PhotoMarks is a new photo watermarking program for that Mac and PC with a companion iOS app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. It enables photographers, web designers, business people, and families to protect their copyrighted images.

The desktop version has a wizard-like interface with previews available for every step of the process. The iOS version has a beautifully designed interface, completely optimized for touch-screen devices and with support for multi-touch gestures.

PhotoMarks can completely customize the appearance of text and logo marks, as well as perform additional edits like resize, rename, auto rotate, or decorate photos with graphical frames, all in the same session. It works by editing photos in batch mode and takes advantage of multi-core processors for speeding up the process. Settings can be saved as profiles to be easily reused later.

The Mac version requires Mac OS X 10.6 or higher and costs US$29.95. A demo is available for download...

Apple has issued a statement regarding reports that the National Security Agency and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, including Apple, to obtain data. Apple's statement reads:

"Two weeks ago, when technology companies were accused of indiscriminately sharing customer data with government agencies, Apple issued a clear response: We first heard of the government’s 'Prism' program when news organizations asked us about it on June 6. We do not provide any government agency with direct access to our servers, and any government agency requesting customer content must get a court order.

"Like several other companies, we have asked the U.S. government for permission to report how many requests we receive related to national security and how we handle them. We have been authorized to share some of that data, and we are providing it here in the interest of transparency.

"From December 1, 2012 to May 31, 2013,...

Microsoft has announced Office Mobile for iPhone. It's available at no extra charge from the Apple App Store for Office 365 Home Premium and Office 365 ProPlus subscribers.

Similar to Microsoft's free Office Mobile for Windows Phone that ships with every handset, the iPhone app enables great Office content viewing and on-the-go content editing capabilities. After signing in to an Office 365 account, you can access, view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents from anywhere. 

And, according to Microsoft, you can "count on Office Mobile to keep all your content and formatting intact so the document still looks great when you're back on your PC or Mac." For more info go to http://tinyurl.com/lms3xsq .

BrainDistrict (http://www.braindistrict.com) has rolled out RaySupreme 1.1, an update of the 3D modeling and rendering program for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux systems. The upgrade sports: up to 10 new modeling tools; viewport background references; true point and spot lights; a revamped render dialog; global cut/copy/paste functionality for geometry; new OBJ Export functionality; and render quality improvements.

RaySupreme enables users to create 3D work by simply typing English text. People who are not experienced in 3D can quickly and easily create complex scenes and environments, according to Ritchie Lopez of BrainDistrict. This new approach to 3D graphics is called Text-to-3D.

RaySupreme includes: primitive objects, polygonal modeling, lathe, extrude, Boolean operations, smoothing, materials, and more. The rendering engine includes final gathering for global illumination, caustics,...

Stairways Software (http://www.stairways.com) has released Keyboard Maestro 6.0, a new version of its productivity enhancer for Mac OS X. The update includes the following: Macro Syncing Across Macs, Plug-In Actions, Styled Text, Control over Safari and Chrome, New Icons, Icon Chooser/Creator, and a Macro Debugger.

It also adds control flow such as While loops and If/Then/Else statements, as well as permanently stored variables and a complete calculation engine. Version 5 also includes an extensible library of pre-made macros, with a variety of macros that you can build upon. Also new is undo/redo support and revisions, so you can try out new macros with confidence.

Using Keyboard Maestro's macros you can: control applications, windows, or menus; insert text; open documents, applications or URLs; execute scripts; control the system or iTunes; and more, all with the touch of a key, click of the...

P.I.S.D. has released its boxing simulation, Title Bout Championship Boxing (TBCB) 2013, for the Mac. The game features thousands of real boxers, with the ability to re-stage classic bouts or create "What if?" scenarios, such as pitting Sugar Ray Robinson against Marvin Hagler. TBCB can even be used to forecast upcoming fights.

Here's how the game is described: "Title Bout Championship Boxing also features Top Ten lists, complete statistics, revised and multiple ranking systems, full editing capabilities, and much more. Trainers, corner men, and referees are all part of the simulation, adding an extra dimension of realism.

