Apple sued over Mac OS X start-up process
Another day, another lawsuit. Apple is being sued for patent infringement involving the Mac OS X start-up process, reports "Patently Apple" (http://macte.ch/MHUXr). Florida-based Operating Systems Solutions is suing in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
The company claims the Mac operating system violates a patent it owns for quickly booting an OS. The patent was originally issued to LG Electronics in 2002.
The patent in question involves: “A method for fast booting a computer system, comprising the steps of: A. performing a power on self test (POST) of basic input output system (BIOS) when the system is powered on or reset is requested; B. checking whether a boot configuration information including a system booting state which was created while executing a previous normal booting process exists or not; C. storing the boot configuration information from execution of the POST operation before loading a graphic interface (GUI) program, based on the checking...
More MobileMe features on the chopping block?
While many of the features of MobileMe -- Apple's US$99-a-year subscription service of Internet tools ---- are simply being upgraded in the move to iCloud, Apple says Gallery, iDisk, iWeb and data sync features will be canceled in the transition, notes "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com).
iSync, Apple's Mac-centric tool for keeping data in sync among a variety of devices, is on the chopping block, as are Gallery media hosting, iDisk cloud storage and its integrated iWeb web hosting, the article adds. However, iCloud counterparts or replacements for at least some of the missing services are coming.
Since MobileMe is going the way of the dodo bird next year, what is this iCloud that's going to replace it? It's an upcoming, free cloud service that works with applications on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC to automatically and wirelessly store your content in "the cloud" and automatically and wirelessly push it to all your devices.
When anything changes on one of your...
NetGear introduces Smart Switch with 10-Gigabit connectivity
NetGear (http://www.netgear.com) has introduced what it says is the industry's first 10-gigabit smart switch for mid-market networks. The NetGear ProSafe 52-Port Gigabit Stackable Smart Switch (GS752TXS) is designed as a companion to the emerging class of 10-gigabit servers, delivering maximum throughput from server to switch for demanding tasks such as data replication and backup, virtualization, video on demand and high-volume transaction processing.
The ProSafe 52-Port Gigabit Smart Switch provides 48 gigabit ports for connecting devices to the network, along with four 10G SFP+ ports for stacking or uplink to servers. As many as six switches can be stacked for a total of 288 network ports, with full redundancy for maximum reliability. It's now available worldwide and is priced at US$2,100.
LEGO Batman available at Macgamestore
Feral Interactive's LEGO Batman is now available for digital download at the Macgamestore (http://www.macgamestore.com). It requires Mac OS X 10.4.10 or higher and costs US$24.99.
Here's how the game is described: "LEGO Batman: The Videogame features a completely original storyline, encompassing the lighthearted charm of LEGO minifigures and the multifaceted lore of Gotham City. The story unfolds with Batman’s greatest foes escaping from Arkham Asylum and creating mayhem throughout Gotham City. Tracking criminals, including The Joker and The Penguin, players will utilize Batman’s gadgets as well as build and operate fantastic vehicles."
Aquafadas releases Comic Composer For Mac OS X
Aquafadas (http://www.aquafadas.com) has presented Comic Composer, a free software application built for the creation of interactive digital comic books, at Book Expo America. It's designed to complement Aquafadas’ suite of digital publishing tools. It requires Mac OS X 10.5.7 or higher.
Comic Composer makes it easy to get your comic books to the next level and publish them to iPhone, iPad, Android, Facebook or your blog, according to the folks at Aquafadas. The company already offers plug-ins for Adobe InDesign and QXP to create rich-design interactive apps based on print books, magazines and brochures. Comic Composer allows you to transform your comics into animated comics by adding transition effects, zoom and camera movements. It adds guided reading to comic book.
Creating a digital version of your comic is the first step towards its publication on tablets and smartphones. The second step is to create the iPad or iPhone application with AVE AppFactory, Aquafadas’ application...
Gameloft Launches Eternal Legacy on the Mac App Store
Gameloft has launched Eternal Legacy on the Mac App Store for US$6.99. This game is not supported by iMac and MacBook Pro devices equipped with the following video cards: Radeon X1600, Intel GMA 950.
Here's how the game is described: "An absorbing scenario implying heavy responsibilities: Astrian, you must save Algoad from destruction and restore the living bond between humans and nature. A mix of fantasy and sci-fi: fight with swords and guns, face robots and magic, and fly your own ship! Freely explore majestic regions: real-time rendered in full 3D, with free 360° camera."
Brosix File Transfer released for Mac OS X
Brosix has released Brosix File Transfer (http://www.brosix.com/), a Mac OS X compatible app designed to make it simple for users to share files. It's free for personal use.
