What if an iPhone could take DSLR-quality portraits? What if transferring memory cards, connecting cables and waiting for friends to upload pictures to social media were things of the past? Hardware startup aKu wants to make this possible with the ladibird camera. It's a hardware device that takes all of the essential optics and electronics of a professional DSLR camera and merges them into a phone casing for the iPhone. aKu is previewing the ladibird camera at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Not only is aKu's new ladibird camera lighter, less bulky and less complex than a DSLR, it also enables instant shoot and share through social networks, chat apps, to the cloud, or email, according to aKu's Adam Latip. Its image sensor is 7.5x larger than the average smartphone sensor -- and 4x larger than a compact sensor, he adds. This extra large size lets it absorb more light into any photograph. The ladibird camera is currently in early stage development with a prototype...

Epson has unveiled the WorkForce DS-560, its first wireless sheetfed scanner. With its Wi-Fi connectivity, it offers point-to-point scanning directly to smartphones, tablets, Macs or PCs. The DS-560 also includes a range of features such as fast scan speeds, one-pass double-sided scanning and a software package. In addition to its ability to scan to popular cloud services, it allows users to scan directly to a mobile device. For increased flexibility, users can upload scans to their cloud service of choice, such as Google Docs or Evernote, directly from their mobile device.   The WorkForce DS-560 delivers scan speeds of up to 26 ppm/52 ipm at 300 dpi, and can scan both sides of one sheet in just one pass, as well as a stack of up to 50 pages with its built-in Automatic Document Feeder (ADF). It's also equipped with "ultrasonic" double-feed detection technology, which senses if more than a single page has been fed, and automatically stops the feeding to avoid missing pages or jamming...

Buffalo America has launched its LinkStation 200 series of network storage devices at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Designed for home users, the series provides network storage and backup and offers an assortment of features, allowing users to store, organize, access and stream media files from any computer, smartphone or tablet. Users can even set up a free personal cloud for access anytime, anywhere, at home or on the go. The LinkStation 200 Series is available as a single-drive model (LS210D) up to 4TB and as a dual-drive (LS220D) model up to 8B with RAID 1 support for automatic data protection. 
They provide shared storage and backup for all Mac and PC computers and mobile devices on a home network. You simply connect to a wireless router and follow the step-by-step setup wizard from any computer, or use the Quick Setup feature to configure a LinkStation 200 device from any smartphone or tablet. The devices are DLNA Certified and can be used as an iTunes...

Apple today announced that customers spent over US$10 billion on the App Store in 2013, including over $1 billion in December alone. App Store customers downloaded almost three billion apps in December making it the most successful month in App Store history. The company says developers have now earned $15 billion on the App Store. "We’d like to thank our customers for making 2013 the best year ever for the App Store," Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, said in a press release. "The lineup of apps for the holiday season was astonishing and we look forward to seeing what developers create in 2014."

Mushkin announced the worldwide launch of its enterprise-class ProSpec series solid-state drives at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Designed for the enterprise environment, Mushkin's ProSpec SSDs deliver random read/write performance of 80K/42K IOPS and a sustained transfer rate of 560MB/s, and are available in useable capacities ranging from 100GB to 480GB. Equipped with Mushkin's Power Safe Technology, ProSpec SSDs also provide enhanced power-loss data protection through hardware and firmware-based features that prepare the SSD for an unexpected system power loss, according to Brian Flood, Director, product management at Mushkin. For more information on the ProSpec Enterprise class SSDs, go to http://www.mushkin.com .

Yellow Jacket announced the Yellow Jacket case for iPhone 5/5Sat this week's Consumer Electronics Show. It's a stun gun case that sports: ° Equipped left and right-handed triggers that allow consumers to deploy their personal protection device from either hand; ° A swiveling electrode cap and safety switch designed to protect users from accidentally discharging; ° A removable stun gun pack provides users with the flexibility to attach or detach the stun gun pack, depending on their environment; ° Five LED power lights that indicate the current battery level and notify users when it is charging and when it's fully charged; ° TPE soft plastic that protects the phone from damage caused by drops and daily wear and tear. Yellow Jacket case for the iPhone 5/5S will be available in February, starting at $149, while a 4/4S case can now be purchased for US$99 at www.yellowjacketcase.com.

