Adobe's improved Creative Suite 3

Adobe's improved Creative Suite 3 integration has improved the work flow, performance, and work space in Flash, enabling it to import Photoshop and Illustrator layers, convert animation to open-source ActionScript 3, and render faster.
Flash remains the champ of professional vector software for the Web. However, creating Web pages, interactive games, and videos in Flash CS3 is no one-two punch; the complexity remains a barrier for new learners. That said, you won't find all of what Flash offers elsewhere. The strength of its many features as well as its convenient integration within the rich Creative Suite 3 make Flash an alluring and practical tool.
Most notable in this version of Flash is its improved integration with the other Adobe design tools, made possible by Adobe's merger with Macromedia. Macromedia Flash 8 introduced polished bitmap-handling and green-screen video capabilities that enhance the wow factor for viewers and users of the animation, videos, and games Flash creates, but the CS3 update focuses mostly on improvements for designers and developers.
We installed Adobe Flash CS3 as part of the Web suite on a Windows XP computer in about 40 minutes. (Unfortunately, some testers who had been running Flash CS3 beta software spent many frustrating hours unsuccessfully installing the final code.) Flash CS3 runs on Windows XP SP2 or Vista--and now both Intel-based and PowerPC-based Macs with at least 512MB of RAM and 2.5GB free.

Online and offline Worlds merge

Google has launched a tool designed to make it easier for computer users to use online applications offline.
One of the key limitations of web services such as e-mail, word processing and calendars, is that they require a net connection to function।
Gears allows access to online data and applications inside the web browser when offline.
The tool was launched at Google's global developer day, with 5,000 coders attending seminars worldwide.
Google Gears is an open source plug-in for browsers, which the firm hopes will lead to the creation of new web standards.
The firm wants many of the people attending its developers conference to use the Gears tools, which are free to use, to adapt their own applications for offline usage.
Using Gears, online data that is usually held on web servers can be stored offline on an individual's computer, and then synchronised when the user logs back on to the web.

Milan - Gates reveals where its headed

In Bill Gates' mind, Microsoft's tabletop computer is just the beginning of where the touch-based technology can go.
Dubbed "Milan," the first such computer is manufactured by Microsoft, has a horizontal surface and is targeted at businesses. But Microsoft's chairman said none of those things needs to define the product over time and we're likely to see big changes. In a brief interview on the sidelines of the D5 conference here on Wednesday night, Gates told CNET News.com about the technology, which Microsoft has been cooking up over the past six years or so, how Microsoft hopes to eventually make the computers far cheaper and how the company will work with others to make the hardware.
Q: How do you see surface computing evolving over time?Gates: That device is in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. You can imagine high-end business environments, even some high-end homes (paying that). We've got to get it down over the years into more like the $1,000 price range. We've shown various demos where you can project from the top...That's a super high-quality thing that we did there (with the first table). Eventually, it's in every desk, but that will be a long time. The actual fundamental hardware, the cameras are very, very cheap. The projection piece and how you package that up is the most expensive piece.
I hear you don't have one in your house. Are you getting one?Gates: No. There's a whole thing about (needing) a complete refresh of my home software. When it first was done quite some time ago, almost six, seven years ago, it was very advanced. Every time I come up from a trip, the photos we took are all up on the displays. Any song, any movie. Today, people can say that's nice and it's not like wow. We have a tiny bit like the surface (computing) thing in that we have these touch-screen displays. But they are nothing like the surface thing. They are vertical touch-screen displays.
There are some things the surface guys need to do where you have a horizontal surface some of the time and you turn it into the vertical surface. You can do it with both where you couple a horizontal surface to a vertical surface. We also want some partners to innovate with one that is horizontal and then you can tilt it up on a hinge, so you can navigate your photos and organize (with the display horizontally) and then go watch movies and that's more a vertical orientation. So you'll become more involved with partners?Gates: We need to prove it out this year in the commercial market. The exposure with the partners will be really high and there's more of those that will get announced. Some time over the next, I don't know what time frame, we hope to get people who have hardware ideas. This is one (where) I'd like to see some variety of implementations. It's not like Xbox 360 where there's a lot of reasons why you don't want variety. Here, it's more like the phone or the PC where we think, hmm, we'd like variety. It could take awhile. People, they've seen natural interface stuff so many times where it looked good in the demo and it didn't get (proven out). There's sort of a natural cynicism.

