In just a week since Adobe made a fully functional version of its new Photoshop CS6 Beta available for public download. Adobe has announced that the Photoshop CS6 Beta has been download over half a million times.

New features in the latest Adobe Photoshop 6 Beta release include CS6 Extended 3D editing features and quantitative imaging analysis tools together with tilt-shift creation tools, to name just a few.

“Photoshop CS6 beta includes all the features in Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended. Take this opportunity to try out the 3D image editing and quantitative image analysis capabilities of Photoshop Extended*, but note that—while these features will be included in the shipping version of Photoshop CS6 Extended—they will not be included in the shipping version of Photoshop CS6.”

You can download the latest Adobe Photoshop CS6 application from the Adobe website now to give it a try.

Design and development company FiftyThree has this week launched a fantastic new iPad application called Paper. That has been designed to provide you with five essential tools for sketching out ideas on your iPad.

Unlike other applications Paper doesn’t provide you with lots of settings to customise each of your tools, but keeps it clean and simple. Providing tools to Sketch, Write, Draw, Outline and Colour. Watch the video after the jump to see the Paper app in action.

Paper is free to download but to get the most from it you need to purchase the other 4 tools which are price at $2 each. The app allows you to create multiple notebooks which you can then customise the covers of to make them personal or project specific.

Paper also has a great undo and redo feature which allows you to rotate two fingers on the screen in either and anti-clockwise motion to remove marks or clockwise motion to place them back.

Paper is definitely worth the $8 price if you enjoy creating and sketching on your iPad, and can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store now.

Galaxy Tab 10.1 or Asus Transformer owners who would like to bring a little more of a Windows feel to their Android tablet-top. Might be interested in this new user interface that has been created for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Asus Transformer tablets.

The Metro Android theme brings the look and feel of Microsoft’s Metro user interface theme to the tablet. The new Metro Android theme has been created by XDA Developers user BroBot175 and can be viewed in action after the jump.

The Metro Android theme is currently in its beta release version and supports Android tablets running Google’s latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) operating system.

“Metro UI is based on the new look of windows 8 and bits of windows phone. i have tried to style it as i think it should look on our tabs so it is not an exact replica of windows 8.”

Sony has released a beta ROM of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for their Xperia Play smartphone, and you can test out ICS on your Xperia Play before the final version is released.

Of course the beta ROM comes with the usual warnings, that you should only download and install the ROM if you are an Android developer.

Upon request we’re today releasing an Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) beta for Xperia™ PLAY, and we’re really interested in getting your feedback on this beta release. As games are such a crucial part of Xperia™ PLAY, we would like to know how well this ICS beta for Xperia™ PLAY works when you’re playing games.

You can download the Xperia Play Android 4.0 Beta ROM form the Sony Developers website, and you can also find out more details about the ROM there.

Google has this week released a stable version of its Chrome Browser version 18, which brings with it a number of new features. Including improvements to both Canvas2D’s speed and WebGL’s reach.

GPU-accelerated Canvas2D has been enabled in the Beta channel from sometime. But now Google has now enabled GPU-accelerated Canvas2D to run on capable Windows and Mac computers, with the aim to make web based applications such as games perform even better than a pure software implementation.

Google has also enabled Swuftshader to help out older systems to run WebGL 3D apps such as Windows XP systems or systems equipped with integrated Intel video chips. Google explains:

“WebGL enables compelling 3D content on the web, so we want to ensure that as many users as possible have access to this technology. That’s why we’ve enabled SwiftShader, a software rasterizer licensed from our friends at TransGaming, for users with older configurations.”

Evernote has this week launched a new website tailored for developers to assist them in integrating the Evernote API into their applications and creations.

A number of great smartphone applications already use the Evernote API to addition functionality to their services. But Evernote is now hoping their new site will attract even more and make it easier for assistance when required through the community of developers.

Evernote explains a little why developers should consider integrating the Evernote API into their applications.

“When you build on the Evernote platform, you’re giving your app a memory. This may sound like fuzzy marketing speak, but we’re serious about it – our goal is to help our users remember everything. We see Evernote as a user’s external brain, the place where they keep all of the assorted information that’s crucial to their lives. We store this information securely in the cloud and synchronize it to all of their devices so that they can access it whenever they need it, wherever they are.”

To signup and become a Evernote developer jump over to the new Evernote Developer website.

Samsung has this week increased the security of its Android Face Unlock feature. That keep unwanted guests from accessing your smartphone and data using a photograph.

In the past it has been possible for the Face lock feature to be duped into providing access using just a photograph. Google has always acknowledged though that the Face Unlock feature was more of a gimmick rather than a serious biometric security feature.

But Samsung has tried to increase the security of the face Unlock feature by adding an extra measure which requires the owner to now blink in front of the Face Unlock screen to prove they are not a photograph.

So anyone thinking of accessing an Android smartphone using just a photograph will now have to use an animated Gif image to gain access instead. Before you ask, no I haven’t had a chance to check if this will work as yet.

If you’re a big fan of the original Black Ops video game, some details have leaked on the follow-up to that game. I’m really glad to hear this because I thought Black Ops was the best game in the Call of Duty franchise.

