The creator of Flappy Bird is finally breaking his silence about his real reasons for banishing the suddenly popular mobile game from the App Store, and his reasoning may actually be admirable. Forbes nabbed an exclusive interview with the creator of Flappy Bird on Tuesday, and despite the cries and protests from fans of the free game, the developer has no plans to resurrect it.
“Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed,” creator Dong Nguyen told Forbes. “But it happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it’s best to take down Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever.”
That’s a fairly noble position, considering Nguyen’s runaway hit was reportedly raking in $50,000 per day from in-app advertising — a figure the developer wouldn’t confirm or deny. “I don’t know the exact figure, but I do know it’s a lot,” he remarked.
29-year-old Nguyen created Flappy Bird in only two or three days, launching it with zero fanfare through a Vietnamese developer on May 24, 2013 — well before the addictive game finally caught on with the masses in recent weeks.
Of course, Nguyen may have killed his own Frankenstein’s monster, but a wave of clones have already swept the app stores in search of even a taste of the booty Flappy Bird managed to dig up. But Nguyen has already moved on, issuing a sincere thanks to those who played the game.
“After the success of Flappy Bird, I feel more confident, and I have freedom to do what I want to do,” the game creator said, with two other more “harmless” games already burning up the charts on the iOS App Store.
Credit card security has been making headlines coast-to-coast in the wake of Target’s massive data breach, but the entire industry is preparing for a big shift next year as the “swipe-and-sign” payment method waves goodbye. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Visa and MasterCard have already prepared a roadmap to the future of credit card payments, and they will no longer involve swiping a card and signing a receipt.
Instead, this long-standing tradition will shuffle off into the financial tar pits in favor of sliding the card into a slot and using a PIN number to approve the charge. That last part should sound familiar to anyone using a debit card, and ironically, the United States is one of the few countries who haven’t yet made the switch.
Beginning October, 2015, the PIN-based card system will launch at retail across the U.S., which currently produces nearly half of the world’s credit card fraud — despite making up roughly 25 percent of all global credit card transactions.
The so-called “chip and PIN” system won’t immediately make swipe-and-sign obsolete — according to Carolyn Balfany of MasterCard, merchants can continue to process charges the old way, but they may be on the hook for any fraudulent transactions.
“Part of the October 2015 deadline in our roadmap is what’s known as the ‘liability shift,’” Balfany explains. “Whenever card fraud happens, we need to determine who is liable for the costs. When the liability shift happens, what will change is that if there is an incidence of card fraud, whichever party has the lesser technology will bear the liability.”
Our Monday recap has at least a few good reasons to celebrate as Apple begins rolling out iTunes Radio abroad, Flickr bakes a cake for its 10th birthday and CBS warms up to Hulu Plus with a gaggle of classic television viewers are sure to love. But wait, there’s more — and you won’t even have to order now to get these fine bonuses, folks…
iTunes Radio International Rollout Kicks Off with Australia
iTunes Radio has sprouted wings and flown away from the United States, with Apple announcing Tuesday that the free, ad-supported music service is now available to Mac, Windows, Apple TV and iOS customers in Australia. The land down under is the first such international destination to be blessed by Apple’s latest cash cow, which operates exactly the same way it does here in the USA — right down to an ad-free experience for iTunes Match subscribers, which costs AU$34.99 per year for Aussies. G’day, mate!
Flickr Celebrates 10th Anniversary
The Flickr Blog announced Monday that the photo-centric cloud storage service is now 10 years old after being launched at the O’Reilly Emerging Tech conference way back on February 10, 2004. During that time, Flickr has had its share of ups and downs, but has been on a resurgence in recent months thanks to updated web and mobile apps, plus a whopping 1TB of free storage to cap it off. Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield remarked, “When we dreamed this photo site 10 years ago, we couldn’t have imagined the impact it would have on digital photo sharing and the way it would connect people worldwide. I am proud of Flickr and excited for what’s ahead.” Yeah, yeah, yeah, now where’s that iPad app that’s still MIA after all this time…?
