Most Japanese consumer electronics discount stores have halted online sales of iPods, iMacs and other Apple products, apparently at the request of US Apple, reports "MarketWatch" (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/japan-retailers-halt-online-sales-of-ap...).

Industry watchers believe that the Japanese unit of Apple has cut out some sales channels because it was unhappy about online stores selling its products at a discount, the "Nikkei" business daily reported. Apple Japan has offered no comment to the Japanese publication, saying the personnel in charge of the matter weren't available.

Panic has updated its Transmit FTP client (http://www.panic.com/transmit) to version 4.0, which offers a speed boost, streamlined interface and more.

With the new Transmit Disk feature, you can now mount any of your favorites in the Finder itself, even if Transmit's not running. You can drag files to your SFTP server, save a small graphic to your Amazon S3 bucket directly from Photoshop, or roll your own iDisk-like backup volume.

Transmit 4.0 is compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 or later and costs US$$34. Upgrades from version 3.x are $19.

LaCie (http://www.lacie.com) has announced the latest addition to its Rugged family of mobile hard drives -- the LaCie Rugged USB 3.0, which purportedly provides speeds up to 110 MB/second -- three times the speed of USB 2.0.

The LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 is backward compatible with USB 2.0, meaning it will work with any computer or notebook that has a USB connection. Housed in the Rugged casing designed by Neil Poulton, the LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 features a scratch-resistant aluminum shell, internal anti-shock absorbers, and a shock-resistant rubber bumper to better protect files against everyday blunders. 



The LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 will be available in 500GB capacity through the LaCie Online Store, LaCie Corner, LaCie Reseller+ and LaCie Storage Partner. Suggested retail pricing starts at US$149.99.

FileMaker Inc. (http://www.filemaker.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple, has announced the Bento 3 Family Organizer, a free tool for families to get organized using their Mac, an iPhone or new iPad.

It includes a free 30-day trial of Bento 3, the latest version of the personal database, plus templates that organize bills, meal planning, shopping lists, chores and weekly routines. The Bento 3 Family Organizer is designed to work with Bento 3.

The Bento 3 Family Organizer also works with Bento for iPhone and the new Bento for iPad, so customers can organize their bills, shopping lists and other family management activities on an iPhone or iPad and then synchronize the information with their Mac.
 
FileMaker also provides the Bento Template Exchange, offering hundreds of additional ways to use Bento. The Bento Template Exchange is a Bento community site that showcases real-world...

Newer Technology (http://www.newertech.com) has released the US$59.95 NewerTech Mini DisplayPort with Digital Audio to HDMI Adapter, which integrates the video and digital audio output of Macs without Mini DisplayPort audio support into a single HD 1080p video and full digital audio 5.1 output to HDMI solution.

Featuring a dedicated TOSLINK audio cable that provides the audio signal from a Mac's headphone jack (or mini jack), the NewerTech Mini DisplayPort with Digital Audio to HDMI Adapter overcomes the non-audio support of 2008-2009 Mini DisplayPort equipped Macs. By providing support for full 5.1 channel digital audio (such as Dolby Digital) along with high definition video up to 1080p, the NewerTech Mini DisplayPort with Digital Audio to HDMI Adapter is designed for using a Mac as part of home theater set-up. It's bus powered, so no AC adapter is needed.

Owners of the new 2010 MacBook Pro...

Eye-Fi (http://www.eye.fi) has launched the Eye-Fi Geo X2, a Wi-Fi enabled memory card that integrates with Macs, iPhoto and MobileMe. The Eye-Fi Geo X2 will be on sale in May, exclusively in Apple Stores in the U.S. and internationally for US$69.99.

As part of the new “X2” family announced last month, the 4GB Eye-Fi Geo X2 offers wireless photo and video uploads through an 802.11n transmitter, improved performance with Class 6 read/write speeds, lifetime geotagging service and virtually endless storage capacity with Endless Memory mode, says Eye-Fi CEO Jef Holove.

