SoniVox (http://www.SoniVoxmi.com) is offering a pre-release preview complete with MP3 and video examples of the first instrument from their new Nemesyth Audio Research Group, Vocalizer. It's a vocal production synthesizer.

Vocalizer couples a new technology synthesis engine with an open input based architecture. It's one part effect plug-in and one part virtual instrument, according to the folks at SoniVox. Vocalists, non-vocalists, and producers feed Vocalizer any audio source, and it re-pitches, effects, and re-synthesizes the original source into a whole new sound.

Primarily designed for vocal use, vocalists will enjoy the vast options afforded by Vocalizer to add previously unattainable dimensions to their voice, says the gang at SoniVox. Inversely, non-vocalists will enjoy the opportunity to use their voices in musical ways that they previously thought impossible, they add.

Vocalizer...

JNSoftware (http://www.jonn8.com/) has updated JABMenu, a tool for utilizing your Mac OS X Address Book data through a system-wide menu, to version 2.5. The new version adds support for networked sources (i.e., Exchange and CardDAV servers) and improved flexibility in acting on contact data through enhanced scripting support.

JABMenu also adds an option to toggle related groups in the "Groups" submenu for the contacts specified in the contact source preference. Additionally, the upgrade adds a menu item to clear the data cache without having to open the preferences window and help buttons in the preferences window.

JABMenu provides access to your contacts' phone numbers, email, instant messaging, and postal addresses, URLs, and notes. Selecting a menu item can trigger an action such as displaying it in large type, copying it to the clipboard, creating a new email message, dialing the phone, or showing...

Realmac has released Courier (http://www.realmacsoftware.com/courier/), an US19.95 (for a limited time) tool that allows you to share files, images, photos, movies and more with online services such as Flickr and Facebook. It requires Mac OS X 10.6 or higher and a 64-bit Mac.

To use Courier, you create an Envelope, drag on the stamp icons for the services you want to send files to; then just drag and drop on the files you want to deliver. The stamp icons are for seven built-in plug-ins for file sharing with Amazon S3, Ember, Flickr, Facebook, FTP / SFTP, Vimeo and YouTube.

Once everything's been uploaded, Courier ensures links to the published files are ready for use. Realmac keeps the history of all uploads so you can retrieve links to each file.

The SD Association (http://www.sdcard.org) has defined a new, dual-row pin memory card design achieving bus interface speeds of up to 300MB per second for SDXC and SDHC devices and memory cards. It's fully backwards compatible, allowing equipped devices full use of any SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards.  

New high speed interface signals will be assigned on the second row of pins of select SDXC and SDHC memory cards offering the new speed. This option will be available in both full-size and micro form factors and does not change the physical size or shape of the cards. This design will be part of the forthcoming SD 4.0 specification, expected in early 2011.  

At IFA, the Association is displaying new products based on SDXC, its latest standard. Attendees will see more than 40 products from 18 different global brands including memory cards, HD digital cameras, HD video cameras, HD televisions, e-books, card...

NewerTech (http://www.newertech.com) has announced a $27.95 Seven Port USB 2.0 Powered Hub for connecting and powering up to seven USB devices simultaneously to a Mac or PC. It delivers the required 500mA of power to each of the seven industry standard USB ports to eliminate device disconnection commonly experienced by typical underpowered hubs, the company says.

It's designed for powering multiple desktop accessories like external drives, scanners, printers, optical drives, and digital cameras. The NewerTech Seven Port USB 2.0 Powered Hub also offers access to temporary devices like thumb drives, media readers, and even USB chargeable devices like iPods and iPhones.

NewBay Media, a publisher of digital content creation media, today announced that it will once again partner with Weynand Training International, a Gold Level Apple Authorized Training Center located in Los Angeles, to offer hands-on professional-level training at its upcoming Digital Video Expo (http://www.dvexpo.com) conference and trade show.

The event will be held at the Pasadena Convention Center from Sept. 28-30. Based on the success of last year’s training program, Digital Video Expo and Weynand Training are offering instruction in additional applications at this year’s event, including: Apple Soundtrack Pro, Apple Motion 4, Adobe CS5: Photoshop and Adobe CS5: After Effects.

Digital Video Expo’s hands-on instruction program will be run by Diana Weynand, a producer/editor who is a co-owner of Weynand Training International, an Apple Authorized Training Center located in Los Angeles. She is the...

From the makers of EarthDesk, Cinematica (http://www.xericdesign.com/cinematica.php ) is a new, US$24.95 Mac OS X app that lets you manage your video library in detail, keeping track of dozens of properties for each and every file.