Hulu Plus Expands Lineup with More Classic CBS TV Shows
Hulu Plus subscribers who also happen to love classic television received a bit of good news on Monday with the announcement of more CBS content heading their way — including more than 5,300 episodes of beloved favorites like Happy Days, Cheers, Taxi, Laverne and Shirley and The Odd Couple for starters. Fans of ’90s television will also have something worth cheering about as Everybody Loves Raymond, Wings, Melrose Place and 7th Heaven wing their way into the Hulu Plus fold, right alongside award-winning series from the last decade. CBS has notoriously been a Hulu holdout, but it seems their hardened stance is finally softening over time.
Path 3.4 Finally Updates App for iOS 7
Hey, you! That’s right, you — the few, the proud who are still using micro-social network Path on a daily basis! You might want to open the App Store and check for updates right now, because your favorite app has finally been updated to fit in with the rest of iOS 7, thanks to the release of Path 3.4. Of course, everything you already love about Path remains the same, but users will find simplified Settings, better notification management and an overall slicker design for The Shop, which continues to serve up new stickers and premium filters to the faithful. Now if only we could find anyone else actually using the app these days… it’s kind of a ghost town!
MacPhun Launches “Phunny You” Photo Contest for Valentine’s Day
Photo software publishers MacPhun have launched a Valentine’s Day contest to find the best amusing picture of couples. Phunny You dares lovers to set that image as their Mac desktop background and make a screenshot, with the best image receiving a $500 gift card — and every submission gets a free copy of the company’s FX Photo Studio Pro. “Show us a picture of the two of you, but the ‘lighter side,'” the website dares. “Share some fun times, smiles, emotions and maybe a touch of craziness.” The contest runs until 12 AM PST on February 24, so get cracking on those “phunny” photos!
Love ’em or hate ’em, T-Mobile is shaking up the U.S. wireless market with its “Uncarrier” moves, and its larger rivals are starting to feel the heat, responding with ever-shrinking timelines for buying your next smartphone.
CNET reported Sunday that Verizon Wireless has tweaked its Edge early upgrade plan, which now allows customers to upgrade their smartphone in as little as 30 days instead of every six months.
The move is clearly in response to T-Mobile US, who announced during CES 2014 that the carrier would pay early termination fees (ETF) for Verizon, AT&T and Sprint customers looking to get out of their two-year agreements. But the change is also aimed at making T-Mobile’s own early upgrade plan, Jump!, look like a bad deal — priced at $10 per month, it allows customers to buy a new smartphone twice per year.
The revamped Verizon Edge, by comparison, has no such monthly fees — the full retail price of the handset is split into 24 monthly payments and added to the customer’s wireless bill. Assuming at least 50 percent of the smartphone is paid after 30 days, subscribers will be eligible to upgrade by trading in the device for another.
Not to be outdone, AT&T announced a similar move on Monday which allows existing customers on a two-year agreement to upgrade to AT&T Next with no money down once they are past the six-month mark.
The change went into effect on Saturday, January 18, and existing AT&T customers can take advantage of an early upgrade online or in retail stores.
iPhone users have had to sit on the sidelines as near-field communication (NFC) based payment services have been added to Android and Windows Phone smartphones, but that could soon change.
Engadget reported Tuesday that at least one AT&T retail store appears to be preparing to sell the Incipio Cashwrap, a $70 iPhone case which enables card-free purchases to be made with just a tap.
More than a year ago, we reported that Incipio was planning to join forces with AT&T to sell the Cashwrap, which includes the NFC chip necessary to work with the fledging Isis Mobile Wallet service. At the time, the case was expected to launch in March, but only for the iPhone 4 and 4S.
Apparently, Incipio decided that was a bad idea, because the version of the case photographed by Engadget’s tipster is apparently designed for iPhones old and new, meaning the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s should be able to join the party.
Incipio’s Cashwrap is only one part of the equation, however — users will also need an Isis-powered SIM card as well as a mobile app, which currently does not exist for iOS. Given that the Cashwrap is showing up in AT&T’s inventory system, we’re guessing a formal announcement can’t be far behind.
