Adobe and Qualcomm Bring Full Flash Player to Next-Generation for Mobile Devices

Accelerated Flash Player 10.1 to Enable HD Video and Rich Web Experiences on Smartphones and Smartbooks

(Los Angeles, California--October 5, 2009) At Adobe MAX, Adobe’s worldwide developer conference, Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) and Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq:QCOM), a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies, products and services, today announced the two companies are working together as part of the Open Screen Project to optimize and dramatically increase performance for Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 for Qualcomm’s chipsets targeted at smartphones and smartbooks.

The first consumer devices ready to support Flash Player 10.1 will be smartbooks and smartphones from companies such as Toshiba and will be based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon™ chipset. Qualcomm will introduce broader support within its product portfolio for Flash Player 10.1 when the beta version of the player becomes available before the end of the year.

Adobe Flash Player 10.1 is the first browser-based runtime to come out of the Open Screen Project and provides a consistent runtime that delivers uncompromised Web browsing of expressive applications, content and HD video. Unveiled at Adobe MAX today, Flash Player 10.1 leverages the power of the GPU on supported devices — such as Snapdragon with its integrated high-performance graphics core — for accelerated video and graphics while conserving battery life and resource utilization.

“Adobe has a longstanding relationship with Qualcomm as one of the first participants in the Open Screen Project,” said David Wadhwani, vice president and general manager, Platform Business Unit at Adobe. “With Adobe Flash technology being the No. 1 platform for video delivery online, Qualcomm’s chipset portfolio, which includes the innovative Snapdragon platform, will help bring the latest, most innovative Web experiences created using the Flash Platform to next-generation smartphones and smartbooks.”

“Qualcomm is continually looking to enable richer multimedia experiences on mobile devices, and the Adobe Flash Platform technologies will be a significant part of that effort moving forward,” said Rob Chandhok, vice president of software strategy for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. “As mobile devices increasingly become a primary method of accessing the Internet, our collaboration with Adobe provides our device manufacturing customers with the ability to deliver even more compelling and full-featured products to the market.”

Qualcomm’s chipset portfolio offers a wide range of solutions that feature an industry-leading level of integration — enabling slimmer, sleeker devices with higher-end functionality that redefines the possibilities of a mobile device. The company’s product lines include the Snapdragon platform, which offers an unprecedented combination of mobile processing performance, optimized power consumption, ubiquitous connectivity and powerful multimedia in a single chip. Snapdragon is enabling smarter smartphones, as well as a new class of devices called smartbooks that delivers the best aspects of a smartphone experience. Smartbooks last all day on a single battery charge and offer constant connectivity, instant-on functionality and customizable and intuitive interfaces — all in a device with a large-display form factor.

About Adobe Flash Platform
The Adobe Flash Platform is the leading Web design and development platform for creating expressive applications, content, and video that run consistently across operating systems and devices and reach over 98 percent of Internet-enabled desktops. Flash Player 10 was installed on more than 93 percent of computers in just the first ten months since its release. According to comScore Media Metrix, approximately 75 percent of online videos viewed worldwide are delivered using Adobe Flash technology, making it the No. 1 format for video on the Web. Major broadcasters and media companies including Disney.com, MLB.com and DIRECTV rely on the Adobe Flash Platform for delivering video on the Web and the platform powers social network sites such as YouTube and MySpace. For more information about the Adobe Flash Platform visit http://www.adobe.com/flashplatform.

Open Screen Project
Led by Adobe, the Open Screen Project includes close to 50 industry leaders working together to provide a consistent runtime environment across mobile phones, desktops and other consumer electronic devices. The initiative addresses the challenges of Web browsing and standalone applications on a broad range of devices, and removes the barriers to publishing content and applications seamlessly across screens. For more information visit http://www.openscreenproject.org.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information — anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit http://www.adobe.com.

About Qualcomm
Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq:QCOM) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on CDMA and other advanced technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Qualcomm is included in the S&P 100 Index, the S&P 500 Index and is a 2008 FORTUNE 500® company. For more information, please visit http://www.qualcomm.com.

Graphical Software Streamlines Algorithm Design

New software can aid medical device developers, machine builders and automotive systems designers

Charles J. Murray, Senior Technical Editor -- Design News, August 3, 2009

From NIWeek: Citing a need to help with prototyping of complex embedded systems, National Instruments today said it is rolling out new features in its graphical systems design software that will simplify the process of deploying math algorithms to real-time operating systems.

Known as LabView 2009, the new software will enable product developers to put text-based math directly into an embedded system. "Without any translation, without changing any code, engineers can deploy '.m files' to a real-time operating system," says P.J. Tanzillo, embedded software product manager for National Instruments. The new feature is an update to the well-known LabView graphical systems software, which is used by designers worldwide for the design and prototyping of products with embedded electronic controls. The update to LabView was rolled out at NIWeek 2009 in Austin, TX today.

