Akvis Refocus update improves Lion compatibility
Akvis (http://www.akvis.com) has released Akvis Refocus 1.5 for Mac OS X and Windows systems. The US$39 app improves the sharpness of out-ofocus images.
The program can process the entire photo or bring into focus only the selected part to make the subject stand out against the background. Version 1.5 offers support for RAW and DNG files, the list of Recent Files, improved compatibility with Mac OS X ("Lion") and more.
To achieve a more realistic selective focus effect, you can sharp one part of the photo and blur the rest. Akvis Refocus is also helpful with landscape photos. When shooting an object or a landscape at a distance, you may notice that the picture looks hazy. Akvis Refocus will make the photo more distinct.
The program is available in plug-in and standalone versions. The plug-in version is compatible with Adobe Photoshop CS5 (64-bit.). The software runs on Mac OS X 10.4 and higher.
fScanX Home Edition for OS X adds support for new scanners
Elevated Software Development has updated fScanX Home Edition(http://www.elevated-dev.com/Products/fScanX/), their scanning solution for Mac OS X, to version 1.7.2. It adds support for new Fujitsu scanners.
fScanX Home Edition was developed specifically to provide native Mac OS X support for high-speed Fujitsu scanners. Rather than requiring the application to launch in order to perform scanning, fScanX's command-line utility gives developers the ability to control the user interface completely. This opens up a host of possibilities for prepress operators, developers and graphic designers alike to build custom workflows involving scanning, according to Scott Ribe, founder of Elevated Software Development.
Additionally, fScanX Home Edition ships with an Automator action that enables creation of scanning workflows without scripting. fScanX also enables a host of alternative automation options. It takes only three lines of script code in FileMaker to scan a document, with similar setups...
TeamAgenda 5.1 touts iCal synchronization
Teamsoft (http://www.teamsoft.com) has released TeamAgenda 5.1. The core elements added to this version are new iCal and Outlook synchronization functions.
These functions can also be used to synchronize TeamAgenda with any device (smartphone, tablet, etc.) that synchronizes with those software programs.
Version 5.1 is a free update for registered users of version 5.0. TeamAgenda is a collaboration solution used to schedule people and resources in organizations of all sizes. New users can get a price guide by going to http://www.teamsoft.com/products_price.php .
MakeMusic announces Finale Notepad 2012
MakeMusic has announced the upcoming release of Finale NotePad 2012, which will be available for free download on Feb. 15. NotePad is music notation software that enables users to create, play and print sheet music.
"Finale NotePad fosters creativity and exploration by empowering students, songwriters, worship directors and other musicians to easily create electronic and printed sheet music," says Karen van Lith, MakeMusic CEO. "Providing NotePad at no cost is especially exciting for music educators. Now their students can use NotePad for free to complete any assignment the educator has created in any version of Finale, MakeMusic’s flagship professional music notation software."
Finale NotePad 2012 also includes select features new to Finale 2012, including Unicode font support (providing access to all characters in any font and facilitating the creation of music in any language) and aspects of Finale’s new ScoreManager, which simplifies the control of playback sounds. More info can...
MacForensicsLab 4.0 offers streamlined interface
SubRosaSoft.com has unveiled the latest version of their Mac OS X forensic suite, MacForensicsLab 4.0. The new version brings a streamlined interface and more.
The redesigned interface allows tasks to be carried out using fewer clicks for faster results, says Marko Kostyrko, CEO of SubRosaSoft.com.The examination process has also been improved with the addition of better bookmarking, more auditing control, and other improvements, he adds.
MacForensicsLab is priced at US$1,495. Upgrade pricing is available for owners of previous versions of MacForensicsLab for $495. Those that purchased MacForensicsLab within the past 90 days are entitled to receive a free upgrade to version 4.0.
Native Instruments releases Abbey Road Drummer series
Native Instruments has launched a rework of their Abbey Road Drums instruments: The Abbey Road Drummer Series.
These new instruments are designed to allow both experienced and hobbyist musicians and producers to create authentic acoustic drum tracks, combining sampled drums, recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, with a comprehensive Groove Library and a detailed Mixer Section with studio effects. This "Drums, Studio, Drummer' approach was pioneered recently in Native Instruments" Studio Drummer, and the new Abbey Road Drummer instruments use the same technical framework, based on Kontakt 5.
The instruments run in the latest version of Kontakt 5 or the free Kontakt 5 Player. Owners of existing Abbey Road Drums products are entitled to a free upgrade to the new version of the instruments they own.
The Abbey Road Drummer Series is now available at the NI Online Shop on DVD and as a download for US$119. For more info go to www.native-instruments.com/AbbeyRoadDrummerseries .
Yoink 2.0 for Mac OS X now accepts content from apps
Eternal Storms Software, has released Yoink 2.0 for Mac OS X 10.7 ("Lion"), an update of the application provides a small window to simplify dragging files between spaces, fullscreen apps or just between Finder windows. The software now accepts content from applications, like images from websites, text from text documents and more.
