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14:19

No one 'laid a glove' on Tim Cook at his Senate...

No one laid a glove on Apple CEO Tim Cook, not even the subcommittee's "hostile chairman," in his appearance before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to explain the company's offshore tax practices, according to "CNNMoney" (http://tinyurl.com/lbfvd5x).

Cook's testimony was "calm and precise," and "the senators, for their part, were mostly respectful -- and on occasion fawning," the article adds.

"Claire McCaskill (Dem., Mo.) couldn't say often enough how much she loved Apple," notes "CNNMoney. "Ron Johnson (Rep., Wisc.) praised the company's tax minimization strategies as shareholder friendly. Rob Portman (Rep., Ohio) only wanted to talk about his tax reform proposals. Rand Paul (Rep., Ken.) thought the committee owed Apple an apology. John McCain (Rep., Ariz.), after a bout of tax dodging rhetoric, wanted to know why his iPhone was constantly updating its apps."

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10:58

Native Instruments introduces Abbey Road 50s Drummer

Native Instruments has introduced Abbey Road 50s Drummer, a new Kontakt instrument featuring the sound of two classic drum kits from the 1950s.

The kits provide the distinctive drum sound of the era. Recorded with both state-of-the-art and period equipment at Abbey Road Studios in London, 50s Drummer also includes a groove library, mixer presets, and a new set of brush articulations, delivering the authentic feel of rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country, and jazz from the 1950s.

Abbey Road 50s Drummer is available at the NI Online Shop for US$99. For more info go to http://tinyurl.com/mg2byeu .

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10:46

I.R.I.S. releases IRISScan Book 3, Executive

I.R.I.S. has released the IRIScan Book 3 and IRIScan Book 3 Executive. These portable scanning solutions are battery‐powered, enabling mobile users to easily capture paper documents, receipts, photos and more without the use of a computer.

The IRIScan Book 3 and IRIScan Book 3 Executive scan directly to an included MicroSD card in black/white or color with 300, 600 and 900 dpi scanning resolutions. No driver installation is required; simply connect the scanner with the included USB cable or insert the MicroSD card into the computer.

The IRIScan Book 3 is powered by 3 AAA batteries and comes with Readiris Pro 12 to convert the paper documents, PDFs or image files into editable and searchable digital text.

IRIScan Book 3 Executive is Wi-Fi compatible and, by using the IRIScan Book app, users can send PDFs or JPEGs to the cloud, smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop. The IRIScan Book app can be downloaded for free for both iOS and Android devices.

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08:30

RE:Vision Effects releases RE:Match for Nuke and Fusion

RE:Vision Effects has released RE:Match for The Foundry's Nuke and eyeon Fusion. It addresses common problems on multicam and stereo shoots.

RE:Match is a set of plug-ins to match one view of video or film to another so that it looks as if it was shot with the same camera and settings. The software assumes that both image sequences are taken roughly at the same location, but perhaps were not shot at the same time or from the same point-of-view.

For general multicam shoots RE:Match matches, as best it can, one sequence's overall color appearance to match that of another. For stereo pairs, RE:Match can further refine the overall color match by taking into account that the two views are captured at the same time with a relatively small distance between the views.

In addition, RE:Match is also able to propagate color changes into areas that are present in only one view. RE:Match can also make other details, such as reflections, specular highlights, and lens...

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08:22

Bracketron releases new USB charger

Bracketron has released the Twist & Charge USB Charger, a solution to overcrowded outlets that provides an USB charging port for mobile devices without blocking or taking up an AC outlet.

It allows users to add an USB charging port to any standard AC outlet. The design features one surge-protected USB outlet that rotates up to 270 degrees. The device is compact and small enough to toss into suitcases. The Twist & Charge USB Charger will be available for purchase on June 19 for US$17.95 at Bracketron.com .

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08:10

CS Odessa rolls out new tools for ConceptDraw Project

CS Odessa has unveiled a new set of tools and features for ConceptDraw Project to give users more control over project views and resource-allocation. ConceptDraw Project 6.4 is being enhanced with the addition of new resource types, custom filter tools, and a new set of printing options.

The upgrade has enhanced options for selecting resource types. The newly defined resource types will allow users to better describe their resources and resource behavior within a project, according to Olin Reams, general manager, CS Odessa. The additional resource types provide better insight into the resource components that compromise a working project, he adds.