SanDisk Sansa connects

At $250, the Sansa Connect is priced on the high side for a 4GB device, but it's not unreasonable to pay a bit more for advanced technology.
Plus, you can always add more memory via the built-in MicroSD slot--we certainly can't complain about expandable memory. We also can't complain about the player's design and interface. It's a slick little player with a nice-feeling black enclosure and a cute, stubby antenna poking out of the top, rather like those on a portable satellite radio device. Fortunately, the Connect is a bit more compact than such devices (the Pioneer Inno comes to mind) at 3.5 inches high by 1.8 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick. The 2.2-inch screen is nice and bright with good color saturation, and the icon-driven menus are fun and easy to navigate. We especially like the bubbly main menu selections that rotate in an arc across the lower portion of the screen when you hit the "Home" button.

Fortunately, the Connect's controls complement the interface nicely. Below the screen is a tactile scroll wheel, which can be clicked in four directions as well: "Up" activates the Home function, pulling up the main menu wheel at the bottom of the screen; "Down" starts and stops playback; and "Right" and "Left" serve to shuttle between menu levels and tracks. A dedicated volume rocker sits on the left spine, while the power button and a hold switch reside on the top. The bottom of the unit houses the proprietary USB port and the 3.5mm headphone jack. There's even a built-in speaker on the rear of the device--of course, you just get mono audio out of it, but it's still a nice touch. The whole thing has a polished, high-quality feel that is uncharacteristic of most previous SanDisk devices, which are positioned as budget MP3 players.
Also uncharacteristic is the Sansa Connect's relative lack of traditional MP3 player features. There's no video support, no recording capabilities, and no FM tuner, though this last detail is not entirely necessary as the player can pick up Yahoo's free LaunchCast stations (provided you're connected to Wi-Fi). In addition to its wireless compatibility with YMU To Go, the Connect supports all DRM WMAs, including those from other music subscription services (such as Rhapsody), though you'll need to connect to the computer to get those. Naturally, MP3 files are also supported. You can also view photos on the device. In fact, you can browse photos on the go through Flckr, which is another neat wireless feature.

The Connect's wireless capabilities are neat, though not without limitations. For example, the player currently cannot get past a "Terms and conditions" page, so if the nearest open Wi-Fi has one (such as with CNET's public Wi-Fi and much of the Wi-Fi found at hotels), you won't be able to get on (SanDisk is working on a fix). Also, unlike the Slacker device, the Connect doesn't cache the Internet radio stations--nor does it hop on to satellite signals--so if you're moving around and listening to "radio" or streaming from the YMU service, you're music will cut out. Sure, this happens with terrestrial radio, but only after you go several miles--Wi-Fi range is considerably less (about a half a block). However, the player will let you handpick songs from the YMU service (provided you're a subscriber), which is something the Slacker player does not do, and it will save "mixes" to the device. You can also send music recommendations to other Connect users or to anyone on your Yahoo Messenger list--all you need is a Yahoo ID. Plus, the player grabs firmware updates wirelessly, which means you never have to connect to your PC to get the latest features.
On the whole, Wi-Fi performance was great--it's even quite simple to get onto protected networks (provided you have the wireless key), and the Connect will remember your preferred networks so you don't have to enter the key more than once. It must be noted, however, that not every Wi-Fi network provides a hassle-free connection experience. My home network, for example, is set up specifically to get a Mac computer to work with a non-Mac-compatible router, and this presented some problems for the Connect. Note that if your router is not set up for a DHCP server--that is, if it is set to a static IP address--the Sansa won't work with it, as there's no place on the player to enter a specific IP address. Also, if you're one of those ubersecure people who has set MAC addresses as a filtering mechanism on the router, make sure you enter the Connect's MAC address as allowable (find that under Settings>WiFi>WiFi Status). For most networks, however, connecting is not an issue
We're pretty impressed with the Connect's snappy processor performance and overall audio quality. Even through the included earbuds, music sounded nice and balanced, though perhaps too bright for my taste. Swapping in a set of Shure E4cs improved sound quality a bit and brought out the bass. Still, I could've done with a bit more kick on the low end. All in all, though, tunes sounded warm, clean, and encompassing across all genres. Interestingly, neither SanDisk's box nor Web site has a rated battery life for the Connect, but in preliminary testing I did notice a sharp drain on battery with Wi-Fi running. I would estimate around 8 to 10 hours in that mode, which isn't great. In CNET Labs tests, the Connect acheived an uninspiring 11.3 hours of playback.