulate the public to view us as bad actors. How they would pressure exchanges not to list Kin. And how they would draw out a long and expensive process to drain our resources.

Together these changes will drop our burn rate by eighty five percent, putting us in position to get through the SEC trial with the resources we have.
Kik Messenger provides users with a way to connect to friends and family through text messaging, group chats, and video chats. The app doesn't require users to enter a phone number or connect it to a social network platform, so it was appealing to users interested in anonymity, letting them sign up with any name and an email address.

It's unclear exactly when the company plans to shut down Kik for good.


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Apple Invests in Three Wind Farms in China as Part of Renewable Energy Efforts

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Last year, Apple announced the launch of a $300 million Clean Energy Fund in China to connect suppliers with renewable energy sources.


Apple and 10 of its suppliers in China will invest nearly $300 million by 2022 to develop projects totaling one gigawatt of renewable energy. In a press release today, Apple said that includes three wind firms in Hunan and Hubei that will generate approximately one-tenth of that anticipated total.

Each farm is said to generate 48 megawatts of clean energy, supplying a combined 134 megawatts to China's national power grid.

Apple's environmental chief Lisa Jackson:
To see these projects completed and already supplying clean energy to the grid is really exciting. We are proud that suppliers participating in the fund share our commitment to supporting innovative energy solutions, cutting emissions and fighting climate change.
In its press release, Apple also reiterated that 44 of its suppliers in 16 countries have committed to using 100 percent clean energy to power their Apple-specific production. Apple and its suppliers remain on track to generate more than four gigawatts of clean energy worldwide by 2020, the company said.


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Smart Deal: Get a free Google Nest Hub when you buy a Nest Hello Doorbell


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How to Speed Up iPhone

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Wondering 'why is my iPhone so slow?' There are a variety of reasons why your iPhone might have slowed down. Here's how to speed up your iPhone.

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Apple Devices Continue to Earn Highest Customer Satisfaction Score Among PC and Tablet Makers

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Apple's Macs and iPads had the highest customer satisfaction score among PC and tablet makers in 2019, according to new data released today by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

In the 2019 Household Appliance and Electronics Report, Apple earned an ACSI score of 83, the same score that it had in 2018. Apple's overall satisfaction score was higher than scores from Samsung (81), Amazon (79), HP (78), Acer (77), and others.

In the overall industry rankings, Apple stays on top for a second year with a stable and high ACSI score of 83, and its customers have by far the highest expectations. Despite a 1% downturn, Samsung keeps second place at 81 and no longer ties with Amazon, which falls much further. Amazon tumbles 4% to 79, just a point above the industry average. Among the three leaders, Apple demonstrates an advantage across all aspects of the customer experience, but it still lags both Samsung and Amazon for value.
The ACSI says that Samsung is the "industry leader" when it comes to the desktop segment with Apple in second place, but Apple devices win out when it comes to laptops and tablets, earning it the top overall score.

As with last year, Apple earned best-in-class ratings for everything from device design to features and available apps. Apple, says ACSI, demonstrates an advantage "across all aspects of the customer experience."

When it comes to overall customer satisfaction, desktop PCs, notebooks, and tablets still lag behind overall smartphone satisfaction, but amid larger machines, desktop computers have higher levels of customer satisfaction.


To create its scoring system and compile device scores, the ACSI uses data from interviews with approximately 300,000 customers to analyze customer satisfaction with hundreds of companies across dozens of industries.

Tag: ACSI

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