Adobe Unveils Creative Cloud Release 2015 for Indian Market

Adobe has launched a milestone release of its flagship Adobe Creative Cloud tools and services. The 2015 release of Creative Cloud includes major updates to Adobe’s industry-defining desktop tools, including Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, Premiere Pro CC and InDesign CC; as well as new connected mobile apps for iOS and Android. The company also shipped Adobe Stock, the industry’s first stock content service to be integrated directly into the creative process and the tools creatives. In addition, Adobe announced an expanded Creative Cloud enterprise offering that includes enterprise-grade administration, security, collaboration and publishing services for design-driven brands, businesses and large organizations.

“The 2015 release of Creative Cloud is packed with innovation. Adobe Stock, our brand new stock service, makes 40 million photos, vector graphics and illustrations accessible directly within your favorite CC desktop apps. Our CreativeSync technology deepens the connections between desktop apps and mobile apps on iOS and Android; and major updates to Creative Cloud’s infrastructure and administrative capabilities makes this an essential upgrade for enterprise customers,” said Umang Bedi, Managing Director, Sales & Marketing, South Asia. “Creative Cloud 2015 is our most powerful and comprehensive release to date.”

At the heart of Creative Cloud is Adobe CreativeSync, a signature technology that intelligently syncs creative assets: files, photos, fonts, vector graphics, brushes, colors, settings, metadata and more. With CreativeSync, assets are instantly available, in the right format, wherever designers need them – across desktop, web and mobile apps. Available exclusively in Creative Cloud, CreativeSync means work can be kicked off in any connected Creative Cloud mobile app or CC desktop tool; picked up again later in another; and finished in the designer’s favorite CC desktop software.

Desktop Tools Take Giant Leap Forward
With the 2015 release of Creative Cloud, Adobe magic and Mercury performance provide speed and technology breakthroughs across 15 CC desktop applications, including:

* Celebrating its 25^th anniversary this year, Photoshop CC introduces Artboards, the best way to design cross-device user experiences in a single Photoshop document and quickly preview them on a device; and a preview release of Photoshop Design Space, a sleek new work environment focused on the needs of mobile app and web site designers.

* Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC both gain the new Dehaze feature, which appeared first as a MAX sneak in October 2014. Dehaze, eliminates fog and haze from photos, including underwater shots, for startlingly clear images. Haze can also be added to a photo for artistic effect.

* Premiere Pro CC furthers its lead in the market with the addition of the Lumetri Color panel for powerful color corrections using intuitive sliders and other simple controls; and Morph Cut, which makes it easier to deliver polished interview content by smoothing out jump cuts in talking-head shots to create a cohesive, polished sequence.

* After Effects CC now has Uninterrupted Preview to allow artists to adjust a composition’s properties and even resize panels without impacting playback. Also, the groundbreaking Adobe Character Animator brings 2D figures to life using a webcam to track facial movements, record dialog and apply movements in real time onto a pre-configured character.

* Illustrator CC is now 10 times faster and 10 times more precise than CS6. Powered by dramatic boosts to its Mercury Performance Engine, users can now pan and zoom smoothly without delays. With the new Chart tool (preview), designers can also create beautiful custom charts and share them with others via CC Libraries.

* InDesign CC gets its own Mercury performance surge with zooming, scrolling, and paging through complex documents now twice as fast. InDesign now also allows users to publish and distribute documents with a single click.

* Dreamweaver CC has new responsive web design capabilities that let designers quickly lay out and build production-ready sites that adapt to any screen size.

*  Adobe Muse now includes instant access to premium fonts from Typekit.

* And much, much more. Additional updates to these and other CC desktop applications make this one of the biggest releases in years.

Mobile to Desktop Workflows Enhanced with Android Support, New Mobile Apps
Since Creative Cloud was introduced in 2012, Adobe has championed the idea that mobile devices should be integral to the creative process, with free companion mobile apps working seamlessly with CC desktop tools. Adobe today released Brush CC, Shape CC,Color CC and Photoshop Mix on Android for the first time, bringing connected mobile workflows to millions of creatives worldwide. Adobe has also updated many of its popular Creative Cloud mobile apps for iPhone and iPad, including Adobe Comp CC, Photoshop Mix, Photoshop Sketch, Illustrator Draw, Brush CC, Shape CC and Color CC.