To complement the new task and resource features in ConceptDraw Project, there are newly designed filtering tool that allows users to make custom views for their projects. ConceptDraw Project 6.4 allows for custom views to be created and saved for use later on.

ConceptDraw Project 6.4 has also been updated to allow...

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08:04

HGST introduces Travelstar 5K1500 for the mobile market

HGST says it's offering the highest storage density (MB/mm3) of any hard disk drive (HDD) today. The new Travelstar 5K1500 is the industry's first 9.5mm, 1.5TB mobile hard drive and features the industry's highest capacity in a standard 9.5mm design, the company says.

The Travelstar 5K1500 delivers high shock protection, low power and solid performance to meet the growing demands for a variety of market segments, including notebooks, external hard drives, gaming consoles and all-in-one desktop, according to Brendan Collins, vice president of product marketing at HGST. It offers 50% more capacity than currently shipping 1TB 2.5-inch 9.5mm HDDs and 200%more capacity than single-disk 500GB 7mm or 5mm 2.5-inch HDDs, he adds.

Smaller than current 15mm or 12.5mm 2.5-inch HDDs, the Travelstar 5K1500 drive features a standard 9.5mm form factor. It has 0.5 watt low power (idle) consumption and 5,400RPM performance

Travelstar 5K1500 drives are expected to ship in June....

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07:44

ZAGG debuts new iPad mini accessories

ZAGG has introduced two new keyboard accessories for the iPad mini. The ZAGGkeys Cover and ZAGGkeys Folio are "ultra-thin" Bluetooth keyboard accessories built with a patent-pending hinge system that offers a range of viewing angles up to 135 degrees.

The new ZAGGkeys Cover is the most versatile Bluetooth keyboard on the market and the thinnest at just 6.3mm, boasts Kent Wuthrich, executive vice president of marketing for ZAGG. It features a hinge that lets users position the screen at virtually any viewing angle as well as reverse the iPad mini for a one-piece reading and playing mode.

The ZAGGkeys Cover also features backlit keys in seven color options and three lighting levels. A battery purportedly keeps the Cover going for up to three months of normal use before it needs to be charged, while a magnetic closure protects the screen during transport. The ZAGGkeys Cover will be available in both silver and black, matching the back finish of the iPad mini. It's...

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07:15

Senate says Apple sheltered $44 billion from taxes

Senate investigators are accusing Apple of wiring together a complicated system to shield billions of dollars in international profits from both U.S. and foreign tax collectors, reports "Politico" (http://tinyurl.com/kp3hh77).

A report released ahead of Apple CEO Tim Cook’s inaugural Capitol Hill appearance today alleges the tech giant took advantage of numerous U.S. tax loopholes and avoided U.S. taxes on US$44 billion in offshore, taxable income between 2009 and 2012. Apple denies this.

The bipartisan Senate probe also charges that the company's long established foreign entities, based in Ireland, don’t actually have tax-resident status there or anywhere else. Apple conducts most of its international business in the European country to take advantage of lower tax rates, according to the congressional report.

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04:39

AppDelete for Mac OS X adds updated user interface

Reggie Ashworth (www.reggieashworth.com) has announced AppDelete 4.0.7, a new version of his application deletion utility. The upgrade sports an upgraded user interface and more.

You can drag any item that can be uninstalled onto AppDelete: spplications, widgets, preference panes, plugins, screensavers, etc. You can also activate AppDelete in many ways: dragging items onto main window, onto dock icon, selecting in menu, right-clicking using AppDelete workflow, dragging from Launchpad, and throwing items in the trash. When the preview screen appears you can uncheck any items you would like to exclude.

You also have several choices: delete the items, log only the items, or archive (copy) the items to a .zip file for safekeeping or reinstall at a later date. The items you delete will be moved to the trash and arranged in a folder so that you can see exactly what was deleted and you know exactly...

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04:29

FMStudio Pro updated for Dreamweaver CS6, FileMaker Server 12

FMWebschool has announced FMStudio Pro 1.1.3, bringing new updates for Dreamweaver CS6 and FileMaker Server 12. This combination of technologies enables a direct connection from FileMaker to Dreamweaver.

Experts will appreciate the ability to rapidly create and deploy FileMaker driven websites, according to the folks at FMWebschool. Beginners to web publishing can now build FileMaker websites without knowing PHP by using the simple drag and drop tool-set and live data features, they add.

