Sintek: touchscreen iMac? what touchscreen iMac?
Sintek has denied previous reports the company is trialling touchscreen displays for a future iMac, reports "9to5 Mac" (http://www.9to5mac.com/29313/sintek-denies-touchscreen-imac-claims?utm_s...). Sintek Photronics spokesperson Barry Wu denied Digitimes’ claims contained in a report last week.
"DigiTimes" had said that Sintek Photronics has reportedly sent samples of projected capacitive touch panels to Apple to be incorporated in upcoming iMacs. Since current capacity for 20-inch and above projected capacitive touch panels is limited and the technology involved quite complex, Sintek, which is equipped with 5.3G generation production lines, has a good chance of becoming a supplier of the new models, the article said.
The next iMac is rumored to have a "good vertical and horizontal viewing angle, and its projected capacitive touch panel will adopt a one-glass solution, which integrates the touch sensor and cover glass, to reduce thickness and weight," "DigiTimes" claimed.
Apple TV parts may cost under $64
The components in the latest Apple TV, which sells for US$99, may cost less than $64, according to market research firm, iSuppli (http://www.isuppli.com), as reported by "Bloomberg BusinessWeek" (http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2010/tc2010104_872952.htm).
The most expensive part, at $16.55, is the A4 processor, designed by Apple and manufactured by Samsung Electronics. The same chip is used in the iPad and iPhone 4.
Andrew Rassweiler, an iSuppli analyst who conducted a so-called teardown analysis of the device, says the materials cost of the new model leaves room for Apple to earn a profit. With the original device, the cost of materials was closer to the retail price, he says.
Mercedes-Benz Financial goes nationwide with iPad program
Mercedes-Benz Financial (http://www.mercedesbenzfinancial.com/mbfsr/en/misc/index.do) says its going nationwide with its program to put iPad into the hands of its dealers, becoming the first automotive finance company to give dealers mobile access to its proprietary point-of-sale dealer system called MB Advantage. Mercedes-Benz Financial is one of the first companies to adapt the consumer-oriented iPad as a mobile business tool.
MB Advantage on the iPad will give dealership sales personnel instant access to marketing programs for specific models, quicker turn time on the credit application process, and increase speed and efficiency on the return of lease vehicles, according to Andreas Hinrichs, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz Financial.
“We see the iPad providing wireless mobility, information and flexibility on the showroom floor,” Hinrichs says. “The iPad will provide a competitive advantage to our dealers by increasing their service levels through a more flexible...
Apple forks out $1.7 million for data center land
Apple needed land owned by Donnie and Kathy Fulbright for a US$1 billion data center in rural North Carolina and were willing to pay big bucks for the Maiden property.
The Fulbrights say they spurned one offer, then a second, "Bloomberg" (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-05/apple-s-data-needs-mean-1-7-mil...) reports. Finally, they agreed to sell for $1.7 million, county records show, opting to leave the single-story house on the less than one acre of land they purchased for $6,000, the article adds.
Last year it was announced that Apple would build a data center in Catawba County on the outskirts of Maiden. Maiden and Catawba County agreed to US$7.3 million in incentives for Apple in order for them to build the center there. The company will build a 500,000-square-foot facility along U.S. Highway 321. However, no one knows exactly what the data center will be used for.
Bento Template Exchange surpasses half-million downloads
FileMaker, Inc. (http://www.filemaker.com) says that over 500,000 free templates have been downloaded from the Bento Template Exchange since its launch in June 2009.
Bento by FileMaker is the personal database software for Mac, iPhone and iPad. The Exchange makes it easy for visitors to try Bento for free, and to browse, install and use a huge variety of real-world templates contributed by Bento users.
The Bento templates show how Bento can organize virtually any information in business, education and home settings. The more than 700 templates illustrate the uses for Bento, ranging from Sales Funnel Management and Simple Home Inventory to Teacher Lesson Plans and Psychotherapy Session Notes. Among the most popular templates are Contact & Customer Manager and Project Manager.
The Exchange provides easy instructions on how to download and import templates along with steps for sharing your Bento templates. Bento templates may also be used with Bento for iPhone and Bento for...
ShareTool update delivers screen sharing, file sharing, more
Yazsoft has updated ShareTool (http://www.yazsoft.com/st/) for Mac OS X, which lets you access all of your Bonjour services from anywhere in the world, to version 2.1.2. The upgrade includes screen sharing, file sharing, remote printing, secure browsing and more. It also delivers iTunes Home Sharing across the Internet, the ability to run ShareTool as a background service, and more.
Formerly known as Rendezvous, Bonjour lets you create an instant network of computers and smart devices by getting them connected to each other. ShareTool automatically configures routers supporting NAT-PMP or UPnP. Remote services automatically appear in the Finder, iTunes, and other applications.
ShareTool 2.1.2 costs US$25 for a two-user license and $45 for a family pack (five licenses). Registered ShareTool 1.x users can upgrade to ShareTool 2.x for the reduced price of $15 (for two licenses).
Hitachi launches new family of 750GB mobile hard drives
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (http://www.hitachigst.com) has announced its new 375GB/platter, 5,400 RPM and 7,200 RPM, 2.5-inch hard drives -- the Travelstar 5K750 and the Travelstar 7K750 hard drive families.