You can sort and search by multiple criteria simultaneously, such as genre, studio, program, season and episode, as well as by technical properties including resolution, aspect ratio, frame rate, and video codec. Cinematica even has a secondary filter that lets you further refine your search based on a selected property.

Cinematica imports and catalogs video files quietly in the background so you can keep working, and lets you customize collection icons. It also utilizes smart collections to catalogue all of your video files into groups. A demo is available for download.

Belkin (http://www.belkin.com) is offering a variety of cases for the new iPod touch. There are Grip Cases, Shield Cases, Verve Cases, Fit Armbands and Overlays.

Belkin says it's dentified five main ways people carry their iPod: in a pocket, in the hand, in a bag, on themselves, and while being active. For those carrying their iPod in their pocket, the company’s slim cases are easy to grip, slide in and out of a pocket smoothly, and provide impact protection from everyday drops.

For those who keep their iPod in hand at all times to text, game, or check their email, our line of cases are comfortable to hold, shock-absorbing, and easy to grip. Belkin also has cases that make it easy to find your iPod within a travel bag or purse while protecting it against constant contact with other items. Go to the Belkin web site to see the entire range of iPod touch cases.

iWeb Themes Park (http://www.iwebthemespark.com) has announced five new iWeb themes for iWeb, Apple's web creation component of its iLife suite. The new themes are Bright Solutions, Chess Club, Clinic, Historical and Music Life.

To use iWeb Themes from iWeb Themes Park requires a Mac with iLife '08 (iWeb 2.0) or later. The iWeb Themes Box of 55 themes is priced at US $39.99. Ten iWeb themes in a Combo Package can be purchased for $29.99. Each template is available for $10.99. Three iWeb themes of Your choice can be obtained only for $21.98. Two iWeb themes are free for everyone.

SmileOnMyMac has updated PDFPen (http://www.smileonmymac.com/PDFpen/download.html), its PDF editing and form-filling tool for Mac OS X, to version 4.7.1. In the upgrade, users can choose an Evernote notebook into which to save the PDF, in addition to setting the name and note title. PDFpen 4.7.1 also added support for form submission via HTTP and email.

PDFpen costs US$49.95, and PDFpenPro is $99.95. Family pack licenses, which cover up to five computers in one household, are $74.95 for PDFpen and $129.95 for PDFpenPro. Upgrades from earlier versions of either application are $25, and free to users who purchased after June 1, 2008. Upgrades from any version of PDFpen to PDFpenPro 4.0 are $25.

PDFpen 4.7.1 and PDFpen Pro 4.7.1 require Mac OS X 10.6 or later. Demo versions are available for download.

Samsung Electronics (http://www.samsung.com) has debuted the US$299 HMX-T10 camcorder, a compact digital camcorder that sports a 20-degree Slanted Lens that ensures that the user can truly enjoy their recording experience without any discomfort to their arm or wrist, a common occurrence in standard camcorders currently on the market, according to SangJin Park, president of Samsung Digital Imaging Business, Samsung Electronics.

The camcorder has a 2.7-inch touch screen LCD and the ability to capture still images and video footage at the same time. Additionally, due to its compact nature, the HMX-T10 can be carried with ease in any environment, Park says.

The HMX-T10 boasts full HD technology for all video footage and 4.7 mega-pixel still images, plus Optical Image Stabilization. Additionally, it incorporates an advanced BSI (Back Side Illuminated) CMOS sensor that purportedly provides twice the...

According to International Data Corporation (IDC), mobile phone recycling is amazingly low today, with rates of 10% considered good. The research group spoke with the vendors directly, physically inspected the packaging, devices, and accessories of mobile phone manufacturers, and leveraged published corporate responsibility reports and other corporate and product environmental reports as available.

IDC (http://www.idc.com) also reviewed other third-party rating and watchdog sites such as ENERGY STAR and Greenpeace. To better understand where the mobile industry stands on sustainability, IDC used five criteria (packaging, materials, energy, end-of-life program, and overall sustainability efforts) and 20 sub-criteria to create a green ranking of 10 key mobile device manufacturers. The top five mobile device manufacturers in terms of their sustainability policies and practices are (in alphabetical order): Apple, LG,...

SMEStorage (http://www.smestorage.com) has announced that CloudDav is now available to purchase for all registered users of the SMEStorage Gateway service, whether they are free or premium members.

CloudDav enables WebDav access for supported storage clouds, such as Amazon S3 and SkyDrive, even when the underlying storage cloud itself does not support it. This makes it ideal for being able to access documents via iPhone/iPad applications that support WebDav, such as Office2,  from storage providers that are otherwise not supported, according to SMEStorage CEO Ian Oborne.

