Workamajig (http://www.Workamajig.com), integrated software for ad agencies and others in the creative and design industries, has been updated. It now allows syncing with Google's online calendars and enhancements for Apple's Safari 5.0.3. Workamajig's new feature to sync with the Google Calendar was designed after months of client feedback and discussion, says Ron Ause, Workamajig's director of marketing. This addition to the Workamajig Project Management Software gives users yet one more option to sync their calendars, since Workamajig already syncs with Microsoft's Outlook calendar, and Apple's iCal calendar. With the latest version of Workamajig, no installation or conversion are necessary, and all updates are at no cost to the over 20,000 users of Workamajig. All client logins and vendor logins are always free.

The Support Group (http://www.supportgroup.com/), an authorized FileMaker Pro training provider, has announced a free one-hour web seminar, "Advanced Scripting and Calculations," which will present advanced techniques for the experienced FileMaker user. The free seminar requires pre-registration, and will be offered twice on Wednesday, Dec. 15, from 11 am to noon (Eastern), and also from 2 -3 pm. It's appropriate for intermediate and advanced FileMaker Pro users Scheduled speakers are Chad Novotny, vice president of otechnology for The Support Group, and Rick Colcock, system engineer for FileMaker, Inc. You can register for the 11 am and 2 pm sessions at http://cts.vresp.com/c/?FileMakerInc./3ff2219479/a8d4969fe0/a4233b6c34/t... and http://cts.vresp.com/c/?FileMakerInc./3ff2219479/a8d4969fe0/9c9199cef7/t... , respectively.

DxO Labs (http://www.dxo.com) has released the latest version of its image enhancement software for photographers: DxO Optics Pro 6.5.2. The upgrade adds RAW support in both its Standard and Elite editions for the Pentax K-5 and Sony NEX-5 and NEX-3. Also, 50 new DxO Optics modules are now available. DxO Optics Pro and upgrades for both Mac OS X (10.5 and higher) and Windows will be offered at a 30% holiday season discount through Dec. 25. They're available from both DxO Labs’ e-store and selected resellers at the holiday season discount of: ° DxO Optics Pro Standard edition: US$99, reduced from $169; ° DxO Optics Pro Elite edition: $199, reduced from $299.   All customers who purchased DxO Optics Pro since June 1, 2009 are entitled to a free upgrade to version 6.5. All other users benefit from the 30% discounts: ° DxO Optics Pro Standard (any version) to DxO Optics Pro 6 Standard: $49, reduced from $79; ° DxO Optics Pro Elite (any version) to DxO Optics Pro 6 Elite: $79, reduced...

A consortium of digital publishers in Japan has issued a stern rebuke to Apple over the appearance of illegal copies of its authors’ works that have appeared for sale in the Apple App Store, reports "TNW Asia" (http://thenextweb.com/asia/2010/12/14/japanese-publishers-rebuke-apple-o...). In a joint press release, the consortium, including, the Japan Book Publishers Association, the Japan Magazine Publishers Association, The Electronic Book Publishers Association of Japan, and Digital Comic Association claimed that works by famous authors Haruki Murakami and Keigo Higashino have been illegally sold in the App Store. They're also dubious of Apples’s claim that it is unable to check for copyrighted material during the application screening process. While the works have now been removed from the App Store, the publishers’ group is complaining that Apple should do more in the application approval process to ensure that the content of submitted applications does not breach copyrights,...

CS Odessa has released ConceptDraw Office 2.0, which now gives business professionals single-click access to integrated solutions for Project management, brainstorming, report writing, and much more. The latest ConceptDraw Office suite release is being launched in tandem with the new ConceptDraw Solution Park online resource center. ConceptDraw Solution Park features integrated business productivity solutions that bundle ConceptDraw software, templates, and “how-to” guides. Through the browser, users can view available solutions on ConceptDraw Solution Park and click on the solution they want. ConceptDraw Solution Browser then automatically loads any software, templates and guides supporting the chosen solution. Version 2.0 also enhances integration of the suite’s ConceptDraw MindMap for mind mapping and brainstorming, ConceptDraw Project project management software, and ConceptDraw PrpO for business diagramming and scoreboard development and display. For example, a user can...

