Fully funcional Photoshop app coming up for iPad sooner than you expect (video)

The presence of Adobe Photoshop Express on the App Store is a mere consolation for photography tweaking enthusiasts out there as the app is very limited in functionality, but now a fully functional Photoshop application is on its way to warm the hearts of iDevice owners.

The video below shows the touch optimized interface of the “real” touchscreen Photoshop app with some amazing effects like animated layers, which show a depth-enriched see-through view of your multilayer manipulations. The audience at the Photoshop World 2011 keynote considered it applause worthy and we would wholeheartedly agree. The dual-core power of the new iPad is one thing that will allow such complex handling of pictures. Finally, we are eager to see the price and release date for this, but while we're in the dark about further details, why don't you checkout the impressive demo of Photoshop for iOS?

source: Photography Bay via Electric Pig

Acer CEO steps down over strategy disagreements, company to seek leadership in mobile devices

In this post-PC world we're living in, tablets and phones rule the landscape. But could they match the power, robustness and level of customization a personal computer can offer? This question seems to have been in the core of the strategic disagreement between Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci and the company's board, which led to the former stepping down and leaving the company in the hands of chairman JT Wang, who'll take the role of acting chief executive. The computing landscape has changed and the slow adaptation to that seismic shift has lead Acer into a second consecutive chapter of missing initial financial expectations.

"The personal computer remains the core of our business," said Wang. "We have built up a strong foundation and will continue to expand within, especially in the commercial PC segment. In addition, we are stepping into the new mobile device market, where we will invest cautiously and aim to become one of the leading players."

Acer has certainly stepped up their game with the ICONIA tablets announced back at CES, but it remains underrepresented in the segment, while this statement seems to stress the importance of their mobile business even more.

"In this new ICT industry Acer needs a period of time for adjustment. With the spirit of entrepreneurship, we will face new challenges and look to the future with confidence," added Wang. This marks a departure from the mass-volume approach the company has been employing in recent years to a more balanced stance.

source: Reuters and Hexus

HTC Pyramid breaks cover, some pictures and specs revealed

Prior to CTIA 2011 it was widely anticipated that the HTC Pyramid is scheduled to make an appearance during the mobile event, but for some reason this prospect didn't materialize. That was a bit disappointing - we were quite eager to see this upcoming smartphone heavyweight in flesh - but since that didn't happen, we were left with no other choice but to listen to the rumors and the leaks.

The good news is that the HTC Pyramid is not a shy beast - we hear of rumors and reports about this handset quite often, and now we have a massive leak to share with you.

The guys at XDA-Developers have received some pics that show the HTC Pyramid in all its glory, as well as its (probable) specs. These specs pretty much reiterate what we have heard from previous rumors - this handset is set to arrive with a 4.3-inch qHD resolution display, 1.2GHz processor, two cameras (the rear one may be able to record full HD videos) and 768MB of RAM.

It's anticipated that Android 2.3.2 will run the software side of things, while it's likely that the upcoming version of HTC's custom UI - HTC Sense - will also be on board.

With all these great phones that are on the horizon - like the Motorola DROID BIONIC, the HTC EVO 3D and the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY just to name a few - do you believe this phone will be able to hold its ground against the competitors?

source: XDA-Developers via Engadget

PlayStation emulator removed from the Android Market, Google claims "content policy violation"

psx4droid, a popular PlayStation emulator for Android, was pulled out from the Market because of "Content Policy violation".

This app may very well be the first casualty of the upcoming Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY, although a few other emulators - among them FPSe, which also provides emulation of PlayStation games - are still available in the Android Market.

One suggested reason for psx4droid's removal is that this emulator is using the source code of another app called PCSX without having its GPL license.

It's reported that current users of psx4droid won't face any problems using the emulator, even though it's no longer available in Google's app store. Also, it is claimed that the developer of the app is hoping to find a way to return it to the Android Market.

source: Twitter and mobiputing via Electronista

This HTC Flyer promo shows you how much more you can do with a stylus

The HTC Flyer might not have caught your eye, but that could be partly because of the eventual lack of Honeycomb and the stylus reminding you of times not so long past. But while other companies have gone in the way of mimicking the market leader, HTC has taken their time to give a smooth polish to its own HTC Sense interface and make a truly unique product.

The 7-inch Flyer has a neatly looking carousel allowing you to quickly access info on your homepage, but what seems truly exciting is the stylus input. You can only appreciate it if your work involves some drawing – a challenging task for every keyboard out there. While finger input might do the job, we haven't really seen many applications supporting it to the extent we are tosee in the Flyer. Coupled with the tablet's powerful 1.5GHz single-core chipset, this could bring a lot of new ideas. Check out the video below for some of them.

source: HTC

Verizon's 4G LTE network is a rocket-fast boredom killer (video)

We at PhoneArena often put our devices to endless rigorous testing, but we would have never thought about this one! Now, knowing the real transfer speeds on your phone makes sense. Putting Verizon's 4G LTE network to hardcore testing makes sense. But what about measuring just what you can download in the time it takes a rocket to reach its destination?

Luckily, in the video below the rocket wasn't aimed at the testers, but the whole concept is just plain fishy. Well, but if that wasn't enough, Verizon suggests you another earth scenario – downloading a movie and a game in the few seconds of intimacy you have have with your phone aboard a plane just before it takes off. Those tests should tell you something, but if you want some old style megabit per second scores, you can always visit our in-depth look here. With a handful of 4G-capable phones coming up on Verizon in the very near future, keep your rockets ready for some testing!

source: Verizon

Samsung launching a transparent display to market, 90% more efficient than a regular LCD

Samsung is no doubt at the forefront of new screen technologies in the last few years. Its R&D department has already commercialized the Super AMOLED display in the Galaxy S phone line, and now it's time for the flexible and transparent screens. Samsung has demonstrated those at various trade shows already, including CES in January, but it's great to hear things are moving along with mass producing the innovations.

The company is starting commercial production of a 22" transparent display, with both black&white and color versions, which have 20% and 15% transparency, respectively. An added bonus is the massively increased efficiency - these screens consume just 10% the power of their LCD counterparts.

If you are wondering about the resolution, it is WSXGA+ (1680x1050 pixels), the display has 500:1 contrast ratio, and offers both HDMI and USB ports for hooking it up. We are curious if Samsung can implement those for smaller gadgets like phones and tablets at some point, like what Sony Ericsson did with the Xperia Pureness X5, as we can think of various ways this could be beneficial. While we are wondering, have a look at a cool demo of the technology, involving a goldfish, and some water.

source: SamsungHub