Featuring what the company says is the industry’s highest capacities in a standard 9.5mm two-disk design, the new drives come in capacities of 750GB, 640GB and 500GB. The drives feature technology that delivers high shock protection.
The Travelstar 5K750 and 7K750 drive families are the first Hitachi GST hard drives that feature Advanced Format. Advanced Format increases the physical sector size on hard drives from 512 bytes to 4096 (4K) bytes. This helps utilize the storage surface area more efficiently, allowing for increased drive capacities and improved data integrity at higher storage densities.
The Travelstar 5K750 is currently shipping in volume. Hitachi Travelstar 5K750 Retail Hard Drive Kits will be available in November with a suggested retail price of US$129....
UA introduces new UAD-2 QUAD Omni package
Universal Audio has released the UAD-2 QUAD Omni (v5.7) DSP Accelerator Package (http://www.uaudio.com/products/uad/uad2quadomni/index.html ). It gives producers and engineers 50 UAD powered plug-ins for Mac and Windows systems.
The PCIe card features four analog devices SHARC chips to “power” analog emulation plug-ins, including classics from Manley, Neve, Roland, BOSS, dbx, Empirical Labs, EMT, Fairchild, Harrison, Helios, Little Labs, Pultec, SPL, Teletronix and more. The UAD-2 QUAD Omni (v5.7) DSP Accelerator Package features:
With the UAD-2 QUAD Omni package, you can run large, professional mixes in Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, Nuendo, Performer and more. It's available for purchase from authorized UA dealers worldwide.
MicroNet unveils storage system with 10TB capacity, RAID 5
MicroNet Technology (http://www.micronet.com), a provider of storage solutions that small and medium businesses (SMBs) can rely on, has unveiled the RAIDBank5, a storage solution that combines a 10TB capacity with the performance and data reliability of RAID 5 and the speed of USB 3.0 connectivity.
The RAIDBank5 is a RAID solution for storage-intensive digital media applications. The folks at MicroNet say they designed the RAIDBank5 for maximum performance with a hardware RAID architecture that delivers more than 200 MB/second and quad interface connectivity with the industry’s fastest external storage interfaces including, FireWire 400 and 800, 300 MB/sec eSATA and the new USB 3.0 at 500 MB/sec.
When configured for RAID 5 operations, the RAIDBank5 delivers read and write speeds of 218 MB/sec and 220 MB/sec, respectively. It's designed for storage-centric needs of professional digital audio applications and digital video production environments with support for multi-stream High...
Disk Drill is free data recovery software for Mac OS X
CleverFiles Software (http://www.cleverfiles.com/) has released the first public version of Disk Drill Beta, their new professional level data recovery solution for Mac OS X (10.5 and higher). The free app helps recover lost data, deleted files, and also strives to prevent unexpected data loss with the help of its own Recovery Vault technology.
Disk Drill knows the most popular formats and their binary signatures so it can find deleted data and recover it even when there's only raw access to your drive, according to the folks at CleverFiles. It offers several data recovery methods: deep scan, quick scan and recovery from its own Vault. It supports all file systems and will attempt to recover data even from not partitioned media including hard disks or memory cards with corrupted file system, etc.
Disk Drill also protects data from unexpected damage by implementing its own Recovery Vault technology that monitors file activity in the background and is designed to solve the problem of...
WebDesign 3.0 for Mac OS X adds support for HTML 5
Rage Software has released WebDesign 3.2 (http://www.ragesw.com/products/webdesign.html), an update to the web development software for Mac OS X. The new version provides support for HTML 5 with the addition of new auto-complete features and a syntax checker that supports all the new HTML 5 tags and attributes. It also adds faster website publishing.
WebDesign sports over 40 HTML wizards. Features include live side-by-side web page previews, auto code completion as you type, integrated HTML help, and much more.
WebDesign is compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 and higher. It costs US$59.95.
SonicMood for Mac OS X sounds off to version 4.9.83
SonicIdeas (http://SonicMood.com) has released SonicMood 4.9.8.3 for Mac OS X 10.3.9 and higher. It's a maintenance update with some bug fixes.
There's also now an undo/redo for the main SonicMood window, the Edit window, and the Mixer window now share a common stack. The other windows, like Preferences and the Picture window, continue to have separate undo/redo stacks.Version 4.9.8.1 also makes some changes to the Edit window to make it a little more understandable.
SonicMood's 28 ambient nature music Moods can be found at the iTunes Store with each Mood available for US$0.99. SonicMood is an $12.95 Mac only application that's designed as a multifaceted ambient music-maker/player. Each of the 28 available Moods on the SonicMood Player can be completely altered and edited .
SonicMood has two separate types of sound generation -- the MIDI player and the Soundfiles that come with the application. Each of the 28 Moods have three separate MIDI instruments and three separate Soundfiles....
Freeverse releases Hordes of Orcs 2 for Mac OS X, Windows
Freeverse (http://www.freeverse.com) has released Hordes of Orcs 2 for Mac OS X and Windows. Developed by MrJoy, it's an US$19.95 sequel to -- as you could probably guess -- Hordes of Orcs .