Any FileMaker hosting service supporting FileMaker Server 12 will enable you to use FileMaker and Dreamweaver together. When you press the live data view button in Dreamweaver, the web pages are immediately populated with live FileMaker data.

FMStudio Pro uses the FileMaker API [application programming interface] for PHP developed by Zend for FileMaker. It supports FileMaker Server versions 7 - 12 and Dreamweaver CS5, CS5.5 and CS6. FMStudio Pro costs US$157 and is available...

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May 20

Noise Industries offers Andy Mees Safe Guides plug-in

Noise Industries has added Andy Mees' free Safe Guides plug-in to the FxFactory family of plug-ins and generators. Designed for use in Final Cut Pro(R), Motion, Premiere Pro and After Effects, Safe Guides includes preset guides for 4:3, 14:9 and 16:9 title and action safe areas, an EBU/BBC compliance override and center cross marker.

The plug-in comes with full custom guide controls. Features include two freely adjustable user guides, the option to toggle on or off individual guides and the ability to choose ones own guide colors, plus dim or mask cropped regions. Editors can use the "Conform to 16:9" option to force the guides to display within a center cut 16:9 frame if and when working sequence settings aren't in the correct format.

Safe Guides is now available in FxFactory for free. FxFactory is a visual effects architecture powering plug-ins for Final Cut Pro, Motion, Premiere Pro and After Effects. For more info go to...

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May 20

Apple releases Tim Cook's official statement to Senate

Apple has released Tim Cook's official statement to the Senate ahead of his Tuesday appearance at a hearing on corporate tax payments.

As noted by "Seeking Alpha," among other things, Apple claims it paid ~$6 billion in federal taxes in FY12 and a 30.5% effective federal tax rate, that its foreign units don't engage in the practices the hearing focuses (the shifting of IP to offshore havens, revolving loans from subsidiaries, etc). The company proposes a tax system that's "revenue neutral, eliminates all tax expenditures, lowers tax rates and implements a reasonable tax on foreign earnings."

Read more at http://tinyurl.com/lrcwz3f . Also, you can find the entire official statement at http://tinyurl.com/kxvl26g

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May 20

Eerie Studios releases Junk Punk 3D for the Mac

Eerie Studios' Junk Punk 3D is now available on the Mac App Store (http://tinyurl.com/me6te83). It requires Mac OS X 10.6.6 or higher and costs US$1.99.

 Here's how the game is described: "Junk Punk 3D is the successor to Junk Punk. It is a fast-paced action game about free running, fast reflexes and competition. As the player, your ultimate goal is to get as far as you can, without falling down, in which case your only option is to try again. Compete against yourself, your friends or the entire world."

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May 20

matchTag 1.5 optimized for Mountain Lion

Nominari has released matchTag 1.5 for Mac OS X (10.7.2 or higher). The app can update the title information in an iTunes music collection and amend, either completely or selectively, the missing data from the iTunes Store. Version 1.5 has been optimized for Mountain Lion.

matchTag facilitates the iTunes ID that was written into the new file during download and allows for either individual tags or for the whole set to be amended or replaced. MatchTag also has an option to download a cover image thumbnail.

matchTag 1.5 costs approximately US$6.50. It's available worldwide exclusively from the Nominari website (http://www.nominari.com).

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May 20

Image Resizer Deluxe for Mac OS X gets text antialiasing, more

Lifeware Solutions has announced Image Resizer Deluxe 1.1, an update to their photo editing app for Mac OS X. The upgrade adds text antialiasing and fixes the preview size.

Image Resizer Deluxe provides tools to resize and rename large numbers of photos to reduce their size, and make them ready to be sent over email or posted on the web. You can add text, watermarks, border effects, change color depth, apply color effects and more.

Image Resizer Deluxe requires Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later. It costs US$1.99 and is available worldwide exclusively through the Mac App Store in the Graphics & Design category (http://tinyurl.com/k9nzw5l).

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May 20

iStopMotion for Mac OS X gets screen capture feature

Boinx Software has updated iStopMotion, its stop motion animation tool for Mac OS X (10.7.4), to version 3.1. The new version includes a screen capture feature that provides animators with a new medium for animating.

iStopMotion 3.1 is localized in English, German, French, Japanese and Russian. It's available for US$49.99 both from the Mac App Store and the Boinx Website (www.boinx.com/).

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May 17

Apple to suggest changes to U.S. corporate tax laws

Apple, which holds US$102 billion in cash and investments outside the U.S., will suggest changes to corporate tax laws to encourage companies to bring more cash into the country, reports "Bloomberg" (http://tinyurl.com/an63hjh).

