Other World Computing (OWC) has released over 50 Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Storage Upgrade Kits for laptops and Mac minis.


Manufacturer's suggested retail pricing starts at US$67.99 for a model that consists of a 2.5-inch SATA hard drive up to 1TB, an OWC brand FireWire and/or USB 2.0 bus powered 2.5-inch portable external enclosure, and a five piece installation tool kit.

With an OWC DIY Storage Upgrade Kit, Mac and PC notebook users and Mac mini users can upgrade their computer's internal hard drive to a new larger capacity and/or faster speed, transfer their data to the new drive, and then continue using the "old" drive by installing it into the provided OWC enclosure for a "new" pocket-sized external drive at savings of up to 40% versus buying all the included components separately. For more info go to http://www.macsales.com/laptopdiy .

DVDxDV has announced Veescope Live 2.0 (http://www.veescope.com) for the Mac. Veescope Live is a special effects software package that runs on a Mac and performs live chroma keying from a wide variety of video sources.

With the release of version 2.0, it provides integration between the worlds of production and post production. Veescope Live in combination with the Veescope Key Plug-In lets the user send a chroma keyed video straight to Final Cut Pro. All the project settings in Veescope Live along with the logging information can be transferred to Final Cut Pro..

Veescope Live consists of three layers of video which can be stacked on top of each other to create a final shot. These three layers can be resized and positioned independently. A live video feed is placed in the middle layer which can be chroma keyed to make it transparent.

This layer is recorded by Veescope Live as a QuickTime...

Opera Mini by Opera Software (http://www.opera.com) for the iPhone was officially submitted to the Apple App Store today. Its developers claim it can power through web pages up to six times faster than Safari.

Due to server-side rendering, Opera Mini compresses data by up to 90% before sending it to the phone, resulting in rapid page loading and more Web per MB for the end use, says Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder, Opera Software. Creating a version for iPhone is part of Opera’s mission to bring the web to all platforms and all devices, he adds.

More than 30,000 games have been released in the iPhone App Store since its launch in July 2008, according to the Flurry (http://www.flurry.com). With titles that consistently dominate the Top Paid and Top Grossing lists, there's no question that the games category is the most lucrative category in the Apple Apple Store, says the research group.

A new Flurry report looks at how Apple has affected the market share of U.S. video game and portable game revenue since the introduction of games sold through the Apple App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch. Using publicly available market data, provided by NPD (mostly through Gamasutra's Behind the Numbers series), Flurry calculated U.S. console and portable game software sales for 2008 and 2009.

The research group also estimated Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable game software sales, which make up the significant majority of the portable category, in...

"Gizmodo" (http://gizmodo.com/5499439/buy-iphones-without-contract-now-official-app...) is reporting that, according to Apple's internal documentation, the iPhone is now available without AT&T contract or ID at any Apple Store. The "Gizmodo" contact claims that the iPhone is locked, however, so it will only work with AT&T SIMs.

Customers aren't required to have an AT&T contract. And they can only purchase one iPhone per day.

However, the iPhones are still locked, so you'll have to unlock 'em yourself. Still, Apple used to require an AT&T contract for the devices, even for the ones being purchased without a contract subsidy.

The "contract-less" price is US$499 for the iPhone 3G 8GB, $599 for the iPhone 3GS 16GB, and $699 for the 32GB top model....

Red Giant Software (http://www.redgiantsoftware.com) has introduced a new family of plug-in applications for Adobe Photoshop: Magic Bullet PhotoLooks and Knoll Light Factory for Photoshop.

Magic Bullet PhotoLooks (US$199) lets you manipulate and experiment with light while preserving essential photographic detail. Knoll Light Factory for Photoshop 3.1 ($149 USD), created by Photoshop co-creator John Knoll provides 19 flare tools for creating custom effects
and includes over 100 presets and real-time previewing.

Created by visual-effects expert Stu Maschwitz, the sophisticated presets and customizable tools in Magic Bullet PhotoLooks make it easy to control lighting conditions and create stylized effects for any image, according to Sean Safreed, co-founder and director of Products at Red Giant Software. Users can share Looks created in Magic Bullet PhotoLooks in After...