Here's how the game id described: "Defend your castle from destruction by strategically building walls to redirect the flow of the onslaught, and then spend your money on the right combination of defense towers to defeat the attacking forces. Choose carefully from Arrow Towers, Radiation Towers, Fire Towers and the all-new Railgun Tower, as each enemy has different tolerances. And don‚t forget to use your handy spells: casting Fog will slow them down, Weaken inflicts damage to all enemies, Bait will distract the Orcs with an irresistible basket of shitake mushrooms and dung, and Teleport will transport enemies back to the Portal from whence they came. But if 20 Orcs make it into your castle, it's game over -- you are toast!
"It's an action game of strategy, cunning, and resource management,...
MoneyWell for Mac OS X rings up version 1.6.2
No Thirst Software has updated MoneyWell (http://nothirst.com/moneywell/), the personal financial application for Mac OS X, to version 1.6.2. The new version adds an automatic refresh of exchange rates.
It also adds: Quicken 2010 for Windows OFX direct connect emulation; an user option to disable automatic update prompt for similar transactions; and a check all/none command to update.
MoneyWell offers flexible account transfers, a reconcile process, color-coded negative numbers, and a Transfers smart bucket. The software is Universal Binary so runs natively on both PowerPC and Intel Macs. It requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher.
MoneyWell 1.6.2 is a free upgrade for all 1.x users and is available to new users at the introductory price of US$39.99. You can download a free trial limited to 200 transactions.
MEI adds development, design for tablet publishers
MEI (http://www.maned.com) is offering specialized training, consulting and design services for publishers working to move their products to tablet editions.
The new MEI program provides a range of assistance, from strategic planning to hands-on technical work at all stages of digital production, including workflow development, issue design and app deployment. Services include training staff on the latest digital publishing innovations, creating templates and other layout elements, and more.
Depending on a publisher's specific tablet needs, MEI also offers its expertise as the exclusive distributor of the vjoon K4 Cross-Media Publishing Platform in the Americas, says Dennis McGuire, CEO and president of MEI. K4 allows publishers to integrate Adobe InDesign and Adobe InCopy to create and manage content for print, online, mobile and, now, iPad and other emerging media.
iPad's sales rate better than the iPhone, DVDs when they...
Apple’s iPad sold three million units in the first 80 days after its April release and its current sales rate is about 4.5 million units per quarter, according to Bernstein Research -- as noted by "CNBC" (http://www.cnbc.com/id/39501308?__source=yahoo%7Cheadline%7Cquote%7Ctext...). This sales rate is blowing past the one million units the iPhone sold in its first quarter and the 350,000 units sold in the first year by the DVD player, the most quickly adopted non-phone electronic product.
“The iPad did not seem destined to be a runaway product success straight out of the box,” said Colin McGranahan, retail analyst at Bernstein Research, in a note. “By any account, the iPad is a runaway success of unprecedented proportion.”
At this current rate, the iPad will pass gaming hardware and the cellular phone to become the fourth biggest consumer electronics category with estimated sales of more than $9 billion in the U.S. next year, according to Bernstein. TVs, smart phones and notebook PCs...
Apple challenges Mirror Worlds verdict
Apple is challenging a jury verdict in which the computer maker was ordered to pay as much as US$625.5 million to Mirror Worlds for infringing patents related to how documents are displayed digitally, reports "Bloomberg" (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-04/apple-challenges-625-5-million-...).
Apple asked U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis for an emergency stay of the Oct. 1 verdict, saying there are outstanding issues on two of the three patents. Apple said patent owner Mirror Worlds would also be “triple dipping” if it were able to collect $208.5 million on each of the patents.
Apple has been ordered by a jury to pay damages to Mirror Worlds for infringing patents related to how documents are displayed on a computer screen. The federal jury in Tyler, Texas, awarded $208.5 million in damages for each of the patents infringed.
In 2008 Mirror Worlds Technologies, a Texas based company, accused Apple of violating four distinct but related patents that touch on creating "streams" of...
Craft Animations provides sample CDS tools
Craft Animations has announced the integration of select Craft Director Studio (CDS) tools within the Subscription Advantage Pack for Autodesk Maya; 2011, currently available to customers on Autodesk Subscription at http://www.autodesk.com/advantagepack-maya .
CDS is based on research in autonomous control systems and provides interactive control and simulation of cameras and vehicles, which helps to significantly reduce animation production times. The free CDS sample bundle for Maya 2011 includes: Craft SoftMotionCam, Craft ObserverCam, Craft MultiStateCam, Craft HumanizerCam and four Craft pre-rigged models (from PerspectX).
Craft Animations offers over 20 additional animation tools and six Specialty Edition bundles designed for 3D animators, visual effects artists, game developers, forensic specialists, CAD professionals and architectural designers. All tools are compatible with the Maya OS X 64-bit operating system.
DATRON iPad-operated D5 Dental Mill
Datron Dynamics (http://www.datron.com) has released the DATRON D5 Dental Mill. This 5-axis, high-speed machining center was designed specifically and exclusively for dental milling applications including crowns, bridges, abutments, inlays, onlays, telescopes, implants, bar work and even models. It's the only machining center in the world to feature a touch-screen iPad to control all machine functions.
