As noted by AppleInsider.com, Apple has added an ACC [Atlantic Coast Conference] Sports Channel to the Apple TV line-up. It offers game highlights and feature programming related to NCAA March Madness. The new channel features access to "Campus Insiders," a digital college sports network, as well as the ability to view "Most Recent" content, and a "Search" pane. Content can also be viewed based on schools in the conference, while a list of "Must See Moments" from the ACC are also available through the application.

Maintain has released Cocktail 6.8.5 (Mountain Lion Edition), the latest maintenance update for users running OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. This version adds ability to change OS X's notification banner duration. It also contains improvements on the "Delete localization files" procedure and addresses compatibility issues with Opera Next. Cocktail is a general purpose utility for OS X that lets users clean, repair and optimize their Mac. Cocktail 6.8.5 (Mountain Lion Edition) requires OS X Mountain Lion or OS X Mountain Lion Server (10.8). Cocktail (Lion Edition) for OS X 10.7, Cocktail (Snow Leopard Edition) for OS X 10.6 and Cocktail (Leopard Edition) for OS X 10.5 are available for download from the Maintain website. Cocktail costs US$19 for a single user license and is available for purchase from the Maintain website (http://maintain.se/cocktail).

Security researchers demonstrated zero-day exploits against Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Adobe Flash Player during the second day of the Pwn2Own hacking competition Thursday, racking up total prizes of $450,000, reports "PC World" (http://tinyurl.com/kvshedy). For Safari, the team used two different exploit vectors. One vulnerability was a heap overflow in WebKit that enabled arbitrary code execution. The team then used this opening to use another exploit to bypass the application sandbox and run code as if it was user privileged. A team from French vulnerability research firm Vupen hacked Google Chrome by exploiting a use-after-free vulnerability that affects both the WebKit and Blink rendering engines. The researchers then successfully bypassed Chrome’s sandbox protection to execute arbitrary code on the underlying system. On Wednesday, the first day of the contest that takes place every year at the CanSecWest security conference in...

St. Clair Software has released Default Folder X 4.6.4, an update to their Mac OS X utility. The software enhances the file dialogs in all Mac OS X applications. Its custom keyboard shortcuts put your favorite and recent folders at your fingertips. It provides fast navigation to your files, convenient previews, integrated Spotlight tagging, and more. Version 4.6.4 delivers compatibility fixes for a number of popular applications. Default Folder X requires Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. Version 4.6.4 is a free update for existing version 4 users. Go to the St. Clair Software web site (http://tinyurl.com/2gm24v) for more info.

Respawn Entertainment (www.respawn.com) may be bringing its Titanfall game to the Mac, reports "iMore" (http://tinyurl.com/mvc4xup). It's now available for Windows, the Xbox, and Xbox One. Titanfall is a first-person action gameplay centered on the dynamic between elite assault pilots and agile, heavily-armored, 24-foot titans. The action is varied, featuring parkour-style wall running, double jumps and the ability to hijack titans. The freedom to shift back and forth between pilot and titan allows players to change tactics on the fly, attacking or escaping depending on the situation and extending the action vertically to new heights.

Twelve South has unveiled its first MacBook case in almost three years: the Rutledge BookBook Case. It's a premium genuine-leather case. Each cover is hand-finished with a new color layering technique that makes every Rutledge truly a one-of-a-kind work of art. It also shelters the MacBook between two hardback book covers and a rigid spine. The Rutledge fits all current MacBooks, including a version made just for the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. The new Rutledge BookBook is available for US $99.99 at twelvesouth.com.

Green America, a D.C.-based non-profit group, and "The Nation" magazine launched a campaign Wednesday intended to persuade consumers to boycott Apple products unless the company makes changes in its production and supply chain operations, reports "PC World" (ttp://tinyurl.com/k9xua7g). You can find their petition at http://www.bad-apple.org. It protests the use of benzene and n-hexane in the production of iPhones. The petition says it would would cost just US$1 per smartphone for Apple to substitute out the chemicals. Green America and "The Nation" also wants the company to create a healthcare fund to pay for the care of workers who have fallen sick working on its products, allegedly due to poisoning from those two chemicals, and to generally improve working conditions.

Apple has reduced the return window for the iPhone from 30 days to 14 days, as noted by "electronista" (http://tinyurl.com/nr9etxm). "For iPhone returns, you may return your undamaged iPhone with its included accessories within 14 days of purchase for a full refund," according to Apple. The change brings the company's iPhone policies in line with its other products, as well as the iPhone policies of US carriers. You can read more at http://tinyurl.com/ol4kn6q .

Anthropics Technology has launched PortraitPro 12, an update of the retouching software with face relighting technology for "truly natural enhancement." It runs on Mac OS X and Windows. PortraitPro 12 includes new face relighting technology. It has an enhanced ability to slim faces. Version 12 incorporates Anthropic's latest skin enhancer that retains natural skin texture when removing blemishes. The new version can also purportedly uniquely detect the age and gender of faces in the photograph so that the the most appropriate enhancements can automatically be applied to men, women and children. PortraitPro 12 on the Mac requires Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. The normal price is $159.90; however, it's being offered for $79.95 for a limited time. Go to http://www.portraitprofessional.com for more info.

