The San Francisco Bay Area is the biggest U.S. market for Apple products, according to the results of a survey conducted by research firm Experian Simmons.

As reported by "CNET" (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20002715-36.html?tag=mncol), the study found that 32.3% of adult residents of the region own at least one Apple product -- an iPod, iPhone, or Mac computer -- compared to 21.6% in the nation as a whole, which makes Bay Area residents 49% more likely to buy Apple products.

A close second in Experian Simmons' "Mac Metropolis" list is Boston, where 31.3% of adult residents own at least one Apple product. In third, fourth, and fifth places are San Diego, New York, and Washington D.C., respectively. Chicago, Ill. comes in sixth, and Denver, Colo. is seventh.

According to "CNET," the biggest surprises on the list...

Apple and AMD are in "advanced discussions" to bring the chipmaker's processors to upcoming Macs, reports "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com). If that's true, it would end the exclusive Apple-Intel relationship that's been around since 2006.

According to "AppleInsider," Apple and AMD execs have been meeting to allow Apple to begin working with AMD processors in its labs as part of an initiative to position the chips inside some upcoming products. Apple seems to be mainly interested in AMD's workstation and notebook class CPUs, the article says.

"It is believed that Apple is working with AMD to expand its potential sources for CPUs in order to increase its flexibility and broaden its competitive options, but also likely in response to problems it has encountered with Intel," says "AppleInsider." "These issues include limited availability of new processors (which is rumored to have...

Virtual Programming (http://www.vpltd.com) is releasing the Mac version of Atari's The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena today, reports Inside Mac Games (http://www.insidemacgames.com). It costs US$49.95, has an age rating of 18+ and requires Mac OS X 10.6.3 or higher.

Here's how the game is described: "Be Riddick, the most ruthless criminal in the universe. In his latest chronicle, Riddick has been captured by The Dark Athena, a mercenary ship hell-bent on eliminating him once and for all. Using his intense hand-to-hand combat skills, explosive firepower, and lethal stealth, Riddick must shut down the maniacal Captain Revas and her deadly crew. When Riddick steps into the darkness, no one is safe.

"Before battling the Necromongers on Helion Prime — even before the crash landing of the Hunter-Gratzner on a...

Intego (http://www.intego.com), a Mac security specialist, says it's has discovered a new variant of a malware for Mac, called HellRTS, which, when installed on computers running Mac OS X, opens a backdoor that allows remote users to take control of infected Macs and perform actions on them.

Intego identifies this backdoor as OSX/HellRTS.D, a variant of an early Mac OS X malware first spotted in 2004. HellRTS, built in RealBasic, and a Universal Binary able to run on both PowerPC- and Intel-Based Macs, is able to perform a number of operations if installed on a Mac.

It sets up its own server and configures a server port and password. It duplicates itself, using the names of different applications, adding the new version to a user’s login items, to ensure that it starts up at login. (These different names can make it hard to detect, not only in login items, but also in Activity Monitor.) Intego says...

Minder Softworks has updated MYStuff (http://www.mindersoftworks.com/products/mystuff), a "stuff manager" for Mac OS X, to version 1.3. The upgrade adds one-click internet searching for manuals and images, and CSV import.

Combining features of PDF managers and home inventory programs, MYStuff adds additional features, and gives users a way of filing and finding their information. It makes it easy to file and find information about the things you own, according to the folks at Minder Softworks. You make a new record, and key in what you bought, where you bought it, how much you paid and how you paid for it, warranty information, and other key data. Then you can add an unlimited number of files to the record: a scan of the receipt, photos of the item, a PDF of the manual, and anything else you'd like to add. What's more, MYStuff's MYInbox feature allows users...

The curtain has risen on Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse with the premiere of the first episode, entitled "The Penal Zone," on Macs, iPads, PCs and the PlayStation 3.

Here's how the game is described: "Telltale’s landmark series returns for the biggest, best looking, most bizarre installment yet as the dog and rabbit detective duo battle an onslaught of fearsome villains bent on acquiring the source of Max’s newfound psychic powers."

