SweetP serves up Cookie 2.1.7 for Mac OS X
SweetP Productions has announced Cookie 2.1.7 (http://www.sweetpproductions.com), a maintenance update to their cookie and browser history management utility for Mac OS X (10.6.6 and higher). It's available at the Mac App Store for US$14.99.
Cookie is designed to help you to manage exactly who can access information about your online activities. It scans your computer for all types of cookies, from all the top browsers, and can be configured to remove all unwanted tracking-advertising cookies.
Data can be stored on your computer without you even knowing in a multitude of different formats: cookies, Flash cookies, databases and local storage. Cookie scans your computer for all types of cookies.
Waccy Accy for Mac OS X revved to version 1.1.1
PFiddlesoft has released Waccy Accy 1.1.1, an update to the second application in the PFiddle Collection. You can download it at pfiddlesoft.com/pfiddles/ .
Waccy Accy is a game based on Apple's Accessibility API (application programming interface). To win you must reveal your full user name by flipping the placards displaying placeholders so they show their hidden characters. You fill in the blanks by moving the mouse pointer over text elements on the screen containing the missing letters.
Version 1.1.1 of Waccy Accy is a minor release. It adds support for sudden termination and automatic termination, enables text entry in the name field as soon as the Enter Key Manually window is opened, resolves a problem that prevented Waccy Accy from verifying a registration key when it was launched automatically at system startup, and fixes a crashing bug when viewing a registration key more than once.
The PFiddle Collection is a growing collection of Mac apps. Buy the collection once for US$4....
iPhone sales up in Britain, down on the Continent
New data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech (http://www.kantarworldpanel.com) shows that in the latest 12 weeks of sales Apple has increased its share of the British smartphone market from 21.4% a year ago to 30.9%.
"In Great Britain, the US and Australia, Apple’s new iPhone continues to fly off the shelf in the run up the Christmas, reversing the share losses seen during much of 2011," says Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director. "However, this trend is far from universal, with sales in Germany and France somewhat underwhelming."
In fact, in Germany, Android achieved a dominant 61% share of smartphone sales in the latest 12 weeks, with the Samsung Galaxy S II the top selling handset, according to Kantar. The success of the new iPhone in Britain has meant that O2 --- which has by far the highest proportion of existing iPhone owners -- has benefited the most, taking 36.1% of all iPhone sales in the past 12 weeks. However, this hasn't had a dramatic impact on the number of O2...
German court rebuffs Apple band on the Galaxy 10.1N
A German court has rejected Apple's claims that Samsung Electronics' reworked tablet PC still looks like a copycat version of the iPad, in a preliminary assessment, reports "Reuters" (http://macte.ch/MoxgX).
"According to the court's assessment, the defendant has moved away sufficiently from the legally protected design," Judge Johanna Brueckner-Hofmann said in court on Thursday. A ruling was slated for Feb. 9.
In response to an earlier court ruling in Apple's favour, Samsung had redesigned its Galaxy Tab 10.1 for the German market only and named it Galaxy Tab 10.1N, notes "Reuters." However, Apple challenged the reworked version as well, seeking an injunction that would ban Samsung from marketing the product in Europe's largest consumer market.
Recording Academy gives Steve Jobs a Special Merit Grammy
The Recording Academy has awarded the late Steve Jobs a Special Merit Grammy for "outstanding contributions" to music outside of performance. In a statement (http://macte.ch/yEAhY), Neil Portnow, president/CEO of the Recording Academy, had this to say:
"Visionary, pioneer, innovator, genius -- all of these words and more have been used to describe the dynamic, passionate, and driven Steve Jobs, who always believed, and often proved, that the impossible was possible. He took technology and turned it into art, becoming a key player and leader in the entertainment world, particularly music, and changing the way we all use the Internet and consume music, TV, movies, books, graphics, and more. In 2002, Apple Computer, Inc. was a recipient of the Technical Grammy Award for contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field -- which the groundbreaking company continues to achieve to this day. The world has lost an inspiring and creative inventor whose extraordinary...
Poll shows iPad still tops tablet market, but competition is...
Maritz Research (http://www.MaritzResearch.com) has announces the results of its Maritz Holiday Tablet Poll, designed and analyzed using Maritz’ DecisionVue 360 research methodology.
The poll projects tablet purchases over the next three months (December 2011 through February 2012) will be approximately 10% higher than the past three months. While a majority of tablet consumers have purchased an iPad in the last three months, there are only 16% of buyers who entered the market with solely an Apple tablet in mind.
For the first time, the study identifies four key buyer segments in the overall tablet market: single-minded (21%), tablet-committed (44%), newcomers (13%) and low-end tablet buyers (22%). Single-minded buyers are "individuals who really want to buy an Apple tablet."
Tablet-committed buyers are committed to buying a tablet but is undecided on a brand. These buyers are aware of three or more brands while entering the purchase cycle and are willing to consider brands other...