Also now if several files are dropped onto Yoink in one drag, The software (optionally) combines them to one item to make dragging them all out at once easier
Yoink's window can now be shown with a hotkey (by default, F5) to offer a way to drag files from the Dock's Stacks, iTunes and other applications that don't trigger Yoink for technical reasons With version 2.0, there are more positions for Yoink's window.
Dragging and dropping files in Lion, especially between different spaces and more so between or to fullscreen applications, can be very cumbersome, so Yoink was created to help, according to the folks at Eternal Storms. The application fades in a...
eBooks can now be read on any computer or tablet
Free Kindle and Nook apps are now available for the Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone and Android devices. Kindle also has a free app for the BlackBerry, as well as a Cloud Reader that makes it possible to read a Kindle eBook in any browser on any computer, tablet or smart phone.
Until this week, you had to go to separate Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites to find all those free eBook reading apps. Now one website provides links to all those free apps in one place: LifeWithSiri.com .
The new LifeWithSiri.com website also provides information about how to use Siri, the voice-recognizing "personal assistant" on the iPhone 4S. Its home page has been redesigned to include links to nine eBooks about Siri, more than 40 articles and 20 videos about Siri and a sample preview of the largest of its three "Life With Siri" eBooks.
While nearly all other eBooks are mainly text-based, "Life With Siri" primarily uses iPhone screenshots to demonstrate how to most effectively utilize Siri. In its new second...
Apple shareholders asked to look at potential conflict of...
The National Center for Public Policy Research is urging Apple shareholders to vote for shareholder proposal # 4 in the company's 2012 proxy statement. Apple's annual shareholder meeting will be held on Feb. 23.
The proposal, submitted by the National Center for Public Policy Research, asks Apple to determine if board member Al Gore violated the company's Business Conduct Policy. At issue is whether Gore played a role in Apple's 2009 decision to end its membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as part of an effort to pressure the trade group to stop opposing greenhouse gas regulations.
Several companies, including Apple, ended their relationship with the Chamber over the trade group's aggressive opposition to the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill and EPA regulation of carbon emissions.
Gore's significant personal investments in renewable energy and related technologies would have benefited from these greenhouse gas regulations, the National Center for Public Policy Research...
Apple mobile devices most common in connecting to corporate...
Apple (30%) and BlackBerry (29%) were the most common types of mobile devices connecting to corporate networks, followed by Android (21%), according to a new study by Check Point (http://www.checkpoint.com), a company that specializes in mobile data protection.
Nearly half of respondents (43%) also believe Android devices pose a larger security risk to the mobile enterprise. The report shows 71% of businesses believe mobile devices have caused an increase in security incidents, citing significant concerns about the loss and privacy of sensitive information stored on employee devices, including corporate email (79%), customer data (47%) and network login credentials (38%).
Approximately 94% of businesses surveyed have an increased number of personal mobile devices connecting to the corporate network, with 78% of respondents seeing the number of devices more than double in the last two years. The majority of businesses believe the lack of security awareness among employees as the...
GE workers can now choose Macs
Under a year-old pilot project, GE employees can choose Apple notebooks or desktops instead of a Windows system, reports "The Wall Street Journal" (http://macte.ch/PIflC).
The company now has about 1,000 Mac users and expects their ranks to expand further as more employees become aware of the program, the article adds. Currently, GE has about 330,000 computers, most of them PeeCees.
Apple stock hitting all time high
Investors seem to be getting more bullish on Apple in the run up to its earnings report. The stock is hitting its all time highs in today's trading, going above US$428 briefly.
Apple will announce its latest financial results on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 2 p.m. (Pacific). The company will divulge the first quarter results from fiscal year 2012.
CEO Tim Cook and Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer will almost certainly conduct the traditional interview with analysts and the press that follows the financial announcement. The first fiscal quarter includes the holiday shopping period, which is traditionally Apple's best.
Analyst: Apple will sell 48 million iPads this year
Sterne Agree analyst Shaw Wu tells clients that he expects Apple to sell 48 million iPads in calendar 2012.
"We believe this significant refresh will likely help drive higher iPad sales and help further differentiate from arguably the only real competitor in the market, Amazon’s Kindle Fire, and not to mention the myriad of Android offerings out there," he says.
The iPad 3 is rumored for the first quarter of the year. It "will likely raise the bar for its rivals, and perhaps further buttress a postulate we’ve discussed here before: consumers don’t want tablets, they want iPads," notes "AllThingsD" (http://macte.ch/Y7jR6).
Apple closes gap on Android
According to the latest research from Nielsen (http://www.nielsen.com), the high-profile launch of Apple’s iPhone 4S in the fall had an enormous impact on the proportion of smartphone owners who chose an iPhone.