Users are able to transfer a file or group of files to those on their contact list. Brosix File Transfer automatically compresses files on the fly, and data encryption is applied to all file transfers.
There's no limit on how many files can be sent and received. With drag and drop capability, files can be selected and transferred with a single click of the mouse.
Enolsoft video converter ready for Lion
Enolsoft Corp. (http://www.enolsoft.com) has released Enolsoft Video Converter 3, a Lion-ready update of the software that enables you to convert between any video formats for various purposes. It costs US$29; a demo is available for download.
Mac users are able to turn their videos to whatever format as they like, including HD, with this Enolsoft Video Converter for Mac. This includes playback of various videos on portable devices, uploading any videos to YouTube for sharing or editing favorite videos in video editing tools and more.
This Enolsoft Video Converter for Mac is an all-in-one video converting tool, and can be also used as Mac video to iPad 2 converter, Mac video to iPhone 4 converter, Mac video to PSP converter, Mac video to Xoom converter and Mac video to iPod converter, etc. In addition, Mac users can also use it to convert camcorder AVCHD videos or downloaded YouTube HD videos to any video formats like MP4, WMV, AVI, MOV, MKV, VOB and 3GP, etc., as well as extract...
iFunia updates Media Converter for the Mac
iFunia has updated iFunia Media Converter, conversion software for Mac, to version 3.2.9. It offers OS X 10.7 ("Lion") compatibility and a handful of new features, as well as performance improvements and optimizations.
iFunia Media Converter helps Mac users convert any video, DVD and audio to the formats they need. It combines a video converter, DVD ripper, and audio converter, allowing video fans to convert video/audio files, and rip DVDs without switching from one program to another.
Presets allow users to convert videos and DVD movies to play with Apple devices, Apple software, mobile phones, game players and more, including the iPad 2, iPhone 4, and latest iPod touch. With the built-in video and audio editor, users can trim videos. What's more, iFunia Media Converter also has a deinterlacing function that help users to remove interlacing artifact of the DVD movies and videos.
iFunia Media Converter costs US$49; a demo is available for download at the product web site (http://macte...
Badia Exportools Pro available on the Mac App Store
Badia Software has released Exportools Professional 3.2 (http://macte.ch/aNxxE), a new version of its flagship software for high-end exporting and printing of multiple Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress documents. The upgrade is compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 and higher, including OS 10.7 ("Lion").
Exportools Professional allows you to export or print multiple InDesign or QuarkXPress documents as single-page or multi-page files. Just drop any number of documents into its file list, or let Exportools Professional periodically scan a watched folder, then choose your export or print settings, and hit the Start button.
Exportools Professional works with Adobe InDesign versions CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS5.5, as well as QuarkXPress 8 and 9. The same application handles both InDesign and QuarkXPress documents, so there's no need to purchase separate components.
Exportools Professional 3.2 is being offered for a limited time for US$99.99 per license -- that's 33% off the retail price. This is...
TopXNotes ready for Lion
Tropical Software (http://www.tropic4.com) has updated TopXNotes, the note organizer for Mac OS X 10.5 and higher, to version 1.7. It's ready for Lion and has improved synchronization (NoteSync) with Apple touch devices including the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.
This new capability builds on TopXNotes 1.5 which modernized the user interface with a customizable toolbar with larger icons, a rewritten NoteOrganizer, two-finger scrolling, new icons, and many cosmetic improvements. What's more, version 1.7 streamlines the sync setup process and improves how it interacts with the latest iOS on Apple touch devices.
TopXNotes 1.7 is available for US$39.95 from the Tropical Software web site and many Mac resellers. You can also get TopXNotes Touch for iOS devices at the Apple App Store.
Midwest, Northeast consumers lean toward iOS
New data from Jumptap (http://www.jumptap.com/STAT), which specializes in targeted mobile advertising, shows that consumers in the South and Southwest tend to be Android-biased compared to the rest of the country, while those in the Midwest and Northeast lean towards iOS.
California, Texas and Florida over-index for Android use and states in New England and the Midwest over-index for iOS use. Blackberry use, which over-indexed in New York, was also included in the geographic data. This new data establishes an evolving narrative of a North vs. South divide in the ongoing battle of the two top mobile operating systems.
The results are revealed as part of Jumptap’s monthly data report, Mobile STAT (Simple Targeting & Audience Trends), which is based on data for the first half of 2011 from the over 83 million unique users on the Jumptap mobile ad network. The report also showed that Android continues to hold the top spot in terms of overall share (with iOS coming in a close second),...
Apple goes after rip-off retail stores
Another day, another lawsuit. Apple is going after copycat and fake rip-offs of its retail stores, including 50 John Does and unnamed businesses, in a new trademark infringement suit, reports "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com). The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York remains under a court seal, so the specifics of the complaint are not known.