Xojo, Inc. has announced the availability of their one-click cloud deployment solution for web applications, Xojo Cloud. Xojo Cloud is available for exclusive use with apps developed in Xojo, the multi-platform development environment. Once ready to deploy, developers click a button in Xojo that automatically connects to Xojo Cloud and launches their web browser with the application running. What's more, Xojo Cloud comes with industrial-strength security . To offer this solution, Xojo has worked with Rackspace, the open cloud company, which delivers hybrid cloud services to customers worldwide. With nine data centers across four continents, Rackspace is able to provide service to Xojo developers in different parts of the world. Xojo Cloud is now available from the Xojo store. Xojo 2014 Release 1, also shipping today, is required for Xojo Cloud deployment and is available for download at http://www.xojo.com/download. Xojo Cloud Hosting plans start at US$49/month for 512MB...

LaCie has released what it says is the fastest portable external storage solution ever: the LaCie Little Big Disk, featuring Thunderbolt 2. It delivers speeds up to 1,375 MB/s and fits in a laptop bag. Thanks to its two Thunderbolt 2 ports, the LaCie Little Big Disk can be daisy chained with other devices. Professionals can daisy chain up to five LaCie Little Big Disks plus a 4K display, and connect them to a computer via a single cable. The new Little Big Disk, featuring Thunderbolt 2, is available in 1TB SSD capacity through the LaCie Online Store and LaCie Resellers starting at US$1,299. Thunderbolt 2 is compatible with the same cables and connectors as first–generation Thunderbolt. Go to www.lacie.com for more info.

Noteboom Productions has introduced Tutor for Keynote, their latest video tutorial, now available on the Mac App Store for US$4.99. With Tutor for Keynote, the user watches videos to learn how to use Apple's latest version of Keynote for the Mac. The video tutorial consists of 67 video chapters on various subjects. Each video chapter covers a specific feature and averages five minutes in length for easy comprehension. Tutor for Keynote is  at an introductory price of $4.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide through the Mac App Store in the Reference category. Go to http://tinyurl.com/ky34bxl for more info.

 Zevrix Solutions has announced LinkOptimizer 4.8.11, a maintenance update to its workflow automation solution for Adobe InDesign. LinkOptimizer allows to reduce the size of InDesign links and speed up processing by eliminating excess image data. It also performs image adjustments such as color conversion and sharpening, converts file formats and more. The new version preserve transparency when converting image formats to TIFF and addresses some monochrome image issues on German systems. LinkOptimizer can be purchased from the Zevrix website (http://www.zevrix.com) for US$259.95, as well as from authorized resellers. A demo is available for download. The update is free for LinkOptimizer 4.x users and $130 to upgrade from previous versions. LinkOptimizer is available for Mac OS X 10.5-10.9 and works with Adobe InDesign and Photoshop CS3-CC.

Meadows Publishing Solutions has releasedAutoPrice for Adobe InDesign CS7 Creative Cloud, supporting both Mac and Windows-based platforms. It's a tool for linking text and graphics in any type of database to Adobe InDesign documents. As the name implies, AutoPrice is engineered to automate the process of inserting, updating and versioning prices for catalogs, retail flyers and similar publications. It is also designed for updating timetables, phone lists or any other type of information that can be referenced from a database or spreadsheet file. AutoPrice is now available for InDesign Creative Cloud, as well as previous versions of the application. For more information go to http://www.meadowsps.com .

Apple has released iOS 7.1, which adds, among other things, support for CarPlay, an automobile-oriented interface gives iDevice users a way to make calls, use Maps, listen to music and access messages with just a word or a touch. You can also now control how long Siri listens to you. There are also improvements to Touch ID fingerprint recognition, bug fixes, and more. To download the update, go to Settings on your iDevice. Select General and tap Software Update.

ToThePoint Software has announced GlucoAide, an application built especially for Mac users with diabetics. With GlucoAide, you can track your meter readings in either mmol/L or mg/dL. Data entry has been designed to be quick and easy. Results can be graphed by separate test time intervals and as a daily average over any span of days. Because GlucoAide isn't restricted to any proprietary brand of meter it can be used regardless of the type of meter you have. Results can be graphed by separate test time intervals and as a daily average over any span of days. Users can select which days to graph and print the results out to share with health professionals. Data can be also be printed in table form for sharing with health professionals. In addition data can be saved in PDF format. The program allows people with diabetes to keep food and exercise logs along with a journal. GlucoAide can store links to diabetes related resources such as websites, documents, folders, email addresses, etc....