Among recent acquirers, meaning those who said they got a new device within the past three months, 44.5% of those surveyed in December said they chose an iPhone, compared to just 25.1% in October, according to the research group. What's more, 57% of new iPhone owners surveyed in December said they got an iPhone 4S.
Android continues to hold the lead among all smartphone users, with 46.3% of all smartphone owners surveyed in the fourth quarter of 2011 (Q42011) reporting they have an Android-based mobile phone. As of Q42011, 46% of US mobile consumers had smartphones, and that figure is growing quickly. In fact, 60% of those who said they got a new device within the last three months chose a smartphone over a feature phone.
Article shows how to use Apple Target Disk Mode with FireWire
The 1394 Trade Association has published a new technical article describing how to use FireWire in Apple target disk mode applications.
Authored by Brian Karr, a 15-year engineering veteran with extensive audio experience, the article describes the various uses of TDM beyond copying files between machines including system backup and restore, disk troubleshooting and repair. Also, TDM will present any optical drives, to another Macintosh, which can be useful for MacBook Air owners or for Macs that have older optical drives that don't support dual-layer DVDs, for example.
TDM also incorporates a timesaving feature for users who want to upgrade to a larger hard drive, or to migrate files and settings to a new Mac. Most, if not all, of the tools users will need for all of this are included in OS X, according to the article.
Entitled "Using Apple’s Target Disk Mode with FireWire," the article can be found at http://www.1394ta.org/press/WhitePapers/TargetDiskMode.html . The 1394 Trade...
Grunge lives on the Mac -- well, Modern Grunge, anyway
Appnotix has introduced Modern Grunge 1.0 for Mac OS X. It's a photography app "that brings back the nostalgia of grunge in a fun and creative way."
Modern Grunge rocks out your photos with disheveled scratchy textures & tones, like those in the angst-filled lyrics of the grunge era, then contrasts them with modern ideas of the present using outlined borders, as well as cuts and rips, according to the folks at Appnonix. The software retains the resolution of the original and saves your creation out in full resolution.
Modern Grunge requires Mac OS X 10.6 or later. It's available for US$5.99 worldwide through the Mac App Store in the Photography category.
UK tablet market to grow at CAGR of 31.88%
Tablet computers emerged as a revolutionary gadget in the consumer electronics markets with the launch of the iPad by Apple in mid-2010. In 2011, the global tablet computer market reached US$35.3 Billion, which is expected to grow further till 2016, reports Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com).
The UK tablet market is anticipated to grow at the CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of around 31.88%, according to the research group. Tablet computers have filled the gap perfectly between a notebook computer and a smart phone, according to Research and Markets.
The global and UK tablet markets are growing at the much faster pace than anticipated initially. The lower market penetration with increasing consumer acceptance is driving the industry growth exponentially. New entrants are experimenting to differentiate their product by adding joysticks, keyboards, stylus, brushes and changing the size to attract more and more customers, according to Research and Markets.
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 coming to the Mac
Feral Interactive says the action-adventure game LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 will be launched on the Mac on Thursday, Feb. 16.
Originally developed by TT Games and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for games consoles and PC, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 for Mac is the follow up to the top-selling LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and the latest in a line of LEGO titles to release on the Mac.
Here's how the game is described: "The game completes the saga of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger with a spell-binding adventure taking them to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and beyond. Locations from the last four films, such as Grimmauld Place, Godric’s Hollow and the Ministry of Magic, are re-imagined through the incredible and ever-changing prism of LEGO. This time, players will experience the stories of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- including Harry’s last...
Edouard 1.0 offers Mac-based enterprise resource planning
Flying Pig today announces Edouard 1.0, a Mac-based ERP software solution designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Client licenses are available for the one-time price of US$499 per user.
Edouard supports classic business needs such as inventory management, contacts, purchases, sales, production, accountancy and more. Based on a Client-Server architectures, It uses PostgreSQL database and Objective-C 2.0 Cocoa as a technological backbone.
Edouard provides external access points through several interfaces, such as import and export schemes, to extract or inject data directly into its database. It's a self-maintainable program, using a client/server architecture.
Flying Pig offers several server scenarios. For details go to http://www.flyingpigcorp.com .
Lola's Alphabet Train available now for Mac OS X
BeiZ says Lola's Alphabet Train, their kids alphabet game, is now available for Mac OS X (10.6 and higher), as wall as for the iPad. It's available on the Mac App Store for US$3.99.
Designed for younger children starting to learn their ABCs in English, the game's story combines several games in one. Lola's Alphabet Train is designed to offer an easy and fun way to learn letters and spelling. Kids start with the simple Touch the Letter mini game, advance to a memory game and finally practice what they have learnt with the more involved Drag and Drop letter games.
Lola's Alphabet Train offers three difficulty levels for kids between 4-8 years old. Languages covered include English, French, Spanish, German and Dutch.