In addition to these updates Adobe debuted Adobe Hue CC today. Hue CC provides an easy way to capture and share production-quality lighting and color schemes – for video, film and broadcast – by using an iPhone camera and then applying these light and color moods into a Premiere Pro CC or After Effects CC project.

Adobe Stock Content Service Launched, With Deep Creative Cloud Integration
Adobe Creative Cloud is evolving into a vibrant global marketplace. Adobe Talent, introduced in 2014, connects the world’s best creatives with work opportunities from major brands and agencies; and today the company launched Adobe Stock, the first stock content service to be integrated directly into the creative process and the tools that creatives use every day (see separate press release). Now creatives can jump-start projects, with access to 40 million images, right within tools such as Photoshop CC, InDesign CC and Illustrator CC. Adobe also announced it will offer industry-leading rates to photographers and designers contributing content to Adobe Stock.

Creative Cloud Enabling the Digital Transformation of Enterprises
Major enhancements to Creative Cloud for enterprise were also announced: a solution for large commercial, education and government customers who must radically speed the development and publishing of customer experiences, as part of their digital transformation strategies. This edition includes all the product features from today’s Creative Cloud 2015 release, plus expanded security options and deep connections with Adobe Digital Publishing Solution (DPS) and Adobe Marketing Cloud. Two new security capabilities ensure protection of corporate assets, including customer-managed encryption keys and a new managed service hosting option, which offers dedicated storage behind a customer’s firewall. Creative Cloud for enterprise also supports an upcoming release of DPS, empowering existing teams in organizations to rapidly design and publish mobile apps without writing code. A public beta of this major update to DPS is available this week.  Content from Creative Cloud for enterprise also syncs with Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), a key component of Adobe Marketing cloud, to accelerate marketing campaigns by streamlining creative-to-marketing workflows.

Pricing and Availability
Today’s updates to CC desktop and mobile apps are immediately available for download by Creative Cloud members as part of their membership at no additional cost. Membership plans are available for individuals, students, teams, educational institutions, government agencies and enterprises. When adding Adobe Stock to any paid yearly Creative Cloud membership plan, creatives can save up to 40 percent over purchasing stock content separately.

CAMTech India's IInd Annual “Jugaad-a-thon” Attracts 300 Innovators

CAMTech INDIA—a United States Agency for International Development (USAID/India) funded public-private partnership which aims to accelerate medical technology innovation for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) in India— will hold its second annual hack-a-thon (“Jugaad-a-thon”) in Bengaluru on June 26-28, 2015. Organized in partnership with Lattice Innovations and hosted by GE Healthcare India, the event brings together some of the world’s brightest minds to develop innovative and affordable health technologies that can help save the lives of women and children across India.

“We are building on the success of last year’s Jugaad-a-thon by bringing together a highly motivated and diverse group of innovators to tackle important challenges like newborn survival, safe births and family planning,” said CAMTech’s Director, Elizabeth Bailey. “The CAMTech INDIA platform allows us to harness ground-breaking ideas from a talented community of innovators from all over the country who are united by a common goal of saving lives.”

The CAMTech INDIA Jugaad-a-thon (derived from the Hindi word “jugaad” meaning an innovative fix or work-around), invites clinicians, engineers, entrepreneurs and end-users to co-create solutions to identified and pressing clinical challenges through an open innovation platform. In 48 hours, teams will move from ideas to prototypes with early business models that have the potential to transform RMNCH outcomes in India and around the world.

The event will take place at GE’s John F. Welch Technology Centre in Bengaluru, the company’s largest innovation center. GE Healthcare is at work for a healthier India and is focusing on some of the toughest healthcare challenges faced by India today – lowering maternal and infant mortality rates, enabling early detection of cancer for early treatment and addressing heart diseases.

“We are pleased to partner with CAMTech once again to help spur the innovation of accessible, affordable healthcare solutions for a healthier world. As the leading innovator of healthcare technologies and solutions, we would like to offer our expertise, advanced laboratories and industrial design facilities to these budding innovators for forging a culture of open innovation and co-creation of healthcare technologies”, said Milan Rao, President & CEO, GE Healthcare South Asia.