Nektony Disk Expert is new disk space manager for the Mac
Disk Expert is a new disk space analysis and management tool for the Mac that's designed to help you organize your hard drive content and free up disk space. It requires Mac OS X 10.6 or higher, costs US$14.99 and is available worldwide exclusively through the Mac App Store in the Utilities category.
Disk Expert visually displays the file system usage and allows you to work up the content of the drive and free up disk space. The app enables you to analyze and manage a disk's content usage and volume by moving items from the disk to a special list from which they can be transferred to another drive or even deleted.
Users can preview a file using QuickLook and view details regarding the system's information of the file with one click. Disk Expert supports HDD drives, CD and DVD discs, removable USB drives, mounted and even SMB disk images.
Drone Station lands at the Mac App Store
Drone Station, an app for controlling the AR.Drone is now on the Mac App Store. It requires Mac OS X 10.6.6 or higher, costs US$12.99 and is available in the Utilities category.
Flyers can now control the Drone with XBox controllers, PlayStation 3 Controllers, several joystick and gamepad brands, keyboard mouse combinations, Wii motion controllers, and even the Wii Balance Board. Video recording, image capture, object tracking, and object stalking are all standard features. In addition, external Wi-Fi dongles may be used for extended range.
Zondervan's NIV Study Bible comes to the iPhone, iPad
Zondervan's NIV Study Bible on the market is now available the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. It's available at the Apple App Store for US$24.99.
The NIV Study Bible features hundreds of full-color videos, maps, charts, illustrations, diagrams and 360-degree interactive panoramic HD renderings. You can navigate, search and highlight passages for emphasis, bookmark where you left off, copy and paste notes into texts and emails, and share passages via Facebook and Twitter.
The cornerstone of the app is the 20,000 study notes with color icons designed to make important information easy to spot and access. Several of the scholars responsible for the translation of the bestselling NIV Bible also developed study notes, which are the most comprehensive and widely used study notes available in any NIV Study Bible on the market, according to Chip Brown, Zondervan's senior vice president and publisher for Bibles. To learn more, visit http://nivbibleapps.com/ .
Solitaire Kingdom available on iOS, OS X devices
Funkitron has announced the immediate availability of Solitaire Kingdom Supreme for the iPad, iPhone, Mac and PC.
The iPhone/iPod touch/iPad version is available at the Apple App Store for US$0.99. The Mac version is available at the Mac App Store for the same price.
"We are huge Solitaire fans here at Funkitron, but we always thought that the game needed a bit more fun and excitement added to it," says David Walls, president of Funkitron. "So we decided to reinvent Solitaire by creating new features like Kingdom Cards which make the game much more fun to play. For example, Griffin guarantees you a great deal. Hero rescues the card you need from wherever it is trapped. Thief steals aces from wherever they are hidden. These and many more Kingdom Cards really add up to a brand new Solitaire experience that is totally fun and addictive."
Snapz Pro X updated to version 2.3.3
Ambrosia Software has updated their screen capture utility, Snapz Pro X (http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/utilities/snapzprox/), to version 2.3.3. The upgrade, which is free to all registered users of Snapz Pro X 2.x, offers improved "Save Later" performance and can save to the clipboard as PICT and TIFF files.
Snapz Pro X 2.3.3 is an Universal Binary, and requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later -- and is compatible with Lion. For new users the cost is US$69.
TinyBooks for Mac OS X revved to version 7.0.7
Ken Winograd and Space-Time Associates (http://www.winograd.com) has updated TinyBooks Pro, its Mac accounting and bookkeeping program, to version 7.0.7. The upgrade includes Quarterly Bottom Line Reports, TypeAhead Comments, support for keyboard navigation, mouse scroll wheels, easier backups, resizable windows, and more.
TinyBooks Pro is a single-entry bookkeeping and accounting system designed for sole proprietors, home and other small businesses, and family finances. To use you enter your expenses and income, and TinyBooks Pro does the rest. Current and year-to-date on-the-fly totals are continually displayed. Fully automatic bar-charting of all expense and income accounts make the determination of monthly trends intuitively obvious, according to the folks at Space-Time Associates.
TinyBooks Pro 7.0.7 is a free update for registered users of version 7.x. For new users the cost is US$69 for a single user license. TinyBooks (the non-Pro TinyBooks) is still available for those...
Alundus announces Kanga Pouch device cases
Alundus, has announced the Kickstarter launch of its Kanga Pouch device cases for the iPad and iPhone product lines aiming to make them more child and human resistant.
The cases are designed to present the removal of the charger and audio cords, screen touches, exiting out of apps, turning the volume up, turning the device off, and are less likely to accidentally damaging the device. More info can be found at http://www.alundus.com .
Blackmagic Design releases Avid DNxHD public beta update
Blackmagic Design has announced the immediate availability of HyperDeck Software Update 2.0 Public Beta, a new software update for its HyperDeck Studio that adds broadcast quality, compressed 10-bit recording and playback to the Avid DNxHD format.