It’s hard not to think longtime streaming music services such as Spotify and Rdio aren’t at least a little bit scared of Beats Music, the new kid in town which launches today with a whole lot of music industry street cred behind it.
As announced last week, Beats Music officially launched Tuesday priced at $9.99 per month for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone with a free 30-day trial to access the streaming music service’s more than 20 million songs.
The deal gets even sweeter for AT&T users on a family plan, because Beats Music is offering an exclusive $14.99 per month plan for such customers, which allows up to five people to stream to as many as 10 devices for one low price.
Beats Music arrives on the scene right on the heels of rival Spotify switching to an unlimited, ad-supported model for free listeners on both web and mobile — a move clearly designed to lure cheapskates, even though they’ll still have to listen in a station mode similar to Apple’s iTunes Radio.
Late last week, Rdio announced a similar move, although for now its free streaming is limited strictly to the web and only for U.S. listeners. By comparison, Beats Music appears to be taking a more mobile-first approach — in fact, users have to first download the app in order to even sign up at all.
To its credit, Rdio continues to offer Stations free on mobile devices — the web-based service allows unlimited listening to albums, playlists and stations, although users will have to listen to “in-stream messages,” which is a mix of “new feature announcements, messages from partner brands, notifications about exclusive content and other helpful tips.”
We’re back in the saddle after a three-day weekend, and as usual, our weekend recap is jam-packed with chewy goodness that stacked up over the last 72 hours or so. This edition has some nice discounts on iPad Air models for those in the midwest, a big update for the Polaroid of iOS and plenty more, so let’s dig in!
iPad Air $60 Off with h.h.gregg In-Store Pickup Until Feb. 1
Specialty retailer h.h. gregg announced Monday that Apple products ordered online are now available for in-store pickup, including the latest iPhone, iPod, iPad and Apple TV models. Until February 1, h.h. gregg is also one of the cheapest places to grab an iPad Air for up to $60 off the regular price for a 64GB Wi-Fi model, which is priced at $639.99; a 32GB Wi-Fi version is also available for $559.99, a $40 savings. h.h. gregg currently operates 228 retail stores primarily located in the middle of the country, but you’ll need to order online in most locations, since these products are shipped directly to the store.
Polaroid-Licensed Polamatic Hits Version 4.0
Miss the quaint era of snapping a Polaroid photo and watching it develop before your eyes? Thankfully, there’s an app for that, and Polamatic isn’t just some knockoff — it’s actually fully licensed by Polaroid for an authentic experience all the way around, including 36 frames, 36 photo filters and the ability to add text in a variety of different fonts. Late last week, developer Dana Shakiba released Polamatic 4.0, the latest version completely rebuilt from the ground up in an effort to become “the most powerful and authentic” app of its kind. Best of all, Polamatic is 99¢, and there are no further in-app purchases required to get all of the latest and greatest filters and frames.
T-Mobile Expands ETF Switcher Program to Regional Carriers
Re/code reported Thursday that T-Mobile has racked up more than 80,000 “breakup letters” from customers ditching their AT&T, Verizon or Sprint contracts since last week’s announcement. The fourth-placed U.S. carrier will soon expand its program to pay up to $350 in early termination fees (ETF) for customers looking to switch by expanding the offer to U.S. Cellular “and more than a dozen other small carriers” with similarly restrictive two-year contracts. T-Mobile will also begin accepting damaged phones as part of its trade-in program, although the value to customers will be lessened as a result.
VLC for iOS Updated with Cloud Storage Integration, iOS 7 UI
Open-source media player VLC for iOS received a big update on Monday, with an iOS 7-style UI overhaul and the addition of streaming from cloud storage providers Google Drive and Dropbox. The free, universal app now includes a variety of multitouch gestures for navigation, an improved library for TV shows and audio files, better UPnP integration which now includes the ability to download files, new streaming formats and protocols, improved privacy for the Passcode lock and a tutorial at startup to get new users up to speed quickly. VLC for iOS 2.2.0 is now available from the App Store.