A rigid cast iron construction houses a fully-integrated 5-axis automation system built to hold up to eight material blanks or “pucks” frequently used by dental labs. This integrated 8-piece handling system loads and unloads blanks for un-attended operation. Finished blanks can be unloaded from the machine while the machine is running.
The DATRON D5 is optimized for the efficient machining of common dental materials such as NEM, titanium, chrome-cobalt, zirconium, PMMA, wax, ceramics and dental gypsum. This machine has seven dynamic servo drives, cast construction, horizontally-...
Analyst: Apple capitalizing on trend toward digital lifestyle
Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities issued an in-depth 85-page note on Apple to analysts Monday -- as reported by "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com) and initiated coverage of Apple stock with a $430 12-month price target.
"We believe Apple is still in the early stages of capitalizing on the trend toward a digital lifestyle, while transforming itself to seize large opportunities in the enterprise market, advertising (i.e. mobile, TV, etc.), "cloud computing and social networking," White wrote.
White predicts Apple will sell 7.1 million iPads in its 2010 fiscal year, with sales growing 181% in 2011 to 19.9 million. In the 2012 fiscal year, he sees Apple selling 25.8 million iPads.
The analyst thinks Apple will sell 36.9 million units in 2010, up 78% year-over-year. For the 2011 fiscal year, White eyeballs Apple selling 49.1 million handsets, eventually reaching 71.1 million in the 2013 fiscal year.
The success of the iPhone, iPod and iPad will also drive sales of MacBooks...
Quark brings dynamic publishing to 100 million SharePoint users
Quark (http://www.quark.com) announced today that Quark Publishing System can be integrated with Microsoft SharePoint 2010 to offer the 100 million SharePoint users worldwide a single, affordable system for workflow, collaboration, and dynamic publishing that spans across all departments.
By uniting SharePoint and Quark Publishing System, knowledge workers and creative departments can collaborate within one system to create, edit, revise, and publish brand-compliant, cross-media marketing communications. This enables organizations across industries to boost the return on their SharePoint investment by reducing the cost of publishing marketing material while reaching target audiences more frequently with accurate and timely information, according to PG Bartlett, senior vice president of Product Management at Quark.
Through the integration of Quark Publishing System -- the engine that enables dynamic, collaborative publishing -- with SharePoint – Microsoft’s enterprise-class system...
Analyst: iPad waaaaay ahead of competitors
Deutsche Bank's Chris Whitmore told clients -- as reported by "Fortune" (http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/10/04/ipad-lead-seen-as-overwhelming/?s...) -- that he's surveyed the tablet computer scene and concluded that things don't look good for the iPad's competitors.
"We believe Apple's lead in the tablet market will prove difficult to close by the onslaught of competing products coming over the next several quarters," he says. "Ultimately, we expect the slew of upcoming competition to fall flat from a user experience standpoint while struggl[ing] to materially undercut the iPad on price."
According to Whitmore, the iPad is ahead of competitors by: 12-18 months in terms of content; two or more years in terms of other media acquisition and integration via iTunes; and "untold dollars" in terms of component pricing.
Apple on its way to overtaking Exxon in terms of market...
Apple is on its way to overtake Exxon Mobil Corp. as the largest company by market capitalization, though it still has a ways to go, reports the "San Francisco Chronicle" (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/04/BUO41FNORG.D...).
As soon as the total value of the company's shares edges above Exxon's, Apple will take over the top spot in the Standard and Poor's 500, the market index used by most professional money managers.
"Apple still has some catching up to do before it takes the lead, of course," notes the "Chronicle." "As of now, there is a $60 billion difference in the two companies' market capitalization. If the price of Exxon stays flat, Apple's stock will need to rise 12 percent to move ahead of the oil giant, according to Brian Marshall, an analyst at Gleacher & Co."
Adidas drops iAd?
"Business Insider" (http://www.businessinsider.com/adidas-gives-up-on-apples-iads-because-st...) says Adidas has apparently backed out of Apple's iAd mobile advertising program because Apple CEO Steve Jobs was "being too much of a control freak.
According to one industry exec, Adidas decided to cancel its iAds after Apple rejected its creative concept for the third time. In an effort to dial up ad quality, Apple has taken more control over iAds than any other program in the industry, including making the actual ads themselves, notes the "Business Insider." And, as the "Wall Street Journal" noted in August (http://www.businessinsider.com/apples-iads-already-pissing-some-people-o...), this has caused some stress between Apple and ad agencies.
Ads combine the emotion of TV advertising with the interactivity of Internet advertising, according to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Apple has iAd commitments for 2010 totaling over US$60 million, which represents almost 50 percent of the total forecasted...
Apple, Nissan tie for top spot in Ace Metrix top 10
Ace Metrix (http://www.acemetrix.com), which specializes in television advertising analytics, has announced the Ace Metrix Quarterly Top 10 for the third quarter ending September 30, 2010. For the first time, two national breaking ads tied for best creative effectiveness: Apple iPad “Demonstration of Features” which first aired on Au.17 and Nissan “Wouldn’t It," airing Oct. 28, both scored Ace Score 671, out of a possible 950, and compared to an Ace Score average of 532 for all ads.