"AppleInsider" says that one of the defendants in the case is "Apple Story Inc.," matching the name of a retail outlet that mimics Apple's own retail operation. "Apple Story" is located in the neighborhood of Flushing in Queens, New York; Apple's lawsuit was filed in Brooklyn.
The lawsuit follows the recent publicity regarding fake Apple retail stores in China. "Because the lawsuit is sealed, it is unknown whether this particular complaint, filed on July 25, also targets the elaborate overseas operations," says "AppleInsider." "It's possible that Apple does not yet know who runs those stores, and...
Analyst: lower-end iPhone would have to be a 'category-...
RBC Capital analyst Mike Abramsky told clients in a note -- as reported by "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com) -- that, after a meeting with two of Apple's top executives, RBC Capital Markets, the company's primary requirement for launching a lower-end iPhone is whether the handset would provide an "innovative, category-killer experience."
Abramsky recently met with Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook and Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer. "Apple’s primary criterion for launching a lower-end iPhone is an innovative, category-killer experience," he says.
Abramsky also noted that iCloud is expected to be ready for "significant scale," with Apple having learned its lesson from the MobileMe service. RBC maintains a price target of $500 for shares of Apple stock, reiterating its Outperform rating for the company.
Analyst ups price target on Apple to $540
In a note to clients -- as reported by "Barron's" (http://macte.ch/c7vGd) -- Needham & Company analyst Charlie Wolf raised his price target on Apple (AAPL) shares from US$450 to $540, while reiterating a Buy rating on the stock.
Wolf sees increased value in the iPad, especially, but also the Mac and iTunes since he last performed a valuation evaluation on Apple in February. The analyst says the iPad business is now more valuable as it “should capture a materially larger share of the tablet market than we previously forecast.”
Wolf sees the Mac business more valuable based on the “halo” effect from the iPad, rather than the iPod, and after calculating the growth of app sales, he thinks iTunes is much more valuable than he’d estimated.
The iPhone’s valuation per share goes up, but not as dramatically, to $265.86 per share from a prior $240.09 per share. Wolf says it makes up almost half of Apple’s value.
HTC to acquire shares of mobile Internet app company
Smartphone maker HTC Corp. has agreed to acquire all of the shares of U.S. mobile Internet applications company Dashwire for as much as US$18.5 million, "in a move that could give it more tools in possible future patent litigation against competitors, including Apple," according to "The Wall Street Journal" (http://macte.ch/fMIBt).
In a statement, HTC said it would purchase Seattle-based Dashwire to strengthen its mobile cloud-based services offering, the article adds. Cloud services allow users to store data, documents, and photos via the Internet rather than on devices.
Earlier this week it was announced has sued Apple in the UK. The complaint, filed July 29 in London, comes two weeks after HTC lost a ruling against Apple at the U.S. International Trade Commission. Notice of the U.K. case didn’t specify the nature of the new lawsuit, notes "Bloomberg" (http://macte.ch/dvUUS). The Washington-based ITC ruled on July 15 that HTC’s Android-based mobile phones infringe two Apple patents...
ABBYY FineReader Express Edition now supports Lion
ABBYY has released a new version of ABBYY FineReader Express Edition for Mac that's compatible with OS X 10.7 ("Lio").
The application turns scanned paper documents, PDF files and digital camera images into searchable and editable files, maintaining the original formatting and layout. ABBYY FineReader Express Edition for Mac recognizes text in 171 languages and can distinguish multilingual documents containing up to three languages.
The application intelligently re-creates layout and formatting elements found in the original document including tables, columns, graphics, bullet points and numbering. It also supports the conversion of image-only and scanned PDFs into searchable PDF format.
ABBYY FineReader Express Edition for Mac is available via both the Mac App Store and ABBYY’s online store (http://www.abbyy.com/finereader_for_mac/). Customers who have previous releases of the product can update them free of charge by downloading the update from the ABBYY web site or the Mac App...
Lion Disk Maker lets you make a bootable DVD, USB key
Lion Disk Maker (http://blog.gete.net/lion-diskmaker-us/) is a new, small application programmed with AppleScript that you can use with Mac OS X 10.6 or 10.7 to burn a DVD or build a bootable USB key from Mac OS X Lion’s Installation program.
As soon as you launch the application, it checks the presence of X Lion Install in the /Applications folder, or tries to find one using Spotlight. Then, it proposes to build a DVD or create bootable install disk. USB and FireWire drives are supported, as well as SD-Cards.
To burn the DVD, you’ll need a SuperDrive and a writable DVD (single layer, 4,7 GB). To build a bootable disk, you’ll need a 4GB (minimum) USB or Firewire drive or an SD-Card. Lion DiskMaker is free, but donations are gladly accepted by its developers.