Amazon Wants to Start Prepping Orders Before They’re Even Made
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Amazon has filed a patent for something called “anticipatory shipping,” which the e-tailer claims “may dissuade customers from buying items from online merchants” by predicting what they’ll next purchase and preparing it for even faster shipment. The concept promises to slash delivery times by having items already packed up and waiting when the customer actually clicks the Buy button on the website. It’s important to note that this is just a patent filing — there’s no indication that Amazon has yet implemented technology to make this a reality, but the impatient part of our brain certainly wouldn’t complain if packages arrived even earlier.
Although the tech media loves to tout how Android is battering iOS when it comes to hardware sales, there’s no denying that Apple’s App Store continues to dominate the a mobile business, as its 2013 sales once again prove. Apple announced Tuesday that App Store customers spent more than $10 billion in 2013, with more than $1 billion of that total racked up last month alone for the most successful month in App Store history.
December saw a record number of apps purchased, with nearly three billion titles downloaded during the holiday month. As a result, Apple has now paid out $15 billion to developers since the virtual storefront launched in 2008.
“We’d like to thank our customers for making 2013 the best year ever for the App Store,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “The lineup of apps for the holiday season was astonishing and we look forward to seeing what developers create in 2014.”
The App Store now delivers iPhone, iPad and iPod touch content to 155 countries around the world, with more than half a million apps for the iPad alone.
Remember webOS, the mobile operating system that powered the Palm Pre? It’s making a triumphant comeback this year, but instead of smartphones and tablets, new owner LG is using it to power their latest HDTV sets. The Verge reported Monday that LG is making a splashy debut at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for webOS, the formerly mobile operating system now powering the company’s 2014 Smart TV line.
Judging from the photos, LG’s webOS doesn’t look much like the Palm (and later, HP) operating system, although it retains one of the coolest aspects of it, thanks to card-based on-screen browsing and switching between apps.
Speaking of apps, a full-fledged app store appears to also be on deck, with popular services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, VUDU, Amazon Instant Video, CinemaNow and Twitter all present and accounted for in the PR shots.
LG claims webOS will power 70 percent of its new 2014 Smart TV lineup, which will appear first in Korea prior to splashing ashore in the U.S. and Europe before it charts a course for other international destinations.
Look, up in the sky! It’s a smartphone! It’s a tablet! No, it’s the Android-powered Asus PadFone X, and the combo device will finally be flying into the U.S. courtesy of AT&T later this year. AT&T announced Monday that it will bring the latest Asus PadFone to the United States as a carrier exclusive later this year, combining an Android smartphone with a nine-inch tablet, presumably combining the best of both worlds.
PadFone X is the latest Asus attempt to create a smartphone capable of being docked onto the back of a tablet. Powered by the latest Android 4.4 KitKat, the PadFone X is first and foremost a smartphone with a five-inch HD display — the tablet half of the product won’t work at all until the handset is docked onto it.
“AT&T and Asus share a passion for innovation and we are very excited to bring the Asus PadFone X to the U.S market,” said Asus Chairman Jonney Shih. “Our technology is capable of instantly turning a premium smartphone into a tablet, giving consumer the ultimate experience on both devices. Together, we look forward to bringing more choices to consumers.”
Asus is best known to U.S. buyers as the manufacturer of Google’s Nexus 7 tablets, as well as a popular line of Transformer tablets for both Android and Windows. AT&T is keeping details on pricing, specifications and availability close to their vest for now, but the PadFone X is expected sometime this year.
This year’s Consumer Electronics Show may be heating up the Las Vegas desert this week, but a big chunk of the country is buried under subzero temperatures unfit for either men or mice. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any shiny new gadgets or tech news to talk about — why, just keep reading on and get a heaping helping in our Tuesday recap!
LaCie Announces Wi-Fi Equipped Fuel 1TB Hard Drive
Seagate-owned LaCie is getting into the Wi-Fi game with a new $199.99 hard drive called the Fuel, which allows five devices (iPads, for example) to access files — even when a wireless network isn’t available. With 1TB of storage, the LaCie Fuel offers up to 10 hours of battery life, and up to three devices can stream HD video content at once. Fuel is powered by the existing free Seagate Media app, and can even beam content to AirPlay-compatible speakers or an Apple TV. Fuel isn’t shipping quite yet, but interested buyers can sign up on the LaCie website to be notified when stock is available.
