Desktop software

C2 Enterprises has improved the performance and abilities of Photosmith, its iPad app for screening, cataloging, and rating photos before they're handed off to Adobe Systems' Lightroom.

Photosmith 3 is a complete overhaul, developers said in a blog post: "Much of the core of the app has been rewritten or updated to provide more stability. Key areas have been optimized for speed." The software arrived on the App Store on Wednesday.

Version 3's reworked import process is much more flexible, they promised. Instead of storing photos in the iPad's camera roll, Photosmith 3 can store … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO -- Once again, Apple's changes to its Safari browser on OS X represent keeping up with the competition instead of forging new ground.

At the company's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco on Monday, the company unveiled the next version of Safari, which Apple says will have significantly faster page rendering, better security, and will make it easier to read multiple articles on the same site.

The Safari 7 update introduces to the browser stronger connections to OS X's password-management tool called Keychain. Leveraging the iCloud browser syncing that debuted in last year's Safari, … Read more

Google continues to slowly build Google Now into its services. It made the data-rich Now-styled notifications available through an advanced option setting in Chrome for Mac on Thursday, following basic implementation in Chrome for Windows and Chrome OS earlier this year.

You can activate Google Now notifications in Chrome for Mac by typing chrome://flags into your address bar, scrolling down to the Enable Rich Notifications, and changing the setting to Enable. The setting is limited to the most unstable of the browser's builds, Chrome Canary. Canary will only work on OS X 10.6 and newer.

Google Now … Read more

DxO Labs released FilmPack 4 Wednesday, a new version of its software for photographers fond of the retro film look made possible by Instagram and similar filter-effect apps.

The software goes well beyond the usual sepia-tone and cyanotype effects. It's based on precise measurements of 60 specific types of film -- everything from Fuji Velvia to Kodak Tri-X -- to quickly endow digital photos with an old-school analog look.

Some might call it a throwback or gimmick, but plenty of shooters such as wedding photographers like such tools for quickly adding a little character or flavor.

New to the … Read more

Users of the InDesign layout software who are disgruntled by Adobe's move to sell its software solely through subscriptions might be interested in a promotion from rival Quark that just arrived.

The Denver-based company announced Wednesday that those who buy or upgrade to its QuarkXPress 9 software will get a free upgrade to QuarkXPress 10.

"Until June 30, 2013 anyone who purchases or upgrades to QuarkXPress 9 from any previous version will receive version 10 for free. After June 30, 2013 only QuarkXPress 8 users will be eligible to upgrade to QuarkXPress 9 for a free upgrade to … Read more

Web-based photo editing took a second step forward Tuesday with the release of WebRaw, a tool that uses Mozilla's ASM.js technology for the computationally intense process of handling raw photos.

Raw photo formats, available on high-end cameras, offer better image quality and more editing flexibility, but they also are much more of a hassle than standard formats like JPEG, in part because they're so burdensome for computers to decode. That's why the demo, from Mozilla's Vladimir Vukicevic, is interesting: processing raw photos is the sort of chore that only a couple of years ago would … Read more

The next round of Windows 8.1 RT tablets will be supported by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800, the chipmaker announced Monday.

Could it be destined for a future Surface tablet? That's not clear yet but Qualcomm hints at future RT products with its silicon.

"Qualcomm continues to build on its relationship with Microsoft by helping to launch and optimize the newest build of Windows for Snapdragon, Windows 8.1 RT," the chip supplier said.

The statement continued. "The next processor to be featured in upcoming Windows 8.1 RT computers will be the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800.&… Read more

As Chrome usage grows on mobile devices, the latest iOS version of the browser finally arrived Monday with the same voice search feature that its cross-platform siblings have.

Chrome 27 for iOS (download) incorporates voice search, which uses Google's own voice-recognition database and not the Nuance-driven Siri.

As with other Google services that use its voice search, including Google Now for iOS, voice search in Chrome for iOS will read back to you your query as it pulls up the familiar blue-link list of Google search results.

One interesting difference between voice search on Chrome for iOS and Chrome … Read more

The Android version of Chrome has begun carving a niche for itself in the mobile browsing market.

In May, usage of the mobile version of Google's browser on smartphones and tablets accounted for an all-time high of 3.2 percent, according to Net Applications' usage statistics. That figure may not sound like a lot, but the browser only crossed the 1 percent threshold in November 2012, and it's now surpassed Microsoft's IE at 2 percent of mobile browser usage.

At the same time, Google's unbranded Android browser, which predates Chrome, appears to be waning. Its usage … Read more