Adobe Photoshop update adds refined selections and AI photo restoration

Adobe’s annual design and technology conference begins today, so the company is making updates across much of its software lineup as part of the fall event. When it comes to Photoshop, Adobe has a host of new features for desktop and iPad as well as an update on the progress of the web version. With additional tools for selections, Neural Filters, collaboration and working on a tablet, there could be something to make everyone’s workflow a bit easier in the latest releases. 

First, Adobe has refined the Object Selection tool to improve the accuracy of automatic selections and expanded the list of items that Photoshop can recognize on its own. This builds on the selection abilities the company first brought to the app in 2020, allowing you to hover over an item in an image while Photoshop automatically detects and then selects it. With this update, Objection Selection can now recognize complex things like sky, buildings, water, plants, flooring and the ground — even mountains, sidewalks and streets, according to Adobe. There’s also a new one-click delete and fill shortcut (Shift + Delete) that combines Object Selection with Content-Aware Fill for those items the app can automatically detect and highlight in photos. 

Adobe also introduced Neural Filters in 2020, using AI to handle major edits in seconds. The technology allows for things like smoothing skin, changing facial expressions and transferring styles from famous works of art. This time around the company is adding a Photo Restoration filter that leverages machine learning to revive old or damaged photos. The AI can recognize and fix “scratches and other minor imperfections,” Adobe says.

Photoshop on iPad
Adobe

For Photoshop on iPad, Adobe is once again bringing more desktop tools to the tablet version of the app. With one tap, you can now Remove Background or Content-Aware Fill. Using the same tech that powers Select Subject, Photoshop on iPad can quickly isolate the main item or person in an image and apply a layer mask automatically to nix the background. Content-Aware Fill works just like it does on the desktop, removing unwanted objects or people, only this time you can do with with a single tap. Additionally, Adobe has improved Select Subject for portrait images and added one-tap Auto Tone, Auto Contrast and Auto Color editing options to the Filters and Adjustments panel. 

Lastly, Adobe says its still working to expand the abilities of Photoshop on the web. This version that launched last year is still in limited beta, but the company plans to add tools like Object Selection, Remove Background, Adobe Camera Raw edits and Content-Aware Fill to the browser-based app. Photoshop on iPad was extremely limited when Adobe first introduced it, sparking a huge backlash that the company has worked to rectify since. That app is now full of powerful features, so it’s probably best that Adobe fine tune the web version with limited participants for a while. Creative Cloud subscribers can try it by visiting the beta section of Creative Cloud home. 

Adobe announces the first cameras to support Frame.io direct RAW uploads

Eighteen months ago, Adobe announced the “Camera to Cloud” (C2C) feature for its Frame.io cloud collaboration platform that would allow users to upload videos and photo directly from cameras. Now, it’s unveiled the first cameras to support the feature, the RED V-Raptor cinema camera for RAW video, and Fujifilm’s new X-H2S mirrorless camera for RAW photos. 

Frame.io is a cloud service that can handle large files, giving subscribers instant access to photos and video on TVs, mobile devices and PCs. The C2C service allows users to transfer those files directly from a camera, rather than having to wait until the material is physically transferred to a computer.

Until now, you needed third-party hardware to upload content from supported cameras. Now, the C2C integration is built directly into the cameras, with “no additional hardware and no hard drives required,” Adobe said.

With the RED V-Raptor and V-Raptor XL, users can directly upload 8K RAW files to the cloud from the camera (this requires access to high-bandwidth WiFi or ethernet networks, of course). With the system in place, “[Video] files can be automatically delivered right to production offices… for immediate editing,” Adobe wrote in its blog. 

In addition, RAW video audio files can be synced, color corrected and transcoded in the cloud, allowing for “proxy” workflows. Translated to English, that you could transfer small, easy-to-send video files around the world, then link those automatically to much higher-quality RAW video for the final output. Adobe demonstrates this (above), by automatically transmitting an 8K RAW file, proxy, audio and color correction “LUT” file, all at once.

On the photo side, C2C will soon work (nearly) directly with Fujifilm’s $2,500 X-H2S camera, as well. You will need to buy Fujifilm’s $1,000 FT-XH file transmitter that supports 802.11ac wireless and 600Mbps wired connections. With that connected, photographers will be able to send high-resolution RAW files straight from the camera, letting a photographer transmit breaking news photos directly to an agency, for instance.

