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Get a free office suite, help charity

I love a good win-win.

From now until December 24, you can get SoftMaker FreeOffice for Windows or Linux absolutely free. And when you do, SoftMaker will donate 0.10 Euros to betterplace.org, which raises funds for a variety of worthy worldwide projects.

So what the heck is SoftMaker FreeOffice? As you may have guessed from the name, it's the free version of SoftMaker's commercial office suite. It provides word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations, all with an interface that closely resembles Microsoft Office 2003.

Speaking of which, FreeOffice is fully file-compatible with Microsoft's suite, though it'… Read more

Photoshop, Illustrator get Retina Display support

Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, two high-profile programs used by graphic artists with a discriminating eye, now support Apple's high-resolution Retina Displays.

The new versions are being distributed through Adobe's new Creative Cloud subscription, which costs $50 per month for a 12-month commitment but is being boosted by a promotional price of $30 per month for a 12-month commitment to prime the Creative Cloud pump.

The idea behind Apple's Retina Displays, which are offered on iPhones, iPads, and MacBook Pros, is to use pixels small enough that the human eye can't distinguish them, removing pixelated edges from … Read more

Survey: Adobe discount draws customers to subscription plan

Apparently Adobe Systems can persuade skeptics that its Creative Cloud subscription plan is worthwhile -- as long as the price is right.

That's one finding from a survey by CNET and analyst firm Jefferies this month. Nearly half of the 525 respondents already are subscribers, and of them, 59 percent said deeply discounted introductory pricing was a "major" influence in signing up for the Creative Cloud.

The Creative Cloud subscription is a monumental change to Adobe's business. Instead of persuading customers to buy perpetual licenses to Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Edge, and other members of the … Read more

Samsung outs more details on Galaxy S3 Premium Suite upgrade

Samsung last week unveiled the first group of new features coming to its Galaxy S3. Now, it has unveiled the second group.

The company earlier today updated its blog with more new features coming to the Galaxy S3 through its Premium Suite upgrade. The handset's camera features are getting a lot of attention in the new update. The Premium Suite upgrade adds a low-light-shot feature, ensuring better picture-taking in dark environments. A Best Face feature allows users to take five pictures consecutively and then choose which to keep. Samsung has also added a camera feature that tells users how … Read more

Samsung's Galaxy S3 to get Premium Suite upgrade

Samsung's Galaxy S3 is getting the company's Premium Suite upgrade pack.

Samsung launched a video today showing just some of the features coming to its flagship handset. The upgrade, which was previously announced for the Galaxy Note 10.1, adds a new featured called Page Buddy that predicts what the users want to do based on their actions. So, if the Galaxy S3 owner plugs in earphones, the software will load the music player.

A contextual menu feature is also available in the Premium Suite upgrade, allowing users to see their most frequently used apps, rather than an … Read more

Survey: Are you going for Adobe's Creative Cloud?

It's time again to take the pulse of Adobe Systems and its Creative Cloud product and business overhaul.

In March, analyst firm Jefferies and CNET jointly surveyed people's opinions on Adobe's shift. Now we're running a new survey about Adobe's Creative Cloud subscription plan, Creative Suite 6, and Web design tools.

We'll run the survey for a few days and share results later so you can see if others share your opinions about Adobe.

Photoshop is a storied brand, and the Creative Suite that includes it and many other Adobe projects has been around … Read more

Adobe could unveil Retina version of Photoshop CS6 on Dec. 11

Adobe Systems is hosting a free online event on December 11 where it may reveal the new Retina edition of its flagship Photoshop program.

One of the topics of the Create Now Live event invites participants to "See what's next in Adobe Photoshop." And a YouTube video promoting the Photoshop presentation appears to show someone using the software on a Retina Display MacBook Pro.

That video clip has led Japanese blog site Macotakara and others to speculate that Adobe will show off a new update of Photoshop CS6 designed to support the high-resolution display on the 13-inchRead more

Set desktop wallpaper easily, restoring lost functionality from Leopard

SpaceSuit is an app that lets you select pictures to use for different desktops. This was a feature supported by OS X Leopard, but later versions of Mac OS X have removed this customization capability. SpaceSuit restores that option, allowing you to have a different background image for each desktop. SpaceSuit was not available in the App Store for this review, but we downloaded it from several sites on the Web.

Using SpaceSuit you can set a new desktop wallpaper by simply dragging any image over the program icon, which immediately sets the wallpaper to that image. To remove a … Read more

HAL robot suit modified to take on nuclear plants

You're sweating in your bulky radiation suit, your dosimeter is freaking you out, and you're trying to close a valve that might just save a large portion of the population from some very nasty fallout.

Wouldn't it be nice to have some robotic help?

Japan's robot start-up Cyberdyne is modifying its Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) power suit for use by first responders in nuclear accidents.

The exoskeleton is being improved to help workers who have to wear heavy radiation protection clothing. Japan is still struggling with radiation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was severely damaged last year during one of the country's most powerful earthquakes. … Read more

Facebook unfriended us, company claims in contract suit

A Facebook developer is suing the social network, claiming the company damaged its business when it abruptly abruptly terminated a multi-year deal that gave the company access to Facebook data.

Profile Technology, a New Zealand-based company that says it created the first ever independent Facebook search engine, said the social networking giant suddenly cut off its access in late 2010, then embarked "on a campaign of destruction" to damage its reputation.

The company is asking for damages with an unspecified dollar amount, but that include compensation for lost profits following when Facebook allegedly cut off its access without … Read more