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Adobe changes tune on CS5 updates, won't seek paid CS6 upgrade to patch vulnerabilities
Things have gotten interesting in the world of CS updates. Recently, Computerworld reported that Adobe had informed folks using an older version of its famed Creative Suite -- CS5 and CS5.5, to be exact -- they'd have to shell out the CS6 upgrade fee in order to get a fix for some recently discovered bugs. Apparently, Adobe took notice to its customers' dissatisfaction and updated its initial blog post with a changed tune, stating, "We are in the process of resolving these vulnerabilities in Adobe Photoshop CS5.x, and will update this Security Bulletin once the patch is available." The same is true for both Illustrator and Flash. This kerfuffle started after Adobe handed out warnings for eight "critical" vulnerabilities found in certain versions of the three applications -- some of which are said to be exploitable and could potentially be used to "take control of the affected system." We'll see how it all plays out over the upcoming days, but in the meantime hit the links below to see if you need to take any action. James Trew and Joe Pollicino contributed to this post.
Adobe Nav for iPad and Photoshop video demo
John Nack, Principal Product Manager at Adobe, posted a video demo of Adobe Nav for iPad on his blog Saturday morning. Adobe Nav is one of the first apps to showcase the new tablet integration features included with the software maker's upcoming Creative Suite version 5.5 (CS5.5). The video demonstrates two of the iPad app's most useful features: the ability to build a custom tool palette and navigation among open Photoshop projects. Adobe introduced the first mid-cycle release to its popular Creative Suite at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference earlier this month. The announcement highlighted CS5.5's new Touch Software Development Kit (SDK) that allows developers to create tablet applications that interact with Adobe software on a personal computer. Adobe Nav for iPad is one of three applications the San Jose company built to demonstrate its forthcoming tablet SDK -- the other two are Adobe Color Lava and Adobe Eazel. According to PCWorld, Adobe Nav allows Photoshop users to more easily manage open projects, activate frequently used tools, adjust a document's zoom percentage, switch between Photoshop's screen modes, and change foreground and background colors from their iPads. The demo video certainly illustrates how the iPad can evolve the creative workflow. I look forward to seeing what else Adobe and app developers cook up to extend CS5.5's usefulness beyond the boundaries of the desktop. To watch the video, please visit John Nack's blog. Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 and Adobe Nav for iPad will ship in early May, 2011. Customers can pre-order CS5.5 from Adobe's website with a variety of options and prices. Adobe Nav for iPad is expected to be sold through the App Store for US$1.99.
After Effects CS5.5 to add Warp Stabilizer, 3D effects and more
Adobe's been pretty focused on the mobile platform with its talk of tablet and smartphone publishing and integration of the iPad into the CS5.5 workflow, but that's not all: Adobe's visual effects package, After Effects, got some love, too. After Effects CS5.5 will bring quite a few new features to the table. The headline act has to be Adobe's new Warp Stabilizer, which as the name might suggest, will smooth over your shaky or bumpy camera movement or lock a steady shot automatically. Adobe showed off the impressive technology behind the Warp Stabilizer in a recent sneak peek, and as long as you can deal with frame cropping, it'll make almost any dodgy handheld camera work look like it was shot on a dolly.
Adobe adds three Photoshop-centric iPad apps to lineup
Adobe plans to demonstrate three iPad apps designed to work in conjunction with the forthcoming Adobe CS 5.5 update. Rather than representing a standalone implementation of Photoshop running on the iPad (as demoed earlier this month), these apps are more like enhancements to the existing toolsets running in Adobe CS on a PC or Mac. One program, Nav, allows users to use the iPad to switch between tools or opened photos on the main computer running Photoshop. A second app called Eazel works as a finger-painting app that can send anything generated on the iPad directly to the PC or Mac. A third app called Adobe Color Lava is essentially a high-tech version of a traditional painter's palette. While none of these apps are as ambitious as a full-fledged iOS version of Photoshop, they're intriguing steps in that direction. All three apps demonstrate that Adobe is interested in the future of the iPad, and they show a sort of "outside the box" approach to apps on the iPad, utilizing the tablet as an accessory to a standard computer rather than thinking of it as a computer in its own right. Adobe is also introducing a Photoshop Touch SDK that will allow third-party developers to come up with even more ways to integrate the iPad with a full instance of Photoshop running on a PC or Mac. All three apps are expected to hit the App Store around the same time as the Adobe CS 5.5 update, currently scheduled to debut on May 3, and they'll cost between US$1.99 and $4.99 each. CNET has brief reviews of all three apps to give you an idea of what you're in for when they debut on the App Store.
Adobe announces Creative Suite 5.5 with optional subscription-based pricing
Adobe has announced a mid-cycle update to its Creative Suite, dubbed Adobe CS 5.5. As CNET notes, Adobe CS 5.5 doesn't provide significant updates for Photoshop, Illustrator or Fireworks, but what has been updated in Adobe's Creative Suite seems particularly focused on smartphone platforms. Adobe says the CS update is focused on "enabling designers and developers to target popular and emerging smartphone and tablet platforms," and provides "substantive advances to HTML5, Flash authoring, digital publishing and video tools as well as new capabilities that kick-start the integration of tablets into creative workflows." According to Adobe, the company plans to change up its development cycle for Creative Suite, offering "milestone" upgrades every 24 months and (presumably yearly) mid-cycle releases like CS 5.5 providing relatively smaller advances of the feature set. Perhaps more significantly, Adobe has also introduced subscription-based pricing for its Creative Suite, with monthly pricing schemes including Photoshop for US$35 per month, Adobe Design Premium CS 5.5 for $95 per month, and Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Master Collection for $129 per month. Naturally, you can also pay for the suite all in one go, but it'll cost you anywhere from $1299 up to $2599 for the Master Collection. Adobe devotes a rather significant portion of its CS 5.5 press release to discussing the state of Flash on mobile devices, claiming that "more than 200 million" tablets and smartphones will run Flash Player and/or Flash-based applications by the end of this year. CNET characterizes Adobe's mobile development tools as "inching closer to build once, output many." We'll just have to wait and see how both of those claims play out.