Maintain has served up Cocktail 7.2.1 (Mavericks Edition), the latest maintenance update for users running OS X Mavericks. Cocktail is a general purpose utility for OS X that lets users clean, repair and optimize their Macs. Cocktail's features are arranged into five categories that helps you manage various aspects of your computer. This version contains improvements on the "Delete localization files" procedure and adds Notification Center integration as well as OS X 10.9.2 compatibility. Cocktail 7.2.1 (Mavericks Edition) requires OS X Mavericks 10.9 to run. Cocktail (Mountain Lion Edition) for OS X 10.8, Cocktail (Lion Edition) for OS X 10.7 and Cocktail (Snow Leopard Edition) for OS X 10.6 are available for download from Maintain website (http://www.maintain.se). Cocktail costs US $19 for a single user license.

An investigative report says Apple successfully avoided taxes on profits of $8 billion in Australia, reports the "Australian Financial Review" — as noted by "AppleInsider" (http://tinyurl.com/k5mwexv). According to the report, Apple Sales International, the Irish-based entity in charge of Apple's international tax dealings, has never filed financial returns with the Companies Registrations Office in Dublin. However, the company reported over $100 billion in profit over the last five years while paying less than 50 cents in tax on every $1,000 of income.

Intego, a provider of security products and performance utilities built exclusively for Mac users, has released version 10.8.2 of Washing Machine 2014 for Mac OS X.  The new release has been updated to improve scan speed by ignoring Time Machine backups. It also includes an enhanced scanning user interface. Washing Machine 2014 seeks out and removes large, unneeded files, frees up hard disk space, speeds up the operating system, organizes the dock and desktop, and lets users create Smart Folders for quick access to frequently used files.
 
 The software is compatible with OS X 10.6 or higher including Mavericks. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for Washing Machine 2014 starts at US$29.99. For more info go to www.macwashingmachine.com .

Miraizon has released DNxHD and ProRes Codec components for QuickTime. The DNxHD (VC-3) and ProRes codecs have both enjoyed increasing popularity among video editors. Unfortunately, support for the two codecs is uneven across computer platorms and editing systems, making it often difficult for editors to collaborate and exchange files. This patchy support situation also poses problems for archiving projects if an organization decides to switch editing platforms or computer systems. With Miraizon's DNxHD and ProRes compatible codec components, video editors can select the best codec for the job while maintaining their preferred editing system and computer platform. The Miraizon components offer identical functionality and identical compression and decompression capabilities for both Mac and Windows users. Because QuickTime components are system resources, those same capabilities become available to all installed QuickTime-compatible applications. More info and pricing can be found at...

Contour Design has introduced the RollerMouse, which uses the company’s proprietary 7SENSES tracking technology and a Phillips twin-eye laser sensor inside the polished aluminum rollerbar to provide "a perfect internal environment to interpret cursor movement." The rollerbar glides effortlessly and precisely over a frictionless bearing surface with pinpoint accuracy, according to the folks at Contour Designs. For users whose jobs demand a great deal of repetitive scrolling, the integral center button offers an automatic scrolling feature that makes scrolling less tedious and more accurate, they add. Additionally, all controls are centrally located including the single click buttons for copy and paste. The RollerMouse is available in a variety of models. Go to www.rollermouse.com for more info.

Nuance Communications has announced Dragon Dictate for Mac, version 4. It's an update of the personalized voice recognition software. The upgrade has improved accuracy with new and improved speech recognition technology, and now features the ability to transcribe text from any single speaker’s pre-recorded audio file, combining both voice recognition and transcription offerings into one powerful product.   As a pure 64-bit application, Dragon Dictate for Mac, version 4, now enables higher performance and improved memory management capabilities over previous versions, says Peter Mahoney, chief marketing officer, Nuance. In addition, Dragon Dictate for Mac lets you control your Gmail inbox within the Safari or Firefox browser with a few simple voice commands.  Dragon Dictate provides Full Text Control in Gmail, so you can mix your talking and typing and still be able to edit, correct and format your text using voice commands. The software also supports Full Text Control in Apple Pages...

Bensoftware has announced SecuritySpy 3.3, an update to the multi-camera video surveillance software for the Mac. SecuritySpy sports features such as motion detection, real-time compression of multiple camera feeds, and network video and audio streaming. New features in this version include support for BlackMagic video hardware, the latest Apple FaceTime cameras, and several new network cameras. Pricing depends on the number of cameras used with the unlimited camera version costing US$1,100. SecuritySpy requires OS X 10.5 or higher. A 30-day fully-featured trial of SecuritySpy is available at the Bensoftware web site (http://www.bensoftware.com/).

EDGE Memory has released the diskGO Sonic USB 3.0 flash drive as part of their new portable SSD line. It's powered by a SandForce SSD controller and is available in 60GB, 120GB and 240GB versions. A 480GB version is in the works. The diskGO Sonic is equipped with USB 3.0 and is encased in aluminum. ach drive is covered by a two-year warranty and is Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux compatible. Pricing starts at US$72. Go to www.edgememory.com for more info.