Plex Revamps Website for New Year
The gang at Plex kicked off 2014 by introducing an entirely new website, now located at Plex.tv. The glossy makeover is more than just a pretty face, however: Plex.tv consolidates all of the media server and client software into one place, including easy access to downloads for paid PlexPass members. The new Plex.tv caps off a year of growth for the company, which introduced a long list of new features in 2013 including Chromecast support, multiuser accounts, new NAS platforms and a complete makeover of its Windows Phone 8 and Android apps. Those used to typing Plex.com, fear not: You’ll be automatically redirected to the right place.
Evasi0n Delivers Holiday Jailbreak Surprise for iOS 7
iOS jailbreakers got a pre-Christmas surprise with the release of evasi0n7, a new method for jailbreaking iPhones, iPod touches, iPads and iPad minis running iOS 7.0 through 7.0.4 on either Mac or Windows. The latest jailbreak is said to take only five minutes to accomplish, but there’s a very big catch: “Many Cydia tweaks are not yet compatible with iOS 7.” Cydia, of course, is the alternative app store solution that delivers the stuff Apple would never allow, but many of those apps have yet to be updated for iOS 7 compatibility, let alone 64-bit support for the latest devices. The good news is that evasi0n7 is completely free, although PayPal donations are accepted, which are turned over to Public Knowledge, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure to help keep jailbreaking legal.
Alto by AOL Resurrects iCloud Email
Speaking of year-end surprises, AOL members using the company’s web-based Alto email service received an email with the good news that iCloud support has been restored. “The restored support for iCloud is permanent and you don’t need to worry or wonder if it’s going away or not,” the Altomail team explain. “We regret the confusion & frustration, and sincerely appreciate your patience with our developing product.” iCloud support includes all Apple-hosted domains, whether they’re icloud.com, me.com or even an aging mac.com address.
Tribune Acquires Gracenote Metadata Service from Sony
Ever stick a CD into your computer and wonder how iTunes knows what it is? The database that powers such metadata is Gracenote, which recently announced a change of hands from parent company Sony Corporation of America to Tribune Company. Billed as the largest source of music data in the world, Gracenote hosts metadata for more than 180 million tracks — a service that will now be combined with the existing Tribune Media Services, which specializes in movie and TV show content. The $170 million acquisition is a complete buyout of Gracenote, Inc. and the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of this year.
Roughly the same width at its widest point as an iPhone (2.25 inches) but only two-thirds the length (3.25 inches), Logitech’s Ultrathin Touch Mouse for Mac is light as a feather at less than 2.5 ounces. The pearl-white surface gently slopes downward from back to front, allowing ample space for finger gestures, yet it’s responsive enough to detect the slightest movement.
Even for folks with beefy hands, the Touch Mouse is easy to use, although our fingers did receive a workout after a full day of mousing across a 27-inch Thunderbolt Display. The device features a satisfying click noise that confirms this is a quality, well-built mouse that’s a pocket-friendly companion for MacBook owners. It can be charged using the included USB cable; Logitech claims a one-minute charge keeps the Touch Mouse working for an hour, and we managed three straight days of testing on a 30-percent charge.
Touch Mouse connects via Bluetooth, but a free software download is necessary for full control, including seven available gestures. Logitech Preference Manager mirrors Apple’s own gestures pane—mouse over an option and a brief video shows how it works. However, there aren’t enough tap and button commands to enable all of the available options at the same time.
Logitech also added the ability to pair with two different computers just by flipping a switch on the base of the device. “Easy-Switch” makes it possible to use on both laptop and desktop without having to pair each time—perfect for those who take advantage of slipping the device into their pocket between home and work.