He says that if users are using more than one cloud they will see all their clouds files simply by adding the SMEStorage WebDav service enabling them to, for example, to manage files from Amazon S3, SkyDrive, Google Docs, and more, all from one WebDav file system. For existing and new iPhone and iPad users, if they send a...

PING (http://www.ping.com) and its parent company, Karsten Manufacturing Corp., have entered into an agreement with Apple under which Apple will use the PING trademark in connection with Apple's new social music discovery feature in iTunes.  Apple introduced the iTunes PING feature at Wednesday's special event.

Founded in 1959, PING is a brand that holds more than 1,000 trademark registrations around the world, many related to golf equipment.  

"We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Apple," said John Solheim, Chairman and CEO of Karsten Manufacturing Corporation and PING.  "Like PING, Apple carries a reputation for innovation and quality.  I have always had great respect for companies that have changed and improved the ways things are done and I continue to model PING along those lines.  Apple is a truly great example of this kind of enterprise."

Well, that was fast. iLuv (http://www.i-luv.com) has announced a new line of stylish cases and a screen protectors for Apple’s new iPod touch and nano. The line-up includes the:

° US$34.99 iCC618 Tinted PC Case with Soft Coating: a two–piece case with soft rubber coating, front edge protection with an enhanced grip and easy docking;

° $29.99 iCC617 PC Clear Case: a scratch free (PU coated) two–piece case with front edge protection that provides an enhanced grip and easy dockingl

° $24.99 iCC615 Flexi-Clear TPU Case with Pattern: a case with a high gloss design available in tinted pink, tinted black or clear;

° $29.99 iCC616 Flexi-Metallic Case with 3DPattern: a flexible TPU case with a high gloss design and a metallic sparkling appearance available in metallic pink, titanium black or white pearl;

° $19.99 iCC613 Silicone Case with 3D Pattern: an easy-to-grip case available in black,...

Apple has introduced iTunes 10 with Ping, a new music-oriented social network for following your favorite artists and friends to discover what music they’re talking about, listening to and downloading.

iTunes Ping lets you post your thoughts and opinions, your favorite albums and songs, the music you’ve downloaded from iTunes, plus view concert listings and tell your friends which concerts you plan to attend. iTunes 10 also features HD TV show rentals for 99 cents an episode and AirPlay wireless music playback.

Ping lets you follow your favorite artists to see what they’re up to, check out photos and videos they’ve posted, see their tour dates and read comments about other artists and albums they’re listening to. You can also create a profile on iTunes to let your friends know who you’re following, what you’re listening to and which concerts you’re going to.

Ping’s Recent Activity feed shows you their posts about artists, albums, songs and concerts, plus a...

Reports of its demise were a bit premature. Apple has announced the new redesigned iPod shuffle that features both clickable “ring” buttons and Apple’s innovative VoiceOver technology, enabling users to navigate their music and playlists without ever looking at their iPod shuffle.

The new wearable iPod shuffle has an all-aluminum enclosure with a built-in clip and comes in five colors: silver, blue, green, orange and pink. With nearly 50% more battery life, the new iPod shuffle features over 15 hours of music playback on a single battery charge and offers 2GB of storage for US$49.

The iPod shuffle is based on Apple’s popular shuffle feature, which randomly selects songs from a user’s music library. The clickable buttons make the new iPod shuffle even easier to use, according to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Press the center button to play and pause, press the outer buttons to skip forward and back or adjust the volume up and down.

The new VoiceOver button on top of...

Quark has announced the availability of two new "Magic Bundles" for QuarkXPress 8. Anyone purchasing or upgrading to QuarkXPress 8 between Sept.1 and Nov. 300 will be able to choose between two free bundles worth up to $547.

The Magic Software Bundle features MarkzToolsand ID2Q from Markzware, as well as 1,000 professional OpenType fonts. Alternatively, the Magic Maintenance Bundle includes a year’s worth of unlimited telephone technical support, the ability to upgrade from any previous version of QuarkXPress, free upgrades to any new versions of QuarkXPress released during the 12 months, and the 1,000 OpenType® fonts.
 
The QuarkXPress 8 Magic Software Bundle is worth $547 and includes:

° Markzware MarkzTools (Mac only): MarkzTools is an XTension to QuarkXPress that allows users to down-save QuarkXPress files to versions 4 and 6, and helps prevent and repair corrupt QuarkXPress files. 