In interviews with "The Washington Post" and "Politico," Apple CEO Tim Cook previewed testimony he will give on May 21 before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which has been examining companies that use various maneuvers to reduce their tax bills. The current 35% corporate-tax rate is too high for companies to pay when bringing money back from overseas, Cook was quoted as saying by "The Washington Post." Cook defended Apple’s practices and said the company doesn’t funnel domestic profits overseas, according to his "Politico."

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MacNews Blog

May 21

More than one in two people will be covered by LTE-FDD by 20...

LTE-capable networks will continue to mushroom around the globe through 2018. In particular, frequency-division duplex (FDD) networks will see their population coverage expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33% between 2012 and 2018 to hit 57%, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

Time-division duplex (TDD) networks will gain ground at a more rapid rate of 43% during this period but will only reach 52% population coverage due to fewer licensed markets currently, according to the research group. This overall picture is consistent with the contracts awarded to vendors thus far this year. Slightly more than half of the contracts concluded are related to LTE-FDD.

"However, LTE-TDD will start to close the gap," says Ying Kang Tan, research associate at ABI Research. "Dual-mode device chipsets supporting both variants as well as converged FDD/TDD network solutions are already...

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May 21

2020: 30 billion-plus devices will wirelessly connect to the...

ABI Research's (www.abiresearch.com) latest data on the Internet of Everything (IoE) shows that there are more than 10 billion wirelessly connected devices in the market today; with over 30 billion devices expected by 2020.

"The emergence of standardized ultra-low power wireless technologies is one of the main enablers of the IoE, with semiconductor vendors and standards bodies at the forefront of the market push, helping to bring the IoE into reality," says Peter Cooney, practice director. "The year 2013 is seen by many as the year of the Internet of Everything, but it will still be many years until it reaches its full potential. The next five years will be pivotal in its growth and establishment as a tangible concept to the consumer.”

Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Cellular, RFID, and many other wireless technologies are all important to drive Internet of Everything growth. The long term expansion of...

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May 20

‘Long data’ to drive workforce analytics

Organizations across the globe are searching for ways to capture the power of “Big Data” to unlock workforce insights. Unfortunately, many organizations get lost in the fog of big data analysis. The latest release of Mercer Analytics (www.mercer.com) addresses this challenge by leveraging the power of Long Data to unlock insights into an organization’s most valuable asset: its talent.

Long Data, a term coined by mathematician and network scientist Samuel Arbesman, is described as "data sets that have massive historical sweep." In terms of workforce analytics, Big Data provides deep analysis typically focused on a point in time, while Long Data provides insights from stories that have unfolded over time. Thoughtful analysis of Long Data therefore allows organizations to identify, segment and analyze data as part of an ongoing process to drive meaningful results, according to Mercer Analytics. It can also mitigate the...

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May 17

Virtualization, 4G distributed networks to up-end DPI, polic...

4G networks are launching fast and moving to a flat and distributed hierarchy. Dictated by performance needs, data management is moving closer to the network edge, according to new data from ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

This evolution of the network from a centralized data center to a distributed architecture, can be thought of as a "data center without walls," according to the research group. The historical paradigm for mobile networks is the hierarchical and centralized core network.

The advent of 3G and 4G mobile broadband greatly increases the data traffic to the IP Network and Internet point of presence, says ABI Research. This gives rise to the specialist DPI and Optimization firms, such as Allot and Sandvine, who prosper with high performance, purpose built custom hardware that sits in the data stream for inspection and management.

The major infrastructure vendors, such as...

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May 16

Chief Executive Magazine announces best, worst states for bu...

For the ninth year in a row, CEOs rate Texas as the #1 state in which to do business, according to Chief Executive Magazine's annual Best & Worst States Survey.

Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Indiana also made the top five. The states rated worst for business are California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

The Best & Worst States Survey measures the sentiments of CEOs on a range of issues, including regulations, tax policies, workforce quality, educational resources, quality of living and infrastructure. For the 2013 survey, 736 CEOs from across the country evaluated the states between Jan. 16 and Feb. 14, 2013. Ohio was the biggest gainer in this year's survey, rising 13 spots from #35 to #22. \

CEOs say California's poor ranking is the result of a perceived hostility to business, high state taxes and onerous regulations, all of which drive investment, companies and jobs to other states. According to the California...