Screen Ruler for Mac OS X gets redesigned interface
Sprightly Software (http://www.sprightly.ca/) has released Screen Ruler 2.0 for Mac OS X, an update to the utility for working with on-screen graphics. The upgrade sports a completely redesigned user interface and the ability to run Screen Ruler from the menu bar. Also, Screen Ruler can now measure in mm, cm, and inches, in addition to measuring pixels.
Screen Ruler includes four tools including box and line measurement tools for making measurements, a color picker for determining the exact color of a pixel, and a grab image tool for making screenshot selections. It sports keyboard shortcuts for initiating measurements, picking a color, taking screenshots, and copying width, height, length, color, and image data.
Screen Ruler is compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 and higher. It sells for US$9.99 and is available worldwide exclusively through the Mac App Store in the Graphics & Design category.
Unified Color announces HDR Expose 2, 32 Float 2
Unified Color Technologies has announced the latest upgrade to its HDR image editing software offerings, HDR Expose 2, the standalone HDR software that empowers photographers to create true-to-life HDR images, and 32 Float 2 a 32-bit HDR image editing plug-in for Adobe Photoshop.
Built upon Unified Color’s Beyond RGBTM color technology platform, both HDR Expose 2 and 32 Float 2 separate an image’s color component from its luminosity component, enabling photographers to adjust each independently. This prevents the tell-tale color shifts often associated with HDR photography and producing much more natural-looking tone mapped results, says Unified Color Technologies CEO Alfred Zee. HDR Expose 2 and 32 Float 2 are also true 32-bit color editing tools that take full advantage of all the available shades of color and tone in a 32-bit HDR image for the smoothest, halo-free results, he adds.
The upgrades also offer: batch merge/batch processing tools; user-definable globally presets; and a...
Accountek releases new version of Connected Accounting & ERP...
Accountek Solutions has released its version 7.0 of Connected Accounting & ERP software for Mac OS X. The upgrade includes features that focus on access to information and improving collaboration between teams. According to Scott Archer, director of Product Development, Accountek, some of the advancements in Connected Accounting & ERP 7.0 designed to improve the customer experience are:
° The ability to attach/link any file type, of any size, to virtually every screen in Connected using the Notes function. With no limit on the number of attachments or file types, users have the flexibility to organize the electronic versions of documents such as signed contracts or quotations, in the way that suits their needs best, within their accounting system. All files are linked to the entry and copied to a central location on the server, providing visibility to all departments including sales, service and support.
° New ledger screens for customer orders, vendor purchase orders, and...
Parallels joins Enterprise Device Alliance
The Enterprise Device Alliance (http://www.enterprisedevicealliance.org) says Parallels (http://www.parallels.com/), which specializes in hosting and cloud service enablement and desktop virtualization for the enterprise, is the newest member of the alliance.
"Parallels empowers enterprises with award-winning solutions so they can quickly support their growing population of Mac users who need to run OS X and Windows applications side-by-side, and to access everything remotely via iPad, iPhone or iPod touch," says T. Reid Lewis, president of the Enterprise Device Alliance, and president of GroupLogic. "Parallels makes it easy for IT departments to comply with corporate policies, simplifies mass deployments, and streamlines the business user experience. Its membership in the EDA will help further facilitate the integration of Apple devices in the enterprise."
Each member company of the Enterprise Device Alliance provides products that allow organizations to benefit from their existing...
Noise Industries releases FxFactory 3 for FCP, Motion, AE
Noise Industries has released FxFactory 3, an update of the visual effects platform for Apple Final Cut Pro, Motion and Adobe After Effects. It contains hundreds of hardware accelerated, visual effects plug-ins developed by Noise Industries and partners.
The new FxFactory 3 release supports Final Cut Pro 6, 7, and X; Motion 3, 4 and 5; Final Cut Express 4; and Adobe After Effects CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS5.5. For more info go to http://www.noiseindustries.com/ .
pdf-Recover Server for Mac OS X now supports hot folders
Universe Software has released an updated pdf-Recover Server for Mac OS X. pdf-Recover Server Edition was specifically developed for companies that receive large numbers of PDF files for further processing or printing.
The latest version supports the use of so-called hot folders. The user can specify the directories to be monitored automatically by the program. User passwords can be predefined, allowing even files that require a password to open the file to be decrypted.
The pdf-Recover Server Edition removes the main PDF password fully automatically and, without further restriction of each document, is available again. The server version decrypts an unlimited number of PDF documents up to 256-bit AES.
A trial version can be through the online shop at http://www.pdf-office.com . It's Mac OS X 10.7 ("Lion") compatible; however, Java 1.6 must be installed.
iPhone/iPod touch/iPad apps for Jan. 17
Here are the latest iPhone/iPod touch/iPod/iPad apps. You can find 'em at the Apple App Store (http://www.itunes.com/appstore/).
