Apple could more than double its sales by 2015 to $200 billion, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said in a note to clients -- as reported by "MobileBeat" (http://venturebeat.com/2010/12/02/apple-analyst-200-billion-prediction/?...). According to his projections, this would come mainly on the growth of iPhone sales, from a forecast of 36 million in 2010 to 185 million in 2015. The iOS will share a large part of the market with Google’s rival Android operating system, squeezing out smaller players like BlackBerry and Symbian, and should have more than a quarter of the smartphone market by 2015, says Munster. He thinks that Apple will also benefit from its range of devices, from the iPod touch, which is popular with younger users as a music and games device, to the iPhone, to the iPad, which is better-received by older users.

Early adopters of the new Apple TV are reporting issues with streaming HD rentals and problems completing "HDMI handshakes" between the new Apple TV and their HDTVs. reports "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com). Several discussion threads on Apple's support forums related to issues with HD rentals not loading and HDMI connectivity problems have reached hundreds of posts in length as increasing numbers of Apple TV owners report having trouble with the device, the article adds. Another Apple support thread details potential compatibility issues between Apple TV and a number of HDTV sets. Users report frequent "HDMI handshakes" between their television sets and Apple TV, with the picture returning with inverted colors. A user-compiled list of TVs affected includes models by Philips and Sony, says "AppleInsider."

onOne Software has released Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple Aperture. Tackling specific problems within a photographer's preferred workflow, the Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 offers solutions for color correction, image resizing, masking and professional photographic effects. With support for Photoshop CS5, CS4 and CS3, the Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 includes FocalPoint 2, PhotoTune 3, PhotoFrame 4.6, PhotoTools 2.6, MaskPro 4.1 and Perfect Resize 7 (the next generation of Genuine Fractals). With this new version of the Perfect Photo Suite 5.5, photographers will be able to use FocalPoint 2, PhotoTune 3, PhotoFrame 4.6 and Perfect Resize 7 directly within Lightroom and Aperture without the need for a separate host application. In addition, owners of the Perfect Photo Suite 5.5 will receive Perfect Layers when it becomes available next year. This completely new product provides photographers with the ability to create layered files directly from...

Toolsfactory software has released rubiTrack 2.4 (http://www.rubitrack.com/), an update of the GPS enabled activity tracking software for the Mac OS X. The upgrade adds: direct sync for Suunto devices; support for the Suunto Moveslink XML file format; and more. Utilizing the latest Mac user interface technologies, rubiTrack lets you display, analyze and organize your outdoor activities. rubiTrack is for runners, bikers, walkers, hikers, skiers and everyone else who logs GPS data. rubiTrack reads tracks from GPS enabled fitness devices like the Garmin Forerunner, Garmin Edge and compatible devices. RubiTrack is compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard") or later. It costs US$39, though version 2.4 is a free update for registered users of version 2.0.

Em Software (http://emsoftware.com/) has announced updates for InData, InCatalog, and Xtags, its suite of data publishing products for the latest version of Adobe's InDesign, CS5. These new versions bring their own new features to the table, as well as take advantage of some remarkable new features in InDesign CS5, according to Em Chief Technical Officer Chris Roueche.. InData and InCatalog no longer require a separate copy of Xtags to handle XPress-Tagged text, and InCatalog adds link markers for page items as well as more complex SQL query support. Upgrades to these products are free for CS4 versions purchased after Sept.15, 2009, and otherwise cost US$150 each for InData and Xtags, and $300 for InCatalog (one-packs). InData and Xtags are $400 new, and InCatalog is $800 new, or $1,200 with ODBC support (Pro version).

Zevrix Solutions (http:/www.zevrix.com) has announced Deliver 2.0.8, a maintenance update to its automated solution to send and share files across the Internet and local networks. The upgrade addresses several stability and performance issues. Deliver lets users send files to remote and local destinations with e-mail notifications, compression, encryption and other powerful capabilities. It supports FTP, Amazon S3, MobileMe and other services, and lets users send files to multiple destinations at once. Deliver also lets users send output files directly from Adobe InDesign. Deliver 2.0.8 can be purchased from Zevrix web site for US$19.95 (it's free with purchase of BatchOutput for InDesign). A demo is available for download. The upgrade from File Courier is free for licensed users. Deliver works with Mac OS X 10.5 and higher.