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 8.0.11. The update offers interface improvements and bug fixes. 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 8.0.11 is a free update for registered users.

Apple UK has announced the "12 Days of Christmas" (http://www.itunes12daysofchristmas.co.uk/), which will run Dec. 26 through Jan. 6. Each day will offer a song, music video, TV episode, film, app or book for free download. 
Each free download will only be available for 24 hours. You can sign up for daily email alerts for download the special 12 Days of Christmas app to make sure you don't miss out.

I've argued repeatedly that the iPad should be considered a personal computer -- and Goldman Sachs hardware analyst Bill Shope agrees with me. In a note to clients on Monday -- as reported by "Tech Trader Daily" (http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/12/13/apple-ipad-mac-12-pc...) -- the analyst only sees computer sales growing 8% next year, but is more bullish on tablet computers, especially the iPad. In fact, Shope sees iPad sales surpassing Mac revenue by September 2011. The analyst argues that tablets should be considered part of the personal computer market, in which case Apple’s worldwide computer market share would rise to 12% this fiscal year, from 4.4% at present. Last week DisplaySearch put the Apple tablet in the computer category in its "Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report." Do so, and that research group says Apple is the number one personal computer maker in the U.S. and number three globally. What's more, Shope expects a 10% price cut on all models...

The magazine publishing company, Future, has unveiled 14 new titles for the iPad, each a tablet-specific niche brand that hadn’t existed in print. However, "each is a timeless one-off, designed to attract a large number of single-copy sales this coming New Year," says "mocoNews" (http://moconews.net/article/419-future-sees-ipad-as-a-bookazine-vehicle-...). Any decision on a regular long-term tablet publishing schedule for Future’s monthly titles will come after these one-offs, perhaps hinting at how publishers are having to find a cost-effective iPad production timetable before going forward, the article adds. It means Future’s tablet strategy looks a lot like its roster of specialist “bookazine” one-offs, which increasingly grace newsagent shelves, says "mocoNews." Future does publish 50 of its printed monthly magazines on iPad as digital replicas distributed through the Zinio digital subscription/mag publishing service. As for tablet-specific editions, Future has published two iPad-...

Apple’s Ping has added the ability to build and share playlists. Now users can import playlists from iTunes, build playlists in the iTunes social networking service, and let Ping friends add to their playlists. Ping lets you follow your favorite artists, 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. In addition, you can post your thoughts and opinions, your favorite albums and songs, the music you’ve downloaded from iTunes and the concerts you plan to attend.

Last year Nortel sold its optical networking and carrier ethernet business to Ciena for US$769 million and its wireless business to Ericsson for $1.3 billion. Soon it will sell off its patents as well, "among them some thought to be essential 4G wireless technologies like Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Service Architecture Evolution (SAE)," reports "All Things Digital" (http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20101213/everybody-wants-nortels-4g-p...). That IP is drawing a lot of interest from companies such as Apple, Research in Motion and Nokia, "none of which want to see it in the hands of a rival, particularly as 4G’s commercial availability broadens," the article adds. "All Things D," quoted unnamed sources, say all four companies are participating in the auction. Nortel (http://www.nortel.com) was founded in 1895 as Northern Electric and Manufacturing, supplying telecommunications equipment for Canada's fledgling telephone system. It grew to become, at one point, a global leader in...

Twitter's "2010 Trends on Twitter" list (http://yearinreview.twitter.com/trends/) lists the iPad among the top 10 overall trends (the Gulf Oil spill was number one). 
In the technology section, Apple ruled. The iPad was number one, Apple's iOS was number three, the iPone was number four and the MacBook air number nine.

