There has been a lot of conversation among the team here at PLuGHiTz and our sister company, Sumo Software, about how complex applications would translate to Windows 8 apps. When we see apps like Pulse News or Skype transition well to the minimalistic approach to design, how would an app like Photoshop work?

My guess is that Adobe has been listening to our conversations, as this week they launched a Windows 8 version of Photoshop Express and it does not disappoint. The free app, available now, brings all of the basic features of Photoshop to the Windows 8 anti-desktop and makes it feel totally natural. While the app is not what I would consider "fast and fluid" as Windows 8 apps are supposed to be, it does mostly abide by the Windows 8 design guidelines and is easy to use.

You get the expected features from the Express version of PS, like cropping, contrast, clarity, vibrance, exposure, white balance, red eye reduction, etc. There is also an option for "auto fix" which, in my experience, makes the photo almost unviewable as opposed to fixing it. The feature that I like the best is called "Looks" and it is similar to the alterations you see people make using services like Instagram, except designed more for a designer's needs and less for a hipster's irony. Looks come in two flavors: free and premium. The premium, of course, are paid features, but it is a free app after all.

While there are a lot of great things about the app, they certainly missed on a number of things as well. The app appears to have some issues initially loading images, especially from SkyDrive, sometimes even locking up the computer for a few seconds. It also has improperly implemented sharing, which is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. The Windows 8 share capability is possibly the greatest enhancement from a programming and usability standpoint. Instead of each application having its own collection of things that can be shared, Windows maintains a list of applications that can share any file type.

For example, if you are using Fresh Paint, another favorite Windows 8 app, if you choose share, any application that can share images is shown. All Fresh Paint had to do was say it is an image that it is sharing and Windows does the rest. Unfortunately, Photoshop Express does not take full advantage of this feature. What they have done, instead, is implemented their own sharing options, allowing you to share to Facebook or Adobe Revel. While standard sharing options are available as well, depending on where in the app you are, if you would like to share from another app to Revel, you are out of luck.

Another interesting oddity is that, if you are in the process of editing an image and you load the application settings, which they luckily DID implement correctly, the undo and redo buttons appear OVER the settings flyout. While not a breaking error, it is a surprising oddity that you would have expected Adobe's QA team to have noticed. Oh well - we can't all be perfect, right?

Overall, the application is well designed and well implemented. For anyone who is messing with photos on their Windows 8 desktop, laptop or tablet, it is definitely an app worth trying out. Check out after the break for some photos of the app in action.

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Windows Store:Adobe Photoshop Express

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Star Trek: Into Darkness isn't the only Star Trek video to make it to the Internet this week, and this one you can watch legally. Rhett & Link, the guys behind The Mythical Show, produced a 4 minute video about the original Enterprise crew. Clearly coming from people who know the show, the video includes things like red shirt humor, the Gorn and, of course, Spock's infamous poisonous flower. Oh, it also involves music and middle schoolers.

Yes, that's right - it is a middle school musical set on the Enterprise. It is clearly one of the funniest and cutest videos possibly ever, and definitely in the Star Trek universe. If you haven't seen anything Trek, don't worry - you will still love this video, if for no other reason than middle school kids singing and slow-motion stage fighting. If you are a huge fan of the Trek you will love Spock's tap dancing. See? Something for everyone!

Check out the video after the break.

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Rhett & Link:The Mythical Show Ep 4 (SMOSH & Star Trek)

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This week, rumors began to surge about Yahoo's interest in purchasing Tumblr for as high as $1.1 billion. The acquisition would not be a surprise, as Yahoo has been on a buying spree that makes Facebook look conservative. The company has also been on a product kick, releasing apps for Yahoo Weather and Yahoo Mail, which has been very well reviewed.

So, accordingly, Yahoo has scheduled a press event for Monday, accomplishing two goals: attacking the news before rumors get too out of hand and holding the event before Microsoft reveals the Next Xbox on Tuesday. Beating Microsoft to the punch is important because Marissa Meyer knows she needs the press to talk about the announcement and all eyes will be on Microsoft Tuesday and beyond.

If Yahoo is announcing a purchase of Tumblr, what could it mean for the photo sharing and micro blogging service? The thing that Yahoo has always been good at is information aggregation and adding Tumblr into its folds can help them follow and predict trends. Combined with their recent purchase of Summly, a service that summarizes news stories, the Yahoo homepage may once again be the place for keeping up-to-date.

Yahoo is going to need more than just relevant data to regain lost market share, though. For example, their homepage is going to need a MAJOR refresh. The page is cluttered and difficult to find content versus advertising, something sites like MSN and USA Today have managed to fix.

All of the speculation in the world won't get us anywhere - only Monday will give us answers. Check out The UpStream Monday night for staff reactions to the announcement.

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Even though Nintendo's WiiU console is just starting its life and Microsoft's Xbox 360 is ending its own, Microsoft held its top spot last month. The company has held the spot for 28 consecutive months and even incredibly slumping sales can't stop the success train.

As of this moment we are only 3 days away from the Next Xbox reveal event and this, of course, has led to a major slowdown in Xbox 360 sales. In fact, the console sold only 130,000 units, which is a major downturn from 302,000 (February) and 261,000 (March) over the previous 2 months. Even with more than a 50% drop in sales, the console couldn't be touched in numbers.

The decline, of course, comes as no surprise. Since Sony's PlayStation 4 "reveal" event, all eyes have been on Microsoft. The event, which didn't show off any hardware, caused Larry Hyrb, Xbox Live's Major Nelson and, more importantly, Microsoft's Director of Programming for Xbox, to say "Announce a console without actually showing a console? That's one approach." Now, this has led everyone to believe we will see actual hardware from the software giant on Tuesday.

With hardware complete, we can almost certainly expect to see the Next Xbox console relatively soon. The reveal of the Xbox 360 S at E3 a few years ago ended in press leaving with the new device and product hitting store shelves almost immediately. I don't expect to see the same with the Next Xbox, but I do expect a quick turnaround. With all of that said, it is massively impressive that the 360 is still the top dog.

Make sure to check out The UpStream on Tuesday for a live blog of the reveal event as well as staff reactions.

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The Official Microsoft Blog:Xbox 360 continues its roll at the top of the U.S. console market

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Since we first brought you information about the Qi wireless charging standard, the hope of a wireless world has been in the back of my mind. While we saw creative uses like a fully Qi countertop that can run a skillet anywhere, instead of needing a dedicated cooktop, what we have not seen is any of these cool uses come to market.

We have, luckily, seen a number of devices implement the technology, such as the Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC 8X, but only the Verizon version. The closest we have gotten to accessories, however, is the Palm Touchstone-style charging pads - no counters, desks or nightstands. That is, until now.

Thanks to a DIY project found on YouTube, you can turn an inexpensive Ikea nightstand, or any piece of furniture you're willing to cut into, into a charging surface with just a Nokia charging pad and a little time. A pair of videos explains both how to create the modification, as well as discusses any health-related inquiries, such as the effects of having an inductive charger so close to your head (for the record, there is nothing unsafe about it).

If you are the kind of person who enjoys projects and wants to give this great one a shot, hit the break and check out the videos. Make sure to let us know how your project has gone. I'll update on my process as well, as I intend to give it a shot.

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lobbamobba:DIY Qi Wireless Charging Nightstand (cheap, quick and easy)

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