Take all this with a grain of salt, but the launch date is said to be November 6. The game is also said to get a new mode called escort with drop zone and kill confirmed modes also coming over from the original game. The new game will apparently lose team defender and infected modes.

The thing I really wonder about is will Black Ops 2 get resurrection mode. Shooting those zombies is one of my favorite parts of the game. I hope that more details leak ahead of the launch later this year.

Its been reported this week that the new PlayStation 4 gaming console which is currently under development by Sony is codenamed Orbis, and may come with an anti-pre-owned system installed once it’s officially launched during late 2013, ready for the holiday season.

Sources close to the development of the new PlayStation 4 have contacted the Kotaku gaming website to reveal a few details, including the codename and expected launch date.

In addition to these the source has also revealed that Sony planning to install some sort of anti-used games technology into the console. Kotaku reports:

“New games for the system will be available one of two ways, either on a Blu-Ray disc or as a PSN download (yes, even full retail titles). If you buy the disc, it must be locked to a single PSN account, after which you can play the game, save the whole thing to your HDD, or peg it as “downloaded” in your account history and be free to download it at a later date.”

Other leaked information also points to the new Orbis PlayStation 4 console will not be backward compatible with PS2 or PS3 games. For more information on the report jump over to the Kotaku website.

Mozilla has now started to integrate a native PDF reader into Firefox 14 versions. A new nightly build of Firefox 14 has been released over the weekend, which brings with it a new integrated PDF viewer within Firefox.

When a PDF is now opened in the Firefox 14 a browse tab is created and a toolbar appears at the top enabling you to go to a specific page, change the zoom level, print, download the PDF, or bookmark its current location.

You can now download a version of the latest Firefox 14 browser to give the viewer a go for yourself from the Mozilla Nightly channel. Simple download the browser and then enable the PDF viewer within the extensions section of the settings menu. Andreas Gal, one of the authors of pdf.js explained the benefits for a integrated PDF viewer back in 2011:

“Displaying PDFs directly in the browser would definitely improve the user’s experience. There are literally millions (billions?) of PDFs floating around the web, and on many devices loading PDFs switches to a different application (e.g. Preview on OS X and PDF View on Android). Also, external PDF readers and many plugins don’t support important PDF features well, including content links and fetch-as-you-go (HTTP range requests).

The traditional approach to rendering PDFs in a browser is to use a native-code plugin, either Adobe’s own PDF Reader or other commercial renderers, or some open source alternative (e.g. poppler). From a security perspective, this enlarges the trusted code base, and because of that Google’s Chrome browser goes through quite some pain to sandbox the PDF renderer to avoid code injection attacks. An HTML5-based implementation is completely immune to this class of problems.”

Earlier this month it was announced that the great Temple Run game would be arriving on Android devices today, and as expected its now available to download for free in the Google Play Store. Watch a demonstration of the new Indian Jones style Temple Run game in action on Android after the jump.

The addictive Temple Run game has already been released in the Apple iTunes Store for iOS devices and has racked up over 40 million downloads since launch.

As you can see in the video below, you use gesture and swipes to navigate your character through the game, as he tries to escape the temple clutching the precious stolen idol.

“You’ve stolen the cursed idol from the temple, and now you have to run for your life to escape the Evil Demon Monkeys nipping at your heels. Test your reflexes as you race down ancient temple walls and along sheer cliffs. Swipe to turn, jump and slide to avoid obstacles, collect coins and buy power ups, unlock new characters, and see how far you can run!”

You can now download Temple Run for free from the Google Android Play Store now.

Today Microsoft has announced that a number of new video apps have now launched on their Xbox 360 including Comcast Xfinity TV, HBO Go and MLB.tv, as Microsoft continues to add more entertainment to their gaming console.

The new addition on the Xbox 360 now take the available applications to 36 including Netflix, ESPN, Hulu, Vudu, and YouTube, most of which are also accessible using Microsoft Kinect motion controlr.

The new Comcast Xfinity TV has been designed to mirror the content and user interface experience of its PC software. The applications also require that users are paying subscribers to Comcast’s cable service, the HBO premium network, or MLB.tv. The new applications can now be download by Xbox 360 owners from the apps section within the Xbox user interface.

The latest Battlefield 3 patch which has been released within the last 24 hours has now brought the ability for console gamers to setup and enjoy dedicated Battlefield 3 servers. DICE is currently implementing a soft launch for the servers, that won’t reach full capacity until next week.

The new Battlefield 3 patch is just over 1GB in size, and enables you to create both private and public dedicated Battlefield 3 server, and manage them from your console.

Prices for the new Battlefield 3 server start from just £1.19 for a single days and then are offered at 7 days for £5.49, 30 days for £19.99; and 90 days for £47.99.

Private Battlefield 3 servers come with a few enforced rules that cannot be changed, but all tools to tweak your server are provided and are available from within your console. ** If you have the Back to Karkand DLC and download the patch you may have to re-download the DLC as well.

Harry Potter fans will be pleased to know that JK Rowling has now started selling digital downloads of the Harry Potter books from her Pottermore website.