Corner-A has released PhotoStyler 5.0 for Mac OS X (http://corner-a.com/photostyler). This new version features a new rendering engine with better stability and performance, improved user interface, batch processing features, as well as new filters, textures and presets. PhotoStyler offers a way to style digital photos with your Mac. It supports all image formats that are supported by Mac OS X, including RAW images, and uses your GPU to process the photos wherever possible. PhotoStyler 5 requires Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. It's Universal Binary so runs natively on PowerPC and Intel Macs. It costs US$30.

Houdah Software (http://www.houdah.com) has released a beta version of Tembo, a "friendly" find utility designed to make searching (and finding) of files, mail messages, bookmarks easier. The final version is headed for the Mac App Store, which is due to launch next month. The folks at Houdah say Tembo is an efficient search tool based upon the Spotlight engine. Specifically, it's been inspired by the original Spotlight interface as we knew it under Mac OS X Tiger. Search results are grouped by categories. Preferences allow for categories to be enabled, disabled and reordered. Tembo may list up to 2,500 search results within each group. Here you will find filter appropriate for the context to help you sort through the list of results. Messages, for example, may be filtered by subject, sender and recipient. Tembo can also wors as an extension to Mail or iChat to locate messages. And as an extension to Safari, it can be used to search browsing history and bookmarks. 
Tembo requires Mac...

Obvious Matter (http://www.obviousmatter.com) has updated DiskLibrary, a media cataloging application for Mac OS X, to version 1.9.7. The upgrade lets you export as a tab-separated values file. Version 1.9.7 also adds movie DVD and audio CD types; you can now search for media types. There's a new application icon and various bug fixes. DiskLibrary is designed for those who have a lot of media to keep track of. It catalogs not just your complete file structure, but also creates thumbnails, and stores metadata, for most popular media formats. DiskLibrary is capable of importing export formats from CDFinder, FileFinder, WhereIsIt, DiskCatalogMaker X and DiskTracker. DiskLibrary is Universal Binary so runs natively on both PowerPC and Intel Macs. It requires Mac OS X 10.4.10or higher. It costs US$39, but version 1.9.7 is a free update for registered users. A demo is available for download.

A new Apple job posting (http://jobs.apple.com/index.ajs?BID=1&method=mExternal.showJob&RID=68181...) for a cellular systems perf engineer shows Apple may be looking for an engineer for the upcoming iPhones, reports "Cult of Mac" (http://www.cultofmac.com/apple-wants-to-hire-an-engineer-to-make-the-ver...). The job posting says the position will require skills in the cellular technology areas of GSM, GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA, HSDPA, HSUPA, CDMA, etc. Apple says the person will be part of a team "responsible for triaging protocol issues reported from certification test, IOT, and field tests, driving for continuous performance improvements. The team will work closely with internal development team radio stack vendor, certifiation and field test teams." 'Granted, that’s a catch all: what Apple wants here is an all-around cellular expert," says "Cult of Mac." "The posting, in and of itself, does not bring the likelihood of a Verizon iPhone any more pronounced, but with Verizon rolling...

Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s largest contract maker of electronics, said its Chinese workforce now exceeds one million employees as the company continues to hire during the holiday season, reports "Bloomberg" (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-10/foxconn-says-its-china-workforc...?). Louis Woo, special assistant to the chief executive officer, says customer demand is spurring hiring. Foxconn makes, among other things, iPads and HP. computers. Foxconn, the largest private employer in China, plans to expand its workforce to as many as 1.3 million by the end of next year, Woo said in an August interview, reports "Bloomberg." The Taipei-based company employed about 920,000 workers at that time.

It's about time for more iPad 2 rumors. Component suppliers for Apple Inc's iPad are gearing up for a new round of production in the first quarter, reports "Reuters" (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B90PW20101210), quoting unnamed sources, one of which said the product will be a revamp of the popular tablet computer including front- and back-mounted cameras. Touchscreen chip designer Wintek Corp, battery maker Simplo Technology Co Ltd and AVY Precision, an unlisted maker of covers for electronic products, are among suppliers for the next batch of iPads, the article says. Two could only confirm they were ramping up for a new round of production in the first quarter for components previously supplied for the original iPad, while two said the ramp-up was for a new iPad, notes "Reuters." One of those said the revamped model would feature cameras on the front and rear, while the other said the new model would be slimmer, lighter and have a better resolution display, the article adds...