Feenix debuted the Autore gaming keyboard at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It's compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux systems. Modeled after the monolith from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey; it's a minimalist tool that meets the needs of aggressive gamers and typists, says Feenix Creative Director Ashkon Shayani. Lightweight keycaps with cherry MX Brown switches provide an effortless click and tactile response, he adds. Feenix's font and aluminum coating is designed to keep the keyboard’s surface elegant and durable, while a subtle upward angel is designed to offer optimal wrist comfort. A gold metal plate runs through the length of the chassis. The Autore oncludes a HAL-approved gold plated modular mini USB to USB connection with an optional PS/2 adapter. A double Polyurethane layer is built alongside the keyboard’s aluminum coating for added surface quality and protection against spills and beverage damage. The Autore is currently available for...

LaCie announced the Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 and Fuel wireless hard drive for the iPad at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 (pictured) is one of the first storage solutions enabled by Thunderbolt 2. It delivers speeds up to 1375MB/s. What's more, LaCie worked with designer Neil Poulton to bring a cutting-edge look to the product. For the first time, the Little Big Disk features a sleek, black finish to its fully aluminum enclosure. The LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 will be available for purchase in the first quarter of 2014 through LaCie’s resellers and LaCie.com. A Thunderbolt cable included. LaCie also introduced the Fuel wireless hard drive for the iPad, iPhone, and Mac. Without requiring Internet access, the LaCie Fuel adds 1TB of external storage capacity to compatible mobile devices. Users can store up to 500 movies, 160,000 songs or 190,000 photos, and share them with up to five devices at a time. What’s more,...

Griffin Technology and Square have introduced the Merchant case for iPhone 5s and iPhone 5 at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. They say it's first protective case optimized for a Square Reader. Griffin’s new Merchant case builds on Square’s selling experience for mobile businesses. The introduction of the Merchant case launches Works with Square, a program that allows developers to build accessories for Square businesses. The case is custom-molded to secure the Square Reader when connected. A groove in the bottom of the case aligns with the Square Reader to guide a credit card to an easy, consistent swipe time after time, according to J. Curtis, director of B2B Product Development at Griffin. Made from durable silicone, the case protects the phone from bumps and drops. The case’s non-slip sides and corners make it easier to hold the phone and to hand over for customers' signatures. Additionally, the Square Reader can be detached and stored in the back of the case...

Griffin Technology is offering two new products for the mobile musician at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
 Ethan Opelt, Audio Line Manager at Griffin Technology. “StudioConnect HD is an intuitive, streamlined product that encourages creativity.” The US$199.99 StudioConnect HD (pictured) is an all-in-one, high definition audio interface for multi-track recording. It records multiple tracks simultaneously to iOS or Mac OS X. Constructed of weighted metal, StudioConnect HD also serves as a stable charging platform. The StudioConnect HD is compatible with both Lightning and 30-pin iPad models and includes a Type A USB cable for connecting to a computer running Mac OS X. StudioConnect HD accommodates Core Audio recording apps for iPad, along with Mac OS X based Digital Audio Workstations, and works with Auria (iOS); GarageBand (iOS and OS X); Logic Pro X (OS X); and JamUp/BIAS (iOS). 
Griffin is also introducing the $19.99 Guitar Sidekick Guitar Sidekick, a clamp that...

Griffin Technology will will unveil a new wireless version of its PowerMate at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Described as a clickable knob, the PowerMate Bluetooth can be programmed to execute a wide array of key commands in virtually any application. Users can streamline routine tasks such as editing home movie, scrolling through long documents, or creating audio works. It functions beautifully as a convenient volume knob and mute button for Bluetooth 4.0 enabled Mac computers, but that's just the beginning of its possibilities, according to Mark Rowan, president at Griffin Technology. PowerMate is preset to work with iMovie and GarageBand right out of the box. However, users can follow the instructions to add custom commands within their preferred applications. You can spin PowerMate like a wheel to quickly move through large multimedia files, spreadsheets, and word processor documents, or click it like a mouse to select text or perform commands. 