The Jugaad-a-thon will be directly preceded by a Clinical Summit, which will convene clinicians, healthcare workers, government public health experts and patients from across India to identify the most pressing RMNCH needs and best practices in delivering care. The Summit will also include a Technology Showcase for early-stage and newly marketed medical technologies that aim to improve quality and access for RMNCH in India. 

This year’s event includes monetary prizes of Rs. 9 lacs for top innovations that focus on specific RMNCH challenges, including a USAID-sponsored award of Rs. 1.5 lacs for the team that best addresses its challenge in the field of Family Planning and Reproductive Health. Other awards include those sponsored by CAMTech/USAID, GE Healthcare, Merck for Mothers and a special post-Jugaad-a-thon award from the Federation of Indian 

Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Terumo India for the top two innovations that make the most progress 30 days after the event.  Teams will be judged by a panel of experts from public health, engineering and business, reflecting CAMTech’s cross-sector approach to innovation.

“In a world that is witnessing technological advancement take place at breakneck speed, the Jugaad-a-thon creates a space for researchers and practitioners to channel this growth - through exciting ideas and innovations - towards social good,” said Neha Kumar, a professor of international development and human-computer interaction at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Kumar was a member of last year’s winning team, “Baby Steps”, which created an integrated mobile application for early diagnosis of developmental delays in children across India.  She’ll return this year not only as a participant, but also as a budding entrepreneur.

Since 2012, CAMTech has brought together over 1,500 innovators from more than 300 clinical, academic and commercial organizations to participate in medtech hack-a-thons, award programs and entrepreneurial-building initiatives. These efforts have helped spawn nearly 350 new technologies addressing intractable problems such as newborn asphyxia, post-partum hemorrhage and cervical cancer. CAMTech’s initiatives, including its newly launched Online Innovation Platform, help connect and support a global community of innovators working to improve health in developing and emerging markets. 

Two Affordable Tablets - Samsung Galaxy Tab A & Tab E Rolled Out in India

South Korean giant Samsung has launched two affordable tablets in the Indian market, in a bid to compete better with products offered by rivals like Apple, Xiaomi and Lenovo. 

The new Samsung Galaxy Tab A has an 8-inch TFT screen with 1024x768p resolution and is powered by Android 5.0 (Lollipop) operating system. It comes with 16GB of internal storage, supports microSD cards of up to 128GB capacities and runs on a 64-bit 1.2GHz quad-core processor. 

The new Galaxy Tab A packs a 4,200mAh battery, supports 4G-LTE (including Indian bands), weighs 320 grams and measures 7.5mm in thickness. This tablet has a 5MP autofocus camera in front and a 2MP camera on the back. 

Priced at Rs 20,500, its chief competitors are Apple iPad mini 2 (Wi-Fi-only), Asus MemoPad 8 and Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 (4G version). Samsung said it will offer Galaxy Gifts worth Rs 30,000 with this model across genres like entertainment, ebooks, lifestyle, and utility apps. Along with these, Airtel will offer 2GB of free data for 2 months on its 4G network to buyers.

Galaxy Tab E, which runs on the older Android 4.4 (KitKat) operating system, has a 9.6-inch display with 1280x800p resolution. It is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor with 1.5GB RAM and packs 8GB of internal storage; users can add microSD cards of storage capacities up to 128GB as well. 

Powered by a 5,000mAh battery, Samsung's Galaxy Tab E supports 2G and 3G data, but not 4G. It has a 5MP primary camera, 2MP secondary camera, 8.5mm thickness and 495 gram weight. 

With Samsung Galaxy Tab E, which costs Rs 16,900, Vodafone will offer free 2GB of 3G data per month for 2 months for postpaid users and 1GB of 3G data free for 2 months on purchase of 1GB by prepaid consumers. 

Galaxy Tab A will be available in Smoky Titanium and White colours, whereas Galaxy Tab E will be available in Metallic Black and Pearl White colours. 

Asim Warsi, vice-president, marketing, IT & Mobile, Samsung India, said, "The launch of two new tablets will carry forward our legacy of introducing smart media devices and we are confident that new Galaxy Tabs will seamlessly become a part of consumer's daily routine."

Malaysians Among Top Coders Code at Code Gladiators 2015

While boarding the plane to Delhi from Hong Kong, Malaysia’s Victor Hoh never thought he was soon going to be a star among techies.