Although we rank Logitech’s Touch Mouse exceptionally high as wireless mice go, there’s one thing standing in the way of a higher score: Magic Trackpad. We’ve been spoiled by Apple’s silver platter and its expanded set of gesture options, but it’s too awkward for travel, so Touch Mouse is a laptop bag must-have for our next trip.
The bottom line. The Logitech Ultrathin Touch Mouse makes a perfect travel companion, although its more limited gesture options keep it from being a replacement for our Magic Trackpad.
Adobe has spread the coveted Photoshop name to a number of different products across multiple platforms. Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 borrows high-end features from its namesake, making them easier than ever to actually use.
Unlike Apple’s own consumer-centric iPhoto, which hasn’t received significant new features in three years, Photoshop Elements 12 is bursting at the seams with further tools and enhancements to spruce up any digital photo and share it with ease—a task that can now be done completely from the Elements Editor, for example.
Catering to the Instagram crowd, Adobe has added a variety of one-touch effects, textures, and frames.
The biggest addition is integration with Adobe Revel, which allows users to store photos and now even videos to the cloud. While the free version is limited to only 50 uploads per month, a premium subscription ($59.99/year or $5.99/month) allows unlimited imports, making the dream of a cloud-hosted photo library a reality.
Unfortunately, the way Photoshop Elements has implemented Revel leaves some room for improvement. Revel customers already using the Mac App Store client will find their cached content downloaded a second time upon syncing their account with Elements 12. In our case, that meant doubling a nearly 6GB library of thumbnails for more than 15,000 images in two different places.
While Photoshop Elements 12 clearly offers a better environment for editing Revel-hosted images, doing so requires saving an additional, full-resolution version on your Mac’s hard drive, which an always-running Revel Agent then silently uploads to the cloud in the background. Elements intelligently consolidates original and edited images while viewing but, at least for now, Revel for Mac clutters its library by displaying them side by side.
Other new features are better executed, like automated Quick mode for adding one-click effects, textures, and frames (think Instagram), as well as the most welcome tool to date for those of us with four-legged friends. “Pet Eye” effect is exactly what you think it is: the canine or feline equivalent to removing red eye from our furry companions’ eyeballs on photos where a flash is used. No more glowing “pets from hell” look!
Photoshop Elements 12’s Guided Edit mode has been spruced up with more than 25 step-by-step techniques that make short work of complicated digital trickery and help users learn new techniques. This comes in especially handy for the Restore Old Photo option, which can be used to clean up tears and scratches, remove dust, and correct color.
Photoshop Elements 12 introduces Content Aware Move, a pro-level trick borrowed from Photoshop, allowing users to move an object and automatically heal the space left behind. This feature has been the highlight of low-cost competitors such as Snapheal for some time, so it’s nice to see Adobe finally catching up to its rivals.
The bottom line. Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 is loaded with new features that continue to be well worth the money for iPhoto defectors.
Upgrade, or wait for the next version? It’s the eternal question, but video editors working with older versions of Premiere Elements might consider taking the plunge this time around.
Despite the name, Adobe Premiere Elements 12 bears little resemblance to the company’s Premiere Pro software and has more in common with iMovie, Apple’s consumer-level video editor.
Guided Edits is now more of a mini film school, teaching users about the new tools and skills they’re working on.
While Apple has let the grass grow around its feet with iMovie, Adobe is tweaking Premiere Elements for the fifth year in a row. For 2013, there aren’t many entirely new features, but Adobe focused on a handful of welcome enhancements. The new features focus on two areas: built-in video tutorials that teach the moviemaking process while in Guided Edit mode, and the ability to download, upload, and share videos from the subscription-based Adobe Revel service.
Video is a relatively new addition to Adobe Revel, which was previously used only for unlimited cloud photo storage at a rock-bottom price of $59.99 per year (or $5.99 per month). The good news is the price and unlimited storage remain, and free users can still upload 50 photos or movies each month.
Unfortunately, Revel’s video capabilities have yet to be fully realized. Videos can be added directly from the editor, but require downloading full-resolution video files first before Elements can use them. Revel already maintains a 720p MP4 thumbnail preview of each movie; we’d prefer to see a way to speed up the process using these smaller files for a rough edit and then swap for high-resolution files during export.