DNxHD is a broadcast industry standard for media files and adding native support for this compressed video format into HyperDeck Studio will allow dramatically longer recording times, lower media storage costs and full file format compatibility with Avid Media Composer systems, according to the folks at Blackmagic Design. All media is recorded in MXF format, so it’s available in Media Composer without any time consuming import processing, they add.
HyperDeck Software Update 2.0 public beta is available now at the Blackmagic Design web site (http://www.blackmagic-design.com). HyperDeck Studio is available now from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide for US$995.
Study: smartphone data plan adoption key to mobile revenue...
Year-over-year smartphone penetration doubled to reach 21% of wireless subscriptions by quarter three of 2011, according to new research from Strategy Analytics (http://www.strategyanalytics.com).
Smartphones have stimulated healthy increases in non-SMS data revenues that continue to lift operator performance despite declining voice and static SMS market, says the research group.
"Over the last 12 months, while wireless ARPU fell eight percent and voice ARPU declined 13-14 percent, data ARPU increased by more than 5%," notes Phil Kendall, director Wireless Operator Strategies, and author of the Strategy Analytics report. "Non-SMS services -- which have become the real driver of growth -- increased from 55% of data revenues in quarter three of 2010 to 61% in quarter three of 2011."
Regionally, non-SMS data revenues grew to 54% of total data in Western Europe and 72% in North America. Sue Rudd, Director of Service Provider Analysis at Strategy Analytics, says: "Unfortunately...
Absoft Pro Fortran 2012 v11.5 for Mac OS X adds AVX, more
Absoft Corp. has announced general availability of the new Pro Fortran 2012 v11.5 for Mac OS X. Compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 and higher, the upgrade incorporates new features designed to improve ease-of-use and increase performance on multi-core systems.
The primary features of Pro Fortran 2012 for Mac OS include: Absoft's exclusive dynamic load balancing optimizer (-05) for multi-core systems; addition of AVX vector support in compiler and Fx3 graphical debugger; a new matrix view array display for the Fx3 graphical debugger; additional Fortran 2003 and 2008 extensions; Absoft's new HPC Scientific and Engineering math library for Mac OS; Absoft Tools (IDE) has been enhanced to support external library plug-ins; and the new 64-bit Cocoa compatible Absoft Window Environment (AWE) which can automatically add a Mac style graphical interface to your compiled applications.
IMSL numerical libraries are an available option (IMSL availability on Mac OS X is an Absoft exclusive). Prices...
PFiddlesoft releases Pointer Noodge 1.1.3
PFiddlesoft has released version 1.1.3 of Pointer Noodge (http://pfiddlesoft.com/pfiddles/) for Mac OS X, the third application in the PFiddle Collection.
Pointer Noodge slows down the system pointer, removing mouse, trackpad and trackball acceleration so you can place the pointer exactly where you want it in any application. You can also nudge the pointer one pixel at a time horizontally and vertically using the arrow keys. Hold down the backslash (\) key to drag. Hold down the right bracket (]) key to speed up the pointer temporarily.
Version 1.1.3 of Pointer Noodge is a minor release. It adds support for sudden termination, enables text entry in the name field as soon as the Enter Key Manually window is opened, resolves a problem that prevented Pointer Noodge from verifying a registration key when it was launched automatically at system startup, and fixes a crashing bug when viewing a registration key more than once.
The PFiddle Collection is a growing collection of Mac utilities....
Piezo for OS X gets FaceTime, Skype support
Rogue Amoeba has updated Piezo, a simple audio recorder for Mac OS X (10.6 and higher), to version 1.1. It costs US$10 and is available at the Mac App Store.
Version 1.1 provides full support for recording from VoIP apps like Skype, iChat, and FaceTime. After launching, a single click of the record button can have Piezo recording audio from any application. Almost any app's audio can be captured in Piezo, just by selecting it as the source. Piezo will grab web streams in Safari or music from services like Spotify and Rdio.
If you need to capture sound bites from DVDs or even from movies in iTunes, Piezo can do it. It works with audio devices, too, so when a microphone (such as an Apple headset) is connected, Piezo can record that audio right into the Mac. A demo version of Piezo is available at the Rogue Amoeba web site (http://rogueamoeba.com/piezo/).
AppDelete optimized for Lion
Reggie Ashworth has updated AppDelete (http://reggie.ashworth.googlepages.com/appdelete), an application deleting app for Mac OS X (10.6.6 or later), to version 3.2.2. It's available for US$3.99 in the Mac App Store.
Version 3.2.2 has been optimized for Mac OS X 10.7 ("Lion"). It's available in five new languages: Danish, Dutch, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazilian), and Russian.
Via drag 'n drop, AppDelete will delete any chosen app with all of its associated items that belong to that application. You'll no longer have to hunt through their system to find and delete these items manually.