A first-timer at any code contest and bereft of sleep, Victor, a senior consultant at Automated Workflow Private Ltd (AWPL), participated in Code Gladiators 2015 for his sheer passion for coding, and secured the second runners-up position.

“I never thought I will come this far and actually win this contest. I just wanted to put a good fight and test my coding abilities with my peers on such a platform,” Victor told TechGig.com after coming third in India’s largest coding contest.

Sharing his experience at Code Gladiators, Victor said the first two rounds were easier to solve but the final problem was a hard nut to crack. “It was actually worth it to come this far. Code Gladiators 2015 was indeed a great learning experience.”

According to Hoh, there is a need for more platforms like Code Gladiators for coders - internationally as well. As they not only help one assess one’s coding prowess but also helps coders to learn new things and benchmark oneself against peers, he said.

Advising on how to be a successful coder, he said it did not matter what coding language one chose. One just needed to have strong logical and reasoning skills to be a successful coder, he said. 

When asked if he would like to come back next year, Victor, with starry eyes, replied, “I would definitely like to come back again next year to win the coveted title,” and bid goodbye to fellow participants and winners to catch the flight back home.

Over 80,000 coders from across 9,000 top IT companies coded in Java, C, C++, C#, VB.net, Java Script, Python, Perl, Ruby and PHP in online rounds that culminated in the top 100 coders meeting in person to battle it out face-to-face.

The grueling competition saw the rise of top five coders, top five IT companies and a top Code Diva from among thousands of participants.  Victor Hoh from AWPL won a Rs. 1 Lakh Cash Prize, Trophy and Certificate Plaque at TechGig Code Gladiators 2015.  

Top Honors for Young Indian Innovators at the Intel ISEF 2015 in Pittsburg, USA

Seventeen young innovators from India put up a brilliant show at the highly-acclaimed Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), bagging 5 Grand awards and 6 Special awards. These young innovators represented Team India at the Intel ISEF, which was held this year in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA from 10-15 May, 2015.

From India, Arsh Shah Dilbagi from DAV Public School, Panipat won First Awards of $1000 and $500 from the American Intellectual Property Law Association and Patent and Trademark Office Society respectively. Arsh was also awarded an Intel ISEF Third Grand Award of $1000 in the Embedded Systems category, and a Third Award of $500 from the American Psychological Association for the project, ‘Breath into Speech for the Disabled’.

Onkar Singh Gujral from La Martiniere for Boys School in Kolkata won a First Award of $1,000 from the Association for Computing Machinery, and an Intel ISEF Second Grand Award of $1,500 in the Systems Software category for his project ‘Image Processing Algorithms towards Optical Detection of 2D Nanomaterials’.

An Intel ISEF Third Grand Award of $1,000 went to Ravi Pradip from the Dayapuram Residential School in Kerala for his project ‘Plumeria Blooms for Organic Electronics!’ in the Materials Science category.

In the Plant Sciences category, Maharaja Agarsain Public School Delhi’s Mansi Aggarwal and Harshit Jindal received the Intel ISEF Fourth Grand Award of $500 for their project ‘Begonia nepalensis: An Effective Herbal Ointment against Enterobiasis.’ Also winning the Intel ISEF Fourth Grand Award of $500 were Aditya Bhargava and Komal S from Sharada Vidyanikethana Public School, Mangalore, for their Materials Science project ‘Highly Sensitive Nano-Ferrite for Detection of Carbon Monoxide in Air’.

Certificate of Honorable Mentions went to Aditya Ashish Bhople from Narayana Vidyalayam, Nagpur for his project ‘Autoreader: A Wearable Assistant for the Visually Impaired’ in the Embedded Systems category, as well as Dhirubhai Ambani International School Mumbai’s Abhimanyu Pallavi Sudhir for his project ‘A Generalisation of the Determinant to Rectangular Matrices: Implications in Gauge Theory’ in the Math category.

2015 marked 15 years of India’s participation at Intel ISEF, and the largest ever Indian team comprising of 30 young innovators. 17 of these young innovators showcased 12 innovative projects and ideas at the event, spanning a range of topics from wearable technology to big data analytics to renewable energy. Over 1,700 finalists from over 70 countries, regions and territories, at the world’s largest pre-college science competition, vied for the top slots at Intel ISEF, which featured over USD 4 million worth in awards, scholarships and honors such as a chance to be present at the Nobel Laureate ceremony or to have a minor planet named after them (courtesy MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory).