“These top ten ads represent a huge achievement in a highly competitive industry. Resonating with today’s fickle consumer is a constant challenge for brands, and these ads represent the best of the best when it comes to effective creative with their consumers,” says Peter Daboll, chief executive of Ace Metrix. “The Ace Score is unique in its ability to track the breadth of all advertising creative that lands on today’s consumers, and these top ten ads of the quarter represent less than 1 percent of all new...
Pageflex Studio ID 2.0 brings FLEX-ibility to Adobe InDesign...
Pageflex, a division of Bitstream (http:/www.bitstream.com) and a developer of enterprise variable data publishing and web-to-print solutions, has announced Studio ID 2.0, a desktop variable data publishing (VDP) plug-in for Adobe InDesign.
This new release includes support for Adobe Creative Suite 5 (CS5) on both the Mac and Windows platforms, and the patented flex technology of Pageflex. Anna Magliocco-Chagnon, president and CEO, Bitstream, says the patented flex technology allows design layout containers (text boxes, shapes, groups, etc.) to dynamically stretch, shrink, and reposition themselves in reaction to the quantity and size of the variable text or images poured into them. The template designer defines layout rules that govern how the containers can flex individually and in relationship to each other so that a pleasing page design is maintained even as the layout changes, she adds.
Users of both Adobe InDesign CS4 and CS5 can take advantage of the new features available with...
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm in stores Dec. 7
Blizzard Entertainment says World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/cataclysm), the third expansion for the subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, will be released starting on December 7.
The expansion will be available on DVD-ROM for Mac OS X and Window at a suggested retail price of US$39.99 and will also be offered as a digital download from the Blizzard Store. A special Collector’s Edition packed with bonus items will be available exclusively in retail stores for a suggested retail price of $79.99.
Here's how the expansion pack is described: "In Cataclysm, the face of Azeroth will be forever altered by the return of the corrupted Dragon Aspect Deathwing. Players will explore once-familiar areas of the world that have now been reshaped by the devastation and filled with new adventures. In an effort to survive the planet-shattering cataclysm, two new playable races -- worgen and goblins -- will join the struggle between the Alliance...
'MUG Event Calendar': Office 2011, Panorama, more
October is shaping up to be a very active month on "The MUG Event Calendar."
Two MacNotables will be visiting groups in their home stats this week. Adam Engst of "TidBITS "and Take Control will visit a New York group, and "Macworld" Senior Editor Christopher Breen will present to a California group. Apple Senior Systems Engineer Dave Marra will be the guest at a New Jersey group, and Jennifer Bell of Prosoft Engineering will visit two different groups Illinois groups.
Kurt Schmucker of Microsoft will show off the new Office 2011 in Alaska, Omni Software will visit a Chicago group, and Jim Rea of ProVue Software will present Panorama to a California group. Other topics in the mix this week include the just-released Apple TV, iPhoto, Snow Leopard Server, backing up, the iPad, Blurb BookSmart 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...
Epson introduces new printers
Epson America (http://www.epson.com) has announced the Epson Stylus Pro 7890 (24-inch) and 9890 (44-inch) for photographers and proofing professionals. The company has also announced the Stylus Pro 4900 17-inch printer.
THe Stylus Pro 7890 and 9890 printers combine eight-color Epson UltraChrome K3 Vivid Magenta ink technology with auto-sharing Matte and Photo Black inks, and Epson's MicroPiezo TFP print head to produce high quality prints at speeds about twice as fast as their predecessors (the Epson Stylus Pro 7880 and 9880), says Reed Hecht, product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America.
The Epson Stylus Pro 7890 and 9890 offer the same leading technology found in the Epson Stylus Pro 900-series, including ePlaten automatic media loading, spindle-free roll media loading, a roll media tracking system, front control panel with 2.5-inch color LCD, rotary cutter, fabric catch bin, and robust printer stand, he adds. The printers also feature Epson's latest ink-repelling coating...
Barcode Producer update adds Send to InDesign button
Apparent Corp. has updated Barcode Producer (http://www.itsapparent.com/barcodeproducer/), its barcode creation software suite for Mac OS X, to version 6.1. It adds a Send to InDesign button and now works correctly with Adobe InDesign CS5.
There's also a new Copy Picture menu option designed to make it easy to simply "copy and paste" barcodes from Barcode Producer to the document you're working on. Code 39 barcodes is a new feature for adding asterisks to the human readable text below the barcode.
Barcode Producer is a tool for creating barcodes visually, with one-click export for Adobe Creative Suite products, including Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, and Acrobat Distiller.
Version 6.1 costs US$199. Barcode Producer is a Universal Binary app so runs natively on both PowerPC and Intel Macs. It requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later.
Verbatim introduces new USB 3.0 portable hard drive
Verbatim (http://www.verbatim.com) has released the Store ‘n’ Go SuperSpeed USB 3.0 compact portable hard drive. It will be available in 500GB and 750GB versions this month, and in a 1TB in November.