Graphic shipments up 6.3%, computer shipments up 2.4%
Jon Peddie Research (http://www.jonpeddie.com), a consulting firm for graphics and multimedia, has announced estimated graphics chip shipments and suppliers’ market share for the second quarter of 2011 (Q2’11).
Shipments during the second quarter of 2011 did not behave according to past years with regard to seasonality, and was higher on a year-to-year comparison for the quarter. 2011 is shaping up to be an anomalous year as businesses take their own path to recovery.
Normally, the second quarter of the year is a slower business quarter in the graphics industry (and in the computer industry as a whole). This year, Q2’11 didn't conform to the normal seasonal cycle. Instead, sales were up significantly compared to previous years.
Jon Peddie's forecast for the coming years has been modified since the last report, and is less aggressive on both desktops and notebooks -- tablets have changed the nature of the personal computer market. The research group's findings include desktops,...
Tenba expands Discovery, Vector collections
Tenba (http://www.tenba.com) has expanded their Discovery and Vector collections, adding a Photo/Laptop Daypack and Photo/Tablet Daypack to their Discovery collection, and a Photo/Laptop Daypack (pictured) and Photo Sling Bag to their Vector collection.
The Discovery Mini Daypack has a front, padded photo compartment that fits a DSLR camera body with 2-3 lenses and accessories, plus a rear sleeve that fits an iPad or similar tablet up to 10 inches. It also accommodates the 11-inch MacBook Air. The Large size Daypack will fit a laptop up to 15 inches and fits an expanded camera system of 1-2 DSLR camera bodies and 4-6 lenses. Each bag is made with rugged, water-repellant nylon and has an expedition-grade shoulder harness.
The Vector Photo Sling Bag combines the ease-of-use and accessibility of a camera shoulder bag with the all-day carrying comfort of a backpack, according to the folks at Tenba. It can also be converted to a long lens bag for a 300mm f/2.8 attached to a camera body....
Tech God Laptop Bag designed for two laptops
Perfect World Programming has announced the Tech God Laptop Bag (http://www.twolaptopbag.com), which is designed for two laptops up to 15.4 inches.
A carry-on strap allows you to slip your laptop bag down the handle of your wheeled carry-on. An accordian folder section is included for holding your important documents. The Tech God Laptop Bag fits easily underneath airplane seats, says creator Mark Spritzler.
The Tech God Laptop Bag is available now for a limited time price of US$149.99 . It's normally $199.99.
OWC rolls out Mercury Rack Pro Mini-SAS RAID
Other World Computing (OWC) has announced new OWC Mercury Rack Pro mini-SAS 4-Bay 1U rackmount solutions starting at US$499.99.
They combine four 6Gb/s storage devices (or data channels) with up to 12TB of capacity into the convenience of one port and one cable connection for in-data throughput rates up to 24Gb/s (2400MB/s). The Mercury Rack Pro mini-SAS is immediately available in 8 pre-configured solutions, from 2.0TB to 12.0TB.
It's compatible with Mac OS X 10.2 and higher and Windows XP and later operating systems and comes complete with a $100 retail value disk utility software bundle and up to a five-year solution warranty. For more info on the OWC Mercury Rack Pro mini-SAS model go to http://macte.ch/lxrHK .
Outlook 2011 tutorial provides video guide to Mac productivity
Toronto based training developer, Infinite Skills, has announced a targeted Mac tutorial video series to help users learn Outlook 2011. The three-hour course includes 48 separate lessons covering the program's core email, scheduling and notes functionality.
The Outlook 2011 tutorials go through the basics of the Outlook user interface, as well as email essentials, advanced tips and filter settings and the program's range of appointment, meeting and notes functionality, says Colin Boyd, sales director of Infinite Skills. The 48-tutorial training package is led by professional software trainer, Guy Vaccaro, and includes lessons on topics ranging from message filtering to setting custom tasks, alerts and appointments.
After familiarizing viewers with the basics of the Outlook user interface, Vaccaro goes through the primary points of Outlook configuration and customization, helping users import their contacts and data from other applications and set up Outlook to send and receive...
Graphic Node launches themes for Keynote for iOS
Graphic Node (http://graphicnode.com/) has introduced Still Themes for Keynote 1.0, yet another set of designs for iWork.
The app includes 30 themes, and the themes include up to 21 master slides with photo-oriented layouts that include custom bullets, matching tables, and clear charts. Users can type or paste in their own text, add and remove text boxes, change fonts, and drag their photos or pictures onto presentation slides to supplant the placeholders. The themes are available in the five standard slide sizes supported by Keynote.