 “Intel believes young people are key to future innovation and that in order to confront the global challenges of tomorrow, we need students from all backgrounds to get involved in science, technology, engineering and math,” said Kumud Srinivasan, Intel India President. “We hope these winners will inspire other young people to pursue their interest in these fields and apply their curiosity, creativity and ingenuity to the common good.”

“We are extremely proud of this remarkable achievement by these young scientists from India. Their success at Intel ISEF is a celebration of the spirit of innovation and scientific inquiry that will bring relevant, practical and innovative solutions to social situations by intelligently leveraging technology.” said Rajiv Sharma, Executive Director, Indo-US Science & Technology Forum (IUSSTF).

“These young people are the future of India; and it is when they go beyond the boundaries of the country to explore their potential on the world stage that they truly gain exposure and experience and prove their mettle” said B P Singh, Head, NCSTC Department of Science and Technology (DST) Government of India.

This year’s Team India at Intel ISEF featured 20 bright students from the country- the winners of the Initiative for Research and Innovation in Science (IRIS) national fair 2014. This year Department of Science and Technology (DST)  in association with Indo US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) sponsored 10 student observers from IRIS and affiliated national fairs  to Pittsburgh USA, to attend the Intel ISEF and experience a week-long scientific exposure visit in Washington DC after the fair.

Over the years, IRIS has contributed significantly towards nurturing and fueling the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship amongst students in India and in providing them the opportunity to represent India at the world’s largest pre-collegiate Science and Engineering Fair – Intel ISEF. 

Finland’s Stora Enso to Benefit from Honeywell Technology

Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) has announced that Europe’s largest pulp, board and paper manufacturer will use HPS process automation, safety system and manufacturing optimization technologies to modernize one of its key mills and help it meet rising demand for renewable packaging board.

Stora Enso Oyj is implementing Honeywell’s technologies as part of a modernization and optimization effort at their paper mill in Varkaus, Finland. Headquartered in Helsinki, Stora Enso is the largest pulp, board and paper producer in Europe, and one of the largest in the world.

HPS is a major supplier of automation and control technologies to the paper industry and its technology can be found in more than 2,000 sites worldwide.

“Stora Enso’s business objective is to produce and deliver the highest quality paper and board products in the world, and Honeywell’s portfolio of technologies will help them reach this goal safely, reliably and efficiently,” said Ali Raza, vice president, HPS. “We have worked with Stora Enso for about 40 years and I am pleased that Honeywell can help them modernize this facility.”

The Stora Enso project coincides with conversion of the facility to produce kraftliner, a virgin-fiber-based containerboard. Globally, the company produces a number of products, including about 5.6 million tons of chemical pulp, 10.9 million tons of paper and board, and 14 billion square feet of corrugated packaging.

Freudenberg’s Mysore Unit to Drive Further Growth in India

With India among the top economies to witness bullish growth, Germany-based Freudenberg Group, a multi-business conglomerate has planned major expansions in the country. The new development includes Rs 135 crore manufacturing plant in Mysore among others.

Addressing the media, Jörg Matthias Grossmann, Regional Representative India, said “Freudenberg sees considerable potential in the Indian market while the country is making significant contribution to the Freudenberg Group. So our committed to systematic investment in India over the long-term. In 2014, the Freudenberg Group invested Rs 97.6 crore in India,”

Grossman said the company as part of the ‘Make in India’ campaign has pumped in Rs 135 crore in the new manufacturing site of Chem-Trend and Klüber Lubrication in Mysore, Karnataka. The facility will start production in August 2015 and this is one of the major investments in the Asia-Pacific region for the company.

Kluber Lubrication and Chem-Trend subsidiaries of Freudenberg involved in producing products like releasing agents and lubricants for automobile and energy sectors.

The new facility will manufacture over 20 products for the South East Asia and Asia Pacific markets. The new manufacturing facility is built covering an area 17,000 squre meters on the land of 40,000 square meters in Mysore. The Mysore facility also houses a Research & Development centre.

Freudenberg as part of its CSR activities set up a training center in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, the region worst affected by the devastating tsunami in 2004.”We have been training young locals mostly on the shop floor and 95% of these youth are absorbed by the company for jobs,” concludes Grossman.