The Store 'n' Go SuperSpeed USB 3.0 will, alas, only run at USB 2.0 speeds on Macs. Apple computers don't yet offer support for USB 3.0.
Available in a piano-black finish, the Verbatim unit includes Nero BackItUp & Burn software for Windows, a free trial of Norton Online Backup (5GB) and a seven-year limited warranty. Pricing hasn't been announced.
AquaFold 9 sees open APIs
AquaFold has released Aqua Data Studio 9.0 (http://www.aquafold.com), an upgrade to its universal database query and administration software designed to make it simple to visualize and manipulate multiple relational databases from within a single interface.
The app is designed for business analysts, software developers and database administrators (DBAs) worldwide and lets them consolidate the design, development and maintenance of enterprise relational databases into one versatile application. Among the new features in version 9.0 are AquaScript and open application programming interfaces (APIs), a set of application APIs that open up the rich core functionality of Aqua Data Studio for automating tasks, scripting and customizing the application to specific user or enterprise needs. Processes that took multiple steps within Aqua Data Studio's graphical interface can now be automated with just a single AquaScript, explains AquaFold's Chief Software Architect Niels Gron.
Additionally,...
PCI Geomatics to release GXL Aerial
PCI Geomatics will announce the launch of its GeoImaging Accelerator Aerial (GXL-A) software at the Intergeo 2010 Conference this Oct. 5-7 in Cologne, Germany. This follows an earlier announcement in March when Microsoft’s Photogrammetry division, Vexcel Imaging GmbH, agreed to partner with PCI to produce an image processing system specifically for Vexcel Imaging’s UltraCam aerial cameras and UltraMap photogrammetric software.
GXL-A (http://www.pcigeomatics.com/gxl) completes PCI’s UltraMap workflow product line with the addition of high-speed orthorectification and mosaicking capabilities. Using PCI’s multi CPU/GPU distributed processing architecture, aerial image producers will realize significant improvement in production throughput and reduced costs.
The product will be offered as a standalone deskside or single-node rack system. It's fully upgradable to multiple node architectures and can be integrated into existing IT configurations for existing airphoto producers.
Digital comic book, eBook manager for Mac OS X available
Kaiju Software has announced the public beta launch of Ehon 1.0 (http://www.ehonapp.com) for Mac OS X (10.6.4 or higher). It's a Mac-only digital comic book, manga and ebook management program.
Ehon is designed to simplify digital library management. Users can import all of their digital comics and ebooks and let Ehon do all the work. The app will import all of the major ebook and comic file formats, as long as they're not DRM protected, including epub, PDF, CBR/RAR, CBZ/ZIP and even image folders.
The configurable application offers shelves, CoverFlow or simple list modes. Users can choose which elements to display in the library.
Ehon is available immediately for download as pre-release software. Early adopters get a discounted price of US$18 until the final version 1.0 is released. Early purchasers get a fully functional license that will work with 1.0 version and all 1.x updates. Just remember: beta software is unfinished software so use with care.
DockView for Mac OS X now refreshes constantly
Kapeli has released DockView 1.4.1 (http://kapeli.com/dockview/), an update of the Mac OS X app that extends the Dock and makes it aware of the windows that applications have open. The previews refresh constantly so you can keep an eye on windows without activating them.
With DockView, whenever a user points the mouse at an application's icon, thumbnail images of the windows are displayed. The app 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 requires Mac OS X 10.6.x ("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. Version 1.4.1 is a free update for registered users.
AddMovie for Mac OS X premieres version 1.9
Limit Point Software has updated AddMovie (http://www.limit-point.com/Utilities/AddMovie.html), a tool for combining multiple movies or images into a single movie and batch exporting movies to any format supported by QuickTime, to version 1.9. It combines multiple movies into a single movie and batch exporting movies to any format supported by QuickTime.
AddMovie is a utility for concatenating several files into one single movie, or batch converting movies to other formats. It supports all formats provided by Quicktime. Since the output format is configurable, you can also use AddMovie to convert movie file formats, say from MPEG-4 to 3GP for display on your Bluetooth phone, etc,
It requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher. It's donationware. Try it and if you use it, donate to the developers so they can continue working on this and other Mac products.
NetMarketShare: Mac, Safari, iOS gain market share
Safari and iOS market share for Internet usage rose from August to September, 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 5.03% of the global market share in September, compared to 5% in June (that's global market share; in the US it's almost 10%). Windows remains dominant with 91.08% as of September. That's up from from 91.34% in August. Apple's highest percentage previously was 5.27% in October 2009.
When it comes to browsers, Safari had 5.27% in September compared to 5.16% in August, while Internet Explorer had 59.65% Firefox had 22.96% and Chrome had 7.98%. That compares to, respectively, August percentages of 60.40%, 22.93% and 7.52%, for the browsers.
The iOS's market share also rose, according to NetMarketShare. It had 1.18% of the global market share in September compared to 1.13% in August. That's an all time high...
Apple ordered to pay damages to Mirror World
Apple has been ordered by a jury to pay damages to Mirror Worlds for infringing patents related to how documents are displayed on a computer screen, reports "Bloomberg" (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-01/apple-loses-mirror-worlds-trial...). The federal jury in Tyler, Texas, awarded $208.5 million in damages for each of the patents infringed.