Apple has added the ability for customers to send an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad application to another person as a gift when purchasing software through iTunes.

As reported by "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com), by clicking the drop-down menu next to "Buy App" in iTunes, users now have an option entitled "Gift This App." Choosing it accesses the "Give a Gift" page that allows users to type in the recipient's name and e-mail address. It also gives the opportunity to add a personal message of up to 500 characters.

The gift can then be printed and physically delivered, or e-mailed to the recipient via the automated form. Gifts can only be redeemed in the store country from which the gift originated

Ingram Library Services has launched Ingram Wire (http://www.ingramwire.com), a free, downloadable desktop application for libraries.  Build on Adobe AIR technology, it's Mac and Windows compatible.

Following the success of the Ingram Wire for retailers, Ingram is now rolling out the direct-to-desktop application to its library customers, says Rich Rosy, vice president and general manager, Ingram Library Services and Institutional Solutions.

"Librarians have been on the forefront of information technology and tools, and the Ingram Wire is just one more way we can help our customers stay ahead of books and trends in the digital age,” he adds. "Delivering relevant book news and collection development information directly to our customer's desktop saves them valuable time that can be better spent serving the needs of their patrons."

With Ingram Wire, librarians receive stock news on fast-...

SanDisk (http://www.sandisk.com) will begin shipping what it says is the world's highest-capacity removable memory card for mobile phones: the 32GB SanDisk microSDHC card.

Sanjay Mehrotra, president and chief operating officer, SanDisk, says themicroSDHC card can store enough music to outlast 35 round-trip flights between San Francisco and New York before repeating a single song. The 32GB SanDisk microSDHC card will be available starting on Tuesday, March 23, on SanDisk.com U.S. and European e-commerce sites, with worldwide retail availability to follow next month. The new card comes with a 5 year limited warranty and carries a suggested retail price of US$199.99.

Lenovo (http://www.lenovo.com) has introduced David Roman as its new senior vice president and chief marketing officer. Roman joins the computer manufacturer after senior executive roles with Apple, Nvidia and, most recently Hewlett-Packard.

Roman joins Lenovo from Hewlett-Packard, where he served since 2005 as vice president of Worldwide Marketing Communications for the Personal Systems Group, and will report to Rory Read, Lenovo president and chief operating officer. Prior to HP, Roman led international and corporate marketing for Nvidia.

Previous to that, he worked at Apple in multiple marketing and business leadership positions, most recently as vice president of Worldwide Advertising and Brand Marketing. Roman has been named as one of the “Marketing Top 50” by Advertising Age magazine and has been on the Creativity Magazine 50 Most Influential People in Creativity.

Uniea (http://www.uniea.com) has launched a new line of versatile cases for the iPad. The new cases offer a wide range of different construction materials, features, and colors.

Constructed of lightweight neoprene, the U-Sleaf offers iPad users a sleeve-style case. The wave-shaped flap stays securely closed without the use of zippers or Velcro. Another feature of the U-Sleaf is that it is reversible, giving you two color options for the price of one. The U-Sleaf will be available in a multi-color/chocolate brown version in early April, and will also come in four other reversible colors not long after the release of the iPad.

The U-Skin is a shell case for the iPad that features a smooth yet strong silicone surface that's designed to be impact-resistant and protects the device from dirt and scratches. In spite of the iPad’s rugged, protective design, the case is quite slim and adds minimal bulk to the iPad...

NCH Software (http://www.nchsoftware.com/), a provider of audio, video, business and telephony/VoIP tools and utilities worldwide, says its MixPad sound mixing software for audio and music production is now also available for the Mac. 



The multi-track mixing software has features for low latency multi-track recording and mixing and is targeted to creating music mixes, radio advertisements, soundtracks, or remixes. Users can load audio files, record clips directly, or drag and drop files from their desktop to the clip manager then onto the timeline.



MixPad users can access more advanced editing tools for recordings with the WavePad Audio Editor ($80), which now has a library of 1,000 free sound effects in the Master’s edition. MixPad also works with Express Burn CD Burner ($60) for burning directly to CD.

MixPad requires Mac OS X 10.2 or higher. It normally costs US$80, but is...