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Apr 24
CS Odessa upgrades ConceptDraw PRO

CS Odessa has announced free upgrades to the company’s ConceptDraw PRO business graphics and diagramming package.

ConceptDraw PRO 9.4 features an enhanced startup wizard, new connectors technology and ConceptDraw Solution Park additions to help users produce professional results more quickly.The new startup wizard allows users to determine optimal settings such as page orientation, grid marks, snapping, object dimensions and other settings from the outset, eliminating the need to go back and change settings once document construction is underway.

The 9.4 release also features Smart Connectors with Arrows 10 technology to streamline object linking. Now users can automatically redraw linked object connectors as they adjust object positions within business graphics. The new technology works with older ConceptDraw PRO files, automatically updating document formats.

In addition to the launch of ConceptDraw PRO 9.4, CS Odessa has also rolled out new ConceptDraw...

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Apr 23
Apple more than doubles capital return program

Apple has announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a significant increase to the company’s program to return capital to shareholders. The company expects to utilize a total of $100 billion of cash under the expanded program by the end of calendar 2015.

This represents a $55 billion increase to the program announced last year and translates to an average rate of US$30 billion per year from the time of the first dividend payment in August 2012 through December 2015.

As part of this program, the Board has increased its share repurchase authorization to $60 billion from the $10 billion level announced last year. This is the largest single share repurchase authorization in history and is expected to be executed by the end of calendar 2015. Apple also expects to utilize about $1 billion annually to net-share-settle vesting restricted stock units.

Additionally, the Board has approved a 15% increase in the company’s quarterly dividend and today has...

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Apr 23
Apple reports second quarter fiscal results

Apple has announced financial results for its fiscal 2013 second quarter ending March 30. The company posted quarterly revenue of US$43.6 billion and quarterly net profit of $9.5 billion, or $10.09 per diluted share.

These results compare to revenue of $39.2 billion and net profit of $11.6 billion, or $12.30 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 37.5% compared to 47.4% n the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 66% of the quarter’s revenue.

The company sold 37.4 million iPhones in the quarter, compared to 35.1 million in the year-ago quarter. Apple also sold 19.5 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 11.8 million in the year-ago quarter. The company sold just under 4 million Macs, compared to 4 million in the year-ago quarter.

"We are pleased to report record March quarter revenue thanks to continued strong performance of iPhone and iPad," says Apple CEO Tim Cook. "Our teams are hard at work on some amazing new...

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Apr 23
ITC dismisses Motorola Mobility complaint against Apple

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has dismissed a complaint by Google-owned Motorola Mobility accusing Apple of infringing on patented technology that makes touchscreens ignore fingers when people are holding smartphones to their ears for calls, reports "ZDNet" (http://tinyurl.com/brycsyv).

The filing by acting ITC secretary Lisa Barton indicated that the investigation into the Motorola complaint filed in late 2010 has been terminated. The ITC reasoned that the technology at issue in the patents wasn't original enough to support the accusation.

This is part of an ongoing battle. Apple has alleged that Motorola infringes 24 of its patents (21 of them with Android-based phones, the remaining three with set-top boxes and DVRs), while Motorola previously asserted 18 patents against a variety of Apple products (mostly but not exclusively iPhone, iPad and iPod). Litigation between the two...

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Apr 23
Document Templates for Pages released

Infinite Loop Apps has released Document Templates for Pages on Mac OS X. It features a collection of 60 document templates for commercial and personal use.

The app provides options for creating content ranging from flyers and business cards to greetings and invoices. Also, the designs range from modern to retro.

Designs are sorted into 10 categories: Brochures, Business Cards, Calendars , Cards & Invitations, Envelopes, Flyers, Forms, Letters, Newsletters and Reports. Specific documents like Newsletters, Reports or Brochures have different layouts.

All the objects used in the Document Templates for Pages can be moved, resized, removed. All templates are available in the A4 and US Letter sizes, except for items like envelopes and business cards that come in the specific size. T

Document Templates for Pages requires iWork '08 or later and Mac OS X 10.6 or later. It costs US$5.99 and is available worldwide through the Mac App Store in the Graphics...

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Apr 23
WD ships 5 mm 2.5-inch hard drive

WD is shipping what it says is the world's first ultra-slim 2.5-inch, 5 mm hard drives and solid state hybrid drives (SSHD), which are designed for integration into the slimmest devices and space-constrained computing environments.

With 500GB of storage capacity and models with high performance-enabling solid state hybrid drive technology, this slim product line helps to address the tradeoffs system designers often make between capacity, physical size and performance, says Matt Rutledge, vice president of WD's client computing business unit.

The new drives are aimed to increase internal storage capacity while enabling it to fit into smaller device slots, he adds. Shipping today to select industrial distributors and OEM [original equipment manufacturer' customers in 500GB capacities, WD Blue 2.5-inch 5 mm hard drives have a manufacturer's suggested retail price of US $89. For more info go to http...