The Still Themes set is available for sale on the Apple App Store for US$2.99. Samples of all themes can be viewed on the Graphic Node website. After the app is downloaded and installed on the iPhone or iPad, the new themes appear as Keynote files and can be opened for editing.
Recordare releases MusicXML 3.0 format with Dolet plug-in support
Recordare has released version 3.0 of its MusicXML digital sheet music format and has also released version 6 of its Dolet plug-ins for the Finale and Sibelius notation programs to support the new MusicXML 3.0 format.
According to Michael Good, founder and CEO of Recordare, MusicXML 3.0 has three main improvements compared to version 2.0:
° A standard taxonomy of 886 instrument sounds to allow better transfer of virtual instrument playback between applications;
° Coverage of more sheet music repertoires, including Chinese jianpu numbered notation, Turkish maqam music, Persian and Iranian music, and improved support for educational music;
° Support for newer and more detailed features of common Western music notation, including 20 features described in the new notation reference Behind Bars.
MusicXML 3.0 adds 76 new features compared to MusicXML 2.,0 while staying compatible with earlier versions. All valid MusicXML 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0 files are also valid MusicXML 3.0 files.
Musicians...
NetUse Traffic gets Lion support, new interface
DewDrop Studios (http://www.dewdropstudios.net) has updated NetUse Traffic for Mac OS X (10.6.6 and higher) to version 1.2.1. The upgrade sports an improved user interface, full Lion support, enhanced hardware supports, full SNMP support and more.
NetUse provides a way to monitor your network traffic on the Mac. Utilizing the SNMP feature of any modern Internet router or gateway, the software monitors and collects real-time Internet usage statistics for all the computers in your home or office that share an Internet connection.
If you have a traffic cap on your Internet usage, NetUse will help to make sure you don't exceed your limits, says Andrei Grichine, founder of DewDrop Studios. Set your billing date and a monthly traffic allowance and NetUse will accurately show how much bandwidth you consume, he adds.
NetUse costs US$7.99 and is available at the Mac App Store in the Utilities category.
Playback Media Server ready for Lion
Yazsoft has introduced Playback Media Server 1.7.9 (http://macte.ch/wJEA0), an update of their zero configuration media server for Mac OS X 10.5 and higher. The update has been tweaked for Lion.
Playback can share media stored in folders or even make entire disks available to a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360. No configuration is required. By default, it will share almost any content on the users system. And Playback automatically integrates with iTunes, iPhoto, and Aperture. Users can share all content from these applications transparently or choose specific playlists and albums.
Those who like to tinker will appreciate Playback's built-in Access Control List (ACL) and bandwidth throttling. The ACL allows users to control which devices have access to their media. Bandwidth throttling limits the transfer rate from the computer to their UPnP device. This allows others on the network to do other Internet related activities, such as surf the web and check their email.
Media is served via...
ConceptDraw gets Lion compatibility
CS Odessa (http://www.conceptdraw.com/) says all current versions of their ConceptDraw productivity software product line now fully support OS X 10.7 ("Lion"). ConceptDraw Office is a cross-platform solution for business diagramming, mind-mapping, and project management.
The entire suite of ConceptDraw Office products -- including ConceptDraw Pro 9, ConceptDraw Mindmap 7, and ConceptDraw Project 6 -- are now fully updated to run stably on Lion. ConceptDraw Office 2 is available now. ConceptDraw Office retails for US$499; competitive upgrades from similar paid productivity solutions are available, starting at $299.
TeamView announces Lion optimization
TeamViewer, a provider of remote control and online presentation software, has announced software updates for TeamViewer for Mac and TeamViewer Host for Mac, making them fully compatible with Apple’s new operating system, OS X 10.7 ("Lion").
TeamViewer for Mac is a cross-platform software solution that provides 24/7 remote access from a Mac computer to other Mac, Linux or Windows computers. In Addition, having TeamViewer for Mac or TeamViewer Host for Mac running allows users to access their Mac even while on the road with iOS or Android devices.
These new updates will allow Mac users who have already upgraded to Apple’s Mac OS X Lion to continue to remotely access all their documents and applications via TeamViewer.
Updated versions of TeamViewer for Mac (6.0.10370) and TeamViewer Host for Mac (6.0.10372) can be downloaded at http://macte.ch/fa3Sl ,
SuperReport for Mac OS X updated to version 2.9
e-Node (http://www.e-node.net/srp) has updated SuperReport Pro, a reporting tool for 4th Dimension, to version 2.9. This release fixes several bugs, brings new features and simplifies the license system.
SuperReport Pro 2.9 requires 4D 2004 or higher (including 4D 11 SQL and 4D 12). It's a free upgrade from all previous versions. For new users the cost is US$90 for a single-user license.
