Facebook has begun testing face detection technology for Facebook Photos.This is the first of what seems like a series of new features for its popular photo product.
The tests, which some users will see starting today, focus on decreasing the tediousness of “tagging” friends in Facebook photos. In the current Photos feature, users upload photos, click on each face in a photo, tag that photo with the friend pictured therein and continue the process until the album is tagged.
If you’ve got a large album or a lot of friends in a single photo, this process is inefficient and tedious. To solve this problem, Facebook has implemented face detection technology that will automatically find faces in photos and select them, eliminating one of the most tedious steps in tagging Facebook friends in photos. Your friends are already selected by the software — all you have to do is answer the Facebook prompt, “Whose face is this?”
The technology is the same as the facial detection technology most digital cameras use today. While the tech itself may not be all that new, it is a clever and very welcomed addition to the Facebook Photos feature set.
The company also promises that face detection is merely the first of many improvements that they’re trying out. It’s also interesting that the post was written by Sam Odio, one of the co-founders of Divvyshot, which Facebook acquired back in April in order to improve the Photos product.
In about 12 days we will learn all about Adobe’s Creative Suite 5. You can sign up for the unveiling and watch a timer at Adobe’s launch site, Announcing Adobe CS5! Join for the exclusive Global Online Launch Event, Monday, April 12, 2010.
Before you get too excited, let’s get one thing straight: This is the unveiling, or basically an introduction to the public. Adobe is going so far as to call it a “launch” day but you will not be able to buy the software that day. Adobe has not announced a release day yet, but October 2010 makes sense to me (just a guess). This would position Adobe for a strong end to the calendar year, it would give them sufficient time to work on it after the April introduction, and it lines up exactly two years after the release of CS4. That said September/November would make just as much sense, and some rumors are putting the date earlier, noting an 18 month release cycle.
At Adobe Photoshops 20th Anniversary event in San Francisco Kevin Connor, Senior Director of Product Management for Adobe conducted alive demonstration of “Content Aware Fill” ( PatchMatch) functionality in the Adobe Photoshop CS5 code name “White Rabbit”. This functionality was demonstrated in removing a person who was standing against a wall. Rather than the background color showing through it auto filled with the texture of the wall. Another demo was conducted with an imprecise panoramic photo that had been stitched together. Empty areas were automatically filled in between and around the completed stitched photo.
A discussion with Dave Helmly on Digital Audio Video hardware solutions for Adobe`s video and audio application, he give us a sneak peek at some new technology for an upcoming release of Adobe Premiere Pro CS5
Adobe Mercury Playback Engine is a total gamer changer for NLE users allowing an “off the shelf” nvidia graphics card to handle the heavy requirements of today’s HD workflows also allows users to get more power from their CPUs. By using GPU and CPU in parallel, you get unbelievable performance running in a clean 64 bit operating system. Remember, all future versions of Premiere (Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 and Adobe After Effects CS5 or CS “Next”) are 64-bit only OSX 10.6 or 64-bit edition of Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows 7. By running in parallel, the CPU can take over tasks where the GPU isn’t used.
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Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 – Mercury Playback Engine Sneak Peek – Part 1
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Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 – Mercury Playback Engine Sneak Peek – Part 2
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Adobe Mercury Playback Engine & Nvidia Quadro
Obin Olsen, Nvidia, Dv3 Productions, demonstrates how the Adobe Mercury Playback Engine fueled by Quadro enables fluid playback in real-time.
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Adobe Mercury Playback Engine & Video Encoding
See how GPU-accelerated video encoding to Blu-ray, DVD, and Flash formats are faster with effects that are rendered in real-time on the Quadro GPU.
Apply dynamic Picture-in-Picture with multiple video layers in real-time and insert multiple video formats including RED 4K, ultra-high-definition video footage.
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Adobe Mercury Playback Engine & Keying Effects
Learn how you can easily replace a background with multiple effects in real-time and preview and composite effects across multiple video layers.
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Adobe Mercury Playback Engine & Overlays and Compositing
Composite multiple layers of HD video with overlays in real time, refine effects-rich sequences, and enjoy smooth scrubbing.
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Adobe Mercury Playback Engine & Color Correction
Apply Color Correction to multi-layered, multiple streams of RED 4K footage plus experience real-time results with smooth, fluid scrubbing in real-time.
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Adobe Photoshop CS5 – “Just Do It” Sneak Peek
When you make a suggestion, Adobe listen. That’s why the Photoshop team now sets aside “Just Do It” days where Adobe stop working on the big features to focus on the little things you’ve requested. Bryan O’Neil Hughes, Photoshop product manager, gives you a glimpse of just a few of the dozens of productivity and creativity enhancements in the works. What little things would you like to see us fix?
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Adobe Photoshop CS5 – Painting Sneak Peek
Have an image you’d like to turn into a painting using natural brushes and strokes? Or how about the urge to create digital paintings from scratch? Come inside our labs with Zorana Gee, Photoshop product manager, for an exclusive look at what we’ve been working on. Plus, see some extra surprises you asked for just last week! What will you paint?
Adobe set aside a few Just Do It days to work on the little things users requested. Bryan ONeil Hughes, Photoshop product manager, gives you another glimpse at some of the productivity and creativity enhancements in the works, this time with a focus on layer styles and preferences.