The...

At next week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, beyerdynamic will unveil the A 200 p. Developed with the digital specialists from Astell&Kern and Heilbronn audio and headphones, it's a compact DAC with an integrated headphone amplifier. The core of the A 200 p is a Wolfson DAC with up to 24 bit resolution at a sampling frequency of 96 kHz (HD audio). Its circuit design circumvents the internal signal processing of the connected player and receives the pure digital music data from a number of mobile playback devices such as the iPhone, iPod, iPad via Lightning connector, Android smartphones or tablets with Android 4.1 or higher via Micro-USB, as well as Mac and Windows laptops. The A 200 p is currently the smallest mobile DAC and amplifier that can work with all of these devices on the digital level, according to the folks at beyerdynamic. After converting the digital data to analogue music signals, a amplifier with analogue output stage controls the output to the connected...

New this year at the 2014 International CES, attendees can participate in the first promotional iBeacon-based scavenger hunt to explore the event and be rewarded with a special prize. Owned and produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the 2014 CES, a gathering place "for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies," will run Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Attendees at the 2014 CES who download the CES Mobile App on iOS or Android devices will be encouraged to explore all areas of the show through the scavenger hunt and will collect badges for each iBeacon they encounter. Specific scavenger hunt instructions are included in the CES App. The first three verified players who collect all of the available badges will be rewarded with a special prize from CES, available for pick-up in the Press Room at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), South Hall Connector, Room S229, during normal operating hours. A limited number of prizes will be available for others...

Razer has announced the Razer Adaro series, a new line of headphones designed for personal entertainment. They're available now for pre-order and will ship in February. Prices start at US$79.99.   The new audio lineup will initially feature four models: bass-heavy earphones, analog stereo headphones, Bluetooth headphones and DJ-style headphones. The Razer Adaro series marks the company’s latest venture into the personal entertainment audio space. The Razer Kraken and Electra, two of Razer’s best-selling headphones, were tuned for music, as well as gaming, says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director. For more info go to www.razerzone.com.

Lepow will introduce its Mod Bluetooth speaker at next week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It's inspired by record players from the 1960s and incorporates today's latest technology such as Bluetooth 4.0, 360-degree surround sound and four sound modes, says Lepow CEO Jacky Fan.
  The new Lepow Mod's modern look is enhanced by its metal construction. It features four sound modes (normal, rock, classic, and vocals), touch controls for volume and play, a built-in Lithium battery that provides up to eight hours of play time, 360-degree audio distribution, and a USB port and cable to charge the speaker. It has a transmission distance of up to 30 feet. The unit measures 9.5" x 4" x 5.5".   In addition to being a wireless music player for smartphones and tablets, the Mod also acts as a hands-free speakerphone with its built-in microphone, and an external USB charger for mobile devices with its built-in 6000mAh battery. The Bluetooth speaker will be available in a variety of colors...

MacTech.com and MacNews.com wish you a very happy new year -- and the very best for 2014.

Appatit has announces Zoom It 1.2.2, an update to their virtual magnifying glass app for OS X. It's now optimized for OS X 10.9 Mavericks. Zoom it is designed for artists, engineers, designers, presenters, photographers, project collaborators pr anyone who relies on corrective lenses. The app provides an on-screen loupe that's always available. Version 1.2.2 adds multi-monitor support on Mavericks, as well as a fixed menubar icon on Retina displays. Zoom It 1.2.2 costs US$2.99 and is available at the Mac App Store in the Utilities category. It requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later. For more info go to http://www.app-atitlcom

Apple and Samsung have resumed negotiations out of court in an effort to resolve disputes over ongoing patent-infringement, according to "Forbes" (http://tinyurl.com/kf8tcwx) This announcement comes a couple of days after Apple once again sought an injunction against Samsung to prevent it from selling certain "copycat" products in the U.S. At stake in the negotiations is an overall resolution to the copycat allegations brought by Apple against Samsung, notes "Forbes." This is all part of the ongoing, global legal battle. Apple and Samsung have filed more than 30 lawsuits against each other across four continents. For example, Apple alleges that Samsung copied the slide-to-unlock technology of its iPhone and iPad devices.