Apple killing off the Magic Mouse?
I'm a bit skeptical but "Cult of Mac" (http://macte.ch/EV0vY) claims that Apple is discontinuing the Magic Mouse in favor of the Magic Trackpad. Their unnamed retail source says Magic Mouse inventory isn't being replenished for Apple stores, and that Apple is finally phasing out the Magic Mouse.
"Cult of Mac" notes that, iIn OS X Lion, Apple focused heavily on gestures. However, lots of folks still find a mouse vital. I suspect Apple may be making the Magic Trackpad the default device for Apple desktops with the Magic Mouse an option.
If "Cult of Mac" is right, makers of third party mice are going to be very happy (unless Apple drops all mouse support from OS X).
-- Dennis Sellers
Lion users may be able to get an USB recovery drive
Mac OS X 10.7 ("Lion") users who run into disk trouble may be able to get an USB recovery drive with a Lion installer for free from AppleCare if a tech support person decides that the situation qualifies, reports "ars technica" (http://macte.ch/XqghE).
The article says Apple sent out an internal memo to AppleCare and Apple Store employees earlier this week that USB flash drives with Lion are now available to give to qualifying customers, though the customer has to have explored other options first. Apple charges customers US$69 for a USB install drive as the company pushes the OS update as a Mac App Store purchase (it costs $29).
However, you can also create your own if you've already purchased Lion. You'll need a saved Lion installer, a blank USB stick, and basic tools that come with Mac OS X. You can find info on how to do this at http://macte.ch/rUq2z .
Apple now number one global smartphone vendor
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 106.5 million units in the second quarater of 2011 (2Q11) compared to 64.4 million units in the second quarter of 2010.
The 65.4% growth in the smartphone market was on par with IDC's forecast of 67.3% for the quarter and below the 84.0% year-over-year growth in 1Q11.
"The smartphone market crowned a new leader in 2Q11, and its name is Apple," saus Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Technology and Trends team. "Ever since the first iPhone launched in 2007, Apple has made market-setting strides in hardware, software, and channel development to grab mindshare and market share. Demand has been so strong that even models that have been out for one or two years are still being sought out. With an expected refresh later this year, volumes are set to reach higher levels."
"The smartphone market leadership change signifies the parity that comes with a...
iPad to account for 61% of global tablet market for 2011
This year, approximately 65.2 million tablets will be shipped from manufacturers to major brand vendors. Apple is expected to continue dominating the market with 40 million shipments and a 61% share for the iPad, according to a special report from DigiTimes Research (http://www.digitimes.com).
Tablet shipments were up more than 420% from one year earlier in the first half of 2010 and the market will continue with its positive momentum in the second half of the year, with shipments expected to be up more than 150% from one earlier. Apple's iPad shipments in the second half of 2011 will reach 25.5 million units, up 76% compared to the first half of the year, according to DigiTimes Research.
While Apple remains the dominant player with its iPad line, other major vendors have been looking to gain traction in this booming market. The non-iPad group's shipments in the second half are expected to reach 15.65 million units, up 65% compared to the first half of the year and accounting for 39%...
Judge in Apple-Kodak case retires
Kodak's patent infringement case against Apple with the International Trade Commission (ITC) is up in the air at the moment due to the retirement of the judge overseeing the case.
Chief Administrative Law Judge Paul Luckern stepped down on Wednesday after serving as an ALJ for 27 years, reports "The Wall Street Journal" (http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110803-714857.html). Luckern, ruled in January that Apple's and RIM's smartphones don't infringe on Kodak patents covering an image-preview function in cameras.
In January Kodak filed lawsuits against Apple and Research In Motion (RIM), alleging the infringement of Kodak digital imaging technology. The Kodak complaint, filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), specifically claimed that Apple’s iPhones and RIM’s camera-enabled BlackBerry devices infringe a Kodak patent that covers technology related to a method for previewing images. Separately, Kodak filed two suits -- also in January -- against Apple in U.S....
Underprivileged youth receive gift from The Mac Support Store
The Apple authorized business, The Mac Support Store (http://www.macsupportstore.com/) in Brooklyn, is giving a donation of laptops to Rise Up & Walk Youth Center, and hoping others will join them. Rise up & Walk is a not-for-profit community based organization that provides programs for underprivileged youth.
At 11 am (Eastern) on Friday, Aug. 5, The Mac Support Store will be presenting six Mac laptops they have rebuilt at the Rise Up & Walk Youth Outreach Center Inc. These laptops will help the center on their way to achieving their goal of obtaining computers for more than 300 children by this fall. However the need is great and they will still need to purchase many more computers.
