In a QuickTime screencast, Adobe’s Russell Brown demonstrates content-aware scaling, a feature of Photoshop CS4, due to be released this month.

A lower-resolution YouTube demo from Lynda.com is available here, if you don’t want to download a huge QuickTime movie. The content is different, but you’ll get the idea.

Adobe licensed an algorithm that senses “dead” areas in photos, and resizes the image to avoid squashing or stretching every object.

In the video, Brown demonstrates resizing an image of four golfers, interactively removing space between and around the golfers, but leaving the golfers’ proportions correct. He also demonstrates resizing a Volkswagen bus, making it a more “economical” size, but automatically keeping the wheels round.

For those looking for a compelling reason to upgrade to Photoshop CS4, this might be it. If not, what is? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Engadget and Gizmodo have posted the invite for the Apple media event which will take place on October 14th in San Francisco at 10AM PST. The invite simply reads:

The spotlight turns to notebooks.

Apple has been rumored to be delivering new MacBooks and new MacBook Pros this month. A number of leaked photos have been circulating — some of which are believed to be real.

Potential pricing

A report published Thursday by the Inquisitr claims that some Apple retail stores have been provided with pricing sheets for new MacBook and MacBook Pro models, with prices ranging from $800 to $3100.

The author cited a source who says that the shops “usually” receive these pricing lists 10 days before products hit the market — a claim that is not necessarily true. Should the price points prove accurate, however, they would imply that Apple is prepared to slash the price of its entry-level MacBook by more than 27 percent.

The current MacBook line is priced between $1099 and $1499, while the MacBook Pro family ranges in cost from $1999 to $2799.

The new MacBook Pro

According to people familiar with Apple’s upcoming notebook offerings, the photo (below) is that of a partial prototype of the company’s new 15-inch MacBook Pro, revealing the left side of the unit as well as its keyboard and palm rest areas.

The verification adds yet another piece to the puzzle, with AppleInsider having previously authenticated an earlier photo showing the base of the unit as well as its top shell. When combined, the two photos offer a significant window into what consumers can expect Apple’s new professional notebooks to look like when they’re released to market in the coming weeks.

The latest photo also reveals a new port layout for the MacBook Pro, which appears to include a FireWire 800 port, two side-by-side USB ports, an Ethernet port, audio in and out, and what may be a mini-DVI port. Again, these findings are consistent with a report published late last month.

Meanwhile, some publications have jumped to the conclusion that the latest photo provides evidence that Apple is using some completely new and revolutionary manufacturing process to stamp out its new MacBook Pro design from a single block of aluminum, which does not appear to be the case whatsoever.

The two authenticated photographs (below, and below) clearly combine to show at least two separate components that will be joined to form the base of the unit, similar to the way the company constructs its existing MacBook Pro. The only difference appears to be in the layout of those pieces and the way they fit together.

The existing MacBook Pro is constructed from a base container molded from a single piece of aluminum (that includes the unit’s sides), which is then capped with a separate palm rest/keyboard area. The two are then secured by screws on the left- and right-side of the unit. With the new MacBook Pro, Apple is molding the palm rest/keyboard area and sides from one piece of aluminum, then securing a separate base through screws that will be visible at the base of the unit, not the sides.

Also of interest is the MacBook Pro’s keyboard component, where individual key containers are carved out of the aluminum sheet that forms the top of the unit’s base component. Again, this is nothing new. Apple has been employing this same technique in MacBook Air manufacturing for nearly a year, and on the plastic 13-inch MacBooks for several years (photos below).

Potentially the new MacBook

Separately, Apple.pro, the website responsible for leaking the first authentic images of the MacBook Pro casing back in July, has since published a trio of images that may turn out to be authentic representations of Apple’s upcoming aluminum 13-inch MacBooks.

AppleInsider reported last month that both the new MacBook and MacBook Pro were spotted in matching outfits, building on reports from April that originally tagged both to obtain new aluminum enclosures that borrowed design cues from the aluminum iMacs and MacBook Air.

(Source: TUAW) Here are ten apps that won’t annoy you (OK, Alarm Free might) and are either clever diversions or simply fun toys. All links take you to the App Store. All of these were originally free, but several now cost between $.99 and $1.99, which isn’t bad.

Ancient Wisdom
Basically just a database of quotes from three philosophers: Lao Tzu, Miyamoto Musashi and Sun Tzu. To make it a little more fun the developers make the quotes come from cute cartoon monkeys. Not exactly genius, but fun and the quotes are, of course, pure gold. Better than a Magic 8-Ball, I think.

Newtonica Player
This simple app has you spin a mesh ball to generate a “beat” that times the pace of the electronica music. There is a surprising amount of depth to the song, simple as it is. I was able to modify the tune a bit depending on my spinning, direction and how long I kept spinning. Terribly simple but fun because of those little tonal surprises.

Fireworks
Wherever you tap your finger a firework is launched to that spot and explodes. Nice little animations, plus it works in landscape mode and offers several backgrounds. The sounds could go further, and the fireworks aren’t all that varied, but again, kids love it. Put it in “fireworks show” mode and keep it in your dock for a little fun. Note: at the time I originally wrote this Fireworks was free, but it is only .$99 now, which isn’t too much to ask, I think.

xCube
This is just a Rubik’s cube in iPhone/iPod touch form. But it is really easy to use, provides several customization options and has an undo feature. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to solve the cube but didn’t want a big cubic bulge in your back pocket, here’s your answer. Note: again, here’s an app that was free for a while, but is now $1.99 — still cheaper than a new Rubik’s cube, but more expensive than one at a garage sale. You make the call.
Sketchy (link goes to YouTube video)
An Etch-a-Sketch in your pocket! It is surprisingly rewarding to fiddle with the knobs and try to make something useful, just like the real thing. And unlike those Lite-Brite imitators you don’t have to have bird claws to manipulate it. That said, if you find the real deal frustrating, you’re not going to find this any easier. It sometimes has issues and the controls will flip around a bit. Apps like this make me wish the iPhone had haptic feedback. Note: well, it was too good to last, I guess. Currently Sketchy is missing from the App Store. There’s an app called Etch A Sketch, but it is nothing like the real thing.

