Griffin Technology has unveiled a new collection of designs from the Griffin + Threadless Co-Op Initiative (http://www.griffintechnology.com/coop/threadless). Two new case patterns, Permafrost Pollution and Funkalicious, join the line of cases.

Designs chosen for the Griffin + Threadless Co-Op Initiative appear on a Griffin-engineered low-profile case: a single-piece polycarbonate shell snaps into place to provide protection from scratches, dust, dings and boringness. The new cases are US$34.99 each.

iKit (http://www.ikit.com) has introduced the US$35 Chrome Flip Case for the iPhone 3GS. It costs and is available in red, blue, grey and white.

The product allows you to enjoy hands-free video viewing at a café, desk, or anywhere with a flat surface. The Chrome Flip Case features a protective polycarbonate body and a flipstand with a mirror screen protector included with purchase.

Mapdiva has updated Ortelius (http://www.mapdiva.com/ ), its map illustration software for Mac OS X, to version 1.0.7. With the update, Ortelius User's Guide is now online

Version 1.0.7 adds dozens of fully editable map templates. Also included are automatic junctions and style transitions and new styles and symbols.

Ortelius is a vector-based drawing program made especially for (though not limited to) map design and presentation. Through its drag-and-drop interface, Ortelius offers a solution for floor plans, landscape plans, scaled drawings, and a variety of custom maps.

Ortelius allows you to draw directly with features such as roads, rivers, coastlines, buildings, symbols, and contours. It's designed for reports, presentations, books, research papers, invitations, magazines, web sites, brochures, public displays, and new media applications with professional-level results.

Every...

Other World Computing (http://www.macsales.com) says its its OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini is the first 2.5-inch, 1TB, quad interface, bus powered portable storage solution on the market and available for immediate ordering with 10 models priced from US$119.99.

It sports FireWire 800/400, USB 2.0, and eSATA interface connectivity. The fanless Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini delivers storage/backup to Mac or PC users in a portable, brushed aluminum. No AC adapter is required.

In addition to the new 1TB model, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini is available in nine other quad interface models offering a variety of speed, capacity, and drive type options. They're compatible with Apple operating systems from Mac OS 8.6 through Mac OS X 10.6.x.

MacVector has released MacVector 11.1. This release as been designed to consolidate and "tweak" the new features and changes that have been made over the last four major releases.

MacVector 11.1 is designed to simplify and speed up many common workflows as well as providing better integration with Mac OS X and improving performance, according to MacVector President Kevin Kendall.  Changes include increased interactivity between different views of a sequence, drag and drop of files and sequences between windows and dialogs, Growl support for the job manager, many performance enhancements and literally hundreds of other interface tweaks.

MacVector 11 pricing can be found here: http://www.macvector.com/Buy/11201995.html . Version 11.1 is a free update for registered users of version 11.

Monkeybread Software has released version 1.0 of the MBS SQLite Extension (http://www.monkeybreadsoftware.de/realserver/).

The MBS SQLite Extension is three things in one: a plug-in for the REAL Server from REALsoftware; a plug-in for SQLiteManager from sqlabs; and an extension for SQLite that you can use in all SQLite based database engines including the REALSQLDatabase class in REALbasic.

SQLite Extension supports Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. Example projects for REALbasic are included for both REALSQLDatabase class and REALSQLServerDatabase class.

You can test the plugin for free up to 10 minutes per launch in a demo mode. Licenses are available for approximately US135 9 per developer with one year of free updates.

The Alchemist Guild has released Warehouse 1.0 (http://www.warehouseosx.com), a task-based backup solution for Mac OS X. The US$9.99 offers a lightweight single window interface for backing up files from your Mac to any removable media device such as external hard drives, USB memory sticks or even other Macs connected on a network.

Warehouse uses a task based system that lets you create an unlimited number of tasks each with source folders, destination location and an option of four backup modes. It lets you schedule tasks to run in the background (using a variety of scheduling options) so the application itself can usually remain closed while it backs up files while you work.