° ID2Q from Markzware (Mac and Windows): ID2Q (Adobe InDesign...

FileMaker, Inc. (http://www.filemaker.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple, has announced the Bento 3 Project Manager, a new set of templates designed to make it easy for Mac users to track their personal projects and manage their time within one integrated, intuitive place.

The Bento 3 Project Manager includes a free 30-day trial of the popular Bento 3 personal database for Mac, plus two professionally designed, ready-to-use templates. Templates in the Bento 3 Project Manager include:

° Project Dashboard, with forms for project overview, milestones, tasks, communications, related files such as photos and presentations, and time sheets;

° Time Sheets, with pre-defined Smart Collections for hours billed, hours to be billed, and amounts due. All of this detailed information can be located quickly using iTunes-style searching.

The Bento 3 Project Manager also works with Bento for...

Sony (http://www.sonystyle.com) has announced three new S-Frame digital photo frames (models DPF-XR100, DPF-VR100 and DPF-D830) and a Bloggie Touch camera (pictured).

Features of the photo frames incluce video playback and battery operated capabilities.   The DPF-XR100 and DPF-VR100 models offer AVCHD video playback capabilities. The DPF-D830 model is Sony's first battery operated digital photo frame. The S-Frame DPF-XR100, DPF-VR100 and DPF-D830 digital photo frames will be available in November for about US$250, $200 and $150, respectively.

Sony's new Bloggie Touch is a pocket video camera in two models (MHS-TS20 and MHS-TS10). It captures full 1920x1080p high definition MP4 video and 12.8-megapixel photos on 8GB or 4GB of embedded memory, respectively, offering approximately four hours of HD movie recording. Its body sports a three-inch diagonal capacitive touch screen.

Available in...

PCI Geomatics has released GeoImaging Tools for ArcGIS 2.0 (http://www.pcigeomatics.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id...), offering automated tools for correcting raw satellite imagery, GeoImaging Tools is revolutionizing the integration of remotely sensed imagery into GIS workflows.
 
The release of GeoImaging Tools version 2.0 coincides and integrates directly within ESRI’s recently released ArcGIS 10 software. With the GeoImaging Tools Image Correction Module, ArcGIS users will benefit from rigorous, automated multi-sensor support and be able to correct raw imagery using sensor model information, optionally with automatic GCPs and tie points from reference data such as chip databases, reference mosaics, or vectors, according to...

RE:Vision Effects (http://www.revisionfx.com) has announced a new version (version 4) of their ReelSmart Motion Blur OFX plug-in for Nuke, Maya/3ds Max Composite, and Scratch is now available.

ReelSmart Motion Blur (RSMB) automatically adds more natural-looking motion blur to a sequence. Proprietary tracking technology is at the heart of RSMB, so there's no handwork involved, according to the folks at RE:Vision Effects.. Of course you can add as little or as much blurring as you need and even remove motion blur.

The latest version adds support for 64-bit on Mac OS X and offers speed boosts.

Multi-host application floating licenses are available. With multi-host licensing users can float a single license across many applications, including: Nuke, Flame, Fusion, After Effects (Twixtor PRO only), Shake, Softimage, Smoke, Flint, Flare, Inferno, Combustion, Premiere Pro (Twixtor PRO only),...

iWebTemplate (http://www.iwebtemplate.com) has added five new iWeb templates to be used with iWeb, the web site building component of Apple's iLife suite.

iWeb Themes for Business 8.0, developed by iPresentee, includes five new themes available in standard and flash edition: Comics, Eco, Greenery, Light Colors and Red Sunset. The new release extends iWebTemplate's iWeb themes collection up to 139.

Each iWeb theme incorporates a number of different graphic elements that can be removed, moved and changed in size, opacity or color. iWeb Themes for Business 9.0 requires Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later and iWeb 2.0 (iLife 08) or iWeb 3.0 (iLife 09).

Each iWeb theme is available for US$10. Samples and more information about iWeb Themes 7.0 are available immediately at the iWebTemplate web site.

Canon USA (http://www.usa.canon.com) has added four new imageCLASS multifunction devices to its line-up of small office and home office solutions: the Color imageCLASS MF9280Cdn and MF9220Cdn color laser multifunction printers and the MF4570dn and D420 monochrome laser multifunction printers.
 
Developed to address the needs of today’s fast-paced end-user, the new Color imageCLASS MF9280Cdn and MF9220Cdn color laser multifunction printers allow small businesses and work groups to maximize productivity with print, copy, fax and scan functionality in a fully networkable device, according to Jim Rosetta, vice president and general manager, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A. 