You can drag any item that can be uninstalled onto AppDelete: applications, widgets, preference panes, plug-ins, screensavers, etc. You can also activate AppDelete in many ways: dragging items onto main window, onto dock icon, selecting in menu, right-clicking using AppDelete workflow, and throwing items in the trash. When the preview screen appears you can uncheck any items you would like to exclude....
Analyst calls for strong iPhone, iPad, Mac sales in 2012 and...
In a note to clients -- as reported by "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com) -- Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says Apple's growth in 2012 (and beyond) will be fueld by a redesigned iPhone, an expansion of the iPad line-up and continued strong sales o the Mac. Munster is predicting:
° The iPhone 5 will roll out and Apple will sell -- a "base case" scenario -- 142 million iPhone units, good for an 18% increase in revenue. In a "bull case" scenario, Apple will sell 162 million iPhone units throughout 2013, amounting to a 35% increase in revenue.
° Apple will just release the iPad 3 to replace the current iPad 2. Munster's calendar 2013 base estimate calls -- in the base case -- for 66 million iPads to be sold, representing an 11% increase in revenue from the estimates for 2012. In the bull case, Apple would sell 77.5 million iPads and grow its revenue by 30%.
Apple could achieve those higher numbers if the company decides to expand the iPad lineup into both lower and higher...
Steve Jobs' statue unveiled in Budapest
Graphisoft Park, and AIT-Budapest have dedicated a statue honoring the late Steve Jobs in Budapest's Graphisoft Park today.
Commissioned by Graphisoft founder and chairman of the board, Gabor Bojar, the statue is the purportedly first in the world honoring the late founder of Apple, who passed away on Oct. 5. Crafted by Hungarian sculptor Erno Toth, the life-like bronze statue stands near the entrance of architectural software maker Graphisoft 's Budapest headquarters.
The relationship between Graphisoft and Apple can be traced to the 1980's, when Jobs came across the first version of Graphisoft 's ArchiCAD software at the 1984 CeBIT in Germany. His first impressions of the software led him to throw Apple's support behind the development and distribution of ArchiCAD, according to Bojar.
Graphisoft makes software for architects. Graphisoft Park is the first science/technology park in Budapest, established by Graphisoft in 1997 when the company was looking for new premises....
Mobile will account for 15.2% of global online ad spend in 2016
According to a new research report from the Gothenburg, Sweden-based analyst firm Berg Insight (http://www.berginsight.com), the total value of the global mobile marketing and advertising market will grow from € 2.6 billion in 2010 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37 percent to € 17.2 billion in 2016.
This will correspond to 15.2% of the total online advertising market or 3.8% of the total global ad spend for all media. As the digital convergence blurs the differences between devices the definition used for mobile advertising is that it is the digital media exposed on a mobile handset screen. The report predicts that a major boom in mobile advertising is on its way after having remained on an experimental stage for several years.
"The popularity of smartphones and the increasing availability of mobile media that can include mobile advertising are the main game changers," says Rickard Andersson, telecom analyst, Berg Insight. "Brands are now progressively embracing the...
HTC has workaround for Apple patent infringement ruling
HTC has already completed a technical workaround to skirt a U.S. agency ruling that found a user interface in some handsets infringed an Apple patent, reports "Bloomberg" (http://macte.ch/IMslU).
“It’s actually quite rarely used,” HTC Chief Executive Officer Peter Chou said of the feature. The company will continue to work with Googlel to “protect ourselves,” Chou said in a media briefing at the company’s Taoyuan, Taiwan headquarters today.
Yesterday it was announced that Apple has won a formal impact ban from the US International Trade Commission (ITC) on HTC Android phones implementing one of two claims of violating a "data tapping patent," "FOSS Patents" (http://macte.ch/ok9VY) reports.
The patent involves an invention that marks up phone numbers and other types of formatted data in an unstructured document, such as an email, in order to enable users to bring up other programs (such as a dialer app) that process such data. The import ban won't relate to HTC Android products that...
Apple App Store beats Android market in total revenue
In a new report, the Distimo app store research group ( http://www.distimo.com) says the Apple App Store beats the Google Android Market in terms of the total revenue generated by the 200 highest grossing apps. The Apple App Store generates about four times the revenue that is generated in the Google Android Market.
The Distimo report also showed that:
° 2011 was the year where in-app purchases and the freemium business model became one of the most important monetization strategies for developers. Half of the revenue of the 200 top grossing apps in the Apple App Store is now generated by freemium apps. This proportion is even higher in the Google Android Market where 65% of the revenue from the top grossing apps is generated by freemium apps.
° The number of downloads in the Apple App Store for iPhone in China increased drastically during 2011. Comparing the number of Apple App Store downloads in the US with the number of Apple App Store downloads in China, we see that China now...
Firm predicts first quarter iPhone sales of 30.3 million
In a note to clients -- as reported by "Reuters" (http://macte.ch/lKbYq) -- the Susquehanna research group increased its iPhone shipment estimates as it sees the company ramping up smartphone production, now that Thailand-related constraints have been resolved. The brokerage raised its shipment estimates for the first quarter from 27.1 million units to 30.3 million units.
