Apple is having "moderate success" with the Apple TV, Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told clients in a note -- as reported by "MacRumors" (http://www.macrumors.com). The company shipped approximately 480,000 Apple TV units during the second quarter, the analyst said. That represents more than 70% year-over-year growth as Apple transitioned from the larger hard-drive based first-generation Apple TV to the iOS-powered second-generation streaming device. However, Kuo's industry sources claim that Apple isn't planning a hardware update for the Apple TV during the current quarter. If true, many will be disappointed. Since Apple considers Blu-ray a "bag of hurt" and evidently will never offer Blu-ray support on its Macs, a 1080p Apple TV would be welcomed by movie buffs. -- Dennis Sellers

Scorpion Research (http://www.ScorpionResearch.com) has updated Scorpion BarCode, its barcode creation software for Mac OS X (10.4 or higher), to version 2.2. The upgrade is optimized for OS X 7 Lion. Scorpion Barcode 2.2 also offers support for QRCode, support for PDF417 and EPS File improvements. What's more, Terminal Command Line scripting has been improved. Scorpion BarCode lets you create barcode images for use in other applications. A single user license is US$160; multiple user and educational discounts are available. A 30-day demo can be downloaded at the Scorpion Research web site.

Overall customer service satisfaction is much higher among wireless contract-based customers than those who subscribe to prepaid or non-contract service plans, according to a J.D. Power and Associates study (http://www.jdpower.com/). Now in its ninth year, the semiannual study provides a detailed report card on how well wireless carriers provide service to their customers via three contact methods: telephone calls with customer service representatives (CSR) and/or automated response systems (ARS); visits to a retail wireless store; and on the web. Within each contact method, the study measures satisfaction and processing issues, such as problem-resolution efficiency and hold-time duration. Among customers who sign a contract for wireless service, overall customer care performance averages 761 on a 1,000-point scale -- 23 index points higher than the average satisfaction among non-contract subscribers (738). One of the main factors contributing to this performance disparity is service...

Innovelis (http://www.Innovelis.com) has released TotalMount, an US$29.99 mounting system that allows you to snap your Apple TV to the back of your wall-mounted television. It enables quick installation of Apple TV behind virtually any flat panel television, according to Wes Schwie, vice president of marketing, Innovelis. "In many cases adding another media device to a wall mounted TV isn't ideal since it can mean running a new cable to the TV and the additional media box can clutter the area," he says. "The TotalMount system allows people to discreetly mount Apple TV behind wall-mounted televisions, which helps preserve a clean and uncluttered appearance of one's walls." The patent-pending TotalMount system includes three ways to mount an Apple TV.  In the first mounting option, the Apple device slides into TotalMount, which then securely attaches to the vents behind the television using proprietary hooks.  Alternatively, TotalMount connects Apple TV to the wall mounting bracket that...

OpenSearchForSafari (http://www.opensearchforsafari.com/) has been updated and is compatible with the version 5.1 release of the Apple web browser. The extension implements the OpenSearch technology into Safari. With OpenSearchForSafari, you can search on Wikipedia, Amazon, in the iTunes store, on Flickr or Engadget with one single click on the toolbar item or shortcut (Option + Command + O) right in Safari and without leaving the current tab or page. The extension provides language support for English, German, Spanish, French and Italian and comes with predefined local plug-ins. It's compatible with Mac OS X 10.6.8 and higher.

DTP Tools and David Blatner have released the Power Styles plug-in for Adobe InDesign (www.dtptools.com/powerstyles). One of the most popular plug-ins from the Blatner Tools suite can now be purchased separately. Power Styles provide a way of managing documents designed without a consistent use of styles. Each created style has a generic name based on its difference from the style it is based on. All you have to do is rename the styles to fit your naming convention. The plug-in is sold for US$59 per license and runs on InDesign CS3-CS5.5 on the Mac and PC. A 14-day demo version is available for download.