After speaking with the Director Clyde Evans, Jeff Graber and Judith Barr, co-owners of The Mac Support Store since 1996, were moved by the need and knew this was an excellent school for their laptop donations. The school only had two old Dell desktops, and, moreover, no portable computers....
ExpoBoard is new Mac OS X tool for collecting, selecting info
Deep IT has introduced ExpoBoard 1.0 (http://macte.ch/Yru2Z) for Mac OS X. It's available for US$9.99 exclusively through the Mac App Store in the Productivity category.
Featuring a cork board metaphor, ExpoBoard offers a way to collect and select photos, images, notes, text fragments and sort them into collections. You can move stickers and images freely, resize and rotate them, add transparency, group your images and notes visually, as well as export images as original files or as collage.
ExpoBoard is Lion ready and support its full screen mode. It requires Mac OS X 10.6 or higher.
Aquafadas releases MotionComposer web content creation tool
Aquafadas (http://www.aquafadas.com) has released MotionComposer, an US$149 Mac OS X (10.6.8 or higher) app for creating interactive Web content using Flash and HTML5.
Publishing to the Web, tablets, and smartphones often requires interactive content created in Flash and HTML5 at the same time, because Flash isn't supported by some platforms. MotionComposer is powered by WebKit and animations created by it run on the latest browsers, tablets, smartphones, and iOS devices such as iPhone and the iPad.
MotionComposer exports Flash / HTML5 hybrid animations. Just by copying the code generated by the app into existing HTML documents interactive animations can be published instantaneously, according to the folks at Aquafadas.
Verbatim ships Ergo Mouse for Mac, Windows systems
Verbatim (http://www.verbatim.com) has released the Ergo Mouse, a wireless desktop optical mouse with a thumb support, rubberized grip and scroll wheel.
The Ergo Mouse offers 2.4GHz wireless technology. It connects to your computer with a nano receiver small enough to plug in once and leave connected.
The Ergo Mouse is both Mac OS X (10.4 and higher) and PC compatible, and comes in three colors, including blue, red and black. The mouse operates on two AAA batteries (included) and is a
Kanex unveils two-port switcher for Cinema Displays
Kanex (http://www.kanexlive.com/snapx) has announced the SnapX two-port switcher designed specifically for 24 and 27-inch Apple LED Cinema Displays (ACD). It's available now for pre-order for US$69.
The USB powered SnapX allows users to toggle between two different Mac computers including iMac, Macbook Air, Mac mini, Macbook Pro, and new Mac models with Thunderbolt through the ACD. It features two mini DisplayPorts and two USB ports.
To use you plug in both Macs to the built-in, five-foot mini DisplayPort and USB cables. Then plug in the ACD native display cables to the SnapX. Once linked, you can utilize the iSight camera and direct the audio of the connected computers through the ACD speakers without altering the audio or video quality.
The SnapX features an ergonomic, clip-on design that fits snuggly on the bottom of the ACD stand. Additionally, it organizes all wires behind the display providing a clutter-free environment. This also reduces stress on the connectors preventing...
Apple releases QT update for Leopard, printer driver updates
Apple has released QuickTime 7.7 for Leopard and printer driver updates.
The former improves security and is recommended for all Mac OS X Leopard users. It's a 68.86MB download. Apple has also released printer driver updates for Brother and Samsung printers with Lion support.
You can obtain the updates via the Software Updates component of Mac OS X's Systems Preferences app.
iOS tutorial video offers guide to making iOS apps
Infinite Skills is offering a 12.5-hour tutorial video course (http://macte.ch/1WMIF) designed to help participants become an iOS developer.
Presented by author Tony Bove, "Learning To Build Apps for iPhone and iPad" takes viewers through the standard app development cycle using the iOS SDK (software development kit) and Xcode all the way to submission to the Apple App Store. The course focuses on two central app development projects. Viewers can follow along and build the apps themselves, piece by piece.
The iOS app development tutorial video series includes 105 separate lessons with a total running length of 12.5 hours. In addition to covering the basic steps of creating an app for the iPhone and iPad, it also includes point-by-point tips for animating menus, incorporating iAd banners within an app, personalizing user controls through gestures, troubleshooting bugs and creating universal apps that can be played across all iOS devices.
"Learning to Build Apps for the iPhone and iPad...
Graphic Node updates animated products for Keynote
Graphic Node (http://graphicnode.com/) has introduced Motion Themes and Motion Backgrounds, a set of new additions to its animated products for Apple's Keynote presentation software.
The company offers 10 fresh backgrounds and five motion themes with matching fonts, frames, and bullet styles. The Motion Themes pack now contains 20 slide themes for Keynote. Motion Backgrounds feature animations and can be looped for "endless" playback using QuickTime player.