"The revisions are based on positive sell-through data combined with recent supply-chain checks, which suggests that earlier component constraints have largely been resolved and build plans have increased for the fourth and first quarter." Susquehanna wrote. "Demand appears solid as iPhone 4S continues to ship in one to two weeks online and stores are generally sold out for in-store reservation and pickup."
The brokerage also sees strong holiday sales for the iPad. Susquehanna The brokerage reiterated its "positive" rating on the stock.
iPad, iPhone in top Dogpile search results for 2011
The iPad and iPhone has made the top 10 in the 2011 search results by Dogpile (http://www.dogpile.com), a meta-search engine operated by InfoSpace that combines search results from all of the leading search engines, including Google, Yahoo! and Bing.
The iPad was number five and the iPhone number six. The other entries in the top 10 were, in descending order, Facebook, YouTube, NFL, American Idol, Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber, the Casey Anthony trial and Powerball.
Report: 'freemium revolution' will continue in 2012
"Freemium" has been much more than just one of the biggest buzzwords of 2011. Worldwide, of the top-ranked 250 iOS apps across all categories, an average of 88% are already free to download and monetized incrementally with advertising and in-app purchases.
The trend will continue in 2012, and it is entirely possible that at this time next year in certain categories all relevant iOS apps will be free, according to the ABI Research group (http://www.abiresearch.com). Apple enabled in-app purchasing for free apps in October 2009 and since then developers have been remarkably quick to evolve their business models, says Aapo Markkanen, senior analyst, consumer mobility, ABI Research.
"What many observers misunderstand about freemium is that it isn’t only about monetizing, but also about marketing," he adds. "The threshold for consumers to download free apps is really low, so more people end up using and recommending them, which then also gives those apps a bump in distributors’ ranking...
KosmicTask is new integrated scripting environment for OS X
Mugginsoft has released KosmicTask (http://www.mugginsoft.com/store), an integrated scripting environment for Mac OS X that enables users to create, edit, execute and share script based tasks over a network using a range of scripting languages. It requires Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. Pricing starts at US$69.99 for a two-user license.
Featuring an iTunes-like user interface the application is designed for both standalone and distributed task based solutions. Over 100 sample tasks are included and demonstrate functionality that includes general administration, file processing and automation.
With KosmicTask users can browse and search the network for services that match their requirements and take advantage of an user interface that features multi-tasking via task tabs, flexible task result handling, a history facility and detachable task windows. The application features a range of input types. In addition to its task execution and sharing capabilities KosmicTask includes a complete...
Photobricks Team Releases LEGO Mosaic Software for Mac OS X
The Photobricks Team says Photobricks, their first mosaic creation software specialized for use with LEGO bricks, is now available for Mac OS X (10.7 and higher). It's free and available worldwide exclusively through the Mac App Store in the Graphics & Design category.
Photobricks allows the user to turn any image on their device into a mosaic composed of LEGO bricks. In the app, the user can create a LEGO mosaic from any image stored on their Mac or by using their Mac's built-in camera.
For power users, Photobricks comes equipped with a variety of features that make it possible to fine-tune the appearance of any mosaic. The user can alter their mosaics by cropping the original image and changing the colors of individual bricks. They can then view what types of bricks they will need to build their mosaic. When they're finished, they can share it in a variety of ways including high resolution printing.
iZotope launches suite of iOS SDKs for audio effects
iZotope has released six iOS software developer kits (SDKs) and a free guide to audio programming for iOS. The goal is to provide iOS developers with high-quality, easy-to-use audio effects and resources for their apps, says Alex Westner, iZotope's director of Business Development.
Developers will have access to a wide variety of professional audio effects spanning six kits: audio repair, DJ FX, vocal FX, trash FX, fun FX and core FX. Effects within the SDKs can apply to apps of all varieties, including apps for field recording, DJ remixing, karaoke singing, lecture recording, gaming, chatting and more.
The SDKs come with detailed instructions on how to integrate them into your project. In addition to the SDKs, developers get a free guide to audio programming for iOS. This handy reference provides a collection of information on using Core Audio in iOS, including how to use both Audio Queues and Audio Units, the two main methods in Core Audio for handling audio.
To learn more about...
Green Onions grows new screen protectors for phone, tablets
Green Onions Supply is releasing new Crystal Oleophobic and Crystal Anti-Fingerprint Screen Protectors for tablets and smartphones.
These smudge-fighting solutions combine transparent and crystal-clear films with an oleophobic or anti-fingerprint coating. The coatings repel oil or otherwise reduce the appearance of fingerprints, which keeps users' screens clearer even when covered in fingerprints and facial oil, according to the folks at Green Onion.