The new system is aimed at professionals, but it could also let YouTubers send content directly to an editor for a quick turnaround. Adobe isn’t the only company doing this, as Blackmagic Design’s DaVince Resolve 18 includes a suite of collaboration tools that allow editors, colorists, VFX artists and audio engineers to work together in real time on the same project. The new features will arrive to RED’s V-Raptor lineup by the end of 2022, and come to the Fujifilm X-H2S in spring 2023.

 

Adobe adds AI masking and content-aware healing to Lightroom 2022

Adobe Lightroom 2022 has arrived, and the latest features are all about making it easier to select people or objects to adjust their colors or remove them completely. The key features, AI-powered masking and content-aware remove, are available on Lightroom, Lightroom Classic and Adobe Camera RAW.

Where Photoshop has been the usual way you’d go in and tweak or remove objects, Adobe introduced AI-powered masking to Lightroom last year. Now, it’s expanding on that with more specific tools that allow you to easily select people and even individual body parts, objects or the background in a single click. 

Adobe Lightroom 2022 introduces AI masking and content-aware healing
Adobe

The first of those is “Select People,” which uses Adobe’s AI Sensei to select individuals and groups, or even specific body parts like face skin, body skin, eyes, teeth, lips, hair and more. It’s surprisingly simple to use: with a photo loaded, Adobe’s AI automatically identifies and lists each person in a scene as “All People,” and “Person 1,” “Person 2,” “Person 3,” etc. You can then choose, say, Person 2, and it will let you select their facial skin, body skin, teeth and so on. From there, you can tweak hues, boost clarity or whatever else you want to do. 

Select Objects, meanwhile, makes it easier to do just that in a couple of ways. To select a rose, say, you can just paint over it with the brush, or draw a rectangle around it and the AI will automatically refine the edges to create a precise mask. In a similar vein, you can easily select an entire image background with a single click, rather than having to invert a subject selection as before. 

Adobe Lightroom 2022 introduces AI masking and content-aware healing
Adobe

And if you’re more interested in removing things altogether (aka “healing”), that’s now easier than before with Content-Aware Remove. To do that, you just draw a mask roughly around the object to be removed, and the AI will adaptively fill in the background based on the surrounding content. It includes a Refresh option and lets you pick the sampled area for finer control. 

As usual with this kind of thing, it can work well with some images and not so much with others. The masks may also require hand tweaking, particularly with complex backgrounds that are hard for the AI to distinguish from the foreground. Still, it gives you a good head start in those cases and often selects the entire subject correctly on the first try. 

Other new features for Lightroom on desktop include “Compare while editing” that lets you load two images to better match them, along with GPU performance updates. Lightroom Classic gets a new left-right panel swap feature if you’d rather see your color controls on the left, plus faster imports from mobile devices (Windows only). On Camera Raw, Adobe’s introducing masking curves and HDR support for displays, though the latter is in a tech preview for now. The updates should be rolling out on Adobe’s Creative Cloud now — for more, check out the Lightroom blog. 

The Xbox Elite Series 2 controller is now customizable in Design Lab

Just over three years after Microsoft debuted the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 (and a month after releasing a white version), the company is now helping players fully customize the look of the gamepad. You can personalize nearly every external part of the peripheral in the Xbox Design Lab.

Players can choose different colors for the body, back case, D-pad, bumpers, triggers, thumbsticks, buttons and, for the first time in the Design Lab, the thumbstick base and ring. Other customization options include a choice between a cross-shaped or faceted D-pad and a laser-engraved message of up to 16 characters on the rear.

What’s more, you’ll be able to swap in different components. You might opt to have metallic paddles or thumbsticks with different shapes and sizes. The thumbsticks also have adjustable tension. In addition, you can remap the buttons and change the color of the Xbox button light in the Xbox Accessories app. Microsoft says the controller has up to 40 hours of battery life on a single charge and it should easily pair with an Xbox console or Windows PC, as well as smartphones and tablets.

An Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 that you customize in Design Lab will start at $150. You can also buy personalized accessory packs. A bundle of the controller and all Elite components will run you $210. You’ll be able to customize an Elite Series 2 controller in any market where Design Lab is available, including the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand and other countries in Europe and Asia Pacific.

Nothing raises the price of its Ear 1 buds to $149 citing increased costs

You only have a bit over a week left to get Nothing’s Ear 1 wireless earbuds for $100. Carl Pei, the company’s founder and CEO, has announced on Twitter that Nothing is raising the Ear 1’s price to $149 on October 26th due to increased costs. In follow-up tweets, Pei talked about how Nothing has expanded since it started developing the device. He revealed that the company had three engineers during the initial stages of the earbuds’ development and had 185 a year later. Pei also said that Nothing has sold almost 600,000 Ear 1 units so far and that it had paved the way for the company’s first smartphone, the Phone 1. The executive didn’t say whether the company has any plan to raise the Phone 1’s prices.