NBA Mania has announced Kids Painter 1.0, its new children's coloring book for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The free app enables children to create pictures. Only a touch of a finger and the selected element of the coloring will be filled with colors.
CodeStream has released Timelapse Video Recorder 1.0 for the iPhone. The US$0.99 app lets you create time lapse videos in full HD resolution. Videos are made with 60 frames per seconds.
Lunaform has unveiled USCode 1.0 for the iPhone and iPod touch. The $7.99 reference guide lets you search and browse through all the titles of the United States Code for lawyers, law students and others who need this source of data on-the-go.
Ralf Chille has launched RubberBalls 1.0 for iOS. The $1.99 app is a game of physics that allows players to experience the properties and characteristics of raw materials from their...
Analyst: ultrabooks will struggle against the iPad, MacBook Air
In a note to clients -- as reported by "Barron's" (http://macte.ch/zDUOf) -- Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkey says 2012 is going to be a “strong” year for Apple.
He's predicting: a MacBook Air refresh, probably with a 15-inch screen; an “iPad 3” this spring; an iPhone with LTE connections “by mid-year; and possibly an “Apple TV” as the year ends. He also thinks that ultrabooks will continue to struggle against the iPad and, moreso, the MacBook Air.
"While Ultrabooks grabbed many of the headlines at CES, we view Ultrabooks as a Windows alternative to MacBook Air," Walkey says. "We believe Apple will continue to gain PC market share by launching a refreshed MacBook Air line in the coming weeks […] Further, we believe Ultrabooks at proposed $700- $900 prices will struggle to sell versus competitively priced new MacBook products, as we believe Apple will continue to benefit from its supply chain advantages such as dominant share of the global NAND flash market given growing volumes...
Analyst: Apple 'only' sells 4.9 million Macs last...
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says in a note to clients -- as reported by "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com) -- that the latest U.S. sales data from the NPD Group (http://www.npdgroup.com) suggests Apple sold around 4.9 million Macs last quarter, a number "that will likely be seen as a mild disappointment on Wall Street."
That's down 300,000 units from Munster's previous prediction. Domestic NPD retail data for all three months of the December quarter shows U.S. Mac sales up 12% year-over-year. Munster's latest projection calls for Apple to see growth of 18% year-over-year. At 6% higher than NPD's data, the projection matches the differential of the September quarter, when actual growth was 26% and NPD's domestic data saw a 20% increase.
And, as "AppleInsider" notes, the latest data suggests Apple is on pace to match its previous best for Mac sales in a three-month span. The company's current record came in the September quarter when it achieved sales of 4.89 million...
Is Scott Forstall Apple's CEO-in-waiting?
Scott Forstall, Apple's senior vice president of iPhone software, is the company's "CEO-in-waiting," the most likely person to follow Tim Cook, according to the book, "Inside Apple--How America's Most Admired--and Secretive-- Company Really Works" by Adam Lashinsky.
The author, according to "Fortune," says Forstall is the "total package" -- young (43), comfortable on stage, has "serious nerd credentials" at Stanford and NeXT, and shares the late Steve Jobs' obsession with detail. Also, the division he heads -- mobile software -- drives nearly 70% of Apple's income.
"If there's a knock on Forstall," writes Lashinsky, "it's that he wears his ambition in plainer view than the typical Apple executive. He blatantly accumulated influence in recent years, including, it is whispered, when Jobs was on medical leave."
Forstall placed number two on the "100 Most Creative People in Business 2011" list by "Fast Company" (http://www.fastcompany.com). Here's what "Fast Company" has to say about...
Apple sues Samsung (again) to ban smartphone sales
Another day, another lawsuit. Apple has filed another suit in Germany, seeking to ban sales of Samsung's smartphone models, including the Galaxy S Plus and the S II, according to "Bloomberg" (http://macte.ch/ckS5ml).
The suit targeting 10 smartphones was filed in the Dusseldorf Regional Court and is based on Apple design rights Apple in Europe, court spokesman Peter Schuetz said via phone today. Apple also started a separate suit against five Samsung tablet computer models related to a September ruling banning the Galaxy 10.1, he said.
Earlier this month, in Italy, Judge Marina Tavassi of the Tribunale di Milano -- the Milan-based Italian first-instance court for patent cases -- rejected a Samsung request for a preliminary injunction against the sale of the iPhone 4S in Italy, reported "FOSS Patents" (http://macte.ch/BiQJE).
Samsung has sought to ban the iPhone 4S in France and Italy for patent infringement. The company filed motions with courts in Paris and Milan seeking the ban,...
DriveSavers dedicated to Solid State data recovery
DriveSavers Data Recovery (http://www.drivesaversdatarecovery.com/) has formed a dedicated research and development team to conquer the challenges of solid state drive (SSD) data recovery.