Apple has placed three products -- the iPad, the iPhone 4, the 11-inch MacBook Air and the Apple TV -- in TIME's "Best of 2010" list, which includes 50 top ten lists in news and politics, arts and entertainment, science and society, business tech, pop culture and more. The iPad ranks first in the Top 10 Gadgets list (http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2035319_20338...). On the same list the 11-inch MacBook Air is third, the iPhone 4 is sixth and the Apple TV is seventh. Also on the list are the Samsung Google S (number two), Google TV via Logitech Revue (four), Nexus One (five), Toshiba Libretto Dual-Screen Laptop (eight), Microsoft Kinect (nine) and the Nook Color (10). TIME also listed its top 10 iPhone apps. They are Netflix, Groupon, iMovie, Springpad, Twitter, Dragon Dictation, Petfinder, Hulu Plus, iBooks and Nike + GPS.

By the end of 2011, the iPad will generate more than two percent of all North American Web traffic, according to Chitika (http://chitika.com/), an on-line advertising network that's been tracking iPad adoption rates on its ad network (three billion ads served monthly across more than 100,000 sites). As of this month, the iPad accounts for 0.83% of all traffic on Chitika’s network, research director Daniel Ruby tells "All Things D" (http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20101209/ipad-will-generate-2-percent...). At current growth rates, which have been steady since the device’s launch, it should hit 2.3% by the end of next year, the article adds.

Apple has updated Aperture, its software for pro photographers, to version 3.1.1 (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2518). The update improves overall stability and performance. For example, Aperture 3.1.1 fixes an issue that could cause iMovie ’11 to stop responding while scanning the Aperture library for video clips. It also addresses issues that prevented the Aperture library from appearing in the Media Browser of other applications. You can obtain Aperture 3.1.1 via the Software Updates component of Mac OS X's Systems Preferences app. It requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or higher.

The Costco Wholesasle chain is phasing out Apple products, per a mutual agreement between the companies, Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti told the "Seattle Times" (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2013631005_cost...). Costco had sold iPods and pre-loaded iTunes cards for years, although never at huge discounts. What's more Apple never allowed Costco to sell its products online like other retailers, Galanti said. "In the past couple months, we agreed to wind down," he told the "Seattle Times."

OnOne Software has announced Perfect Resize, one component of the Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple Aperture. The next generation of Genuine Fractals technology, Perfect Resize adds new features for achieving sharp detail when enlarging images, new gallery wrap and tiling options, and interface enhancements for photographers who want to make the highest quality prints, says Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. It supports Photoshop CS5, CS4 and CS3 and can now be used directly from within Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple Aperture without the need for a separate host application. Perfect Resize is available immediately as a standalone product and as a part of the new Perfect Photo Suite 5.5. Owners of Genuine Fractals 6 or earlier can upgrade to Perfect Resize for US$99.95 or to the Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 for $349.95. Owners of Plug-In Suite 5 are eligible for a free upgrade to Perfect Photo Suite 5.5, which includes Perfect...

Ideum, a multitouch software and hardware development firm, has updated their GestureWorks multitouch authoring solution to version 2.0, which has built-in support for over 200 hundred gestures. The GestureWorks software environment provides a standardized approach to multitouch application development in Adobe Flash and Adobe Flex. ActionScript developers can associate gestures with objects and layers as simply as mouse events are handled, according to Jim Spadaccini, director of Ideum. GestureWorks provides tools Flash and Flex ActionScript 3 developers need to author multitouch applications. A built-in simulator allows developers to test their applications from within the Flash environment. Along with support for over 200 gestures, the software has an open source Gesture Library that is fully extensible; gestures can be added, dropped or modified. Gestures can be mapped for multitouch or dual touch systems and customized for any number of touch points in a system. Support for...