Like TimeMachine, dated folders containing only changed files are incrementally backed up thus saving disk space. If you want to restore old archives browse them like other folders in the Finder and copy out files you...

FileMaker (http://www.filemaker.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple, has released FileMaker Pro 11, which sports such new features as charting, “on the fly” reporting, a new Quick Find capability, and tools for easier database creation.

Also available today with new features is the entire FileMaker 11 product line, which includes FileMaker Pro 11 Advanced, FileMaker Server 11 and FileMaker Server 11. FileMaker Pro 11 offers a selection of dynamic professional-quality charts (pie, bar, area, and line), empowering users to visualize, evaluate and report on data within a new or existing layout, according to Ryan Rosenberg, vice president, marketing and services, FileMaker.

For example, users can add a pie chart tab within a FileMaker Pro layout to see their sales depicted graphically any way they chose -- weekly, monthly, regionally and more.  FileMaker Charts can also be published to the web...

Apple, Facebook, Twitter and HP declined to testify at the second session of the US Senate Judiciary Committee's second hearing on Human Rights and the Law, which looks at protecting privacy of individuals who use the Internet for political and commercial use. They declined, and Judiciary Chair Richard J. Durbin blasted the companies for this.

According to a "ZDNet" report (http://government.zdnet.com/?p=7497), he had this to say: "The bottom line is this: with a few notable exceptions, the technology industry seems unwilling to regulate itself and unwilling even to engage in a dialogue with Congress about the serious human rights challenges the industry faces.

"In the face of this resistance, I have decided that it is time to take a more active role. At our hearing two years ago, I indicated that Congress could step in if the industry failed to take concrete action to...

Badia Software has released a public beta version of Exportools Professional 3.0, its flagship software for high-end exporting and printing of multiple Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress documents.

The latest version has been entirely rewritten in Cocoa, and it's the first add-on for InDesign and QuarkXPress built with 64-bit code, boosting overall performance and stability. Almost every aspect of Exportools Professional's functionality has been refined and improved, according to the folks at Badia.

Exportools Professional 30. requires Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard"), Adobe InDesign CS3 or CS4, and/or QuarkXPress 8. It's currently in public beta, so users can test it and send feedback regarding its performance and usability. Just remember that beta software is unfinished software so use with care.

Pre-orders are available for US$135 until March 31 with savings of 25%. For more info downloads, go to...

Well, it's official. Valve (http://www.valuesoftware.com) says it will bring Steam, Valve's gaming service, and Source, Valve's gaming engine, to the Mac. Steam and Valve's library of games including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series will be available in April.

"As we transition from entertainment as a product to entertainment as a service, customers and developers need open, high-quality Internet clients," says Valve President Gabe Newell, "The Mac is a great platform for entertainment services."

"Our Steam partners, who are delivering over a thousand games to 25 million Steam clients, are very excited about adding support for the Mac," adds Jason Holtman, director of Business Development at Valve. "Steamworks for the Mac supports all of the Steamworks APIs, and we have added a new feature, called Steam Play, which allows customers who...

MusicSkins -- which makes vinyl skin products for iPods, MP3 players, cell phones, PDAs, laptops and gaming accessories -- has entered into a licensing deal with Cartoon Network Enterprises (CNE), the licensing and merchandising arm of Adult Swim, that grants MusicSkins rights to offer skins featuring the artwork from Adult Swim’s portfolio of animated programs.

Adult Swim is the late-night network for adults that shares channel space with Cartoon Network between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., whose shows are designed to appeal to a grown-up sense of humor and adult tastes and sensibilities. Under the new licensing agreement, MusicSkins has the rights to market skins featuring characters and artwork from suchAdult Swim action-adventure and comedy series such as “Aqua Teen Hunger Force," “Robot Chicken," “Metalocalypse," “The Venture Bros.," Freaknik," “Squidbillies," “The Drinky Crow Show"and more.

The Adult Swim line of skins will be available online at...