OakTree Software has updated its Accordance Bible Software (http://www.accordancebible.com) to version 9.0. The upgrade offers new search capabilities and interface enhancements. According to the folks at OakTree Software, Accordance 9.0 offers: ° Workspace zones that make it easy to keep your Bibles, commentaries, lexicons, and other study aids neatly arranged yet easily accessible; ° A revamped Search All feature that lets you search thousands of resources in seconds and quickly browse the results to find what you're looking for; ° An Easy Install feature that lets you install new resources over the web as soon as you purchase them, with no physical media to ship or unlocking codes to enter; ° Support for new syntactical analyses of original language texts that takes you beyond the meaning of individual words to show you how those words function together. Accordance 9 can be purchased as a download for US$69. The cost to upgrade from Accordance 8 is $49. The Accordance program can...

The Pixelmator Team (http://www.pixelmator.com) has updated Pixelmator -- a US$59 GPU-powered image editing tool for creating, editing and enhancing still images -- to version 1.6.1. The upgrade, free to registered users, adds Aperture support, an improved Photo Browser palette, a revamped Stroke feature, bug fixes, and more. Pixelmator is based on Core Image and OpenGL technologies that use Mac's video card for image processing. Core Image and OpenGL utilize the graphics card for image processing operations, freeing the CPU for other tasks. If a high-performance card with increased video memory (VRAM) is present, the user will find real-time responsiveness across a wide variety of Pixelmator operations, including editing tools, color correction tools, and filters, according to Saulius Dailide of the Pixelmator Team. Pixelmator supports more than 100 different file formats, including Photoshop images with layers, and it comes with more than 15 color correction tools and 50 Core Image-...

Apple has released Remote 2.0. The new version of the iTunes and Apple TV remote control app adds iPad and Retina Display support. It's free and available at the Apple App Store. You can now control iTunes and Apple TV shared libraries from your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Remote 2.0 adds support for iTunes 10 and the Apple TV "Take Three." It also supports Home Sharing.

The iPhone has been knocked off the top spot of Britain's Cool Brands index by Aston Martin, reports "Telegraph UK" (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/8028268/iPhone-knocked-off-C...). The iPhone is is second place, followed by the iPod, the Blackberry and Bang & Olufsen, an upmarket audio-visual manufacturer. “Traditional favourites continue to challenge new, cutting edge brands, which is reflected perfectly by the return of Aston Martin as the coolest brand despite close attention from iPhone," Stephen Cheliotis, the chairman of the CoolBrands Council said. The CoolBrands are chosen by a combination of 2,000 consumers in a survey and by a panel of 35 designers, style magazine editors and website executives. Apple's iPhone has sold more than three million iPhones in Britain since the first version went on sale in 2007, with even operators such as Tesco Mobile offering the gadget, notes "Telegraph UK."

Microsoft officials say that a leak earlier this month was correct and that Office for Mac 2011 will be available for purchase starting Oct. 26, reports ZDNet (http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-confirms-office-for-mac-20...). Microsoft Office 2011 will come in two editions: the Mac Home and Student version and a Mac Home and Business offering. The former includes the Word word-processing. The price will be US$119 for a single license and $149 for a family pack that allows for installs on three Macs. Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Messenger, along with Outlook for the Mac. Outlook replaces Entourage as Office’s mail client and is one of the centerpiece changes of the 2011 edition of the productivity suite. The Home and Office edition will cost $199 for a single license and $279 for a multi-pack that allows two installs on two machines. The MacBu previewed Office 2011 for Mac at February's Macworld Conference & Trade...

File this one under the dubious category, but rumors are flying that Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook is leaving Apple for HP. Silicon Alley Insider (http://www.businessinsider.com/rumor-apple-coo-tim-cook-leaving-for-hp-2...) notes that the rumor seems to have emanated from Fly On The Wall, a site that serves up gossip to the investing community. HP is looking for a new CEO, but I don't think it will be Cook. I think he's happily ingrained at Apple is on the short list to (eventually) succeed Steve Jobs as CEO. Nevertheless, Apple's stock has dipped 20% on the rumors of Cook's departure -- which shows how valuable he is considered to be to the company. When Cook first came to Apple, he had the title of senior vice-president of worldwide operations. Eleven years later, as COO (a title he was given in 2005), Cook is an indispensable member of Apple’s corporate bench. As Apple COO, Cook is responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end...

