Apple has updated iBooks to version 3.1, allowing customers in Japan to buy ebooks rather than just download free or public domain content. The upgrade can be downloaded at the Apple App Store.

"The iBookstore in Japan now has hundreds of thousands of books available for purchase, including fiction, manga, light novels and more," Apple says in the iBooks 3.1 release notes. Also, the update says there are reading improvements for "a number of Asian languages."

Smith Micro Software Productivity and Graphics Group has released MotionArtist, an US$59.99 tool that lets users add motion to their comics, create interactive HTML5 presentations as well as uniquely styled photo-shows.

It's a composition and presentation application unlike anything that exists in the world of digital comic creation," says Steve Yatson, senior director of Product Marketing at Smith Micro Software. It boasts GPU acceleration for a fast work environment and 3D layering for that cool parallax effect, he adds.

Artists of any skill-level can quickly convert their work into digital comics with panel creation, layout tools and the ability to add motion, according to Yatson. Web developers can export projects to HTML5 and deploy them on a website or save them as standard movie formats for sharing directly to Facebook or YouTube

With MotionArtists, photographers can create animated "photo shows" by dropping in a folder of images. The app will...

ExactCODE GmbH, releases the next update of OCRkit, a OCR solution for the Mac. The new version (1.1.3) features a new content aware page de-skew option, as well as improved PDF compression and performance. The update also features improved multi core performance and improved stability.

OCRKit features optical character recognition technology, allowing you to convert scanned or printed PDF or graphic documents into searchable and editable PDF, RTF, HTML and TXT files. You can use the copy and paste tools on the document, instead of retyping everything to correct it.

OCRKit is available at the product web site (www.OCRKit.com) and the Mac App Store. It costs US$49.90.

Moth Software has announced Mail Archiver X 3.0 for Mac OS X (10.7 or higher), an update to their app designed as an addition to the user's current email application, allowing consolidation, archiving, cleaning, formatting, and permanent storage of email.

Email may be saved in its native, Filemaker, or PDF database format. Archiving email from a wide variety of email applications into a single database, the app prevents accidental deletions, facilitates quick searches, and eliminates storage size limits, according to the folks at Moth Software.

In version 3.0, mail can be archived automatically using the built-in scheduler. Searching is purportedly more than 10 times faster. Suppport for Filemaker 12 has been added. There's now a setup wizard to help getting started with Mail Archiver X.

Mail Archiver X 3.0 costs US$34.95 and is available directly from Moth Software (http://www....

Telerik -- an end-to-end provider of software development, lifecycle and content management tools and solutions -- has announced version 2.0 of its Test Studio for iOS.

Telerik’s automated testing tool for mobile iOS apps introduces a cloud sync web portal for test automation and user feedback within a single offering and can be used for native, web and hybrid app testing. Test Studio for iOS is currently available for free download on the Apple App Store.

With the latest release, Test Studio for iOS is the only solution available with both test automation and user feedback within a single solution, according to Christopher Eyhorn, executive vice president, Telerik Testing Division. This is done via the cloud sync portal, giving developers the opportunity to get real-time feedback from users while tracking automated tests and results. Also, customers can use the Test Studio for iOS API Framework to write automated UI tests of their iOS and mobile web applications....

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, today announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached US$24.05 billion for the month of January 2013, an increase of 3.8 percent from January 2012 when sales were $23.16 billion.

Global sales from January 2013 were 2.8 percent lower than the December 2012 total of $24.74 billion, reflecting normal seasonal trends. Regionally, the Americas posted its highest sales total of any January in the last decade. All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average.  

"Led by continuing strength in the Americas, the global semiconductor industry has built on its momentum from the end of 2012 with an encouraging start to 2013, but ongoing economic uncertainty is holding back more robust growth," says Brian Toohey, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association (www.sia-...

Amped Wireless has announced the PLA2 Powerline Nano AV500 1-Port Network Adapter Kit (http://tinyurl.com/c2j4nte) to allow consumers to extend Internet and network access to any room using existing power outlets.

The Powerline AV500 standard provides speeds of up to 500 Mbps and includes a pass-through power outlet on each adapter. The PLA2 kit includes two paired Powerline Network Adapters.

Powerline turns any home or office electrical outlet into a network connection, according to Jason Owen, president and CEO at Amped Wireless. No electrical wiring is needed. Simply plug one adapter into an available power outlet and connect the adapter to a router. Plug the second adapter into another power outlet and connect the adapter to a network device. The PLA2 comes secured with 128-bit encryption to protect network traffic from outside intruders.

The Powerline Network Adapter Kit features...

According to Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) TechNavio's analysts forecast the Global GNSS market to grow at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 20.98% over the period 2012-2016.

One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the growing popularity of location-based services (LBS). The Global GNSS market has also been witnessing the increased replacement of PNDs by smartphones. However, the reduced investments due to global recession could pose a challenge to the growth of this market. The key vendors dominating this market space are Apple, Garmin, Tomtom N.V., Broadcom Corp., STMicroelectronics, Navteq Corp., Google and Samsung Corp.

Commenting on the report, an analyst from TechNavio's Telecom team said: ''One of the major trends being witnessed in the Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) market is the increase in the replacement of PNDs with...

Reggie Ashworth (www.reggieashworth.com) has announced AppDelete 4.0.6, a new version of his application deletion utility. The upgrade sports a new user interface and more.

You can drag any item that can be uninstalled onto AppDelete: spplications, widgets, preference panes, plugins, 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, dragging from Launchpad, and throwing items in the trash. When the preview screen appears you can uncheck any items you would like to exclude.

You also have several choices: delete the items, log only the items, or archive (copy) the items to a .zip file for safekeeping or reinstall at a later date. The items you delete will be moved to the trash and arranged in a folder so that you can see exactly what was deleted and you know exactly where...

Judge Lucy Koh has struck down more than 40% of the $1.05 billion in damages a jury awarded to Apple in its patent infringement case against Samsung.

Vanessa Blum, federal courts reporter for The Recorder in San Francisco tweeted (https://twitter.com/vanessablum) today -- as noted by "AppleInsider" (www.appleinsider.com) -- that Koh had struck roughly $440 million off the damage award Apple won in its case against Samsung. Koh has reportedly ordered a new trial for the $440 million.

This is all part of the ongoing, global legal battle. Apple and Samsung have filed more than 30 lawsuits against each other across four continents. For example, Apple alleges that Samsung copied the slide-to-unlock technology of its iPhone and iPad devices.

Smartphone sales in India may suffer from a higher tax on handsets costing more than US$37 just as Apple beefs up efforts to tap demand for data services in the world’s second-largest mobile-phone market, reports "Bloomberg" (http://tinyurl.com/c3fpoue).

Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram says he will raise the excise tax on high-end phones to 6% from 1% to help finance welfare programs for the country’s poor and fund the widest budget deficit among the largest emerging economies. India’s government, after attempting to squeeze wireless operators including the Vodafone Group, Bharti Airtel with higher license fees and airwave tariffs, is now targeting handsets for revenue from an industry that has boomed since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh opened the economy more than two decades ago, notes "Bloomberg."

Binary Formations has announced Home Inventory 3, the latest version of its home inventory management application for the Mac.

Used by homeowners, collectors, and inventory professionals, Home Inventory lets you create a catalog of your possessions. Version 3 has a new interface and sports new features such as support for some of the latest capabilities in OS X and Retina displays found on newer Mac laptops.

Home Inventory requires Mac OS X 10.7.4 or later. It's available forUS $19.99 (USD) in the Mac App Store and from the Binary Formations website (http://machomeinventory.com/).