The PandaWare Company (http://www.pandaware.com) has updated TimeCache -- its time and expense billing app for Mac OS X 10.3.9 and higher -- to version 8.0.14. The update is ready for OS X Lion. TimeCache offers support for timed or manual entries, retainer billing, customizable invoices and reports, printing options, and flexible data entry options. It also offers tracking of all a user's computer activity, the ability to save fine-grained details with time and expense entries, can use Apple Address Book entries for client contact information, can produce charts of billable time and expenses, and can import from and export to iCal calendars. Licenses for TimeCache are US$70 per user. Version 8.0.14 is a free update for registered users of version 8.x. Registered TimeCache 7 users can purchase an upgrade to version 8 for $40. A demo is available for download.

Oomph has released Sidekick 4.0 (http://oomphalot.com/sidekick), an update to the Mac application that automatically updates laptop settings based on where you are. Formerly known as NetworkLocation, Sidekick is designed to make your laptop more secure, efficient, portable, and personalized by doing numerous small and tedious tasks for you. Sidekick controls a variety of settings on your Mac laptop and can auto-adjust them based on your location. Just install Sidekick and configure it for the places you frequent, (home, work, school, the coffee shop, etc.). It runs quietly in the background and can be accessed through your laptop's menu bar. Sidekick detects when you move to a new location, and automatically adjusts your settings however you see fit. If you open up your Mac at a place you've never been to before, you can use an existing Sidekick configuration, or set up a new one to suit your surroundings. A 30-day demo is available for download. Registration is US$29.

Recosoft Corp. (http://www.recosoft.com) has released updates to its line of PDF conversion tools and InDesign converter to support OS X 10.7 Lion. Updates/New installers have been released for PDF2ID, the PDF-to-InDesign converter; PDF2Office for iWork, the PDF-to-iWork conversion utility; and Mac App store editions of PDF2Office SE for iWork and PDF2Office Standard. PDF2Office Professional 5.1 the de-facto PDF-to-Office formats conversion tool has also been qualified to be compliant with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.

In a note to clients -- as reported by "CNN Money" (http://macte.ch/DWCy8) -- Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi says an Apple victory in the patent wars with HTC and others could be worth US$30 billion. He writes: "Should Apple prevail in forcing Android to rework some of its functionality, resulting in market share shifts, it could have huge, positive financial implications for Apple: we note that a 10 percentage point shift in smartphone market share from Android to Apple (the current run-rate smartphone market share is 46% for Android vs. 18% for Apple) in 2013 is worth an estimated $30B+ in annual revenue and $10+ in annual EPS to Apple." Sacconaghi says Apple appears to have the strong upper hand in its legal battle with HTC, but "we see the current rulings as only a warm up bout. A second Apple suit against HTC -- as well as separate suits against key Android vendors Samsung and Motorola -- involves its iOS multi-touch patents, which we believe are the key pieces of IP that...

According to June data from the Nielsen (http://www.nielsen.com) research group, Google’s Android operating system (OS) now claims the largest share of the U.S. consumer smartphone market with 39%. Apple’s iOS is in second place with 28%, while RIM Blackberry is down to 20%. However, because Apple is the only company manufacturing smartphones with the iOS operating system, it is clearly the top smartphone manufacturer in the US, says Nielsen. Other leading manufacturers include HTC, whose Android phones represents 14% of the smartphone market and whose Windows Mobile/WP7 devices account for 6% of the market; and Motorola, whose Android devices are owned by 11% of smartphone consumers. Samsung’s Android devices are used by 8% of smartphone owners. Windows Mobile/WP7 phones are used by 2% of smartphone owners.

Avid has released Sibelius 7, the newest version of the company’s flagship musical notation software that works with Mac OS X 10.6.7 or higher. The upgrade enhances music writing through intuitive and flexible workflows and improved tools for increased collaboration, according to Chris Gahagan, Avid senior vice president of Products and Solutions.. Complete with a newly recorded professional-quality sampled sound library, native 64-bit performance, full MusicXML interchange support, and advanced typography and graphics features, Sibelius 7 is more powerful and versatile than ever before, he adds. The new professional-quality sound library includes the Avid Orchestra, a specially recorded full symphony orchestra, a collection of rock and pop sounds from the Avid virtual instrument team, a 27-stop church organ from leading virtual organ creator Hauptwerk, and a selection of sounds from Sample Logic Rumble and Fanfare featuring 14-time world champion Drum and Bugle Corps, The Blue...