With new episodes releasing monthly, season passes are available now for the full five game series for US$34.95. The PC and Mac version can be downloaded at http://www.samandmaxgames.com/thedevilsplayhouse.
 
Also available on the iPad, The Penal Zone was a launch title for Apple’s new tablet device and is available now for the introductory price of $6.99 on the Apple App Store.

Zevrix Solutions (http://www.zevrix.com) has updated InPreflight Pro -- its quality control, packaging automation and preflight reporting solution for Adobe InDesign -- to version 2.7. The new version features a revamped user interface and addresses some minor issues.

InPreflight provides a preflight solution for service providers, printers, ad agencies, designers and publishing houses. It gathers information about document fonts, colors and links and lets users locate potential problems according to preflight presets. The software is also a packaging automation solution that allows users to preflight and package multiple documents. Among other abilities, it can collect all files into one folder, eliminating the need to collect the same links multiple times for each design. In addition, InPreflight lets users print graphic preflight reports and save them as fully searchable interactive PDF files, providing an...

Spiderweb Software has updated Avernum 6 for Mac OS X (http://www.avernum.com/avernum6/index.html) to version 1.0.3. Avernum 6 is the final game in the epic Avernum series. This upgrade fixes a handful of bugs and balance issues.

Avernum 6 is set in the world of Avernum, an enormous series of caves far below the surface of the world. Here's how the game is described: "Avernum is a world underground. It is a nation of people living in an enormous warren of tunnels and caverns, far below the surface of the world. Once a prison colony for rebels and thugs, it is now a wild frontier, full of adventurous souls looking for wealth, fame, and magical power.

"And then the Blight came. Almost overnight, the mushrooms Avernum needed to feed itself withered and died. Then the denizens of the low tunnels, the savage, reptilian Slithzerikai, emerged. Sensing weakness, they...

The iPad is causing the entertainment, publishing and information industries to undergo a radical paradigm shift in their methods of delivering entertainment and information to consumers, according to a new report from Rider Research (http://www.riderresearch.com) of Baton Rouge, La.

The impact started on day one, says Geoff Whiting, who prepared the report.. Apple said it sold over 300,000 the first day the iPad went on sale in the U.S. and that over one million iPad apps were downloaded. With the iPad, Apple has created a leisure media device that consumers can use thoughout the home: for reading books, playing movies and music or as an instruction manual for home repairs or cooking, Whiting says.

"Studios, TV networks and magazine/newspaper publishers are no longer limited to immobile TV sets, mobile phones with tiny screens or PCs that place entertainment in a secondary role," he adds...

MacPractice -- the developer of MacPractice MD, MacPractice DDS, MacPractice DC, and MacPractice 20/20 -- has announced the launch of new iPad integration solutions that allow doctors and dentists to use all MacPractice products on an iPad to leverage the efficiency and ease of use of Apple’s latest innovation to streamline care, save time and reduce the risk of data entry errors.

“We’ve been overwhelmed with requests from doctors who want to use MacPractice on an iPad,” says Mark Hollis, president of MacPractice. “The interface solutions we have tested allow doctors to use this incredible device in a patient encounter, enter the visit data into MacPractice EMR and have access to medical and dental images, prescription history, etc. literally at their fingertips at the point of care.”
 
Besides qualifying its MacPractice iPhone Interface for use on the iPad, the new iPad interface solutions leverage collaborative technologies to make the total functionality of...

Quark (http://www.quark.com) has become an associate member of RIXML.org, a consortium of buy-side, sell-side, and vendor firms committed to the development and implementation of the first open standard for investment research.

Quark offers Quark XML Author, an XML authoring tool that allows anyone to create XML content directly in Microsoft Word. Quark XML Author can be configured for RIXML so that research analysts and other non-technical professionals in the financial services industry can create RIXML content easily, without having an understanding of XML coding.
 
As an associate member, Quark says it brings more than a decade of experience in XML authoring, including extending the usability of XML and advancing XML standards. Quark will help advance the RIXML specification through direct participation in RIXML workgroups to discuss trends, solve issues, and develop future releases of the...