Designed for multi-user environments, the devices feature a variety of technologies including “User ID Management” control, which allows network administrators to monitor and limit print output and an Auto-Duplex function...

Intel CEO Paul Otellini says he checked the opinion of Apple CEO Steve Jobs before buying German chipmaker Infineon Technologies' wireless unit for US$7.7 billion, reports "ChannelNews" (http://www.channelnews.com.au/Networking_And_Wireless/Industry/D8Q2K5R6).

"Steve was very happy," Otellini told Fox Business TV. "The industry was abuzz that this business unit was on the market, and there were a number of competing companies for it. I think they are very happy that Intel won the bid."

The purchase gives Intel a major foot in the door of the booming smartphone business. Infineon's baseband chips are used in the iPhone and other smartphones.

TransferBigFiles (http://www.transferbigfiles.com) has launched an iPhone app that enables iPhone users to send full-quality HD videos and photos wirelessly from an iPhone. The files are kept in cloud storage provided by TransferBigFiles.com where users (and their friends and family) can then share or retrieve the files using any web browser.

Currently, iPhone users must plug their devices into their computers to access the full-quality HD video files, making it impossible to send or share those HD files wirelessly from a phone. For the first time, iPhone users can send their HD video files from anywhere by using the TransferBigFiles app, says Hamid Shojaee, CEO of TransferBigFiles.com. "

The TransferBigFiles app is free and available in the Apple App Store. The first 100,000 users to install and activate the app will receive 5GB of free cloud storage for their video and photo...

Here are the latest iPhone/iPod touch/iPod/iPad apps announced. You can find 'em at the Apple App Store (http://www.itunes.com/appstore/).

Seline HD (http://amidio.com/seline) is a new, US$5.99 live performance and improvisation music instrument for the iPad. Its CrystalClarity HD sound engine is capable of analyzing and predicting melodies, altering the sound on the fly with a dozen of subtle algorithms that add expression, character and life to the generated music, according to the folks at Seline HD.

Vito Technology has released a new version of Star Walk, an astronomy guide for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The new version of the app features gyroscope support on iPhone 4, Moon rise and Moon set info on SkyLive screen, full multitasking support and minor bug fixes. Star Walk is available for iPhone and...

Another day, another lawsuit. A company called Triton Tech is suing Apple for violating a patent (5,181,181) for a "computer apparatus input device for three-dimensional information." The company says Apple is infringing on its patent with the accelerometer and gyroscope features of its idevices, notes "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com).

Here's part of Tritron Tech's patent: "A mouse which senses six degrees of motion arising from movement of the mouse within three dimensions. A hand-held device includes three accelerometers for sensing linear translation along three axes of a Cartesian coordinate system and three angular rate sensors for sensing angular rotation about the three axes. Signals produced by the sensors are processed to permit the acceleration, velocity and relative position and attitude of the device to be conveyed to a computer. Thus, a person may interact with a computer...

It wasn’t long ago that every dollar spent at the iTunes store was spent on music and video, but now mobile software apps are vying for consumers’ time and budget, according to recent findings in NPD’s “iTunes User Report.” The NPD Group (http://www.npd.com), a market research company, recently surveyed Apple iTunes, iPod, iPhone, and iPod touch users to determine how they use iTunes to acquire music, video, games and other entertainment content.

According to NPD’s “iTunes User Report,” apps are garnering a lot of attention among iTunes users, but music is still central to the iTunes experience. According to NPD’s entertainment industry research, virtually all iPhone or iPod youch users have downloaded an app for free, but 82% report actually purchasing music. More than half (56%) of iTunes buyers purchase music exclusively, and a majority of iTunes user search time tends to be focused on looking for music, as well...

According to a recent study commissioned by Best Buy Mobile, the mobile specialty retail unit of Best Buy, more than half of American mobile phone owners don't know the month and year when their current mobile phone contract expires.

In addition, only four in 10 say they received a reminder notice that their contract was about to expire, leaving many consumers in the dark about upgrade eligibility and the plan options available. To help consumers better understand their contract situation, Best Buy Mobile recently launched a consumer education campaign -- the Upgrade Checker campaign, at http://www.BestBuy.com/Mobile -- that provides resources to help customers make informed shopping decisions.

The survey, conducted for Best Buy Mobile by GfK Roper, sheds light on consumers’ knowledge and shopping habits around mobile plans, devices, technology and accessories.

“When it comes to...

Tomorrow Apple will gather the media and take the stage in San Francisco for its latest product announcements. As speculations among Apple aficionados abound, CEO Mickey Richardson and his team at Bookmaker.com have calculated the odds for what to expect from tomorrow’s announcement.
 