With the new Eye-Fi Geo X2, Mac users can wirelessly back-up both photos and videos directly into iPhoto or any folder of their choice on their computer. The Wi-Fi enabled memory card can also automatically upload photos and videos directly to MobileMe or one of more than 25 sharing sites like Facebook, Flickr, Picasa or YouTube. With Endless Memory...

Don't count FireWire out just yet. The 1394 Trade Association (http://www.1394ta.org) -- of which Apple is a member -- is predicting a strong year of expansion for FireWire across a wide range of markets in 2010, as the electronics industry returns to growth and designers adopt faster FireWire speeds.

The trade association foresees continued expansion into higher speed computing, storage and consumer electronics products, with steady growth of 1394-enabled products in the industrial cameras and instrumentation segments, where FireWire is established as the interface of choice. The 1394 standard (FireWire to we Mac users) also is becoming the preferred interface for automotive networking applications.

Texas Instruments issued the following statement about 1394 prospects: “Texas Instruments continues to see strong demand for its 1394 products across multiple end equipments. The consumer video market...

Arten Science has released the Custom Facility for cuteCipher (http://www.cutecipher.co.uk), cross platform software for encrypting and protecting your documents and files.

To use cuteCipher, you drag your files onto cuteCipher, enter a secret word and click the Encrypt button. It's based on the R10Cipher software from Arten Science and offers Blowfish encryption. The Custom lets you offer facility encryption to your customers in a customised version for a one-off price.

cuteCipher works with Mac OS X 10.4 and higher, Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. It's Universal Binary so runs natively on both PowerPC and Intel Macs.

cuteCipher custom builds are available now. Prices start from US$400 for a customised version of cuteCipher for in-house use and a customized version of dCipher for up to 100 clients. Customization includes your logo and text. The standard version of cuteCipher is...

Yazsoft has introduced Playback 1.5.2 (http://www.yazsoft.com/products/playback/information/), an update of their zero configuration media server for Mac OS X 10.5 and higher.

It allows anyone to share their media with any Playstation 3, Xbox 360, or other UPnP compatible device. In the 1.5.2 update Shared folders now default to "Show me everything" mode. The "Playback Menu" component is now a 64-bit application. And there are Italian and Swedish localizations.

Playback can share media stored in folders or even make entire disks available to a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360. No configuration is required. By default, it will share almost any content on the users system. And Playback automatically integrates with iTunes, iPhoto, and Aperture. Users can share all content from these applications transparently or choose specific playlists and albums...

South Korea’s culture minister, Yu In-chon, strode into a government briefing room Monday for what seemed to be a routine photo-op as his ministry announced a $50 million program to help develop the country’s budding electronic-books industry. However, he had an iPad -- and that caused trouble.

When he pulled out an iPad, held it up and remarked about how nicely it displays electronic books, tech bloggers pounced on hims because South Korea’s communications "Wall Street Journal" (http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/04/26/south-korean-officials-ipad-cause...).

The ministry later issued a statement saying the minister chose the iPad to “maximize his presentation” because of its large screen, the article adds. It said it borrowed the iPad from...

Some had speculated that Mac OS X 10.7 -- whenever it arrives -- would offer a Mac App Store akin to the Apple App Store for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. However, CEO Steve Jobs has shot down those rumors.

"Redmond Pie" (http://www.redmondpie.com/os-x-10.7-wont-feature-app-store-9140689/) reports that a Mac developer Fernando Valente emailed Jobs for clarification in this regard. As usual, Jobs reply was short and to the point. He simply said "nope" to the rumor.

"Layers" (http://www.layersmagazine.com/) , the “how-to magazine for everything Adobe," has launched its new Adobe CS5 Learning Center (http://www.layersmagazine.com/cs5) to help readers and online visitors better familiarize themselves with the latest version of Adobe Creative Suite 5.

The Layers Adobe CS5 Learning Center includes nearly 35 in-depth tutorial videos on Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Dreamweaver, Flash Professional, Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop. It features pros such as Adobe Worldwide Design Evangelist Terry White and NAPP instructor RC Concepcion.

Photographers, graphic and web designers, art directors, video producers, educators and students of all interest and skill levels will have free access to the Layers Adobe CS5 Learning Center.