By simplifying the process of deploying math algorithms to real-time operating systems, National Instruments says its new software can aid medical device developers, machine builders and automotive systems designers. Medical device designers, for example, can use text-based math to describe matrices and vectors employed in signal analysis on a blood pressure monitor.

The new feature could help streamline algorithm design and deployment in many embedded systems. Up until now, text-based math tools designed on the desktop typically needed to be re-written for use on a real-time embedded operating system. That re-implementation process added time and complexity to the creation of products that used filtering of time-domain and frequency-domain signals.

"When they're working on vectors or matrices of data, a lot of engineers prefer to do it in text-based math code," Tanzillo says. "This enables them to do that."

LabView 2009 simplifies the process by incorporating NI's MathScript RT Module, which expands access to real-time math and eliminates the re-implementation process. As a result, NI engineers say they can help embedded product developers reduce time to market.

"The idea of the LabView environment is to give engineers some tools on the desktop to design their algorithms the way they feel most comfortable," Tanzillo says. "Now if they want to use LabView graphical code, or the MathScript Module, or C-code, they can. We give them ways of combining or integrating all those approaches."

The International Creativity Bank will be launched in the World Wide Web soon

The International Creativity Bank "Swisstock" will be launched in the World Wide Web soon. As the project's founders say: "The main goal of this project is to promote creative work of billions creative minds."

According to available information the project will allow the authors to present the results of their creativity to the worldwide Internet audience, effectively establish commercial promotion and profitable sale of their creative work, reflecting their opinions and suggestions in professional field, as well as to establish contact with potential partners, customers and fans.

The promo could be viewed at www.swisstock.com

IT Global News

A picture is worth a thousand...dollars! How to Save Big Bucks in Purchasing High Quality Stock Photos.

by Evan D. Owen

Pictures and graphics are one of the most important elements that a company uses to create brand awareness and communicate its message. Ever wonder where those images come from? The general term for these images is "stock photos" and the evolution of digital photography has caused a revolution within the stock photo industry. In our business of selling trade show displays and designing graphics for these displays we are constantly challenged with how to develop a graphical message that is suitable for trade show graphics. Trade show graphics are considered large format printing and it has its own set of challenges, especially when it comes to finding high resolution photos that when printed look presentable. Many of you have probably taken an old 35 mm picture and blown it up to a poster size graphic only to see the quality deteriorate that it only looks good when your fifteen feet away. Imagine taking that same picture and making it 7 feet tall by 10 feet wide. Yikes!

If you're the likes or Nike or McDonalds it's no big deal to arrange professional photographers to take high resolution digital photos for any type of ad campaign, brochure or billboard. If you're the average small business in America then you have a bit of a challenge finding images that won't break the bank account. For most of our clients this is where the "Sticker Shock" of buying stock images comes into play.

So how does one get high resolution images for displays? Before the turn of the century, that is the year 2000, the world of stock photography was dominated by a few industry giants like Getty Images and Corbis and still today these two companies can supply you with just about anything. For example, let's say you want a high resolution picture of "Britain's two man bob sleigh team, competing at international sporting event, 1948, St. Moritz, Switzerland". You'll have to get this type of image from one of the major suppliers.

There are two types of images in the stock photography world. The bob sleigh image is "Rights Managed" which means you have to detail how, where and when you'll be using this image for marketing or advertising purposes. For a trade show display this image would cost you anywhere from $975.00 - $1350.00 per year for one display. This is where the sticker shock happens! The other type of image is called "Royalty Free" which means you can use it for most things and only have to pay a flat fee. There are lots of variations in "Royalty Free" so make sure you understand the conditions of using the photograph. "Royalty Free" images are usually priced in the range of $180.00 - $350.00. Sounds pretty good until you realize that you may need 10 photos to achieve the design you want.

What if there was a way to reduce that pricing to $10.00 per image? Almost sounds to good to be true, but it isn't. Digital cameras and the Internet have completely revolutionized the way high resolution images are being bought and sold and this new segment is called "Microstock". Microstock photo websites are where individuals can buy and sell their high quality images. The average consumer can easily purchase a professional level digital camera and with a little training can create all kinds of unique images to sell, especially when you use your photography skills along with the power of some photo editing software like PhotoShop. The two best known Microstock photo websites are iStockPhoto and ShutterStock. Both of these sites offer hundreds of thousands of high quality photos for large format printing purposes. These images are still "Royalty Free", but "Extended" licenses are available when you print large quantities of brochures or other marketing materials.

Detailed below is an example of a design where we used 11 photos
from iStockPhoto at a total cost of $55.00.