So what will Apple announce tomorrow? Here's what Bookmaker expects:
 
The release of a revised version of the iPhone 4        +100     50%
A new iPod Nano with a 3cm by 3cm touch screen     +150     40%
Apple TV priced at $99                                                +200     33%
A new iPod touch                                                        +250     28%
 
(The +/- indicates the return on the wager. The percentage is the likelihood that response will occur. For example: betting on the candidate least likely to win would earn the most amount of money, should that happen.)

FirmTek (http://www.firmtek.com) has announced the SeriTek/e6G 2-Port eSATA 6G host adapter is shipping. Mac OS X 10.6.x (Snow Leopard) 64-bit and 32-bit modes are supported along with Mac OS X 10.5.x, 10.4.11, Windows 7, Vista and Windows XP.

This new PCI-Express 2.0, one-lane (1x), 6G, eSATA controller is designed to expand the external storage options available for the Mac Pro, late 2005 PowerMac G5 and Windows PC's with an available PCI-Express expansion slot. The ultra small, high quality, 2-port, 6G, eSATA FirmTek SeriTek/e6G can provide 255MB/s average read performance with a single OWC Mercury Extreme Pro RE Solid State Drive or for maximum storage capacity customers can connect up to ten hard disks, says Chi Kim Stanford vice president of Business Development.

The SeriTek/e6G can be used without installing a driver with Mac OS X 10.5.x or 10.6.x systems. However, if the FirmTek driver is...

Apress's latest book "Objective-C for Absolute Beginners: iPhone and Mac Programming Made Easy," (http://www.apress.com/book/view/1430228326) is written for those who have never programmed before. Author Gary Bennett shares his formula for success in four tips for brand-new programmers:

° Learning to program is an interactive process. Code, code, and keeping coding. The more you code, the better you'll get. Like learning to play an instrument, you have to practice.

° Be patient with yourself. You are going to have to spend time coding. Your program doesn't care if you are having a bad day or how many times you ask it to perform a task. Your program will do whatever you tell it to do. Often, what you think you've told your program to do and what it actually does are two different things.

° You will really learn when you debug your programs. Spending time...

REAL Software -- creator of REAL Studio, a cross-platform software development tool for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux -- has announced a new platform for their development tool, the web, which will be available in REAL Studio Web Edition.

Traditional web development requires developers to learn multiple languages including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, AJAX, PHP and Java. REAL Studio Web Edition, that includes patent pending technology, provides a visual drag and drop interface builder that saves hours of development time when compared to hand-coding HTML and CSS, according to Geoff Perlman, REAL Software Founder and CEO. Developers will only need to learn a single high-level, object-oriented language which is tightly integrated with the REAL Studio web framework, he adds.

Perlman says benefits of using REAL Studio Web Edition to develop web applications include:

° A low learning curve compared to learning multiple complicated languages;

° Speed of development...

Canon U.S.A. (http://www.usa.canon.com) has announced the new Canon XF105 and XF100 professional camcorders for mobile HD video capture in a compact form factor.

Canon’s smallest professional camcorders, the new XF105 and XF100 utilize the same Canon XF Codec featured in the Canon XF305 and XF300, introduced earlier this year. The Canon XF Codec is an MPEG-2 4:2:2 50Mbps codec used for high-definition image quality and full non-linear editing (NLE) systems.

These camcorders include in-camera features enabling the set-up and capture of high-definition 3-D video when two XF105 or XF100 camcorders are paired, as well as Canon’s built-in infrared low-light feature enabling the capture of HD video in complete darkness. Both models record to Compact Flash (CF) cards and feature hot-swappable card slots.

Differentiating the two models are HD-SDI output and genlock in/SMPTE time code (in/out)...

NetGear has announced the Powerline AV 500 family. The company also announced the NetGear Powerline AV 200 Wireless-N Extender Kit, which it says is the industry's first powerline + wireless-N access point solution with automatic wireless set-up.

NetGear Powerline AV solutions let consumers set up a home network. With such a set-up, consumers can simultaneously enjoy HD video streams on multiple TVs and computers and makeVoice over IP (VOIP) phone calls using the electrical wiring and outlets already in their homes as the conduit to the Internet. NetGear powerline technology also gives consumers a way to create a Ethernet LAN connection using any ordinary electrical outlet.

NetGear Powerline AV 500 products are all HomePlug AV certified. Designed for compatibility with the draft IEEE P1901 global standard for high-speed powerline communications, users can enjoy data rates of up to 500Mbps. In addition, all AV 500 products come with a Gigabit Ethernet connection,...