The enhanced Crystal Oleophobic Protector has a finish for smartphones, repelling oil with "zero-distortion clarity." It mimics the oleophobic coatings found on many smartphones, which allows users to add the Protector without sacrificing any functionality, according to the folks at Green Onions. The first model is for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.
The Crystal Anti-fingerprint Protector makes smudges and fingerprints effectively invisible while still retaining a clear finish. Many custom-cut sizes are available for a wide variety of...
YouTube Converter for OS X gets reclassified conversion profiles
iFunia has updated YouTube Converter for Mac OS X to version 3.5. It now comes with a reclassified conversion profiles by device type and improved the overall YouTube video downloading and converting performance.
Videos can be converted into formats compatible with devices such as iPad, iPods, iPhones, Apple TV, PSPs, and BlackBerrys. iFunia YouTube Converter lets Mac users download movies, music videos, and HD videos from YouTube with a few clicks and then converts the downloaded YouTube or local FLV videos to video formats like AVI, MOV, MP4, WMV, M4V, etc.
It can also extract soundtracks from downloaded YouTube videos and convert them to audio formats such as MP3, WAV, M4A, AIFF etc. enabling them to be played on an iPad, iPhone, iPod, Apple TV or Quick Time Player. Besides HTML 5 support, the 3.3.0 new version also fixes some minor bugs and improves overall performance.
iFunia YouTube Converter for Mac 3.5.0 costs US$29. For more info or to download a demo go to http://www.ifunia...
Application Wizard conjures up version 3.2
MaBaSoft (http://www.mabasoft.net/) has updated Application Wizard -- their application launcher, quitter, and switcher for Mac OS X -- to version 3.2. The update adds the possibility to run AppleScripts, allows users to sort running applications chronologically and exclude applications from the Switch menu, and fixes some minor bugs.
Application Wizard lets you open, quit, show and hide applications, open them automatically at startup and force them to open using Rosetta, turn single application mode on and quit background-only applications and the Finder. With the software you can also navigate volumes and frequently used folders to quickly open enclosed items, access favorite files, recent folders, Address Book contacts and your iPhoto or Aperture library, preview images, music, movies and PDF files, copy pictures and display slideshows, view the metadata associated with files and check system memory usage.
Application Wizard 3.2 requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later. A single-user...
Apple part of industry coalition to limit toxic e-waste
The Coalition for American Electronics Recycling (CAER) says Sims Recycling Solutions has joined the industry effort to support federal legislation that will restrict export of toxic electronic waste (e-waste) from the U.S. and spur creation of tens of thousands of jobs through expansion of the domestic recycling industry.
In the House of Representatives, 13 co-sponsors have announced support for the bill, including six Republicans and seven Democrats. According to a CAER press release, Apple supports the bill.
With the addition of Sims Recycling Solutions, the largest e-recycling company in the world, CAER now includes 34 U.S. companies with 89 facilities involved in all aspects of the domestic electronics recycling and disposition industry, with operations in 32 states as well as the District of Columbia. Also supporting the legislation are Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Samsung, Best Buy and LG.
John Shegerian, co-founder and president, Electronic Recyclers International says the...
iTunes Store gets 'Complete my Season Pass' feature
Apple has added a "Complete my Season Pass" feature to the iTunes Store. It lets you buy a season pass for TV shows for which you've already downloaded individual episodes.
Before you'd have to either download each episode individually or buy a fll season pass. There was no intermediate step.
"Complete my Season Pass" for TV shows works like "Complete my Album" does for songs and albums. By clicking a button, you can buy the season at a reduced price based on the number of individual episodes you've already purchased.
However, the TV feature is unlike the music feature in that it's only available for current seasons of television with just a handful of exceptions. It also offers a reduced price only for the HD Season Pass, not the SD Season Pass.
-- Dennis Sellers
Apple: Samsung cases infringe our patents
Apple says Samsung's Galaxy tablet cases and cases for the company's phones infringe the Cupertino company's patents.
According to "Bloomberg" (http://macte.ch/JcaoP), Apple issued the notice of infringement to Samsung in Australia over the cases, and will file a statement of claim. Samsung’s lawyer Katrina Howard said at the same hearing the company was served with the notice that the cases infringe at least 10 patents.
This is another round in the global, ongoing brouhaha between Apple and Samsung involving patent disputes. The two companies have filed more than 30 lawsuits against each other across four continents.
Apple buys Anobit for $500 million
Apple has bought Israel's Anobit, a maker of flash storage technology, for as much as US$500 million, according to a report in the Israel-published "The Calcalist" (http://www.calcalist.co.il/home/0,7340,L-8,00.html), as reported by "Reuters" (http://macte.ch/sOYnD).
Anobit has developed a chip that enhances flash drive performance through signal processing, the article adds. The chip is already incorporated in Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad and the MacBook Air.
"The Calcalist" says Apple is interested in Anobit's technology to increase and enhance the memory volume and performance of its devices. The chip could double the memory volume in the new iPads and MacBooks. In addition to the acquisition, Apple will also open a research and development centre in Israel, its first outside the U.S.