"Title Bout Championship Boxing 2013 adds many new features, including: enhanced radio-style commentary; more realistic crowd noises; pseudo-animated fighters who throw punches, clinch, and get knocked down; ring girls who parade between rounds; organisational rankings; the ability to import multiple images of each fighter, as well as pictures of...

Elevated Software Development has updated fScanX Home Edition (http://tinyurl.com/ylnqlfq), their scanning solution for Mac OS X, to version 1.7.6. It adds support for new scanners

fScanX Home Edition was developed specifically to provide native Mac OS X support for high-speed Fujitsu scanners. The app's command-line utility gives developers the ability to control the user interface completely.

fScan X 1.7.6 requires Mac OS X 10.6.8 or higher. It's available at the Mac App Store (http://tinyurl.com/maf53fq) for US$39.99.

ECBC has announced the K7 Color Collection of laptop backpacks. This collection of lightweight laptop, backpack and messenger bags are now available in a variety of stylish colors including berry, linen, green, blue and black.

Constructed of "Outdoor Industry Tested" 1000d Kodra material, these water-resistant coated K7 backpack and messenger bags are abrasion-resistant, and come in multiple sizes for added versatility. Each bag includes a high density foam compartment for laptop protection, a zip-away water bottle pocket and water resistant zippers. The collection is on sale starting at US$119.99 from EC-BC.com .

EditShare has announced the expansion of its Ark Tape library product offering. EditShare Ark Tape is a media backup and archiving solution that integrates with the company’s high-performance shared storage and asset management solutions.

Powered by HP's LTO technology, the new Ark Tape libraries are available in 2U/24-slot and 4U/48-slot configurations, and offer a choice of storage capacity and interfaces. The units support LTO-6 or LTO-5 tape drives with SAS or Fibre Channel connectivity. For more information on the EditShare Ark product line including the Disk and Tape, go to http://tinyurl.com/kwg3reg .

Sonicmoov has opened pre-registration for the closed beta version of Herlock, a JavaScript based cross-platform game engine. It's a development environment that supports simultaneous development of iOS and Android native apps.

Herlock provides an ideal environment for game development due to its ability to employ OpenGL with JavaScript, making it possible to perform high-speed rendering easily, according to the folks at Sonicmoov. Development time can be greatly reduced by eliminating the need to develop in each platform's language.
Fast development flow, they add.

You can gain access to the closed beta version by registering your e-mail address using the pre-registration form (http://herlock.do/en/). Sonicmoov will contact you via the e-mail address provided, regarding launch dates for the closed beta version.

Professionals requiring high resolution video extension in the workspace now have a new option for DVI extension. Gefen has announced the availability of its US$479 DVI ELR (Extra Long Range) Lite extender.

This new extender provides a less expensive option for many applications in smaller venues that don’t require the full 100 meter distance while maintaining the same level of quality. Distances up to 230 feet (70m) can be reached using one CAT-6 cable, and distances up to 200 feet (60m) can be reached using a single CAT-5 cable. The DVI ELR Lite Extender supports resolutions up to 1920x1200. ELR technology from Gefen uses HDBaseT to extend high resolution data using industry standard, unshielded cable.



Installation requires a connection of the computer or video source to the sender unit, and the extended display to the receiver unit. One CAT-5 cable connects sender to receiver, delivering high resolution video with zero delay.  Sender and receiver modules have a...

WaterField Designs has announced the US$129 CitySlicker, a protective case that complements the MacBook Air's thin, light body and features lightweight layers of padded lining, neoprene, and impact-resistant plastic.

Measuring just an inch-and-a-half wide, the CitySlicker MacBook Air Case keeps the laptop snug in lightweight layers of padded lining, neoprene, and impact-resistant plastic. The black ballistic nylon exterior sports a supple leather flap that snaps into place. Customers can choose from a variety of leather colors. Small, stretchy pockets underneath the flap and a backside, semi-opaque pocket with self-locking zippers keep accessories organized. Options include adding a handle, a strap, or both.

What's more, WaterField offers nine additional sleeves and bags for Apple's newly-upgraded 11- and 13-inch MacBook Air models. For more info go to http://www.sfbags.com/ .