EaSynth Solution has released ForeUI 3.50, an update to their UI [user interface] prototyping tool for all popular desktop operating systems including Mac OS X (10.6 and higher). With it, users can build GUI [graphic user interface] mockups for desktop software, mobile apps, websites, or web applications. The software provides six UI themes and users may also design their own by using the "UI Theme Editor" plug-in. Several enhancements for the prototyping of mobile apps are available in the new version. ForeUI 3.50 costs US$150 per user. Volume discounts are also available. A 15-day trial of the full version can be downloaded from the EaSynth Solution website (http://www.foreui.com/).

A growing political scandal in Turkey threatens to involve the country’s prime minister, a "key player in a program to purchase $4 billion worth of iPads for thousands of schools, which in turn was a major motive for Apple’s plans to open a retail store in the country early next year, reports "ifo Apple Store." Three ministers resigned Christmas night in the face of corruption allegations. They called on prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to also resign. If Erdogan does leave office, it could put the iPad deal in jeopardy, and leave the nearly-finished and high-profile Apple store with fewer customers. Read more at http://tinyurl.com/my7zbm3 .

Enolsoft has updated Video Converter for Mac, an app that lets you convert all common 2D video. The new version adds new video editing tools such as rotate videos, choose subtitles or audio track and import external subtitles into videos. Enolsoft Video Converter for Mac lets you convert between all common video formats including AVI, WMV, FLV, MKV, VOB, MOV, 3GP, Xvid, MPEG, RM, RMVB, MP4, etc., and extract audios from videos on Mac to save as MP3, M4A, AIFF, WAV, AAC, and OGG files. With the converter, Mac users can: play AVI, MKV, AVCHD videos on portable devices like iPad, iPhone; upload recorded AVCHD videos to YouTube; or edit home-made video in iMovie or Final Cut Pro. What's more, your videos can be personalized with a wide array of build-in video editing tools. Enolsoft Video Converter for Mac is available for US$35. A demo is available for download. Go to http://tinyurl.com/mwa9245 for more info.

Addonics Technologies has announced two new members of its Port Multiplier family, both designed to support SATA 3.0 6Gbps and enhance the storage capabilities for a wide range of computer systems. The new products are the Internal 5-port 6G Port Multiplier, which is an excellent solution for adding more drives to a computer that has limited SATA ports, and the 5-Port 6G Rack Mount Port Multiplier, which has more flexibility for large volume storage needs. As many as five hard drives, SSD or optical drives can be connected to these PMs. The hard drives or SSD drives appear as five individual drives when connecting to a Port Multiplier compatible controller. The drives can also be set up as a RAID group using the RAID software of the OS or the host controller. The Internal 5-port 6G Port Multiplier is designed to be mounted into an add-on card slot of any standard desktop or low profile system. It connects up to 5 SATA hard drives or optical drives into a single SATA port on a system...

Tension Software (http://www.tensionsoftware.com) has updated Text Converter, the Mac OS X tool for converting files from various formats (PDF, HTML, RTF, RTFD) to standard plain text, to version 1.2. Text Converter works via drag and drop. Version 1.2 now keeps a log of processed files, even though a re-launch of the app. It also sports an improved converter engine and enhanced layout. Text Converter requires Mac OS X 10.8 or higher. It's available for US$10 from the Tension Software web site and the Mac App Store.

VisionTek Products has added two custom configured portable toolkits to its e-commerce website. The kits, starting at US$19.99, provide the ability to open, upgrade, and repair Macs, iOS devices, PCs, and other digital gadgets.   The VisionTek 26 Piece Toolkit, priced at $26.99 MSRP, includes a six piece straight blade and Phillips screwdriver set. The VisionTek 12 Piece Toolkit $19.99 comes with everything needed to perform upgrades and repairs on Macs, iOS devices, and other digital devices. Both kits are available for immediate purchase from VisionTek’s Accessories product category and come backed by a one year warranty. For more info go to http://www.visiontekproducts.com .