DriveSavers began working with solid state storage technology around 1995 when SmartMedia cards were introduced with some of the first consumer-priced digital cameras. Since then, the company has aggressively researched and developed unique techniques for SSD and NAND flash recoveries, as well as partnered with premier SSD manufacturers including Samsung and SandForce, says Chris Bross, Strategic Technical Alliance Engineer at DriveSavers.
Storage manufacturers currently use non-volatile flash memory for portable USB drives, camera cards, SSDs, Apple iPhones and iPads. One of the greatest benefits of flash memory is that it doesn’t require power to retain data it stores, unlike other types of memory chips such as DRAM or SRAM. Because SSDs have no moving parts, they eliminate common problems...
Cultures: Northland discovers the Mac App Store
Runesoft has introduced Cultures: Northland 1.0, their new Real Time strategy game for Mac OS X (10.6.6 or higher). It costs US19.99 and is available in the Mac App Store.
Here's how the game is described: "In Cultures: Northland the player will have to built and manage a Viking settlement. Create a thriving settlement with farms, bakeries, Potteries, Mason Shops, Schools, Armories and many more. Originally developed by Funatics Entertainment for the PC, Cultures: Northland follows the story of a wandering band of Vikings, guided by a quartet of heroes.
"Create a thriving settlement with farms, bakeries, Potteries, Mason Shops, Schools, Armories and many more. Manage your settlement and its Settlers, erect new buildings, raw materials will roll in, finished goods will roll out so you can grow more people. Watch your people walk, eat, sleep, and talk to each other for entertainment. Couples marry. Babies are born, grow up, and are assigned careers of their own. Each person is a unique...
IDrive announces universal online back-up
IDrive (http://www.idrive.com/) has made public the latest versions of its Mac, Windows and mobile software. The company says home users and small businesses can now protect as many computers, iOS and Android devices as they own with one plan.
Those interested can create a free account and store their first 5GB at no charge. IDrive offers two plans for home users: 150GB for US$4.95/month or 500GB for $14.95/month, with no limits on the number of Mac, Windows, iOS or Android devices that can be protected or the length of time for file retention.
For businesses, plans range from 50GB to 1TB starting at $9.95/month with priority customer support. Customers can receive two months free by paying annually and IDrive also offers 50% discounts for teachers, students and faculty.
Das Keyboard takes its click clack to the Mac
Das Keyboard has introduced a new version of its Model S keyboard (http://www.daskeyboard.com/) designed for the Mac.The company’s new Das Keyboard Model S Professional for Mac is now available online for pre-ordering, and will be shipping by April 15.
Available in the U.S. and Canada, the Model S Professional for Mac retails for US$133. A 15% discount is currently available on all pre-orders for the newest member of the Das Keyboard family.
Das Keyboard’s gold-plated mechanical key switches produce a distinct "click" with each keystroke, providing unique tactile and audible feedback while making the typing experience more comfortable, precise and fast, according to Daniel Guermeur, creator of the Das Keyboard and CEO of Metadot Corp. It sports a 104-key layout with special keys for quick access to common media player and computer functions.
Das Keyboard also has a two-port, high-speed USB 2.0 hub for syncing and charging an iPhone, iPod, iPad or other USB devices. It's KVM switch...
XtremeMac unveils MacBook Pro sleeves
XtremeMac (http://www.xtrememac.com) has announced new sleeves for the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros. They'll be available in the spring; pricing hasn't been announced.
The Professional Sleeve for MacBook Pro is styled with a dimensional black and white nylon fabric, a zippered closure and accessory pocket. The contoured sleeve corners add additional protection for the MacBook Pro while the zippered accessory pocket allows for cord management and personal storage of cables, earbuds and business cards.
The Vintage Sleeve is a retro-inspired, khaki, heavyweight waxed canvas sleeve with brown leather accents. It features an integrated pull tab for access to the MacBook Pro and a secure snap closure for extra protection.
The Sport Sleeve is a slim, zippered sleeve that provides protection for the MacBook Pro. It features lightweight foam cushioning and a zippered closure to secure the laptop during transport. The sleeve is made of black and orange fabric.
iConnectMuse is new digital audio mixer for iOS devices
iConnectivity (http://www.iConnectivity.com) has announced the iConnectMuse for iOS devices. It's a palm-sized personal mini-mixer that combines several music accessories into one iOS controlled product.
With iConnectMuse, the user will experience higher quality audio processing, improved audio latency and the ability to share and mix audio through an iOS device, and even charge the iOS device at the same time, according to the folks at iConnectivity. It features six stereo inputs and six stereo outputs, each with its own unique mix.
Additional features include two USB device ports, hub-able USB Host Port, two input and two output quarter-inch audio port jacks, a headphone monitor jack, Ethernet connection for network sharing, a MIDI pass-through interface and limited DSP processing. The iConnectMuse will be available in the second quarter of the year for US$229.99.
Alien Skin exposes Exposure 4 plug-in for Photoshop, Lightroom
Alien Skin Software has announced Exposure 4, the new version of its photography effects plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, and Photoshop Lightroom. Exposure provides film simulation and a range of creative effects in a simple interface.