Nothing is but one of the tech companies raising the prices of its products due to inflation and the rising costs of components. Meta added $101 on top the Quest 2 VR headset’s original price and is now selling the standalone device for $400. We praised it for being a steal at $299 in our review, but Meta explained in a blog post that the “costs to make and ship [its] products have been on the rise.” Apple raised App Store prices across Europe and Asia, as well, and one possible reason is that the Euro is weak against the dollar. The tech giant is also selling its devices like the iPhone 14 Pro at much higher price points in Europe, most likely due to the same reason. 

The Morning After: Kanye West is buying ‘free speech’ app Parler

We don’t know how much Kanye West (aka Ye) is paying, but he’s decided to buy the controversial “free speech” social media app Parler. The deal appears to be happening quickly, with the company behind Parler, Parlement Technologies, expecting to close the transaction by the end of 2022.

West was locked out of his Twitter and Instagram accounts following a weekend of antisemitic posts. “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” West was quoted in the announcement.

“The proposed acquisition will assure Parler a future role in creating an uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome,” said Parlement Technologies CEO George Farmer.

Parler was recently reinstated to the Google Play app store after being banned in January 2021, following the US Capitol insurrection. A Google spokesperson said at the time the removal was down to the app’s lack of “moderation policies and enforcement that remove egregious content like posts that incite violence.” Apple removed the app for similar reasons but restored it in May. Will a new controversial owner tempt new users to the controversial social network?

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

The biggest stories you might have missed

New iPad Pro M2 models are reportedly just days away

We’ll also see a new entry-level iPad and Macs later in the year.

The next-generation iPad Pro with Apple’s latest M2 processor will arrive in “a matter of days,” according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman. It will be the first new model since May 2021 and will reportedly offer a 20 percent speed boost over the M1 version. Apple will also introduce an iPad dock with an integrated speaker in 2023. The idea is that users could attach an iPad to the device and get a full home hub/smart speaker experience – very similar to the Pixel speaker dock Google revealed alongside its Pixel Tablet.

Continue reading.

The best cheap Windows laptops for 2022

You don’t have to settle for a Chromebook.

TMA
Engadget

You probably don’t think of cheap Windows laptops when you think of daily drivers. But it would be a big mistake to ignore these devices. There’s a reason companies like Acer, ASUS, Dell and the like make Windows devices under $500. Affordable Windows notebooks are great options for people that only use a computer to check email, shop online or post on Facebook. They’re also suitable for kids who have no business putting their sticky little hands on a $2,000 gaming rig. We’ve highlighted the best devices out there.

Continue reading.

Konami will reveal what’s next for the Silent Hill series on October 19th

It’s been a decade since the last game if you don’t count ‘P.T.’

TMA
Konami

Almost a decade to the day since it released the last Silent Hill game (as long as you don’t include P.T.), Konami is finally ready to reveal what’s next for the franchise. The company will divulge the “latest updates” for the series during a stream that starts at 5 PM ET on October 19th. We’re expecting an actual game: Composer Akira Yamaoka and art director on the first three games, Masahiro Ito, shared news of the upcoming stream. Both have previously hinted they’re working on a new Silent Hill title.

Continue reading.

Amazon’s employee attrition costs $8 billion annually according to leaked documents

And it gets worse.

Amazon churns through workers at an astonishing rate, well above industry averages. According to leaked documents seen by Engadget, that attrition rate now has an associated cost. “[Worldwide] Consumer Field Operations is experiencing high levels of attrition (regretted and unregretted) across all levels, totaling an estimated $8 billion annually for Amazon and its shareholders,” one document stated. The company’s net profit for its 2021 fiscal year was $33.36 billion. “Regretted attrition” – workers choosing to leave the company – “occurs twice as often as unregretted attrition” – people being laid off or fired – “across all levels and businesses,” according to the company’s internal research.

Continue reading.

Over-the-counter hearing aids go on sale in the US

You no longer need a prescription.

Adults in the US with mild-to-moderate hearing loss can now buy hearing aids online or from a store without a prescription, medical exam or audiologist fitting. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule in August that allows stores and online retailers to sell over-the-counter (OTC) devices starting today. The move could save consumers thousands of dollars on hearing aids, according to the White House. Taking Walmart’s options as an example, they cost between $199 and $999 per pair. The company claimed comparable prescription hearing aids cost between $4,400 and $5,500.

Continue reading.