TransGaming has released Dragon Age: Origins -- Awakening for the Mac. It's an expansion pack for the dark fantasy series game from BioWare, a division of Electronic Arts,and is available now for all Mac gamers through TransGaming’s digital download Mac games portal, GameTreeOnline.com.

Set after the events of Dragon Age: Origins in the land of Amaranthine, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening places the player in the role of a Grey Warden trying to rebuild the order while also dealing with political matters as the Arl of Amaranthine. As the Warden Commander, the player travels to Vigil's Keep to assume command of the Grey Wardens there. Throughout the game, the player journeys to several locations and recruits party members of whom may undergo the Joining ritual to become Grey Wardens.

Dragon Age: Origins --Awakening is available now at...

Android users are manly-scented, pork-eating, news-reading, bird lovers, while iPhone users are feminine-smelling, chicken-eating, entertainment-reading fish owners. Well, that’s according to data released today by Coupons.com Incorporated that highlights differences between the coupons selected by iPhone users and Android users.

The data was pulled by analyzing coupon usage via the company’s Grocery iQ shopping list application, for the period Jan 1 to July 31, 2010. Grocery iQ is the a shopping list application for the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android that allows users to create, organize and manage shopping lists.

The top coupon in the Body Wash category among iPhone users was for women’s body wash, which was eight times more popular than the same coupon among Android users. Men’s body wash topped the list among Android users.

Chicken was the most popular item in the Dinner Meats category among iPhone users, while pork ribs were most popular among...

Independent developer Gerald Aquila and designer Wolfgang Bartelme have released Firetask for Mac, their new GTD-based task management application for Mac OS X. The new desktop version complements its mobile counterpart Firetask for the iPhone and iPod touch and is geared towards professionals, creatives and managers who need to enter, manage and delegate up to a hundred or more tasks every day.

As such, it's heavily optimized for keyboard control while providing a clear and visually attractive overview of all relevant tasks across different project task lists. Like its mobile counterpart, Firetask for the Mac combines concepts from David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) approach with practical elements of classical task management such as due dates and priorities.

Firetask sports a "Today" screen showing both upcoming due tasks and relevant next tasks in a single view as well as its "Waiting For" list for keeping track of delegated tasks. Firetask explicitly...

Standard & Poor’s analyst Clyde Montevirgen has cut his rating on Nvidia to Strong Sell from Hold, while keeping his $9 price target on the stock, reports "Barron's" (http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/08/30/nvidia-sp-downgrades...).

“Considering our concern about weakening consumer PC demand and anticipated market share loss as Apple shifts vendors, we are more confident in our forecast for sub-industry growth over the next few quarters, and believe the shares will under perform,” he writes in a research note to clients. "“Although its Tegra line provides growth opportunities, we are cautious of sales following customers’ initial product ramps. Meanwhile, the share price implies a forward P/E multiple that is currently...

A security researcher has unearthed a “bizarre” flaw in Apple's QuickTime Player that can be exploited to remotely execute malicious code on Windows-based PCs, even those running the most recent versions of operating system, says "The Register" (http://macosg.me/2/t4).

Technically, the inclusion of an unused parameter known as “_Marshaled_pUnk” is a backdoor because it is the work of an Apple developer who added it to to the QuickTime code base and then, most likely, forgot to remove it when it was no longer needed, the article adds. So it apparently remained undetected for at least nine years until Ruben Santamarta of Spain-based security firm Wintercore discovered it and realized it could be exploited to take full control of machines running Windows 7, Microsoft's most secure operating system to date.

“The bug is is pretty bizarre,” H D Moore, CSO of Rapid7 and chief architect of the Metasploit...

September starts with some special guests on this week's "MUG Event Calendar."

"Chicago Sun-Times" columnist and "MacNotable" Andy Ihnatko will present to a Chicago user group, Ben Kerosky of Apple will be the guest to show off iTunes in Alaska, and nik Software will talk about HDR Eflex Pro at a California group. Other topics up for discussion this week include computer security, favorite apps, screencasting, GarageBand and more.

"The MUG Event Calendar" can be found at "The MUG Center" (http://www.mugcenter.com), an online resource for Mac User Groups. MUGs are good places for making new friends in the Mac community, imProving your computing skills, finding solutions to technical Problems, and perhaps locating a good deal on used hardware. For more info on MUGs, and to find the location of the one nearest you, go to Apple's MUG page (...