Samsung tops smartphone market in Australia, New Zealand
Samsung has overtaken Apple and grew for a third consecutive quarter in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) overall mobile phone market, according to the IDC research group (http://www.idc.com).
Overall the Australian mobile phone market dipped by 17% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) by shipments across both smartphones and feature phones categories. The smartphone market is now 65% of the total Australian mobile phone market, with Android taking over Apple iOS as number one position holding 49% market share. Apple iOS, in second place, holds 36% unit share as the market eased in preparation for the new iPhone 4S launched in October 2011.
New Zealand’s feature phone and smartphone markets, on the other hand, recorded a 55% quarter-over-quarter growth. The smartphone market holds 43% of the total third quarter New Zealand mobile phone market, with Samsung overtaking Apple’s number one position with a share of 28.5% of the smartphone market. Huawei, in second place, holds 20% of New Zealand’s Q3...
MacTech plans massive 2012 event line-up across the U.S.
MacTech Magazine has announced a massive event line-up for 2012. In 2010, MacTech did a single event, in 2011 produced seven events, but in 2012, MacTech will hold 15 events spanning the U.S.
MacTech's event line up includes a combination of its well received MacTech Boot Camp for small-to-medium sized business consultants, its new MacTech InDepth series for deep dives on single topics, and its acclaimed three-day MacTech Conference for IT Pros and Developers.
MacTech Boot Camp is specifically designed for techs and consultants supporting home users, small office/home office (SOHO), and small-to-medium sized businesses (SMB). This one-day, hotel-based seminar is designed specifically to help participants be the most successful consultants they can be.
MacTech InDepth events focus on a single topic for the day, covering it from top to bottom. Based on MacTech's proven approach for delivering a great deal of content in a short period of time, MacTech's events combine expert speakers...
Americans turn to digital devices to stretch holiday dollars
Findings from a national survey, conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications in conjunction with SapientNitro (http://www.sapientnitro.com) show that Americans are increasingly empowered by digital devices to bargain hunt for gifts this holiday season.
Four in 10 Americans with a smart phone (38%) agree that "in this economy, my smart phone has empowered me to find the best deals while shopping this holiday season." This is particularly true of iPad and other tablet owners, where a majority (56%) agree with that statement. When it came to 18-24 year olds as a whole, nearly two in three (64%) express they feel "empowered" in the same way.
In fact, 39% of all Americans agree that their use of digital devices has "enriched" their shopping experience so far this holiday season. Nearly half of 18-24 year olds (47%) agree.
Indie developers donating app sales to fund water projects
A group of more than 30 Mac and iOS developers are donating one day of their app sales to charity this holiday season in a campaign called "Apps for Water."
All proceeds from the one day sale on Tuesday, Dec. 20, will be donated to "charity: water," a non-profit organization that brings clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. The Apps for Water project is organized by Gaucho Software, who developed the Seasonality weather apps for the Mac and iPad.
"So many of us take clean water for granted. You turn on a faucet, and clean water pours out." says Mike Piatek-Jimenez, owner of Gaucho Software. "Unfortunately, almost one billion people still don't have access to safe and clean drinking water." What many people don't realize is the lack of safe drinking water is one of the leading causes of fatalities worldwide, with more than two million deaths each year from diseases stemming from the lack of clean water.
With overhead being covered by private donors, all...
iOS tops Millennial ad platform
Apple was the top manufacturer in Millennial's advertising platform (http://www.millennialmedia.com) last month, up 8% since October to gain a 26% share in the list of the top 15 manufacturers.
November's "Millennial Media's Media Mix" notes that Google's Android fell to 50% (from 56% in October) while iOS rose to 30% (from 28%). The "Media Mix" reports the presence of devices in the mobile advertising network Millennial runs.
Sente for Mac OS X gets upgraded user interface
Third Street Software has announced Sente 6.5 (http://www.thirdstreetsoftware.com/site/SenteForMac.html), an update to theacademic reference manager for Mac OS X. Version 6.5 includes an upgrade to the user interface and new features like color-coded notes and improved PDF import.
The new main window includes a multiple-line reference list, a highly customizable reference editor and a more functional notes editor. Sente 6.5 is a free upgrade for everyone with an existing Sente 6 license.
The new version also supports a new approach to formatting documents in Microsoft Word and Apple Pages, called "scan-in-place." This new feature lets users work with formatted documents at each step of the writing process, rather than only at the final stages of writing. What's more, Sente Word documents are now compatible with EndNote Word documents, so users can collaborate with people writing in Microsoft Word with EndNote.
Sente 6.5 requires Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. For new users the cost is US$...
Arctic Escape come to the Mac App Store
Teyon has released Arctic Escape, a puzzle game, on the Mac App Store. It requires Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later and costs US$2.99.