CasaTunes (http://www.casatunes.com) has announced new features to its CasaTunes software, including CasaTunesSync for the Mac, RadioTime and a new Pronto-based user interface. CasaTunesSync for the Mac allows Apple users to synchronize their iTunes music from any Mac in the home with their CasaTunes Music Server. CasaTunes displays all of the iTunes music in the home as a single music library or as separate libraries for each Mac. Also included in this release is support for playing music from multiple connected iPod devices, including iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices, without the need to purchase iPod docking hardware. Regardless of whether the music resides in iTunes, on iPod devices, or both, CasaTunes can play the music throughout the home, says David Krinker, CEO of CasaTools. The new release of CasaTunes includes support for the popular RadioTime, an Internet radio service with over 60,000 channels of global music, talk, programming, news, events and sports. CasaTunes...

AlpineSoft has updated their vinyl-and-tape-to-CD-and-MP3 software, VinylStudio for the Mac, to version 7.5.5. It's a maintenance release with some bug fixes and performance tweaks. VinylStudio is a software solution for digitizing vinyl LPs and tapes. It records your records and tapes, splits those recordings into tracks, removes scratches, tape hiss and more and burns both audio and MP3 CDs and DVDs. You can also play your recordings on your computer. VinylStudio can look up track listings over the Internet and copy tracks to your iPod or MP3 player. VinylStudio comes with audio cleanup filters to remove clicks, crackles, tape hiss and more. All you need is a turntable (or USB turntable) hooked up to your Mac, or you can record cassettes using any cassette player. VinylStudio includes instructions on how to connect up your turntable and will take you through the entire process of digitizing your music step-by-step. VinylStudio costs US$29.95. You can download a demo from the...

Synium Software has released version 6.0.5 of MacFamilyTree (http://www.synium.de/products/macfamilytree/index.html). The new version adds MyHeritage to the web research function. MacFamilyTree 6.0.5 requires Mac OS X 10.5 or higher. For new users the cost is US$49. Upgrades from previous versions prior to 6.x are $25. Version 6.0.5 is a free download for registered users of version 6.x. A demo is available for download. MobileFamilyTree, the companion app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad is available in the App Store for $4.99.

Koingo Software has released Amnesia 1.2.4 (http://www.koingosw.com/products/amnesia.php) for Mac OS X. Amnesia performs a smart scan to determine all related files to be removed. The new version restores Mac OS X 10.4 support for now. With Amnesia, you can uninstall applications, preference panes, screen savers, and Dashboard widgets, as well as all their related files. In addition, turn on a secure deletion option to prevent recovery of the removed files. Amnesia comes with a built-in backup function that creates an archive of related files in case you wish to restore them at a later time. It will reinstall the pieces of the product exactly where they came from -- even if you choose to restore to a different machine. Another feature Amnesia has to offer is the ability to create a list of untouchable software sets (in addition to the ones built-in). They're software products that Amnesia will warn you about in case a removal is attempted. This is handy in case a particular software...

The Jabra GO 660 (http://www.jabra.com) is described as the first Bluetooth headset with Noise Blackout Extreme, which eliminates background noise without compromising voice quality. It has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of US$110. With the Jabra LINK 320 USB Bluetooth adapter, it simultaneously connects to a personal computer and mobile phone, so your need just one headset. Noise Blackout is dual microphone technology that eliminates background noise.

DVDthemePAK.com has released all its ThemePAK collections and button products with widescreen formatting and theme family features. Each theme now includes two templates instead of only one. Each theme comes with a template for the main screen and a template for the chapter's screen. In addition all DVDthemePAK's iDVD products are now downloadable. All themes in each collection are now sold separately in addition to the standard ThemePAK collections. iDVD ThemePAK collections are priced between US$29 and $39. Individual themes are prices at US$9. All ThemePAKs are NTSC and PAL compatible and may be shipped anywhere in the World. The new themes can be purchased through the DVDThemePAK web site (http://www.dvdthemepak.com). Users must have iDVD 6.0 or 7.0 (iLife ’06, ’08, ’09) or later.