All seven of the books are now available to download as an eBook and they will apparently work with a wide range of digital eReaders in English, with other languages launching in the future.

The first three books are available for $8 each and the last four are available for $10 each, you can also buy all seven books as a set for $58, and you can find out more details over at Pottermore.

Registration for Google’s I/O conference opened earlier today, and it looks like this years conference could be more popular than previous ones, as it took just 28 minutes for the conference to sell out.

The guys over at Droid Life are also reporting that many users were met with a ‘checking for tickets’ message, and quite a few were unable to buy them due to massive demand.

The conference costs $900 per ticket, and it takes place between the 27th and 29th of June, you can find out more details over at Google.

Ubisoft has rolled out a short teaser trailer for Assassin Creed III fans which shows a glimpse of the weapons that toy will be able to use during the new game once its officially launched later this year.

Ubisoft has already confirmed that their new Assassin’s Creed III game will be set during the American Revolution and will feature a new protagonist called Connor Kenway, but his birth name is Ratohnhaké:ton, pronounced Ra-doon-ha-gay-doon.

The quick forty second teaser trailer show what Assassin Rathonhake:ton aka Connor will be using to dispatch foes, including long range and closeup weapons including, a hidden blade.

The new Assassin’s Creed III game will be arriving on October 30th 2012, for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, and possibly the new Nintendo Wii U when its launched by Nintendo later this year.

Developers of the new BlueStacks application have today announced the roll out of a beta version of the software. BlueStacks App Player has been designed to enable you to run ARM Android applications on your Widows PC.

BlueStacks Beta which is now available to download uses new technology called LayerCake, which provides the correct environment on Windows to run ARM Android Apps.

Once you have loaded BlueStacks on to your Windows PC the software allows you to download Android apps directly from within the software. Without the need to use an Android phone,

BlueStacks as comes supplied with a neat dock launcher that fits naturally with the Windows interface. Manju Hegde, corporate vice president, Content, Applications and Solutions at AMD, said in BlueStacks’ statement announcing the new beta.

“LayerCake is a disruptive technology that enables PC manufacturers to bring the best of the Android ecosystem to their customers. We are excited to work with BlueStacks to make the emerging Android mobile apps market part of the broader computing arena,”

Using the new BlueStacks application you can also run ARM Android apps in either windowed or full-screen mode, and the software now available for 12 non-English speaking countries, including Netherlands, Brazil, Japan, Argentina, Mexico, Spain, France, Italy, China, Germany, Korea and Russia.

Jump over to the BlueStacks website for more information and to download a copy of the software to load onto your Windows PC or tablets.

We have been hearing about the new LG Lucid over the last few weeks, and now the device is official and is headed to US mobile carrier Verizon Wireless.

Verizon will be offering the LG Lucid on a two year contract from the 29th of March for $79.99, and the device comes with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, with a promise of an ICS update in the future.

The LG Lucid features 4 inch display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, plus a dual core 1.2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM plus front and rear facing cameras.

On the back there is a 5 megapixel camera which can record full HD video in 1080p, on the front there is a VGA camera for video chat, and it also comes with Bluetooth and WiFi.

UK mobile carrier O2 has just announced on Twitter that the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Samsung Galaxy S II is now available for devices on their network.

You can get the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for your O2 Galaxy S II through Samsung’s Kies software, according to O2.

Never too early for an Ice Cream Sandwich – O2 customers with Samsung Galaxy S2s can now get Android 4.0 through KIES. Enjoy!

If you have received the Ice Cream Sandwich update on the Galaxy S II on O2 here in the UK leave a comment and lets us know.

Its already been done by a few companies to promote their services. But now Facebook has painted a massive 42ft square QR code on its headquarters roof, many other companies are sure to follow suit. If you are not familiar with QR or Quick Response Codes they have been around for some time and where first developed for the automotive industry.

More recently, QR Codes have become popular on the web and smartphones due to its fast readability and large storage capacity compared to standard UPC barcodes. There are many applications available for both Android, Windows and iOS devices that will allow you to read QR codes. Which are now used to store a company’s information such as address and related information.

Scanning the new Facebook QR code opens a new page on Facebook called FB QR Code page.

Anyone patiently waiting for the arrival of Coby’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich tablets, will be please to know that the budget tablets have now arrived in stores.

In total there are 6 to choose from range in size from a 7 inch capacitive multitouch displays up to 10 inches in size with a resolution of 1280 x 800. Watch the video after the jump to see it in action.

The tablets are loaded with Google’s latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) operating system, are powered by GHz Allwinner ARM Cortex-A8 single core processors, supported by 1GB of RAM.

- Coby MID7042 – 7 inch, 800 x 480 pixel display
- Coby MID8042 – 8 inch, 800 x 600 pixel display
- Coby MID9042 – 9 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display
- Coby MID9742 – 9.7 inch, 1024 x 768 pixel display
- Coby MID1042 – 10 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display
- Coby MID10245 – 10 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display

The flagship tablet the Coby MID1045 is available from several retailers with prices ranging from $260 to $280.

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