dpi (http://www.dpipro.com), a reseller of Apple products for businesses across the U.S., is expanding to the West Coast to serve the "exploding demand" for Apple Computer products from business accounts, says President Matina Koester. The new office, in the Westwood area of Los Angeles, will be the West Coast headquarters for the Clayton, MO-based company. "We are seeing exponential growth in demand from business accounts for Apple products," Koester says. "The iPhone, the iPad and the applications that run on them have opened the door for a lot of companies that previously had been closed off to Apple products. We needed to expand to keep up with the demand." The increased demand for the product in the corporate market has been a long time coming for dpi, which started selling and servicing Apple products in 1994. At that time, Apple had strong sales among consumers, but, in corporate sales, it was limited to the art and graphics market. With the success of the iPhone over the last...

Universal Audio (http://www.uaudio.com/) has released the Solid State Logic-authenticated, SSL E Series Channel Strip and G Series Bus Compressor plug-ins for the UAD-2 platform. Designed to complement to the E Series Channel Strip, the SSL G Series Bus Compressor emulates the center section console dynamics from UA's SSL 4000. This plug-in features the same control set and transparent compression characteristics of the hardware version, including its ability to “glue” together a mix. Available for purchase via UA’s Online Store, the SSL E Series Channel Strip and SSL G Series Bus Compressor plug-ins sell for US$299 and $249, respectively.

Safari and iOS market share for Internet usage rose from October to November, while the Mac OS X percentage dipped slightly, according to the latest market share survey from NetMarketShare (http://www.netmarketshare.com). According to the report, among operating systems, Mac OS X had 5.02% of the global market share in November, compared to 5.00% in October (that's global market share; in the US it's almost 10%). Windows remains dominant with 90.81% as of November. That's down from 91.09% in October. Apple's highest percentage previously was 5.27% in October 2009. When it comes to browsers, Safari had 5.57% in November compared to 5.36% in October, while Internet Explorer had 58.41% Firefox had 22.81% and Chrome had 9.27%. That compares to, respectively, October percentages of 59.18%, 22.83% and 8.50%, for the browsers. The iOS's market share also rose, according to NetMarketShare. It had 1.37% of the global market share in November compared to 1.26% in October. That's an all time...

Realmac Software has released RapidWeaver 5, an upgrade to the company's web site creation application. The upgrade includes a number of new features, user interface enhancements and a number of other smaller additions, says Daniel Counsell, founder and director of Realmac Software. RapidWeaver 5 now allows users to manage all the resources in their projects (PDFs, images, ZIP files etc) instead of on a per-page basis. The new feature allows users to add, link and publish all the resources they need in their site. The all-new sitemap features allow users to add an HTML sitemap to their project, as well as the auto-generation of an XML sitemap complete with search engine submission when it's updated. As RapidWeaver users tend to work with more than one project at any time, the new Projects window and FTP Bookmarks allow users to easily switch between projects and enter frequently-used publishing credentials when settings up projects to publish, says Counsell. RapidWeaver 5 contains a...

A survey conducted by the he Enterprise Desktop Alliance (http://www.enterprisedesktopalliance.com) -- an organization to help IT departments integrate Macs into the corporate environment -- showed that Apple Xserve owners are considering a wide range of options in response to Apple's announcement on Nov. 5 it was ending the shipment of the Xserve hardware platform on Jan. 31, 2011. Sixty-five percent of respondents expect to stay with their current Xserves for at least the next two years. When the time comes to replace the Xserve, over one third will migrate to one of Apple's recommended alternative platforms, the Mac Pro and Mac mini, which can both run Apple's OS X Server software. Nearly as many people were unsure what solution they would choose for many of the services they currently run on an Xserve. A plurality of Xserve owners believes that the transition from the Xserve will not be more expensive than staying with their current system. The online survey was conducted from...

BlackBerry OS overtook Apple’s iOS for the first time in the US in November in terms of mobile internet usage according to web analytics company, StatCounter (http://www.statcounter.com). The company’s research arm, StatCounter Global Stats, finds that for the first time in the US BlackBerry OS at 34.3% overtook Apple’s iOS which recorded 33% in November. Google’s Android is rapidly gaining and has almost tripled internet market share from 8.2% last November to 23.8% this year, according to the research group. Apple’s iOS has fallen from 51.9% to 33% over the same period, according to Aodhan Cullen, CEO of StatCounter. He added that, if current trends continue, BlackBerry and Android combined are on course to become twice the size of iOS as regards mobile Internet usage in the next year. Commenting on Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 he said that it was not yet registering significantly in terms of internet usage but would be interesting to observe over the next year. BlackBerry’s US...