Exposure brings all the creative tools of film photography to the world of digital, such as discontinued films, dark room tricks, and lo-fi camera quirks, according to Tom Welsh, the designer of Exposure. Popular classic films are accurately simulated, like Kodachrome, Polaroid, and Panatomic-X, he adds. Exposure reproduces the ethereal glow of black & white infrared film, and now color infrared.
New texture overlay effects are built from high resolution photos of light leaks, dust and scratches, and borders. This helps add detail to new presets for alternative photographic processes like cyanotype, lith printing, and wet plate photography.
What's more, Exposure 4 has a completely redesigned user interface and new controls designed...
Default Folder for Mac OS X updates QuickTime compatibility
St. Clair Software has updated Default Folder (http://www.stclairsoft.com/DefaultFolderX/index.html), its utility for enhancing Open and Save dialogs in Mac OS X, to version 4.4.8. The upgrade delivers contextual menus in all file dialogs and updates compatibility with Chrome and QuickTime.
Default Folder X 4.4.8 is a free update for registered users of version 4.x. The upgrade is US$14.95 for users who bought their copies before June 1, 2007. Default Folder X costs $34.95 for a new license. Installers are available now in English and German and will be released shortly in Japanese, French, and Danish.
Syncro Soft updates Oxygen XML line
Syncro Soft, the producer of Oxygen XML Editor and Author (http://www.oxygenxml.com), has released version 13.2 of its XML Editor and XML Author containing a set of tools supporting all the XML related technologies.
The upgrade introduces a new Syntax Highlight mechanism capable of handling mixed content types, improves the JSON editing support and bidirectional documents rendering, extends the XML-native database support with find/replace capabilities and updates many third-party components. Also, there are improvements in the authoring support, including an updated DITA Maps Metrics Report, experimental support for CGM images and updated API (application programming interface).
Oxygen XML Editor is available in three editions. The multi-platform academic/personal license costs US$64 and includes a one-year support and maintenance pack. The multi-platform Professional license costs $488, and the multi-platform enterprise license costs $698.
Oxygen XML Developer is available in two...
Silhouette 4.5 adds OpenColorIO color management capabilities
SilhouetteFX has released Silhouette 4.5 with new OpenColorIO (OCIO) color management. Originally developed by Sony Pictures Imageworks, OCIO manages color transformations and image display in a consistent manner across multiple graphics applications.
It's geared towards motion-picture post-production, with an emphasis on visual effects and animation color pipelines, says Marco Paolini, partner at SilhouetteFX and a veteran visual effects artist. By providing a unified color environment, OCIO greatly simplifies the task of creating and validating multi-application color workflows, he adds.
Silhouette is a rotoscoping, paint, keying and visual effects suite utilized by visual effects facilities around the world. It's compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 and higher. All Silhouette capabilities, including its roto and paint components, as well as its keying, effects and compositing features, are stereo enabled.
Silhouette 4.5 is a free feature release to current 4.x customers. New licenses...
iPresentee offers new iWeb themes
iPresentee (http://www.ipresentee.com) has announced five new iWeb themes for Apple's Web site building application. The company has extended its iWeb themes collection to 150 themes.
The new themes are Black Fence, Cat, Classical Music, B&W and Personal Space. They require Mac OS X 10.4.3 or higher and iWeb 2.0 (iLife '08).
iWeb Themes bundle may be purchased for US$29.99. Each iWeb theme is available for $9.99. Samples and more information about iWeb themes are available immediately at the iPresentee website.
Avernum: Escape From the Pit for OS X updated
Spiderweb Software has updated Avernum: Escape From the Pit (http://www.avernum.com/avernum/index.html), their indie fantasy role-playing adventure for the Mac, to version 1.0.1. The upgrade features bug fixes and balance improvements.
Here's how the game is descibed: "Avernum: Escape From the Pit is the first chapter in an indie fantasy role-playing saga, the tale of desperate exiles and their battle for survival and a land to call their own. You have been banished to the underworld, never to see the light of day again.
"The surface is ruled by the cruel Emperor Hawthorne, master of the Empire. All of the known lands are subject to his brutal command. Everyone who speaks out, who misbehaves, who doesn't fit in is cast into the dark, volcanic pits of Avernum, far below the surface. There, you are expected to die, a victim of starvation, horrible monsters, or simple despair.
"But not all of the Avernites have surrendered. With magic and steel, they are forging a new nation deep...
Simple Help Editor for OS X revved to version 5.0.2
The PandaWare Company has updated Simple Help Editor (http://www.pandaware.com/simple/), its cross-platform help authoring application, to version 5.0.2. It's a maintenance update that includes improvements to its updating mechanism and bug fixes.
Mac and Windows users can use Simple Help Editor to create software help systems that display in Apple Help Viewer, Windows' HTML Help viewer, a Web browser, or in a proprietary help window (for applications created with Real Software's REALbasic).