Here's how the game is described: "Take control of a bunch of penguins getting into all sorts of troubles all the time. They were abducted from Antarctica by a cunning scientist and now they need your help to come back home. Lead them safely through over 100 frosty levels by placing commands such as walking, jumping or waiting."
The game is localized into English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. The title has already been available on the Nintendo DSiWare service, iPhone and iPad.
'Missing Manual' for iPhone available in edition five
O'Reilly Media has released "iPhone: The Missing Manual, 5th Edition." It's written by well known Mac guru and author David Pogue and costs US$24.99. There's an ebook version for $19.99.
"The elves at Apple's iPhone division have been in overcaffeinated overdrive," says Pogue. "Not only is the iPhone 4S a masterpiece -- if you're not giving your phone voice commands, you don't know what you're missing -- but iOS 5 is crammed with goodies, including a lot that Apple's marketing people don't even have the space to mention. Fortunately, I did, in this book."
For more info about the book -- including table of contents, author bio and more, go to http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920015840.do .
SoftRAID 4.2 for Mac OS X gets faster
SoftRAID (http://www.softraid.com) has released SoftRAID 4.2 an update to its RAID product for Mac OS X. The new version offers faster disk operations, faster throughput and users fewer CPU cycles, according to the folks at SoftRAID.
The SoftRAID driver optimization takes advantage of the trend towards faster drives and faster buses, such as SSD drives and Thunderbolt. SoftRAID I/O transfers are larger for nearly all disk-related operations in version 4.2.
The SoftRAID application and its internal components in Mac OS X 10.6 and 10.7 now function completely using 64-bit code. The 4.2 driver enhances support for SSD operations, including TRIM support for third party SSD drives.
SoftRAID version 4.2 is available as a fully functional demo that allows prospective customers to try SoftRAID for 30 days. Registration is US$129. Users of SoftRAID 3 can purchase an upgrade to version 4 for $69.
eMedia updates Intermediate Guitar Method
eMedia Music Corp. (http://www.emediamusic.com) has released version 3.0 of Intermediate Guitar Method. The follow- up to the eMedia Guitar Method is designed to make moving beyond simple melodies and strumming easier with new tools and improved features, content and curriculum.
For example, there's a new Instant Feedback feature. eMedia's advanced audio recognition software technology actually listens to you playing melodies and shows you whether the correct notes are played.
There are new Note Tracker and Finger Tracker tools, full-screen lessons, improved videos viewable in full-screen, remastered audio and a revised curriculum. Over 170 full-screen lessons teach songs and demonstrate new techniques with remastered full-size video and recorded audio, variable-speed MIDI and the Animated Fretboard
Intermediate Guitar Method 3.0 is compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 and higher. It has an estimated retail price of US$59.95.
AT&T drops plans to buy T-Mobile
AT&T is dropping its US$39 billion bid to buy T-Mobiles U.S. wireless and instead will will enter a roaming agreement with Deutsche Telekom.
AT&T's plan to buy T-Mobile USA was first announced in March. However, it met with opposition from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission.
"AT&T will continue to be aggressive in leading the mobile Internet revolution," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO in a press statement. "Over the past four years we have invested more in our networks than any other U.S. company. As a result, today we deliver best-in-class mobile broadband speeds -- connecting smartphones, tablets and emerging devices at a record pace -- and we are well under way with our nationwide 4G LTE deployment. To meet the needs of our customers, we will continue to invest.
To reflect the break-up considerations due Deutsche Telekom, AT&T will recognize a pretax accounting charge of US$4 billion in the fourtth quarter...
Apple wins ITC ruling against HTC
Apple has won a formal impact ban from the US International Trade Commission (ITC) on HTC Android phones implementing one of two claims of violating a "data tapping patent," "FOSS Patents" (http://macte.ch/ok9VY) reports.
The patent involves an invention that marks up phone numbers and other types of formatted data in an unstructured document, such as an email, in order to enable users to bring up other programs (such as a dialer app) that process such data. The import ban won't relate to HTC Android products that don't implement that feature, or that implement it in ways not covered by those patent claims, notes "FOSS Patents."
Apple first filed its complaint against HTC in March 2010. An initial ruling in July 2011 found that HTC did violate two Apple patents.
The ban goes into effect April 19, 2012. However, if HTC can implement the data tapping feature without infringing on the two patent claims found infringed, the import ban won't have any effect, says "FOSS Patents."
-- Dennis...
Apple reportedly working on 'wearable computers'
Apple is working on "wearable computers" with the main goal of selling more iPhones, according to Nick Bilton, writing for "The New York Times" (http://macte.ch/rpsIs).
He says Apple is working on prototype products that could relay information back to the iPhone. These conceptual products could also display information on other Apple devices, like an iPod.
Quoting an unnamed "person with knowledge of the company’s plans," Bilton says that a "very small group of Apple employees" has been conceptualizing and even prototyping some wearable devices.One idea being discussed is a curved-glass iPod that would wrap around the wrist via which people could communicate with the device using Apple's Siri voice technology, he adds.