Qoppa Software (http://www.qoppa.com) has announced beta testing of their Word to PDF document conversion engine. The company has released a Java library version for integration into third party systems, and will integrate this conversion functionality into their existing applications, PDF Studio and PDF Automation Server. Tthe engine is slated to support converting Word to images as well as directly printing Word documents in the upcoming version, says Gerald Holmann, president of Qoppa Software. Qoppa solutions include: Java class libraries to incorporate PDF manipulation capabilities; Java components to integrate PDF viewing and annotating into applications; Command Line tools to convert, print, or secure PDF documents; and two commercial stand-alone applications: PDF Automation Server to automate workflows and document handling, and PDF Studio Desktop Tool to edit and manipulate PDF documents.

In Poculis (http://www.in-poculis.com/) has released Mahjong In Poculis 3.5, an update to their free solitaire game for Mac OS X (10.4 and higher) and Windows. The new version sports a mode designed for children. Here's how the game is described: "Perfect for mahjong lovers or those who simply enjoy challenging memorization, Mahjong In Poculis is a memory game where players have to select identical tiles to make them disappear. The game features 120 levels and six scenarios, including Christmas, Halloween, Asian and Easter. Each one has its own levels, graphics and music." To get users started, a five-step, in-game tutorial can be displayed on demand. Players may also post their scores and photo on the game's web site.

Binary Bakery Software (http://www.binarybakery.com) has released MenuEverywhere 1.4.3, an update to their US$14.95 Mac OS X 10.6.x utility. Designed for large monitor or multi-monitor users, it makes the menubar's menu accessible from any window on any screen. MenuEverywhere works with almost any Mac OS X application. With the app, you can access menus in the following ways: screen-top menu on (non-primary) secondary screens; window-attached menubar; window-attached menu button; and hotkey pop-up menu at mouse location In MenuEverywhere, menu access methods are all optional; those not used may be switched off. The app has configurable button/menubar styles, multiple font sizes for menu labels and menu items, the ability to show the Apple menu in addition to application's menu, an exclude list facility to prevent usage on apps of your choosing, and more.

DxO Labs (http://www.dxo.com) has released the latest version of its image enhancement software for photographers: DxO Optics Pro 6.5.1. The upgrade adds RAW support in both its Standard and Elite editions for the Nikon D7000 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A390. 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 from $119. All customers who purchased DxO Optics...

MaaS360, the provider of cloud-based Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) solutions, has announced a free webinar titled “Enabling iPhones and iPads in the Enterprise” on Thursday, Dec. 2, at 2 pm (Eastern). Donna Lima, Fiberlink’s customer engineer, will provide best practices for enabling employees to securely access corporate resources and collaboration applications from their iPhones and iPads. You can register for the free webinar at https://fiberlinkcorp.webex.com/mw0306lb/mywebex/default.do?nomenu=true&.... With the rapid and widespread adoption of the iPad and iPhone in the enterprise, IT professionals are seeking best practices for the mobile device management of these devices. Executives and field staff are experiencing increased productivity through these new tools, creating a challenge for IT to keep iPads and iPhones connected, compliant and secure, says Lima. The webinar will discuss how IT can better address the mobile device management of iPad and iPhone devices alongside...

The eReader market has essentially become a two horse race between the Amazon Kindle and the Apple iPad, according to the latest survey of more than 2,800 consumers by the ChangeWave research group (http://www.changewave.com). The Amazon Kindle (47% of the market and down 15 points) is hanging on to a rapidly diminishing lead over the iPad (32%; up 16 points) among current eReader owners. However, the iPad’s share of the overall market has doubled since the last time ChangeWave surveyed e-Reader owners in August. The rest of the market includes the Sony Reader (5%) and the Barnes and Noble Nook (4%). In terms of owner satisfaction ratings, ChangeWave's survey shows that 75% of iPad owners are "very satisfied" with its eReader capabilities compared to 54% for the Kindle. The research group also asked eReader owners about the types of content they’re reading on their devices -- and found major differences between iPad and Kindle owners. For example: ° Amazon Kindle owners are more...

Another day, another lawsuit. A lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court in Connecticut by Great Northern Insurance Company claims that Apple's MagSafe charger, attached to a 2007 MacBook Pro, caused a major fire at a Connecticut home, reports "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com). According to the lawsuit, the fire marshal of the town of Glastonbury concluded that the blaze, which occurred on May 23, 2008, was caused by the "external system components" of the laptop found in the home. Great Northern has made payments in excess of $75,000 to a client after an accidental fire occurred at their family's home, notes "AppleInsider." Great Northern's lawsuit attempts to prove that the MagSafe adapter was "in a defective and unreasonably dangerous condition" due to Apple. The complaint argues that Apple "manufactured and sold the MagSafe adapter in a condition that it knew, or should have known, subjected the property of others to foreseeable and unreasonable risk of harm."

According to "9to5Mac" (http://www.9to5mac.com/38912/apples-top-data-center-executive-olivier-sa...), Oliver Sanche (center), the man in charge of all things related to data centers for Apple, passed away last Thursday from a heart attack. Sanche was heading Apple’s soon-launching North Carolina data center, the article adds. He joined Apple from eBay in late 2009 where he used to lead data center projects as well.

Corbomite Games has released Star Shipping (http://starshipping.corbomitegames.com/), a new commerce strategy game, for the Mac, Windows, iPad and iPhone/iPod touch. Here's how the game is described: "The goal of Star Shipping is to become the richest captain in the galaxy by trading commodities between new and exciting planets, while working for the intergalactic space trading company 'Star Shipping Inc.' Since space is unpredictable while traveling to different planets, you’ll encounter multiple types of enemies like space pirates, monsters and other alien lifeforms. You can choose between flying solo or protecting your cargo by hiring defense drones. In-game news at the end of each turn dramatically affects the next turn’s outcome as well as random events that occur during travel will make players think twice before taking chances and increases the fun as the game progresses." Star Shipping for the Mac costs US$1. The iPhone/iPod touch version is $0.99, and the iPad version is $2....

Flock, creator of a social web browser, has announced the availability of a Chromium 7-based version of its new Flock browser on both the Macintosh and Windows platforms. Shawn Hardin, president and CEO of Flock, says his company offers the only browser that lets the user: ° See all of their social content in one place by simply glancing at the Flock Sidebar, including tweets, Facebook and LinkedIn status updates, RSS feeds, and YouTube and Flickr content. ° Choose to see everyone in the Sidebar and get their updates fast. ° Share content and updates across Facebook, LinkedIn and multiple Twitter accounts with two clicks. ° Group friends in multiple ways while still having their social media updates visible in the scrolling Sidebar. They can also combine or group their friends according to work, play, school, clubs, interests -- any way they choose. Flock for the Mac supports Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 and will be available on Dec. 1 for download at http://www.flock.com .

Telio (http://www.telio.ch/no/) -- a Norwegian telecommunications company that provides VoIP telephony services in Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands --is offering its Teliophone service bundled with the iPad “Teliophone enables our customers to achieve substantial savings for a number of their calling scenarios and especially when traveling outside Norway," says Eirik Lunde, CEO of Telio Holding ASA. "For many customers this will be a possibility to substantially reduce the very high roaming costs. This is a new method of distributing Telio’s access independent telephony services." The bundle will be launched at the price of NOK 2,995 with a Telio Mini subscription of NOK 159 per month. Through Teliophone it is possible to call any number on the traditional fixed and mobile networks all over the world at prices from 0,- per minute. Lunde says Teliophone on iPad enables you to use iPad as your household and office telephone, and when traveling Teliophone will allow you to call with a...

SanDisk, Nikon and Sony have announced the joint development of a set of specifications that addresses the future requirements of professional photography and video markets. The three companies proposed the specifications to the CompactFlash Association (CFA), the international standards organization, with the intent to standardize the format. Professional photography and High Definition (HD) video applications require a new generation of memory cards capable of processing significantly larger files, according to Kazuyuki Kazami, operating officer, vice president and general manager, development headquarters, imaging company. To address the imaging industry’s future speed and capacity demands, SanDisk, Nikon and Sony proposed a new card specification whose performance and storage capabilities surpass those of existing memory cards. Once accepted, the new format will enable "exciting new possibilities" in the professional imaging and video markets, Kazami says. The proposed...