Simple Help Editor 5.0.2 operates in demo mode until licensed. The demo version operates for 30 days and allows saving up to 15 pages in a Help book. Single-user licenses that allow unlimited use areUS$50 for either the Macintosh or Windows version. A cross-platform license that works with both operating systems costs $85.
PDF Studio 7.0 for Mac OS X adds content editing
Qoppa Software, which specializes in PDF tools, has updated PDF Studio (http://www.qoppa.com/psindex.html), a PDF editor, to version 7.0. The upgrade adds adds content editing and an enhanced user interface.
PDF Studio maintains full compatibility with the PDF Standard and supports the latest PDF format. You can: manage digital IDs and trusted certificates for digital signatures; batch preflight to preflight to verify PDF/X compliancy for multiple documents at once; and batch crop to crop multiple documents at once and change the margins for crop box, bleed box, trim box or art box.
PDF Studio is available for Mac, Windows and Linux platforms. PDF Studio comes in two flavors: PDF Studio Standard at $85 and PDF Studio Pro at $125.
German Interior Minister nixes iOS, Blackberry devices
The German publication, "Bild-Zeitung" -- as noted by "Bloomberg" (http://macte.ch/RarD4) says German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich has banned the use of iPhones and Blackberrys by his ministry employees because the servers linked to the devices are located in the U.S.
Confidential information may fall into the wrong hands. Friedrich and his staff are using phones made by HTC Corp. that run with a special software supplied by the Federal Office for Information Security, according to "Bild-Zeitung."
Your future iOS device could be waterproof
A new technology that could save your phone from getting water damaged could be included the next wave of smartphones about to be made by Apple and Samsung, reports "Pocket-lint" (http://macte.ch/09JIu).
The technology, dubbed WaterBlock and created by HzO (http://hzo.me) creates a nano-scale film barrier that purportedly has special water repelling properties once applied to the inside of electronic gadgets. WaterBlock was demoed last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. During the demo an iPhone was dunked in water and removed, still in working order.
According to HzO, the formation of vacuum deposition application methods began over 50 years ago and has developed into multiple forms for multiple functions. The chemistry used in vapor deposition systems has many iterations and multiple patents covering various applications. However, the company claims to have innovated new novel chemical formulations, new application processes, new high volume production application...
Steve Jobs' action figure discontinued
The maker of a controversial Steve Jobs action figure is stopping production and sale of the 12-inch doll following threats of legal action by Apple and Jobs' family, reports "PC World" (http://macte.ch/LFvKg).
"Though we still believe that we have not overstepped any legal boundaries, we have decided to completely stop the offer, production and sale of the Steve Jobs figurine out of our heartfelt sensitivity to the feelings of the Jobs family," Tandy Cheung, the Hong Kong businessman whose company, In Icon, created the doll, said in a statement.
Toy companies, in icons and Dragon in Dream, unveiled the figure based on the late tech icon earlier this month. It featured a realistic likeness and Jobs's trademark black turtleneck, jeans and sand shoes. The figure was due for release in late February for $US99.99.
Soon after In Icon publicized its plans for the Jobs action figure, it began receiving letters from Apple's lawyers. "If Apple had been forced to take Cheung to court, it's not...
Apple eighth most valuable global brand
The 2011 Interbrand Best Global Brands listing ranks Apple as the eighth most valuable brand globally with an estimated total value of US$33.49 billion, reports "Bloomberg" (http://macte.ch/PNIVB). Our favorite tech company is ahead of Disney and HP on the chart.
Ahead of Apple in the top 10 -- with estimated total value -- are, in descending order, Coca-Cola ($71.9 billion), IBM ($70 billion), Microsoft ($60 billion), Google ($55 billion), GE ($43 billion), McDonald's ($36 billion) and Intel ($35 billion).
Apple jumped from the number 17 spot to number eight in a year. Interbrand says Apple increased its brand value by 58% year-over-year.
IDG: 91% of business pros user their iPad for work
Ninety-one percent of business professionals user an iPad for work, according to a new survey by the IDG research group (http://www.idg.com).
IT and business professionals use their iPads more intensively, across a wider range of scenarios, says IDG. Fully 51% of IT decision-makers say they "always" use their iPad at work (and a further 40% say they sometimes use it at work). Out-of-home usage is even more intense, with 79% of IT decision-makers saying that they “always” use their iPads "on the move."
However, the iPad hasn’t prompted the majority of IT and business profes- sionals to abandon any other device. Only 12% say that their iPad has “completely” replaced their laptop. Just 6% say it has supplanted their computer.
"For most, the iPad isn’t a substitute for an existing tool or device. Instead, it’s a supplement, albeit one with functionality that overlaps with other devices," reports IDG. "As a result, the iPad seems to have carved out a niche for itself at the partial...