The Nielssen research group says the rapid rise of digital music sales has stalled in the United States, the world's biggest and most important market, with sales in the first half of 2010 flat compared with a year before. However, digital music sales were up 7% in Britain, up 13% in Germany and up 19% in France. Nielsen says digital sales were flat in the U.S. market after a 13% increase from 2008 to 2009 and 28% growth from 2007 to 2008. Jean Littolff, managing director of Nielsen Music, told "Reuters" (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68Q2FM20100927) the flat U.S. sales could be due to weak consumer confidence, the appeal of new music releases and confusion over the many different ways people can buy music online. "I think this is a plateau, it doesn't mean that this digital consumption is going to drop significantly," he said. "It's a plateau, but it's not yet saturation."

The Department of Justice announced that it has reached a settlement with six high technology companies -- Apple, Adobe, Google, Intel, Intuit and Pixar -- that prevents them from entering into no solicitation agreements for employees.   The Department said that the agreements eliminated a significant form of competition to attract highly skilled employees, and overall diminished competition to the detriment of affected employees who were likely deprived of competitively important information and access to better job opportunities. The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust complaint today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, along with a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the lawsuit.                   According to the complaint, the six companies entered into agreements that restrained competition between them for highly skilled employees. The agreements between Apple and Google, Apple and Adobe, Apple and...

Monotype Imaging Holdings is accepting entries through Nov. 7, 2010 for the first Web Font Awards, an international competition designed to recognize web sites that incorporate exceptional use of web fonts. Prizes include two US$3,000 cash awards, iPads and various typeface offerings from Monotype Imaging. Winning entries will be determined at a live judging event on Nov. 16, during the Future of Web Design conference, Nov. 15-17, in New York City. Contest entries can be built with web font technology from any provider, including self-built solutions, as long as the site or web page uses actual fonts that are served to Internet-connected machines through the @font-face declaration. There is no limit to the number of entries that an individual can submit. All accepted designs will be displayed in a gallery at http://www.webfontawards.com, where site visitors can rate each entry one time based on the quality of typography, creativity and usability. The entry with the highest score at...

You can listen to music and have conversations using six new Sennheiser headsets (http://www.sennheiserusa.com) specially designed for the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and other Apple products. All six versions -- the MM 70i (which has a street price of US$99.95), IE 8i ($449.95), PX 100-IIi ($89.95), PX 200-IIi ($109.95), HD 218i ($79.95) and HD 238i ($129.95) --are based on Sennheiser’s “Portable Entertainment” series. The microphone and smart remote control unit are integrated into the cable, and allow the Apple product to be controlled at the push of a button or by voice commands. A range of functions can be controlled with a single button. Depending on how often and how long the button is pressed, music tracks and videos can be played, paused or skipped to the next/previous song. The same button can also be used to receive and end phone calls and to activate the voice control function. This Apple function makes it possible to use voice commands to retrieve songs or phone numbers on the...

European Union competition regulators have dropped a probe into Apple, after the company agreed to relax restrictions on the iPhone, reports "Macworld UK" (http://www.macworld.co.uk/ipod-itunes/news/index.cfm?newsid=3241048). Apple has agreed to introduce cross-border iPhone warranty repair services for EU purchasers and relax restrictions on development tools for iPhone applications. Apple has now appointed service providers to "offer cross-border iPhone warranty services in those member states where Apple does not directly take charge of repairs," the Commission said. The change in Apple policy should make it easier for iPhone customers to get repairs under warranty in a EU country other than where the smartphone was purchased, notes "Macworld UK."

Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! have swiftly lost share in the U.S. mobile advertising market to Apple's new iAd, reports "Bloomberg Businessweek" (http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2010/tc20100926_023792...). Apple will end the year with 21% of the market, according to estimates provided to Businessweek.com by researcher IDC. Google's share will drop to 21% from 27% last year, when combined with results from AdMob, the ad network it bought in May. Microsoft will drop to 7% from 10%. "Apple's acquisition of Quattro and Steve Jobs's launch of iAd put a spotlight on mobile advertising," Paran Johar, chief marketing officer at rival mobile ad network Jumptap, told "Bloomberg." Apple's push into mobile ads may be a reason for its rivals' market-share declines, the article adds. Since June, the number of brands that have agreed to run ads through Apple's iAd network has doubled, according to Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Apple. On June 7, Apple said it had US$60 million...