If you purchased "Royalty Free" photos from one of the major industry websites then the photos in the design could easily range from $1980.00 - $3850.00. If you purchased "Rights Managed" photos you would spend $10,750.00 - $14,850.00.

This cost savings has gotten the attention of the "big guys" to the extent that iStockPhoto was recently purchased by Getty Images for $50 million dollars.

So if you need high quality high resolution photos for Trade Show Displays, Exhibits or Booths or any other large format printing job make sure to check out all your options including the Microstock world.

About A Smash Hit! Trade Show Displays

Founded in 2003, A Smash Hit! Trade Show Displays is a leading Internet distributor of trade show display products primarily servicing North America. As a wholesaler we can offer display products at half the price as local suppliers. We offer full graphics design, printing and can work on displays as small as tabletop units to larger island style displays.

MAXON Updates CINEMA 4D

The latest version of MAXON's 3D modeling, rendering and animation package offers improvements in image quality, rendering and workflow.

While many 3D creation packages are designed for full-time, highly-skilled pros, others provide more of an opening to those just getting started or who simply want to integrate 3D into their current workflow, without making it their life work. MAXON positions CINEMA 4D as one of the easiest to master professional 3D packages, for use within the architecture, design and visualization, game development, movie and broadcast, and print/Web design domains.

Part of its appeal to those already proficient in design is its support for industry-standard file formats, such as PSD, TIF, Targa, JPG, QuickTime and AVI, as well as providing Illustrator import and Flash and EPS export. CINEMA 4D is also sold as a core application with the possibility of adding a variety of modules, which add such functionality as particle effects and non-photorealistic rendering. These can be purchased individually or in bundles, so users can master core functionality and then add new capabilities as required.

Release 11.5 includes a re-tooled render engine allowing users to create scenes employing billions of polygons on even modest hardware; a new Picture Viewer for reviewing and editing images and animations; the ability to more easily integrate CINEMA 4D into existing production pipelines; new motion graphics functionality; and support for Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Windows 7.

CINEMA 4D can be purchased on the MAXON site, with demos also available for download.

Veer Marketplace Opens for Image Purchases

The credit-based community of buyers and sellers offers hundreds of thousands of microstock images, starting at one dollar.

Back in June we indicated that rights-managed and premium royalty-free photography provider Veer had begun accepting submissions of images and illustrations for its venture into the microstock world, Veer Marketplace. Contributors to Marketplace can upload images via any FTP client or via a web-based upload tool, and submit many images simultaneously through a bulk upload system. Veer has tried to provide advanced functionality for contributors, such as the ability to attach metadata, as well as model and property releases, to multiple images at once. Model and property releases can also be stored and applied to subsequent image uploads. In addition, a “controlled vocabulary” and keyword auto-mapping system is said to automatically accommodate spelling variants, common misspellings and synonyms, and includes broader search terms. Standard royalty rates per image download range from $0.35 to $7.00, and the subscription royalty rate per image download ranges from $0.20 to $4.00, depending on image size.

Now Veer has opened the service to customers, making the collection available in six resolutions via subscriptions or individual downloads. According to Anne Dawson, Director of Web Platforms for Veer, “Veer Marketplace provides creatives on a tight budget with stylish photography and illustration at affordable prices.” Photos and illustrations cost between 1 and 20 credits, depending on the file size required. The images are available in packages and subscriptions that can be customized by customers to fit their unique needs, with a calculator on the site available to help customers find the preferred credit or subscription package. Credit packages range from 10 to 2,000 credits, while with a subscription customers receive from 60 to 2,880 credits per week, for a set period of time ranging from four to 52 weeks.

Corbis Celebrates 20 Years of Stock Photography

A look behind the scenes of notable images and a Twitter contest mark the anniversary of the oldest major online stock photography company.

Corbis provides photography, illustration, footage, typefaces and rights clearance services through its Corbis, Corbis Motion, Veer and GreenLight sites. To mark the first 20 years, the firm is providing several initiatives that demonstrate the depth of its content collection and what lies behind some of the imagery. A new area on the Corbis site dubbed Storied provides a look at the backstory of selected images thanks to the comments of "writers, heroes, celebrities, photographers and other people who were there when the shutter snapped."

This is a great idea and while the images chosen might have benefited from less emphasis on Hollywood, there are enough real-world shots with accompanying text, such as the one below covering Soviet "sunlight therapy" in the 80s, to create a compelling experience. A video providing highlights is also available.

Corbis has also launched a Twitter contest, which can be entered simply by following Corbis on Twitter and retweeting a message about the contest. Five followers will snag an Olympus EP-1 camera, with one grand prize winner being the beneficiary of a trip to France to tour Corbis’ Sygma preservation facility, which it opened in May of this year to manage this collection of historically-significant shots spanning 50 years.