Google redesigns Family Link and introduces child-friendly Google TV recommendations

Google has made Family Link’s most used tools easier to find and use in the new interface it designed for the parental controls application. The new experience’s Controls tab contains the tools parents can use to set screen time for each device and app, set content restrictions and to manage app data permissions. Google has also added a “Today Only” option, which lets parents set a screen time limit for one day without having to change the general setting. That way, they can easily allow kids to spend more time online if they’re still doing their homework or are just a few minutes away from finishing the show they’re watching. 

In the Location tab, they’ll see their children’s linked devices on a map and those devices’ battery life. They can ring their kids’ phones from there, as well, in case they get misplaced. And as a new feature, the app will now notify guardians when their kids arrive at or leave a specific location, such as their school, sports field or swimming pool. If they want to know how their kids have been using their apps and to see their current screen time usage or their latest app downloads, parents only need to navigate to the Highlights tab. 

Finally, tapping on the notification bell at the top of the app will show parents not just the latest updates, but also all the requests they get from their kids for app downloads and purchases. That’s also where they can find their kids’ request for access to websites they’d previously blocked. And to make Family Link more accessible, Google has made it available on the web, allowing guardians to use all those features even if they don’t have their phone with them.

Google
Google

The tech giant has also rolled out parent-managed watchlists for kid profiles on Google TV, which guardians can use to create a list for their kids right from their own profiles. Young viewers will now also get Google-powered recommendations when they’re done with what they’re watching. Parents worried that Google’s algorithm would recommend titles they don’t approve of can use the new “hide” button to hide anything they want in the Popular movies or TV shows lists. They simply have to hold the Select button on their remote and choose “hide.” As for families with older kids, Google TV now has a supervised experience on the YouTube app that offers content settings for pre-teens and older children. All these features are coming to Chromecast with Google TV and Google TV-powered devices over the coming weeks.

Microsoft lays off hundreds of employees (updated)

Microsoft has laid off off employees across multiple divisions, according to Axios, making it the latest big player in the tech space to cut jobs in the face of an economic downturn. A spokesperson told the publication: “Like all companies, we evaluate our business priorities on a regular basis, and make structural adjustments accordingly. We will continue to invest in our business and hire in key growth areas in the year ahead.” While the tech giant didn’t say which divisions were affected and how many people had been let go, Axios said there were under 1,000 layoffs.

The Verge Senior Editor Tom Warren added that the job cuts included people in the Experiences and Devices, Xbox and legal groups. Some of them were apparently veteran workers in the company. As Axios notes, the job cuts occurred across levels and regions, which means workers outside the US had also been laid off.

Microsoft showed signs that it was looking to operate with a leaner workforce this year when it slowed down hiring for its Windows, Office and Teams groups, citing the need to realign staffing priorities. In July, it laid off less than one percent (around 1,800) of its 180,000 workforce and then removed open job listings for its Azure cloud and security groups. Other tech companies have made similar moves over the past few months. Google also slowed its hiring due to what CEO Sundar Pichai called an “uncertain global economic outlook.” Meanwhile, Meta reportedly started cutting staff and reorganizing teams to cut costs after Mark Zuckerberg warned employees that the company was facing “serious times.”

Motorola shows off its concept rollable smartphone

We’ve seen rollable device concepts from companies like Oppo and TCL, and LG was even working on a commercial rollable smartphone until it quit making mobile devices last year. Now, Lenovo is showing off a laptop with a rollout display, while its mobile division Motorola has a roll-out smartphone — and they look like some of the more practical efforts yet. 

The phone starts out at a very pocketable 4 inches high, but with the click of a button, the OLED panel extends to a normal-sized 6.5 inches. Another click retracts the phone back to its original form. It’s usable at both sizes, and the content on the screen adapts to the size, including the home screen, videos and more, as shown below. 

Lenovo also showed off a rollable laptop that starts with a typical landscape display and then rolls up to a square shape, making it better for documents or vertical TikTok style videos. Lenovo VP of design Brian Leonard explained in the video that it’s part of Lenovo’s research into novel form factors that started with the ThinkPad 360P laptop/tablet. “It can expand into a much larger screen real estate as the content dynamically adjusts to the screen, offering people an unprecedented way of hyper-tasking for productivity, browsing, and more,” he explained.

Motorola already makes a folding device, the Razr, that’s unfortunately only available in China, but rollable devices are even more complex. People seem to love them, though — for instance, LG’s rollable OLED TV was a popular item at CES 2019. And in some ways, a rolling screen is more elegant than a folding one, as there’s no hinge or crease to worry about. While it remains squarely in the concept realm for now, we’d love to see Lenovo take a shot at commercializing it.