Adobe Revel is quite handy when it comes to uploading and sharing finished videos, which can then be viewed from any web browser or the free iOS app. Sadly, the official Mac application doesn’t yet support video, but content can now be published and shared straight from Premiere Editor.
The built-in Guided Edit tutorials are a much better fit: distinctive white and yellow boxes and on-screen arrows guide users step-by-step through each process, adding an educational layer for those who want to learn the nuts and bolts of editing. They’re also a great way to get up to speed quickly—especially handy in an age where printed manuals no longer exist.
We were quite impressed with how simple it is to add motion-tracking to any video. Make a selection, choose a graphic or text and, like magic, the software will follow that object’s every move. The end results aren’t quite as smooth as those from pro applications like After Effects, but it’s plenty usable for all but the most discerning prosumers.
Adobe has also spruced up the overall UI to make everything easier to find, organize, and use. Premiere Elements 12 also piles on additional effects and styles, including a handful of new FilmLooks (our favorite is Cross Process), along with more than 50 musical scores and 250 sound effects for adding a finishing touch.
The bottom line. Premiere Elements 12 isn’t a must-have upgrade, but it’s well worth the investment in a bundle with Photoshop Elements 12, especially for Adobe Revel subscribers looking to get extra value out of their unlimited cloud storage.
If you’ve ever played “What would you take to a deserted island?” the response probably included any number of practical, real-world items needed for basic human survival. In our case, 1Password would rank squarely near the top. Compatible with web browsers such as Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox, and now Opera, 1Password acts as a secure central depository for logins and passwords, as well as credit cards, reward programs, and even personal identities, providing websites one-click access to sensitive information.
With a complete UI overhaul, 1Password 4 for Mac improves categories by adding new options like Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses, and passports in a clean, easy-to-understand layout that keeps data locked away behind a master password. Also new to version 4.0 is Security Audit, which scours a user’s personal data and keeps tabs on how long it’s been since passwords were last changed, even identifying weak or duplicate credentials.
1Password 4 for Mac offers a refreshed, streamlined look and feel that keeps sensitive data organized yet easy to access.
1Password for Mac has always been an application that users spend little time directly interacting with, and that’s especially true with the latest version, thanks to a menu-bar option called 1Password mini. Unlike previous versions, which frequently offered unique layouts depending on the browser being used, 1Password mini provides a universal experience across each, along with rapid-fire access to stored data.
1Password mini includes the ability to generate, save, and recall secure passwords, while a handy search field allows users to quickly pull up relevant information with a minimum of keyboard strokes. Most of the time, users will save or access existing logins, and these options appear front and center at the top of the list for one-click login to most websites (although there are invariably websites that vex 1Password).
While we’re generally thrilled with 1Password mini’s newly universal approach, we can’t help but lament the loss of the old browser extension’s contextual menu, which provided less back and forth with the cursor. However, this is an adjustment even longtime users will have little trouble adapting to, and ultimately the new method has far more benefits.
Another new feature we like is the ability to have multiple or even shared vaults. The former comes in handy for keeping personal and business data separated, while the latter provides a way for users to selectively share data with each other. This requires a bit of extra setup within Dropbox, and sharing can’t be done on more than one item at a time, but otherwise it works well.
The newly universal 1Password mini is a downsized menu-bar version of the full application, which performs most of the tasks users need daily.
Speaking of sync, the Mac App Store version of 1Password 4 now allows data to be stored in iCloud, providing easier setup for novice users, although it can’t be used on shared vaults. Last but not least, version 4.0 restores Wi-Fi Sync, allowing users of the companion iOS app to skip the cloud entirely while keeping sensitive data in sync with mobile devices. The bottom line. Hands down, 1Password for Mac is one of the desktop applications we can’t live without, and version 4.0 proves that even the best can find ways to improve over time.
Many iPad users have a love-hate relationship with Apple’s built-in Mail app, and there are certainly many things that it could do better — some of which can be found in MailDeck, a new app billed as “forward-thinking email.” While the develope…