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Apr 23
Noise Industries announces Ripple Timelines for Final Cut Pro X

Noise Industries has released Timelines from Ripple Training, an US$59 plug-in designed exclusively for Final Cut Pro X.

Ripple Timelines is a collection of eight transition effects that create graphical timelines for videos. Each transition is customizable, allowing editors to change just about any detail including colors, background graphics and text. A Director’s View provides a bird’s eye view of transitions, complete with explanatory text guides and on-screen controls for adjusting the layout of transition video clips and drop zones.

You can choose from preset camera animation styles, and even adjust the preset to create the exact framing desired. For more info go to www.noiseindustries.com .

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Apr 23
Akitio releases 256GB SSD Thunderbolt storage solution 

Akitio has released a new 256GB, one-bay, bus-powered Thunderbolt storage solution. It's a follow-up to the company’s 120GB SSD solution, which was previously launched in 2012.

Akitio has upgraded the 120GB SSD to meet the demand of consumers by rising up to the challenge and offering an upgraded 256 GB SSD version of the Neutrino Thunderbolt, says Richard Wright, director of Global Distribution, Akitio. In addition, the 256 GB version is the fastest one bay bus powered external storage device on the market today with 464 MB/s data transfer speeds, he adds.

Akitio’s 256 GB Neutrino Thunderbolt Edition is available for purchase at an manufacturer's suggested retail starting price of US$339.99. It can be found at Akitio.com, as well as Amazon.com and other various Akitio retailers and distributors.

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Apr 23
Belkin releases NetCam HD Wi-Fi Camera

Belkin has announced its next-generation NetCam HD Wi-Fi Camera that provides users with instantaneous access via a smartphone or tablet to pets, children and other family members at home in 720p high-definition (HD) video resolution and digital audio.

The newest addition to the popular NetCam product family, NetCam HD features a streamlined setup process that allows users to operate the camera’s functions in two simple steps, says Mike Chen, senior director of product management, Belkin. Utilizing an iOS or Android device, users download Belkin’s free NetCam app and then connect the camera to their home’s Wi-Fi router to begin streaming video and audio to their mobile device. With the NetCam app, users can also customize the camera’s offerings by enabling email notifications when motion is detected or record video directly to their phone or tablet.

Belkin’s NetCam HD Wi-Fi Camera is available for purchase now at belkin.com, Amazon.com, Verizon, Target stores and...

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Apr 23
Logitech unveils FabricSkin Keyboard Folio for the iPad

Logitech introduced two new products to its tablet accessories lineup with the Logitech FabricSkin Keyboard Folio for iPad (pictured) and the Logitech Folio for iPad and iPad mini. They protect the front and back of your tablet, says Mike Culver, vice president of brand development for tablet accessories at Logitech.

Both are offered in a range of colors from electric blue and sunflower yellow to Mars red orange, and in an array of on-trend fabrics from matte leather to finely woven cotton. The Logitech FabricSkin Keyboard Folio features the first Bluetooth keyboard with its keys fused into an interior fabric.

Its full-size keys give you the tactile feedback you’re used to in a traditional keyboard, but in a sleek new look, says Culver. The keyboard folio’s high-end fabrics are treated with a coating that's liquid repellent. Hidden magnets hold your iPad in two positions, snapping your tablet into typing mode and ensuring the folio stays shut when you’re moving...

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Apr 23
Nest partners with energy companies

Nest Labs (www.nest.com) -- founded by Apple alums Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers -- has announced that the company is partnering with certain energy providers in the U.S. to offer more than 90 million people the opportunity to earn money and save even more this summer.

Together with NRG Energy, its subsidiaries Reliant and Green Mountain Energy, National Grid, Austin Energy and Southern California Edison, Nest is enabling instant rebates and exclusive offers for the Nest Learning Thermostat. It's also introducing new ways to save energy with Rush Hour Rewards and Seasonal Savings services.

Rush Hour Rewards helps people earn money or credits from their energy provider by using less energy when everyone else is using more. With Seasonal Savings, a Nest thermostat uses its knowledge of a customer’s schedule and preferences to gradually fine-tune the temperatures in the schedule to help save more energy. Both services...

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Apr 23
'Antennagate' checks arriving

The US$15 "AntennaGate" settlement checks have started arriving for qualifying iPhone 4 users, as noted by "TUAW" (http://tinyurl.com/dyrsbwv).

The checks are a settlement for those who filed a claim in a class action lawsuit against Apple for "misrepresenting and concealing material information in the marketing, advertising, sale, and servicing of its iPhone 4–particularly as it relates to the quality of the mobile phone antenna and reception and related software."