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May 14

Global semiconductor sales outpacing last year

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, says worldwide sales of semiconductors reached US$23.48 billion for the month of March 2013, an increase of 1.1% from the previous month when sales were $23.23 billion.

Global sales for March 2013 were 0.9% higher than the March 2012 total of $23.28 billion, and total sales through the first quarter of 2013 were 0.9% higher than sales from the first quarter of 2012. All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average.

"Through the first quarter of 2013, the global semiconductor industry has seen modest but consistent growth compared to last year," says Brian Toohey, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association (www.semiconductors.org). "Sales have increased across most end product categories, with memory showing the strongest growth. With recent...

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May 13

Top 10 mobile carriers generate US$202 billion in gross prof...

Worldwide service revenue, year-on-year (YoY) for 4Q-2012 grew 2.8% to US$240.5 billion, according to new data from ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

Western Europe and Africa’s mobile operator actually demonstrated a contraction in service revenue YoY of 8.2% and 6.9%, respectively, according to the research group. Middle East, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific are still showing reasonably robust rates of growth of 7% to 11%. Eastern Europe and North America, however, are only barely keeping their service revenue growth in positive territory.

"As the underlying lift from accumulating subscribers has matured, carriers are starting to cast around for additional revenue streams that don’t just boost revenues but also profitability," says Jake Saunders, vice president for core forecasting at ABI Research. "There is still tremendous income to be generated from mobile services; the Top 10 Mobile Carriers...

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May 10

Cloud points towards a single consumer security product

By Michela Menting Senior Analyst, ABI Research

The growth of cloud-based offerings for mobile devices and PCs is leading to the convergence of a single security product. A number of vendors are in fact moving towards this strategy: development of cloud and mobile functionalities for future integration into one multi-device offering.

The PC security software market for consumers is mature. Currently, many include mobile protection. However as threats evolve, security products incorporating more comprehensive features are increasingly being sold under the broader umbrella term of Internet Security Software, rather than just anti-virus. Added features include: Social Network Protection, Parental Control, Privacy Protection, ID Theft Protection, Online Banking & Payment Protection, Password Manager, Data Encryption, Backup Platform, Rescue/Safe Reboot, Remote Access, USB/Removable Media Protection, Antitheft, GPS/Location Tracking, Restore, Remote...

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May 09

Nearly half of Internet capable devices are connected, used

Forty-seven percent of home entertainment devices (Internet-capable TVs, Blu-ray disc players, video game consoles, and streaming media devices) are currently connected and being used for their online capabilities. But the degree to which these devices are used online varies significantly, according to global information company, The NPD Group (www.npd.com).

Internet capable TVs and Blu-ray disc players are the least likely to actually be connected to the Internet and used for their online features, while streaming media players and video game consoles are connected and used the most.

"While there are more Blu-ray disc players installed and connected to the Internet than streaming media players such as Apple TV and Roku, we expect that to change in the next year," says John Buffone, director, devices, NPD Connected Intelligence. "Streaming media players will exceed the number of installed and Internet connected Blu...

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May 08

CyberCoders Top Ten Tech Skills of 2013

CyberCoders (www.CyberCoders.com), a recruiting firm, says new data reveals the tech skills in the most demand for the highest paying technology jobs.

CyberCoders analyzed more than 10,000 tech companies and their hiring requirements to compile the list of the hottest skills in the tech space. Data from CyberCoders reveals that candidates who have experience with iOS development, cloud computing programming and front-end development skills are most in demand in today’s tech career landscape.

"A common theme among these technology skills is the need for open source, mobile, cloud or big data technologies, like iOS, Azure and Hadoop," says Matt Miller, chief technical officer of CyberCoders.

"Everyday we see the engineers with these skills getting an average of four to five job offers," adds CEO and founder of CyberCoders, Heidi Golledge. "Companies that provide cutting edge technology, great...

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Reviews and Kool Tools

Kool Tools: NewTech miniStack MAX

Newer Technology's miniStack MAX, is now available in DVD/CD only read/write optical drive models for computer users that don’t require the Blu-ray functionality of other miniStack MAX models. As the only four-in-one... Read more »

Kool Tools: SMS Log, Call Log, Fliq for Mac

Today our Kool Tools includes three products/services that all work together: SMS Log for Mac, Call Log for Mac and Fliq for Mac. The SMS Log application for Mac OS X (10.7 and higher) from Mark/Space (http://www.... Read more »

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