"Bloomberg" says the verdict form was unclear as to whether the amount applies to the three patents collectively or would be charged individually. Lawyers for closely held Mirror Worlds declined to discuss the verdict.
In 2008 Mirror Worlds Technologies, a Texas based company, accused Apple of violating four distinct but related patents that touch on creating "streams" of documents that are automatically sorted according to time stamps, including future dates assigned to calendars and other reminders. The company said that just about all of Apple's product line infringes on a system for organizing data by time, "but draws its closest...
Gridstore to demo next-gen NAS solution
Gridstore (http://www.gridstore.com), which specializes in enterprise-class Network Attached Storage grid (NASg) solutions, will demonstrate its next-generation scale-out NAS solution in booth #758 at the MSPWorld conference, being held in Los Angeles Oct. 4-6.
Demonstrations will focus on the solution's grid architecture and how it changes the dynamics and economics of NAS for the MSP and SMB markets, enabling them to create storage pools that centralize sharing and management of massive amounts of NAS-stored files. By combining the simplicity, convenience and affordability of NAS with the scalability, performance and reliability of enterprise-class storage, the NASg solution eliminates the risk, cost and complexity of traditional siloed storage solutions. Gridstore puts scale-out NAS in reach of MSPs and small-medium sized businesses who until now suffered with the limitations of stand alone NAS, says Kelly Murphy, CEO of Gridstore.
The foundation of the Gridstore solution is the...
iTunes virus making the email rounds
A message from do_not_reply@itunes.com has been plaguing iTune users' inboxes, reports "WKBN" (http://www.wkbn.com/content/news/local/story/iTunes-Virus-Hits-Emails/rq...). It claims you owe money -- and even some without iTunes accounts have received the email, the article says.
Representatives from Apple said this is a very new virus and they are working to get the issue under control.They said to delete the email from your inbox and do not click on any of the links provided.
Apple settles music distribution lawsuit
Apple has become the latest defendant to settle infringement allegations from Sharing Sound LLC over a patent for online music distribution, joining Microsoft, Napster LLC and others, reports "Law360" (http://macosg.me/2/x6).
Judge David Folsom of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas signed off on the settlement Wednesday, clearing Apple of allegations that it on a Sharing Sound patent for "distribution of musical products by a website vendor over the Internet." Apparently, Sharing Sound is using the broad patent to rake in money from as many companies as it can because apparently the company "has never managed to use its patented technology to produce anything, or at least not anything interesting," says "TechCrunch" (http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/01/apple-itunes-sharing-sound-settlement/?...).
NPD Group: iPad not cannibalizing the PC market
Contrary to popular belief, the iPad isn't causing cannibalization in the PC market because iPad owners don't exhibit the same buying and ownership patterns as the typical consumer electronics customer, according to the new "iPad Owner Survey" from market research company The NPD Group (http://www.npdgroup.com).
According to the report, only 13% of iPad owners surveyed bought an iPad instead of a PC, while 24 % replaced a planned e-reader purchase with an iPad. iPad owners, especially the consumers who purchased an iPad within two months of launch, are significantly more likely to own Apple products and newer technologies, such as e-readers and smartphones.
iPad owners are much more likely than the overall population to own Apple computers, with 48 % owning a Mac desktop or Mac notebook, while NPD's "Online Household Penetration Study" fielded earlier this year found Macs in only about 11% of households. In fact, of consumers who bought iPads in the two month initial launch phase 50%...
TaskSurfer is new task management app for Snow Leopard
Two Dogs Software has released TaskSurfer 1.0 (http://www.frostydogs.com/tasksurfer), a cloud-syncing task management application for Mac OS 10.6.x ("Snow Leopard"). It's an US$39, flexible task manager that fits GTD or tag-based systems, but doesn't force the casual user into a complicated workflow, says Two Dogs developer and founder Mike Stewart.
Because a project-based GTD style doesn’t suit everyone, TaskSurfer features a tag browser that lets the user focus on tasks that have been tagged with the user’s custom tags. Tags can be used for categories, time, locations, people, and anything that can be typed. The Tag Browser keeps it all sorted out.
Using Snow Leopard’s Core Location technology, tasks can be assigned to a location-based context, and tasks will be filtered as an Apple laptop moves from one location to the next. At home, office, or the coffee shop, TaskSurfer will show only the tasks appropriate for the current location.
TaskSurfer also provides the option to...
Olympic Developments sues Apple, others for patent infringement
Another day, another lawsuit. A private Delaware company by the name of Olympic Developments AG, LLC, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the California Central District Court Los Angeles Division against several major technology companies, including Apple, reports "Patently Apple" (http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/10/olympic-developments...).