"Antennagate" is the popular term used for reported glitches with iPhone 4 call reception.The settlement comes from 18 separate lawsuits that were consolidated into one.

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Apr 23
TP-LINK delivers gigabit switches for businesses

TP-LINK has delivered a series of gigabit Ethernet switches targeted to businesses looking to upgrade their LAN. The Jetstream 24-Port and Jetstream 24-Port PoE, respectively.

They feature 4 Gigabit SFP slots. L2 Managed Switch allows an office infrastructure to provide Ethernet connection to computers. With the PoE functionality, the TL-SG3424P is an efficient and cost-effective choice for small business networks to work with wireless access points, surveillance cameras, VoIP phones and other PoE supported devices, according to the folks at TP-Link. It eliminates cable clutter by using the existing power lines to transfer both power and data.  

TP-LINK's answer to affordable green technology is its unmanaged switch (the TL-SG1008PE product, which is due later this quarter). With 8-ports and PoE technology it provides a way to expand a wired network by transferring power and data over a single Ethernet cable while consuming just 124W (up to 30W per port) For more info...

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Apr 22
Intel doubles speed of Thunderbolt data transfer technology

Intel has doubled the speed of the Thunderbolt data transfer technology, which will soon shuttle data between host computers like Macs and peripherals at a rate of 20Gbps.

As noted by "Computerworld" (http://tinyurl.com/dym2qg7)) this is the first big speed boost for the interconnect, which has held steady at a 10Gbps data transfer rate since the technology's introduction in early 2011. The enhancement will give Thunderbolt an edge over USB 3.0, which transfers data at 5G bps.

The speed boost comes through a new Thunderbolt controller chip code-named Falcon Ridge, notes "Computerworld." The controller chip will go into production by the end of this year, Intel said.

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Apr 22
Home 3D scanner launched

Two Canadian inventors and their company, Matterform, have launched a home 3D scanner for US$599 and exceeded their crowdfunding goals in the first three weeks of their campaign. Their scanner, the Photon, is designed to allow anyone to turn physical object into a digital 3D model on their computer, then print the file using a 3D printer or use it in 3D designs or animations.

"It works by shooting dual laser lines at an object as it rotates 360 degrees, taking pictures with a HD camera along the way, and using software to create a digital 3D model on your computer in as little as three minutes," says Drew Cox of Matterform. "Once the file is created, it can be modified, reproduced on a 3D printer to create copies of the original object, used in animations or 3D designs, or saved to keep a digital archive."

Launched via a 35-day crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, Matterform blasted through its initial fundraising goal of $81,000 in one week and has now raised over $...

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Apr 22
NEC rolls out new 24-inch LED-backlit pro monitor

NEC Display Solutions of America has announced the 24-inch MultiSync P242W-BK and P242W-BK-SV, entry-level professional desktop widescreen monitors with LED backlights.

The MultiSync P242W display (pictured joins the MultiSync P Series family, which features standard-gamut monitors designed for web, high-end desktop and photography. Its white LED-backlit AH-IPS panel only requires 29 watts of typical power while its ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the display’s brightness based on lighting conditions, says Art Marshall, product manager for Professional and Medical Displays at NEC Display Solutions.

The P242W offers an array of connectivity options with DisplayPort, DVI-D, HDMI and VGA inputs. Additionally, it’s USB with DisplaySync Pro feature can be used to operate two computers with only one keyboard and mouse.

The MultiSync P242W-BK-SV features hardware color calibration using the NEC SpectraViewII color calibration solution. The kit, which is...

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Apr 22
DiapoSheet lets you lay out photos, metadata on a PDF contact...

Lorenzo Puleo has released DiapoSheet 1.0 for Mac OS X (10.6 or higher). It costs US$24.99 and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Photography category (http://tinyurl.com/crxsc7p).

DiapoSheet lets you lay out your photos with metadata-exif and get a contact sheet PDF file. Drag a folder containing images onto the DiapoSheet window and you are done. You can change the number of rows and columns, their gaps, the margins, the page size and format, add your custom logo and company description, your watermark, display the metadata-exif with your favorite font, color and label.

You can then export your document to PDF, TIFF, PNG, JPG at the resolution of your choice. You can select the resolution of the images even when exporting to PDF.

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Apr 22
EagleTech releases external battery pack for electronic devices

EagleTech USA is launching the Neptor NP100K external battery pack with dual USB outputs for tablets and smartphones. The company says this portable battery is designed to eliminate the hassle of having your devices shutting down at the most inconvenient times.

The Neptor NP100K is equipped with 10000mAh of storage power and can charge your tablet and smart phone simultaneously. Weighing190 grams, it fits into a pocket or bag.

The Neptor NP100K costs approximately US$70. For more info go to www.eagletechusa.com .