The Apple Store is now shipping all iPad models within 24 hours, indicating Apple now has plenty of its tablet to to satisfy pent-up demand. 



On the flip side, the iPhone 4 seems to actually be in shorter supply than before, notes "I4U News" (http://macosg.me/2/sy). The Apple Store states now that the 16GB and 32GB black iPhone 4 ship in 3 weeks. The white iPhone 4 is of course still not available at all.

Clearwire Corp. (http://www.clearwire.com) has unveiled Rover. a pay-as-you-go 4G mobile broadband service Rover’s flagship device is the Rover Puck, an ergonomically designed portable Wi-Fi hotspot that lets you share broadband access, or “Puck”, with up to eight devices at home, out on the town or nearly anywhere you wish.

The Rover Puck can slip into a purse or backpack and serve as an on-the-go broadband access point for devices such as laptops, netbooks, the iPad, the iPod touch, smartphones, PSP systems, game consoles, and Wi-Fi enabled digital cameras, among others. Users have the option to connect up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices simultaneously.

The Rover Puck purportedly features mobile download speeds of three to six mbps, with bursts over 10 mbps (up to 4x faster than conventional 3G), using Clearwire’s 4G network. The Rover Puck is available today for US$149.99.

The Rover...

Marketcircle has released Billings Pro (http://www.marketcircle.com/billingspro), an update to its time billing and invoicing solution for Mac OS X and the iPhone. It's a multi-user time tracking and invoicing application for for multi-user businesses, with a web interface for workers to track time.

Billings Pro uses Marketcircle's Apple Design Award Winning desktop interface from Billings 3, as well as an iPhone application based heavily off of their Billings Touch app. The synchronization technology is derived from Marketcircle's Daylite software.

New in Billings Pro is the addition of a web interface called Timecard. Timecard allows staff members to track time, mileage, and expenses from any modern browser. This includes Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and mobile browsers for the iPhone, iPad Android, and Blackberry. Billings Pro includes over 30...

Kapeli has released DockView (http://kapeli.com/dockview/), a new Mac OS X app that extends the Dock and makes it aware of the windows that applications have open. With the app, whenever a user points the mouse at an application's icon, thumbnail images of the windows are displayed.

DockView helps Mac OS X users visualize the windows they currently have open and find the window they're looking for. It's also able to display the previews in the default Mac CMD Tab application switcher. Users can identify the application they are looking for and reduce the time it takes to switch between applications.

DockView is a 3.8 MB download that requires Mac OS X 10.6. ("Snow Leopard"). It may be purchased for US$7.99. The free version displays an alert every now and then and is otherwise fully unrestricted.

Before Dawn Solutions (http://www.beforedawnsolutions.com) has announced Mac mini colocation at their hosting facility located in Denver Colorado. They're adding Mac mini hosting to our other hosting offerings, shared hosting, colocation, virtual private servers and dedicated servers.

Mac mini hosting starts at US$35. It's available immediately from the Before Dawn Solutions online.

Features include: 100 GB of transfer; one power connection (remote restart/start/stop is available); one IP Address (more are available); multi-homed tier 1 network, with an aggregate 5GB into the facility; SAS70 - type II audited; PCI compliant; physical security, secure card, video, and bio scan; temperature and power conditioned.

Times for Fun has announced a public beta release of Red Pill, a new image editor for Mac. A final version is scheduled for release in the near future. Red Pill offers 10 useful tools and handles big image.


Features include: tools like magic wand, brush, paint bucket and clone stamp; transform and adjust filters; a paste into command; float/anchor selection; unlimited undo; the ability to resize, rotate and flip an image; a quick save command; file manager and batch processing

The public beta version is available for download at http://www.timesforfun.de/Red_Pill.html . Just remember : beta software is unfinished software, so use with care.

Red Pill is build for Mac OS X 10.5 and higher. It's Universal Binary so runs natively on both PowerPC and Intel Macs.

The next meeting of The Macintosh Business Users Society of Greater Philadelphia (http://www.macbus.org/) will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 31, at 7 pm.

This month's meeting will feature a demonstration of Dimdim, a virtual meeting hosting service.  A general Mac troubleshooting Q&A session will also be held. Attendees are encouraged to bring questions and invite friends or coworkers who may find the meeting beneficial.

MacBUS was the first user group in the United States to focus on the business and professional uses of the Macintosh operating system. The group of approximately 75 members meets this month at:

MacBUS was the first user group in the United States to focus on the business and professional uses of the Macintosh operating system. The group of approximately 75 members meets this month at:

CBS Auditorium
Dorrance Hamilton Hall
University of the Arts
320...