Fully Charged: Adobe bringing Photoshop and more to Chromebooks, BlackBerry big on odd phones, and Moto 360 update boosts battery life

Adobe Photoshop coming to Chromebooks

Chromebooks aren’t particularly known for power, but the low-priced notebooks are gaining major traction with consumers – especially with students. So it makes sense that Adobe has found a way to create a streaming version of the resource-intensive Photoshop for Chromebook customers.

It’s available in a limited release right now for North American education customers with a Creative Cloud subscription, and some advanced features aren’t in this initial cloud-powered version, at least.

Google’s post seems to indicate that additional Adobe products will make their way to Chromebooks, as well, and we imagine it’s only a matter of time before availability is opened up to a broader set of users, not to mention those outside of North America. Stay tuned.

[Source: Google via The Verge]

READ MORE: Acer Chromebook gives you killer graphics performance for pennies

BlackBerry sees future in untraditional phones

With a square screen, physical keyboard, and an untraditional shape, BlackBerry’s Passport is a curious device in today’s smartphone landscape. And yet it catches your attention, unlike many of the company’s past offerings. Unsurprisingly, that’s something BlackBerry wants to keep doing as it returns to profitability after a dire stretch.

In an interview with Reuters, BlackBerry’s device lead Ron Louks said they’d like to have one non-traditional device each year, and that another such handset is already in the works – and carriers have already seen it. “When it comes to design and being a little bit disruptive, we want that ‘wow’ factor,” he said. “Not all of the products will have it, but we definitely have opportunities.”

[Source: Reuters]

READ MORE: BlackBerry Passport hands-on preview

Moto 360 update reportedly enhances battery life

Much as we like Motorola’s Moto 360, the best of the Android Wear bunch to date, its inconsistent battery life is a definite downer, as the smartwatch sometimes fails to give you a full day of use. Luckily, the watch recently got a new update, and it’s purportedly significantly extending the battery life for some users.

Some Reddit users (via Android Police) are claiming to receive upwards of 50% more battery life after installing the update, which should help bridge the gap to bedtime even with the ambient screen on. Not all users are seeing as much of a boost, however, so your experience may be different. Still, it’s well worth the download even if the battery boost is minor.

[Source: Android Police]

READ MORE: Motorola Moto 360 review