The week in gadgets


11 Apr 2011

A look at gadget, game and geek happenings in the week ahead.

Google survey reveals tablet usage trends

A survey of 1,400 tablet owners undertaken by the Google Mobile Ads Marketing team revealed that one in three respondents use their tablet more than their TV.

Among the survey participants, 68pc used their tablets at least one hour a day and 77pc found their desktop/laptop usage decreased after they got their tablets.

The most popular tablet activities include gaming, emailing and searching for information.

“These new usage patterns have strong implications for marketers and content creators,” said Harsh Shah of the Google Mobile Marketing Team.

“In the AdMob network alone, traffic from tablets has grown 300pc in the past six months.

“Considering the numerous planned launches of new tablets in 2011, we’re excited to watch the traffic from tablets grow as consumers continue to adopt this new category of devices,” said Shah.

A more detailed list of results can be found at the Google Mobile Ad Marketing blog.

Adobe to release Photoshop Touch apps for iPad

Photoshop Touch (Credit: Gizmodo)

Adobe will be releasing three new apps based on Photoshop for tablets – Eazel, Color Lava and Nav.

According to Gizmodo, Photoshop Touch will not be the full graphic design program as it appears on desktops, but the apps will compliment or work with Photoshop.

Adobe is updating Photoshop CS5, which contains plugs that allow third-party applications to communicate with it in real time.

The plugs will be accessible through the Photoshop Touch Software Development Kit, meaning any app developer could integrate his or her app with the desktop version of Photoshop.

Adobe Nav will be among the first three apps. Users can create a custom palette with their 16 favourite tools, change colours, zoom and navigate and sort up to 200 documents on their tablet.

Color Lava lets users mix colours in a natural way and can create individual colour swatches and themes.

Eazel uses the touch interface to simulate painting, working independently from Photoshop. Users can control the colour, opacity and brush size with their fingers and, with its paint-drying engine, can mix wet and dry paint to blend colours. Paintings from Eazel can be rendered at any resolution.

The Photoshop Touch apps will be available for iPad from May.