Motion Themes and Backgrounds requires Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later. They're US$19 each.
Memoir 2 for Mac OS X gets new interface, more
Vortimac Software has released Memoir 2.0, an update to their personal journal for Mac OS X. The new version sports a tweaked interface that allows users to focus on writing and offers an organizational system that allows users to organize their journal via folders, an integrated calendar, or both.
Memoir 2 also adds an integrated calendar. What's more, when something is misplaced, an integrated live search feature allows users to locate the info.
Memoir 2 features 128-bit encryption, live search, import and export, as well as other unique features such as wiki-links and inter-entry linking. A demo is available from the Vortimac Software web site (http://www.vortimac.com/memoir/).
Memoir 2.0 requires Mac OS X 10.5 or higher. It can be purchased for US$7.99 via Vortimac's website or in the Mac App Store.
1Password adds Safari 5.1 support
Agile Web Solutions has updated 1Password (http://1password.com), a password manager for Mac OS X, to version 3.7.1. The upgrade adds autosave and autosubmit support for Safari 5.1.
1Password 3.7.1 is compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 and higher. It's a free upgrade for users of version 3.x. For new users the cost is US$39.95 for a single-user license and $69.95 for a family license (five users).
Tropical Software releases 2Remember 1.1 for Mac OS X
Tropical Software has released 2Remember 1.1 (http://macte.ch/RUJaK), an update to their reminder app for Mac OS X (10.5.8 and higher). It costs US$4.99 and is available worldwide exclusively through the Mac App Store in the Productivity category.
2Remember offers a way to incorporate simple task management with reminders into your daily Mac life. It takes only a tiny space on your screen but has numerous options for reminders, including a flashing icon on dock, a flashing tab red, alert and sound.
2Remember "hides" offscreen when an app opens, but "unhides" when the cursor is moved over a tab. This release of 2Remember for Mac complements Tropical's productivity suite including the personal note manager. TopXNotes for Mac, and Kitchen Timer, according to the folks at Tropical Software.
DMG Master ready for Lion
Tension Software (http://pomola.com) has updated DMG Master software to create standard Disk Image Archive recognized by any Mac, to version 2.4. The upgrade is ready for Mac OS X 10.7 ("Lion").
DMG Master costs US$10 and is available at the Tension Software website and the Mac App Store. It requires Mac OS X 10.6 or later.
Raidon rolls out new SAS interface rackmount system
Raidon (http://www.raidon.com.tw) has released the GearTANK GT7280-8S-U5 rackmount storage solution for SMB and department of enterprises. According to the folks at Raidon, it features simple installation, high data transfer rate and large amount of data storage capacity.
Raidon GT7280, a standard 1U rackmount JBOD storage enclosure, expands the data storage capacity limit and with two individual embedded SAS interface to provide up to 300MB/s data transfer rate. GT7280 is scalable up to 4TB from eight of 2.5-inch 500G HDD.
The power consumption of 2.5-inch HDD is purportedly only about one-fourth to one-third of the 3.5-inch HDD requires. Meanwhile, you can collocate with a SAS RAID card and the GT7280 can be upgraded to a RAID solution for demanded applications.
RAIDON GT7280 front panel LED indications and buzzer alarm allows you to fully aware of cooling fan failures, HDD failures and overheat issues, also with hot swappable hard drive design for instant HDD replacement to avoid...
Analyst: OS X, iOS to begin merging next year
We suspected it was coming, just not this soon, if one analyst is correct. Jefferies & Co. pundit Peter Misek says in a note to clients -- as reported by "Barron's" (http://macte.ch/ptohm) -- that Apple will begin combining OS X and iOS as soon as next year.
He says that combining the two would lead to “synergies,” including better gross margins and an ease in licensing of content. In particular, Apple customers would be able to then experience TV shows and movies and such, stored in the company’s “iCloud,” across phone, tablet, or, eventually, Apple television, and get the same licensed content.
“Users want to be able to pick up any iPhone, iPad, or Mac (or turn on their iTV) and have content move seamlessly between them and be optimized for the user and the device currently being used,” Pisek tells clients. “We believe this will be difficult to implement if iOS and OS X are kept separate ... We believe Apple is looking to merge iOS (iPhones/iPads) with OS X (Macs) into a single...
Apple seeking iWork software engineer
Apple's iWork team "is seeking an energetic and highly motivated software engineer to build the front and/or back end of scalable web applications," according to a "Jobs at Apple" posting (http://macte.ch/gDXq0).
The person will be part of the core engineering team responsible for the design and development of the software system. Among the requirements are: strong programming skills, understanding of software engineering best practices, object oriented design, and design patterns such as MVC and commitment to "delivering a great user experience."