hendrickson software components has released their first REAL Studio plug-in, the Outlook Message Parser Plug-in (http://www.hendricom.com/omppreview.html). It enables REAL Studio (REALbasic) developers to parse Microsoft Outlook Structured Storage (.MSG) files in a cross-platform development environment, including Windows, Macintosh OSX, and Linux. According to the folks at hsc, parsing Microsoft Outlook Structured Storage .MSG files can be a challenge, even in a Windows development environment. The Outlookk Message Parser plug-in enables REAL Studio developers to easily parse Microsoft Outlook Structured Storage .MSG files cross-platform from the REAL Studio development environment. REAL Studio developers can easily access the following properties of a Microsoft Outlook Message: From, Subject, Date, To, CC, UUID, SMTP Header, Body as Text, Body as HTML, Body as RTF, Number of Attachments, Attachment Name, Attachment MIME Type, Attachment Data as Binary Stream, and Attachment Length...

In February, there was some speculation about Microsoft having a very good chance at landing a deal with Apple to make Bing become its default search engine for the iPhone. However, Google will apparently remain the default search engine for now. Google CEO Eric Schmidt says their search contract had been "recently extended," but didn’t get into any particulars, reports "Search Engine Journal" (http://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-apple-extend-search-deal-for-i...). Apple was reportedly receiving about US$100 million a year in search revenue from Google with the deal it previously had inked with them.

Apple has released iTunes 10.0.1. You can obtain it via the Software Updates component of Mac OS X's Systems Preferences app. The update adds a Ping sidebar in which you can "Like" or "Post" about music from your iTunes library. Plus, you can see the recent Ping activity of a selected artist in your library, or of all artists and friends you follow on Ping. iTunes 10.0.1 also fixes several bugs; namely it: ° Addresses an issue where the picture quality of a video changes depending on whether the on-screen controls are visible; ° Resolves an issue where iTunes may unexpectedly quit while interacting with album artwork viewed in a separate window; ° Fixes a problem that affects the performance of some third-party visualizers; ° Addresses an issue where the iTunes library and playlists appear empty; ° Resolves an issue that created an incompatibility with some third-party shared libraries.

Toon Boom Studio (http://www.toonboom.com) has released Toon Boom Studio 6, a new version of its 2D animation software that adds bone rigging features. As a bonus, Toon Boom Studio 6 comes with several bone-ready templates that users will be able to incorporate into their own projects. Valued at US$29.99, this template pack speeds up the animation creation process. In addition, Studio 6 includes a 62 minute How To Video that covers step by step instructions on how to create bone animation. This How To Video is offered for a limited time only to all Studio 6 customers and is valued at $59.99. You can buy Toon Boom Studio 6 now at the special pre-launch price of $279.99instead of $329.99, valid until Sept. 30. Upgrades from version 4.5 and 5 to version 6 can be purchased at $99.99.

KavaSoft has released HyperImage 3.5 (http://www.kavasoft.com/HyperImage/), an update of the US$25 Mac OS X app that lets you download images from web sites. It's now a full featured Tumblr client. Tumblr is a community for blogging and reblogging photos. HyperImage helps you do everything you can do on the Tumblr web site. Just enter the address of a Tumblr blog, and HyperImage will download all of the photos HyperImage includes a built-in image browser. You can skip over unwanted images and choose which links to follow. With HyperImage you can also include or exclude images with certain names and choose which image formats to download. HyperImage is available for US$25. You can try it for free, and images downloaded with an unlicensed copy will contain a watermark. HyperImage requires Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard") and is 64-bit optimized.

Quanta has reportedly landed orders for 11.6-inch MacBooks from Apple, reports "DigiTimes" (http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20100923PD222.html). Shipments of 11.6-inch MacBooks are expected to top 400,000-500,000 units in 2010, the article says. Quanta is expected to ship a total of 13-13.2 million notebooks in the third quarter, says "DigiTimes." That's down 3-5% from 13.7 million units shipped in the second quarter. The company shipped 3.6 million notebooks in July and 4.4 million units in August.