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Apr 22
WD releases SAS WD XE solution

WD has announced a new 3.5-inch SAS hard drive solution for legacy datacenter storage systems with the release of the WD XE, 2.5-inch, 10,000 RPM SAS hard drive, now available mounted in a 3.5-inch WD performance adapter.

Shipping immediately, the WD XE hard drives provide best-in-class performance, low power consumption, and an easier upgrade path for existing 3.5-inch storage systems, according to Rich Rutledge, senior vice president of WD's datacenters business unit. While demand for 3.5-inch, high-performance enterprise-class hard drives slows, a need remains for an alternate high-performance storage device as a transitional solution for legacy systems, he adds.

The WD XE purportedly delivers 6Gb/s transfer rates and a sequential data rate of 204 MB/s. This 3.5-inch SAS drive delivers up to 67%lower power versus 3.5-inch 15,000 RPM drives.

The WD XE SAS enterprise hard drives in 3.5-inch performance adapters shipping in capacities ranging from 300GB to...

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Apr 22
Boot Runner for Mac OS X runs to version 1.4

Twocanoes Software (www.twocanoes.com) has announced Boot Runner 1.4, an update to its startup control solution for dual-boot Macs. It provides complete start up management and control, including a customizable selection screen and menu bar boot selector.

It also It allows administrators to manage the startup process locally or through network policies. Boot Runner 1.4 introduces several new features and various bug fixes.

Boot Runner works with Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. Pricing starts at US$9.99 for a single-user license.

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Apr 22
Chiaro Software launches Metropolis for the Mac

Chiaro Software has introduces Metropolis, a WordPress client for Mac OS X. It costs US$19.99 and requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher.

Metropolis comes with several features, like the possibility to edit posts and pages using a full featured WYSIWYG editor and/or a HTML editor with syntax coloring support. It also allows you to edit, approve and reply to comments. Other minor features include the possibility to create a custom preview template, offline support, full screen support and more.

New comments will appear on Mountain Lion's Notification Center. For older versions of Mac OS X, there's a new comment notification similar to Growl. Metropolis is also integrated to Twitter and TNT.fm. Users can see who tweeted the link to their blog posts and even generate random names from the results. Results can be saved for future reference.

You can download Metropolis at the Chiaro Software web site (...

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Apr 19
QuickerTek offers new external battery/charger for the MacBook...

QuickerTek has created an external battery for all MacBook Pros. The US$299.95 EyeBattery purportedly adds up to four extra hours of battery power to the MacBook Pro.

There's a model designed for MagSafe 1 and another for Magsafe 2 power connector laptops. Like the rest of QuickerTek's mobile power product line, the new EyeBattery also charges the internal MacBook battery while it powers the laptop. For more info go to http://www.quickertek.com/batteries.html .

| Read more »
Apr 19
Motorola Mobility patent in legal battle with Apple could be...

A Motorola Mobility patent that was successfully used to force Apple to turn off its iCloud services in Germany last year could be invalid, the District Court in Mannheim, Germany, says, as reported "PC World: (http://tinyurl.com/c485tmv).

The court said it doubted the validity of Motorola's patent entitled "Multiple Pager Status Synchronization System and Method," also known as the push notification patent, in a lawsuit between Motorola and Microsoft. Google-owned Motorola alleged that several Windows Phone devices in Germany infringed on this patent. The court, however, decided to postpone a decision in the case pending a validity procedure about the patent in the German Federal Patent Court.

This is part of an ongoing battle. Apple has alleged that Motorola infringes 24 of its patents (21 of them with Android-based phones, the remaining three with set-top boxes and DVRs), while Motorola...

| Read more »
Apr 19
iD Gaming Academy for teens announces new location

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) educators and parents are beginning to see the educational value in video games. Consequently, teens can now do more than simply play games. They can create and develop them, with help from programs like iD Gaming Academy.

Powered by internalDrive, iD Gaming Academy offers courses in game programming, development, level design, 3D modeling and animation. It has also broadened its course offerings with a new course titled Game Development – Minecraft. 

Held at nine different university campuses throughout the U.S., including Harvard and Stanford, iD Gaming Academy runs in a two-week format. Students stay overnight on campus. They also tour game studios, interact with industry professionals, learn tips to get into the game development field, and collaborate with like-minded peers and instructors.

The Academy offers accredited Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from Stanford Continuing Studies, enabling teens to...

| Read more »
Apr 19
Tinybooks for Mac OS X revved to version 8.0

Ken Winograd and Space-Time Associates (http://www.winograd.com) has updated TinyBooks Pro, its Mac accounting and bookkeeping program, to version 8.0. The upgrade boasts enhanced professional multi-item invoice printing (B&W, grayscale or color), professional check printing, complete mileage support (business, charitable, and/or medical), enhanced interim form printing, extended transaction limits, monthly color coding, reconciliation checkmarks, 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...

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