SoniVox has released the newest instrument from their Nemesynth Audio Research Group: Twist (http://macte.ch/WS6Uu), a spectral morphing synthesizer. It boasts Mac standalone, AU, VST and RTAS compatibility. Twist is a tool for musicians, producers, and sound designers that combines a new type of synthesis, intelligent performance controls, and an intuitive graphical user interface designed to give the user control over a new and unique sound engine which sounds can easily personalized to meet each user’s individual needs, according to the folks at SoniVox. It sports over 200 factory presets that can be personalized. You can lock Twist's controls up with any MIDI controller. There's an onboard tempo-synced variable resolution pattern generator. Twist is available now at a manufacturer's suggested retail price of US$149.99 and an estimated street price of $99.99.

The new generation of textbooks will be available on the iPad, saving schools the expense of books not to mention saving millions of trees. ZooGue’s (http://www.zoogue.com) new BinderPad offers a way of carrying the tablet of the future in a three-ring binder from the past," says ZooGue CEO Tim Angel. The BinderPad weighs in at 3.5 ounces, and is only a half-inch inch thick with the iPad inside. It costs US$29.99 and users can just pop it into any three-ring binder.

iWeb Themes Park (http://www.iwebthemespark.com/Home.html) is offering five new iWeb themes for iWeb, Apple's entry-level web creation software that's part of the iLife suite. The themes -- Attractive, Bargain, Effects, Forestry and Main Points – work just fine with the recently updated iWeb and OS X Lion. Use of the themes requires a Mac with iWeb from iLife '08 or later. The iWeb Themes Box of 135 themes is priced at US$29.99. Each template is available for $11.99 or $12.99. Four iWeb Themes are free for everyone.

publicspace.net has updated its "A Better Finder Attributes" utility (http://www.publicspace.net/ABetterFinderAttributes/) -- which can change Finder attributes, such as creation and modification dates -- to version 5.05. The upgrade replaces the previous EXIF date changing engine with a faster and more expandable implementation. "A Better Finder Attributes" requires Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. It costs US$14.95, though version 5.05 is a free update for registered users of version 5.x.

Eltima Software has released Flash'in'App 2.7, an update of the Cocoa framework that allows loading and fully managing Flash movies right in Mac applications. The upgrade fixes communication with a Flash Player component and fixes some glitches. Flash'in'App features options that make implementing Flash Player component into any Mac application more convenient. A set of classes will let any application play SWF files, manage their playback, communicate with them via an external application programming interface, FSCommands or Variables, control external resources loading, and more. Flash'in'App 2.7 costs US$399.95 for a single license and $699.95 for a corporate license and is available for purchase and download from the Flash'in'App website (http://mac.eltima.com/). It requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher.

Zevrix Solutions has announced updated Package Central (http://zevrix.com/PackageCentral.php), a document packaging workflow automation solution for Adobe InDesign, to version 1.5. The new version lets users export InDesign documents to PDF and IDML during processing. Originally developed for a publisher in the United States, the software automates InDesign packaging by processing files from hotfolders. Package Central offloads packaging to a central system, leaving operator workstations free from the output process. The software offers font auto-activation, e-mail notifications, detailed logs and more. Package Central can be purchased for US$299.95 from the Zevrix Solutions website, as well as from authorized resellers. A demo is available for download. Package Central runs on Mac OS X 10.4.2 or higher, is a Universal Binary, and works with Adobe InDesign CS2-CS5.5.