Radio Monte Carlo
There are several radio apps out there (with more being added every day), but RMC’s channels are compelling for the simple fact that when I hear the DJ, I can pretend I’m lounging by the pool like James Bond while he investigates a plot to blow up the world — in Monte Carlo, of course. All the world’s supervillians live in Monte Carlo. Oh, there’s an RMC2 app available now as well, but I haven’t tried it.

Alarm Free
At first I hated this app. Possibly because it will never be a real alarm. Since you can’t background applications, you’d have to keep this running through the day– it triggers a claxon when the accelerometer detects movement or a fall. So this is another “kid time waster” and mine love to make it go off to the profound annoyance of all adults in the room. The other upside: take a picture of the app and use it as your wallpaper.

Truth or Dare
This is a simple spin the bottle app with a variety of objects to spin and a slew of truth/dare question/dares you can edit. While I wish there was an easier way to type in all that data, the simple spinning of a gecko can really brighten your day. It also makes the eternal question of “who’s buying lunch” a little more fun to randomize. Bonus points for the truth/dare section, but my kids just keep spinning all the different items — a baby bottle, a message in a bottle and a severed hand. Note: went from free to $1.99 since this post was written.

Poptiq
Is the guy (Buck Hollywood, seriously?) in the intro video annoyingly over enthusiastic? Sure, why not. But I’ve found Poptiq to be a welcome diversion when, as most TV viewers are wont to do, I’d like to turn my brain off for a bit. Poptiq walks you through a process of elimination for video categories, then delivers new video inside the app based on your preferences. Like Pandora for video, except a lot dumber. There’s no real algorithm, just the broad filtering of categories. Still, you can share your videos on Facebook, but I haven’t bothered. By the time I’ve watched a couple of silly vids my brain has been successfully shut down and I can’t think of being social.

LifeGame
If you’re not familiar with John Conway’s Game of Life you might have never studied game theory, or statistics or even computer science. That’s OK, because the “game” doesn’t require any of that knowledge. Instead, this app has been around for a very long time, and made its way to nearly as many platforms as Doom. In LifeGame there are little dots on the screen that live or die based on their proximity to empty spaces and other dots. It’s a simple equation that makes for a nice light show, plus a nifty time-waster on the train.

It’s a good day to become an iPhone developer: in addition to the screencast we mentioned, someone near and dear to us at TUAW finally got her book out into the wild … at least the PDF version. Erica Sadun’s* “The iPhone Developer’s Cookbook” is available as an electronic download from informIT.

If you want to dig in and start developing native iPhone applications with the SDK, this is a great way to start. The paper version is set for release on October 15th, if that’s what you’re into, but having the code samples in a cut-and-paste-friendly format is far preferable to me. Coupling that with a complete lack of patience, I bought the PDF this morning and am avidly poring over it for new information.

I’m planning a combination tip calculator/grocery list application with several language translation apps and an ebook reader built in … although I may consider doing a Pinocchio app that lets people know when I’m joking instead.

So, up-and-coming iPhone developers, head on over to informIT for some SDK development goodness.

The removal of the NDA from the iPhone development scene means that a trickle of educational content for would-be developers is rapidly turning into a flood. Xcode instructor extraordinaire Bill Dudney of The Pragmatic Programmers has made a 22 minute video screencast available for those who want to join the elite ranks of beginning iPhone developers.

The free video covers the details of how to start getting acquainted with Xcode and Interface Builder for iPhone development. Dudney actually builds a simple application while guiding viewers through the process of creating an iPhone app.

The video is available at the following URL along with links to several other “pay per view” screencasts sold by The Pragmatic Programmers:

http://pragprog.com/screencasts/v-bdiphone/writing-your-first-iphone-application

A zipped QuickTime version (.mov format) of the video is here, while a zipped version for iPhone / iPod touch is available for download here.

Bill Dudney is the co-author of iPhone SDK Development and several other development texts. If you want some in-person instruction from Bill to supplement the books and the ‘casts, he is teaching a November iPhone programming course in Denver, CO.

The last time we saw NeuroSky’s MindSet brainwave-controlled gaming headset, the company was partnering with Sega — now the peripheral-maker has teamed with Square Enix to produce what we hope will be a “mind-blowing” (groan) demo at this year’s Tokyo Game Show. If you’ll recall, NeuroSky has been pushing its unique brand of mind-controlled gaming since way back in 2005, but it appears the technology has become increasingly attractive to notable game-makers as of late. On Thursday, the two companies plan a demonstration of the in-game powers of relaxation at TGS in what appears to be a perfect example of Neo-like godliness. The whole thing goes down October 9th, so be there or be Square. Enix.

If you’ll recall, Tsukuba University professor Yoshiyuki Sankai designed a robotic suit called HAL-5 a few years ago. Production of this handicap-overcomer began back in 2006, and as promised, manufacturer Cyberdyne (not to be confused with Cyberdyne Systems, best known for its genocidal Skynet AI and army of Terminator robots) is finally ready to crank it out in large numbers. Starting this Friday, HAL will be available for rent in Japan at the modest rate of $2,200 per month. Sankai hopes it will prove useful to the elderly and folks with disabilities by providing super-strength mechanical assistance when they send brain signals to move their limbs. HAL may be used for good but it won’t be used for awesome; Sankai has turned down military-types who’ve expressed interest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVhwwFHGEFI