Jumsoft (http://www.jumsoft.com) has updated its design templates for Apple's iWork apps. The new Pages Templates 6.0 consists of 50 new templates, along with 50 designs. The current 100-template kit provides a range of documents, from brochures and photo albums to posters and invitations. Some templates include up to 12 different sections. The set offers a collection of 280 layouts. The new template pack includes the template types that were introduced in the earlier versions (including Brochure, Business Cards, Flyer, and Recipe) as well as an entire line of new templates: Business Plan, Calendar, Evaluation, Family Tree, Gift Certificate, Gift Label, ID Badge, Quiz, Sticker, and Wine Label. All 100 templates included are available in both paper size A4 and U.S. Letter. Pages Templates 6.0 requires Apple iWork '08 or later. It costs US$39 for new customers. Pages Templates 6.0 is being offered at 50% off for owners of Pages Templates 5.x. Users can view samples of the templates and...

Nova media (http://www.novamedia.de) has updated iHub Basic for Mac OS X to version 2.03, a free upgrade for registered users. The US$29.95 software syncs contacts and calendars automatically and wirelessly between Macs, iPhones, iPads and iPod touches in any local network. Version 2.0 has been rewritten from scratch, features a new graphical user interface and adds the ability to automatically configure the server as well as any client Macs, iPhones, iPads and iPod touch. The software installs on a Mac and shares selected calendars, contacts and address book groups. Other Macs and iOS devices on the same network can access and edit any shared data. iHub Basic doesn't require any additional client software as it uses the open standards CalDAV and CardDAV which are supported by default by Mac OS X and iOS. "Thanks to iHub Basic, there is no need to store sensitive on any far-away cloud service," says Jan Fuellemann, spokesperson of nova media. "In addition, the user does not have to...

Kubota Image Tools -- a provider of photographer-empowering creative imaging tools, workflow-saving solutions and educational offerings for photographers -- says it has created the new Kubota Creative Tools -- The Lensbaby Pak, specially designed to enhance the artistic effects created with  Lensbaby optics. Kevin Kubota, founder of Kubota PhotoDesign and the Idea Guy behind Kubota Image Tools, created the set of Photoshop image enhancing tools as part of the Lensbaby Kubota Contest.  Winners of the contest, selected by Kubota, were announced previously. The Lensbaby Pak includes 15 brand new Photoshop image enhancement tools Kubota devised to enhance images captured with each of the unique six Lensbaby Optics.   The Kubota Lensbaby image enhancement tools are currently available for instant download for US$39 at http://kubotaimagetools.com/store/catalog/product_16383_Kubota_Creative_... .

The Gartner research group (http://www.gartner.com) has cut its global forecast for personal computer shipments forecast for 2010 and 2011 as consumers keep a tight rein on spending and interest grows in tablet devices such as the iPad. Tablet devices are expected to displace 10% of computer shipments by 2014, according to Gartner. The impact of tablets is already evident this year, when computer shipments are projected to total 352.4 million units, up 14.3% from last year, says the research group. The Sellers Research Group (that's me) thinks they're right EXCEPT that the Mac will be immune from this trend. In fact, I predict Mac sales with continue to grow due to the "halo effect" from the iPad and iPhone. -- Dennis Sellers

Boris Continuum Complete 7.0.3 for Sony Vegas Pro is now available from Boris FX (http://www.borisfx.com). The upgrade features 3D Objects filters -- BCC Extruded Text, BCC Type-On Text, BCC Layer Deformer, BCC Extruded EPS, and BCC Extruded Spline -- delivering 3D extrusion capabilities to the Sony Vegas Pro 10 timeline. Version 7.0.3 is a free upgrade for registered users. New users can save up to US$1,000 on Doris Continuum Complete or Sony Vegas Pro through Dec. 1. Regularly $1,995, you can obtain it for $995 for a limited time.

NewBay Media, a publisher of digital content creation media, says the Government Video Expo will get underway Tuesday, Nov. 30, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, where the conference will run through Dec. 2 and offer two days of exhibits on Wednesday, Dec. 1, and Thursday, Dec. 2. Thousands are expected to gather at the East Coast’s largest professional video event,. Carmel King, executive vice president, Video Broadcast Division, NewBay Media, says highlights of Government Video Expo 2010 include: ° A three-day track on Final Cut Studio Editing, and single-day tracks on Avid Editing and Adobe Production Premium CS5 with Premier Pro; ° Two-day Apple Certification Training on Final Cut Pro Level 1, and Apple Motion; ° Multiple educational tracks focusing on digital video production techniques, HDSLR filmmaking, social media solutions, motion graphic and FX; For a complete event schedule, as well as registration details and information on the entire...

Developer Dirk Stichling has announced myTracks 2.2. for Mac OS X (http://www.mytracks4mac.com/myTracks/Start.html), an update to his GPS/Photo application that allows the user to download, sync, edit, and record GPS tracks. myTracks' Logger Assistant has presets for more than 50 GPS devices. Features include: automatic geotagging; iPhoto '09 and '11 and Aperture 3 compatibility; track import, export, editing, and library; geocaching; OpenStreetMap and Google Earth support; and a free iOS version with sync. Users can drag and drop JPEG or RAW photo files onto myTrack's dock icon, where they will undergo geotagging automatically, syncing to the appropriate GPS track. A manual mode allows for geotagging without a GPS track. myTrack displays GPS tracks on a variety of different maps, including: OpenStreetMaps, Microsoft Bing Maps, OpenCycleMap, NearMap, Google Earth, and TrekBuddy. The user may scroll in any direction and zoom. The application includes both bookmark and search...

Developer Dirk Stichling has announced myTracks 2.2. for Mac OS X (http://www.mytracks4mac.com/myTracks/Start.html), an update to his GPS/Photo application that allows the user to download, sync, edit, and record GPS tracks. myTracks' Logger Assistant has presets for more than 50 GPS devices. Features include: automatic geotagging; iPhoto '09 and '11 and Aperture 3 compatibility; track import, export, editing, and library; geocaching; OpenStreetMap and Google Earth support; and a free iOS version with sync. Users can drag and drop JPEG or RAW photo files onto myTrack's dock icon, where they will undergo geotagging automatically, syncing to the appropriate GPS track. A manual mode allows for geotagging without a GPS track. myTrack displays GPS tracks on a variety of different maps, including: OpenStreetMaps, Microsoft Bing Maps, OpenCycleMap, NearMap, Google Earth, and TrekBuddy. The user may scroll in any direction and zoom. The application includes both bookmark and search...

Troi Automatisering has released Troi Activator Plug-in 3.0 for FileMaker Pro 11. The updated cross platform plug-in runs natively in FileMaker Pro 11 and now serves as image upload server. The Activator Plug-in is a tool for triggering scripts across the network, even over the Internet. A fully functional demo version of Troi Activator Plug-in 3.0 is available for downloading at Troi's web site at http://www.troi.com/software/activatorplugin.html . Troi Activator Plug-in 3.0 works with FileMaker Pro 9, 10 and 11. The plug-in can also be used with runtimes from FileMaker Pro Advanced 9, 10 and 11. The plug-in is available for Mac OS X 10.5.7 or higher and Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. Licenses cost US$89 per user. Details on developer licenses and multi-user discounts can be found on at the Troi Automatisering web site.

Stellar Information Systems, a provider of data recovery software and solutions, has launched a SpeedUp Mac (http://www.stellarspeedupmac.com/). It helps you increase the system performance significantly by removing all the unwanted files, applications and system junks from your Mac system. SpeedUp Mac software acts both as a cleanser and uninstaller. With its Clean My Mac option, the software helps you delete all your unusable duplicate files, large old files, cache/temporary files, and universal binaries from any Mac volume in your system. What's more, SpeedUp Mac can uninstall the not-in-use applications, plug-ins, widgets and generates free space out of it. Speed Up Mac is available in a single user download version with a lifetime license. It costs US$39 only.

A new GfK survey finds that 56% of smartphone owners in key global markets were keeping their options open about which phone they would buy next, with only Apple commanding a significant degree of loyalty, reports "Reuters" (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AS0XB20101129). The survey found that just 25%of smartphone owners planned to stay loyal to the operating system running their phone, with loyalty highest among Apple users at 59% and lowest for Microsoft's phone software, at 21%. Of users of Research in Motion's BlackBerrys, 35% said they would stay loyal, notes "Reuters." The figure was 28% for users of phones running Google's Android software, and 24% for users of Nokia Symbian phones.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster and his team have been counting sales at Apple retail stores and have told clients -- as reported by "Fortune" (http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/11/29/apple-store-count-8-8-ipads-sold-...) -- that: ° Macs were leaving the stores at the rate of 8.2 units per hour per store, down from 8.3 last year and 13 two years ago. "While Mac sales were flat year-over-year" he writes, "we believe it is too early to make a call on Macs in the Dec. quarter. Note that Mac NPD data in the first month of the quarter (Oct.) was up 20% year-over-year ° iPads were selling 8.8 units per hour. There are no other Black Friday iPad sales to compare with, but Munster believes these numbers are in line with his prediction that Apple will sell 5.5 million iPads this quarter. "Most notable in our observations, we noticed that the iPad is gaining traction (driven by lower price vs. the Mac) among demographics in which the Mac has historically not been successful," he writes. "The...

By Terry Jarrell Apple Consultants Network Many Mac faithful have long been converging in San Francisco every January for Macworld, but what about those who cannot make the trek across country but still want to take part in a great Mac oriented event? Enter the Loop Business Expo (http://www.loopbusinessexpo.com/). While not quite as big an event, the LBE is just getting started with roots in Miami, Florida. The Expo plans to travel the U.S. throughout 2011 on the Loop Business Expo National Tour. Next stop is Dec. 8 in beautiful Orlando, Florida, with the next event in Tampa, Florida, on Feb. 23, 2011. The expo features more than 50 national hardware and software vendors showcasing their products and services. While primarily aimed at business users, there will be something for users of many levels including workshops, keynote speakers and roundtable discussions. The iZone is focused on iPad and iPhone developers and accessory makers. PC users looking to switch to Macs or integrate...

Zevrix Solutions (http:/www.zevrix.com) has announced Deliver 2.0.6, a maintenance update to its automated solution to send and share files across the Internet and local networks. 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. The new version introduces the option to copy notification email body to the general clipboard after delivery. Users can paste the body text to their email clients to send custom messages. The new update also addresses several stability and connectivity issues. Deliver Express, a fully automated version of Deliver, is currently in beta testing stage. It will process files automatically from watched hot folders. Deliver 2.0 can be purchased from Zevrix web site for US$19.95 (it'...

Consumer electronics spending is up for the holidays and will exceed last year according to a November survey of 2,812 U.S. consumers by the ChangeWave research group (http://www.changewave.com) -- and much of it is being driven by Apple, which is having the most explosive holiday season in its history. Better than one-in-four respondents (26%) say they’ll spend more on consumer electronics over the next 90 days and only 29% say less. That's a big nine-point jump from last month and a net three-point improvement from November 2009. The survey also found a big jump in planned laptop purchasing, with 10% saying they’ll buy a laptop in the next 90 days. That's two points better than last month and matching the highest level in a ChangeWave survey in three years. The manufacturer most responsible for the surge in laptop demand is Apple, with 36% of planned laptops buyers saying they’ll purchase a Mac. That's an 11-point jump since ChangeWave's previous survey last month. It's it’s the...

PowerProduction Software has released StoryBoard Quick 6, with new screenwriting software imports including support for the Final Draft fdx format. "StoryBoard Quick 6 is about the ability to create storyboards quickly and stylishly, with easy integration of storyboards into the filmmaking pipeline,” said Jeff Walsh, vice president of Product Management at PowerProduction Software. “This version offers new and more artwork, simplicity and speed to every task. By streamlining the digital workflow for the professionals, and enabling beginning videographers to plan projects, StoryBoard Quick 6 brings new vitality to the essential process of storyboarding for pre-production.” Other new features in version 6 include import from scheduling and breakdown programs such as Gorilla Film Production Software (budgeting and scheduling), as well as scheduling from Entertainment Partners. These features and more are available in the stand-alone applications for both Mac OS X and Windows. The...

ThinkGeek (http://www.ThinkGeek.com) has released the US$49.95 TK-421 iPhonecase for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS with flip-out keyboard. It offers a physical QWERTY keyboard that rotates out when needed and hides behind the phone when no longer needed.  The TK-421’s case includes a built-in keyboard that connects to the device via Bluetooth. The keyboard powers up with its own built-in, rechargeable battery.  When not in use, a magnetic clasp keeps the keyboard in place. The keyboard works with all native iPhone apps that support keyboard input, like e-mail, notes and the Safari web browser.  

Apple's patent claims against Motorola will be reviewed by the U.S. International Trade Commission, which could issue an order banning Motorola phones from the U.S., reports "Bloomberg" (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-24/apple-patent-case-against-motor...). The ITC will determine if Motorola is infringing Apple patents and whether it should rule to block U.S. imports of Motorola phones made overseas that run on Google’s Android operating system. Notice of the investigation has been posted on the agency’s website, notes "Bloomberg." Earlier this month Apple sued Motorola, alleging that the company's smartphone lineup and the operating software it uses infringe on the iPhone-maker's intellectual property. The two lawsuits came after Motorola sued Apple in October for patent infringement. Motorola claims that Apple's iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and certain Mac computers infringe Motorola patents. Overall, Motorola Mobility's three complaints include 18 patents, which the company...

Codeminion says Jodie Drake and the World in Peril (http://jodiedrake.com/), produced by development studio Sleepwalker Games, is now available for Mac OS X and Windows systems. It costs US$9.99 Here's how the game is described: "Following the adventures of Jodie, a photographer and explorer turned heroine, this hidden-object game features varied mini-games on six continents. Featuring beautifully rendered graphics, supplemented by crisp sound effects, Jodie Drake offers two difficulty levels that allow players of different skill levels to play the game without an overly easy or hard gaming experience. "Jodie Drake and the World in Peril places the player in control of a female heroine, exploring locations around the world. While discovering new levels, players are challenged by seven different mini-games and puzzles, ranging from hidden-object scenarios to mazes. The plot is moved forward by comic-style, fully voiced cut-scenes."

Minder Softworks has updated MYStuff (http://www.mindersoftworks.com/products/mystuff), a "stuff manager" for Mac OS X, to version 1.5. The upgrade improves the user interface, and adds support for all file types, including audio, video, and office files. Combining features of PDF managers and home inventory programs, MYStuff adds additional features, and gives users a way of filing and finding their information. It makes it easy to file and find information about the things you own, according to the folks at Minder Softworks. You make a new record, and key in what you bought, where you bought it, how much you paid and how you paid for it, warranty information, and other key data. Then you can add an unlimited number of files to the record: a scan of the receipt, photos of the item, a PDF of the manual, and anything else you'd like to add. What's more, MYStuff's MYInbox feature allows users to add files to MYStuff from other applications. MYStuff will run on any Intel or PowerPC Mac...

Syncro Soft (http://www.syncrosvnclient.com), the producer of Syncro SVN Client, has announced the immediate availability of version 6.1 of its Subversion (SVN) client. Version 6.1 improves the information presented in the Working Copy view and delivers better performance of the SVN related tasks and compare operations. You can now choose to ignore "svn:externals" definitions when exporting or checking out from repository or when updating resources in the working copy. All Working Copy view modes contextual menus have the same content and structure in SVC client 6.1. They're dynamically built and display only the actions which can be applied for the selected resources. Information about the resources file type is presented in the Working Copy area in a new column, which allows you to sort the resources according to the file extension. The external and switched resources are marked consistently in all working copy presentation modes. Resources in a real conflict state are marked...

Early Tuesday, it was reported that Apple co-founder Steve "Woz" Wozniak saod in an video interview that Apple has bought Nuance, a voice recognition company. However, he says he was wrong. “I think voice recognition is going to become, more and more, a part of these machines,” Woz said in the interview with Romil Patel, founder of TVDeck.com. “Apple’s probably thinking the same way. They recently bought the company Nuance.” However, the Apple co-founder now says he was "totally wrong" in his statement. "I thought I'd read about it but obviously got it all wrong," Wozniak told "Reuters" (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101123/tc_nm/us_nuancecommunications_woznia...) in an e-mail, when asked what he meant.

The listing of a 1976 Apple-1 computer in a Christie's sale "caused quite a stir - especially over the estimated price of £100,000 - £150,000 ($US160,300 - $US240,450)," reports "IT Wire" (http://www.itwire.com/your-it-news/home-it/43431). The Apple 1 was the original Apple computer designed by Steve ("Woz") Wozniak. The significance of the particular example auctioned by Christie's was that it included a number of associated items including the all-important (to collectors, at least) cardboard box, plus the manual, original invoice, and a typed letter signed by Steve Jobs, says "IT Wire." Also, the Apple-1 offered for sale was number 87 of a production run of perhaps 200, of which as few as 50 are thought to survive, the article adds. (Pictured is an Apple 1 at the Smithsonian.)

More than 450,000 albums and two million individual songs were sold on iTunes worldwide, according to Apple, since the Beatles catalog was made available Tuesday (Nov. 16). In U.S. the best-selling album was "Abbey Road" and best-selling song was "Here Comes the Sun," reports "Billboard" (http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i39b5c49ccd74a...). U.S. album sales totaled 119,000 units, which included 13,000 digital box sets, while individual digital track sales reached 1.4 million, the article -- quoting "industry sources" -- says. Said sources say the U.S. album sales tally of 119,000 counts each box set as one unit, while Apple’s worldwide album sales tally counts each box set as multiple sales units, although it wasn’t immediately clear how many units each box set accounted for. "Billboard" notes that the Beatles' debut-week sales on iTunes compare favorably with the first-week sales of previous iTunes holdouts. When Led Zeppelin’s catalog made its digital debut...