More than a month after Apple filed a motion to intervene as the defendant in a lawsuit from Lodsys that targets 11 application developers, Lodsys has filed a rebuttal seeking to get Apple's efforts denied, reports "CNET" (http://macte.ch/sFS8w). In a "heavily redacted document" filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Marshall Division, Lodsys notes that things have changed since Apple got involved, the article says. That includes who's been targeted by the suit, which was expanded last week to include a number of gaming giants like Atari, Electronic Arts, Rovio, Square Enix, and Take-Two Interactive, all of which Lodsys says violate the patents it holds with their mobile software. "Apple repeatedly asserts that the defendants are allegedly individuals or 'small entities with limited resources'," the filings says. "But Apple prematurely filed its Motion before Lodsys filed its Amended Complaint against several large companies with substantial financial...

Forget iPads. Students in Owensboro (Kentucky) Public Schools will be getting MacBook Airs to help them with their work next school year, reports the "TriState" newspaper (http://macte.ch/Ya2aY). More than 2,000 students in grades 5-12 will receive the ultra-light laptops. The OPS School Board approved a specific policy of how they will be used and it bans visiting illegal websites or gambling over the internet. Students in the Daviess County School District have been taking home laptops as well, notes "TriState."

Anticipation in the consumer electronics world is soaring for the launch of Apple's iPhone 5, which is rumored to be hitting store shelves this fall. PriceGrabber (http://www.pricegrabber.com) a part of Experian, just released the results of its iPhone 5 survey, revealing that 35% of consumers plan to purchase the latest iPhone upon its release. Of these respondents, 51% indicated that they will buy the smartphone within the first year of release, 30% will purchase it before the end of 2011, 14% will buy it within the first month, and 7%will buy it within the first week. Conducted from July 1-11, 2011, the survey includes responses from 2,852 U.S. online consumers. When it comes to the new features shoppers deem most important in their decision to purchase the iPhone 5, practicality seems to reign. When respondents were asked to select new iPhone 5 features most important when considering a purchase, 59% indicated a better battery life, and 55% are looking for cost reduction. Forty-...

Apple and Samsung have been evaluating the possible niche market for solar-powered consumer products and considering the inclusion of Taiwan-based solar firms in their respective supply chains, according to "DigiTimes" (http://macte.ch/22Vhs). However, these niche markets will need a longer time to develop, the article says, quoting Taiwan-based solar firms. "Samsung's solar-powered netbook adopts a unique sized solar cell, added industry sources, and the number of solar cells used is less than rooftop solar systems, hence it is unlikely for solar-powered consumer products to form a solid market in the short term," says "DigiTimes."

Canon U.S.A. has introduced two new photo printers, the PIXMA MG5320 Wireless Photo All-In-One and the PIXMA iP4920 Photo Inkjet Printer models. Both printers feature upgrades to Easy-PhotoPrint EX and Full HD Movie Print software.  An incentive for those who have registered with the CANON iMAGE GATEWAY service or Picasa Web Albums is PIXMA Cloud Link, which provides the ability to print, directly through the PIXMA MG5320 printer without the use of a computer, photos from photo albums stored in those services, says Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Imaging Technology and Communications Group, Canon U.S.A. Users of PIXMA Cloud Link will also have access to exclusive templates including stationary, envelopes, memos, calendars and many others. In addition, the PIXMA MG5320 printer is 802.11n Wi-Fi certified allowing for a network transfer rate. Wireless networks can be set up with the press of one button when using a Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). Canon U.S.A...

Entrust (http://www.entrust.com), which specializes in securing online identities and information, says former Apple exec, Jon Callas, has been appointed chief technology officer. Callas brings more than 30 years of experience to his new position at Entrust, where he will be responsible for shaping the direction of new technology and innovation, particularly as the company continues to develop solutions for mobile, as well as logical and physical security. He will report directly to Entrust President and CEO, Bill Conner. Prior to joining Entrust, Callas co-founded PGP Corp., which specialized in email and data encryption software. Over the course of more than 15 years, He held leadership functions including CTO and CSO. Most recently, he also served as an operating system security expert with Apple. Additionally, he has held leadership positions with corporations including Wave Systems Corp., Digital Equipment Corp. and Counterpane Internet Security.