The lawsuit appears to involve the sale of goods through Apple's iTunes and App Stores via an iPad or iPhone, the article adds. According to court documents, "this is a patent infringement action to stop Defendants' infringement of Plaintiff's United States Patent No. 5,475,585 entitled "Transactional Processing System" (the "''585 patent"; a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit A) and United States Patent No. 6,246,400 entitled "Device for Controlling Remote Interactive Receiver" (the"'400 patent"; a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit B) (collectively, "the patents-in-suit"). Plaintiff is the exclusive...
iWeb Themes Park unveils another five iWeb themes
iWeb Themes Park (http://www.iwebthemespark.com) has unveiled five new iWeb themes for iWeb, the web design component of Apple's iLife suite. They require a Mac with iLife '08 (iWeb 2.0) or later.
These themes -- Feelings, Safari, Sunset Dance, Western Farm and Wet Glass -- are "for people who want to build a highest quality web site in a blink of an eye." It is very easy to move, rotate, change in size and opacity or remove each element in each theme. You can also mix the elements among different themes. New navigation menu bars, logos and elements are some of the features in this new iWeb Themes release.
The Feelings them is romantic, while Sunset Dance is perfect for dance enthusiasts. The Safari theme is for wild animal lovers, while Western Farm can help to represent a local farm. The Wet Glass” theme has a magic water-on-the-glass effect.
The iWeb Themes Box of 65 themes is priced at US$44.99. Ten iWeb Themes in a Combo Package can be purchased only for $29.99. Each template is...
Testing for the panels for the 'iMac touch' underway?
Sintek Photronics has reportedly sent samples of projected capacitive touch panels to Apple to be incorporated in upcoming iMac, reports "DigiTimes" (http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20100930PD213.html), quoting "industry sources."
Since current capacity for 20-inch and above projected capacitive touch panels is limited and the technology involved quite complex, Sintek, which is equipped with 5.3G generation production lines, has a good chance of becoming a supplier of the new models, the article says. The next iMac is rumored to have a "good vertical and horizontal viewing angle, and its projected capacitive touch panel will adopt a one-glass solution, which integrates the touch sensor and cover glass, to reduce thickness and weight," says "DigiTimes."
In August it was revealed that Apple had filed a patent for "transitioning between modes of input" that hints at an "iMac touch."
Transitioning between a high-resolution input mode, such as a mouse-based interface, and a low-resolution...
Xerox announces new digital color printer
Xerox (http://www.xerox.com) has announced a entry-level light production printer, the Color 550/560, which sports a color touch screen. It's designed for quick print shops, small commercial printers, in-plant operations, advertising agencies, creative shops and office settings.
Applications ranging from marketing materials and photo specialty items to office documents and PowerPoint presentations can be produced on the Xerox Color 550 at 50 color pages per minute (ppm) or 55 ppm in black and white; and on the Xerox Color 560 at 60 color ppm or 65 ppm in black and white. The Xerox Color 550/560 Printer is immediately for order taking worldwide with a U.S. list price under $40,000.
Metakine announces Hands Off! 1.0 for Mac OS X
Metakine says Hands Off! 1.0 for Mac OS X (http://www.metakine.com/products/handsoff/) will be released on Monday, Oct. 4. It's an US$24.95 is an application to monitor and control the access of applications to your network and disks.
Being able to monitor the normally unnoticeable activities enables you to make informed decisions regarding the transfer of your private information, hence avoiding confidential information leakage, according to the folks at Metakine. When connected to the Internet, applications can send any information stored on your computer to whoever they want without you ever knowing. Using Hands Off!, you can monitor and control Internet connections from all applications as to expose hidden connections and prevent them from sending data or phoning home without your consent.
Applications present on your computer can freely read, store or erase information on your computer without your knowledge. Using Hands Off!, you can monitor and control disk access from all...
Conquest: Divide and Conquer game to launch Oct. 2
Proxy Studios, a small independent games developer, says their debut title, Conquest: Divide and Conquer (http://www.conquest-game.com), will be released on Saturday, Oct. 2, for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux systems. It costs US$15, though you can pre-order it today for an additional 33% discount.
Here's how the game is described: "Conquest: Divide and Conquer is a unique spin on the turn-based strategy genre, offering fast, simultaneous turn-based online multiplayer gameplay instead of multiple-hour long games of research and building.
"Proxy Studios has built the game from ground up to be intuitive, balanced and deep, with a strong random map generator that offers unlimited experiences. A new trailer showcasing recent gameplay is now available. Players are invited to try the free multiplayer demo to launch along with the game's release. Both paying and demo customers will be able to play against each other with certain restrictions. For more information visit Proxy Studios online."
Logos Bible Software launches Logos 4 for Mac OS X
Logos Bible Software has released Logos Bible Software for Mac 4.0, an update to their Logos Bible software.
According to Bob Pritchett, president of Logos Bible Software, some of the features in Logos 4 include:
° An advanced search system that can return library-wide searches in less than one second;
° Smart searching that suggests synonyms and alternate terms;
° Synchronization "to the cloud" for backup and to keep preferences, notes, reading plans, and your library in sync across all your computers, including Macs, PCs and iPhones;
° A smart tab and window management system for workspace customization and multi-monitor support;
° The Cited By tool, which returns the books from your library that cite the material in your active window;
° 60 new high-resolution maps of the biblical world;
° A custom-built index of all the places mentioned in the Bible;
° A one-of-a-kind family tree diagram for every person mentioned in the Bible;
° A database of every thing in the Bible (like...
