Cocoamug Software, developers and publishers of great Mac software, has released CosmoPod 4.3 (http://www.cocoamug.com/cosmopod/index.html), an update of the Safari extension that lets you download Flash videos from web sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion, etc.

The upgrade sports a new QuickTime movies interpreter that just works with tutorial movies and trailers from Apple. Also, the CosmoPod toolbar button now features a menu.

CosmoPod can automatically convert downloaded files to an Apple device friendly format, tag them and add them to iTunes. Additionally, you can convert most video already on your hard drive via drag and drop so can be used as a tool to import your DVD collection to your Mac, iTunes, AppleTV, and iPhone.

CosmoPod costs US$12. Version 4.3 is a free update for registered users of version 4.x. CosmoPod 3 and earlier users can...

Macgamestore.com is now accepting pre-orders for UbiSoft's upcoming strategy game, The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom (http://www.macgamestore.com/detail.php?ProductID=1421) for Mac OS X. It costs US$49.95.

As a bonus, Macgamestore.com is offering a free copy of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Hard Evidence when you pre-order The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom before the game ships on March 23, 2010.

Here's how the game is described: "Unravel an intriguing and unexpected story as you play. Combat enemies all across the land in a quest to conquer a formidable kingdom. Defeat ruthless kings, forbidding lords and dark knights on your quest for victory. Uncover undisclosed traitors along your path and turn enemies into allies to pave your path to victory."

If you're a developer planning an iPad app and want it to be available on April 3 (when the iPad hits stores), you need to have it to Apple by March 27, 5 pm (Pacific).

Apple is encouraging developers to "submit your iPad app now for an initial review by the App Review Team and receive feedback on its readiness for the grand opening." Developers should build and test their iPad app using iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 available on the iPhone Dev Center (http://developer.apple.com/iphone/index.action). Only iPad apps built with iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 will be accepted for this initial review.

The Apple App Review Team will review your app on iPad and email you details about the readiness of your app.

The odds are stacked against the iPad reaching sales of one million as quickly as the iPhone did, YouWager.com, an online bookmaker says.

The iPhone, which went on sale in June 2007, took 74 days to get to the one million mark. The iPad, a tablet device that debuts on April 3, has a 72 percent probability of taking longer than that, according to YouWager.com, which began taking bets on the topic this week.

"No matter what they put out on the market, there’s going to be large sales, but with this particular product, we don’t think it’s as practical as the iPhone,” Brian Sanz -- who works on wagering, auditing and research development for YouWager.com -- told "Bloomberg" (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&tkr=AAPL%3AUS&sid=apJ...).
What's...

Imation (http://www.imation.com) is ready to begin shipping its Imation LTO Ultrium Generation 5 tape cartridges, with nearly double the storage capacity, increased data transfer rates, and a new partitioning functionality over the prior tape generation.

This follows certification by the Measurement Analysis Corporation (MAC), an independent testing board for compliance verification testing, and the LTO Technology Provider Companies: HP, IBM Corporation and Quantum Corp. Imation previously announced that it was the first company to obtain the license to develop and manufacture this new multi-terabyte LTO 5 tape.

With a native capacity of 1.5 terabytes and 3.0 terabytes of compressed storage, data transfer rates of up to 280 MB/second compressed, data encryption, and new partitioning functionality to enhance file control and space management, the LTO 5 format offers significant improvements over prior...

Equinux has updated SongGenie (http://www.equinux.com/us/products/songgenie/index.html), a software application designed to analyze, detect and label music data, to version 2.0 The upgrade automatically searches online for lyrics, which can be displayed on your iPod or iPhone.

SongGenie constructs an acoustic fingerprint of each track and, based on specific characteristics, detects the appropriate artist name, song title and album title. It automatically identifies tracks containing incomplete or incorrect information. It even detects music titles for tracks with no artist, album or song title information; titles that were digitalized without extra information and are therefore called, for example, "Title 01" and additional characters that suggest incorrect names like an underline.

Using an acoustic fingerprint, SongGenie determines...

Security researcher Miller is planning to reveal "no fewer than 20 zero day security holes within Mac OS X" at CanSecWest, reports "Engadget" (http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/19/charlie-miller-to-reveal-20-zero-day-...).

According to Miller: "OS X has a large attack surface consisting of open source components, closed source third-party components and closed source Apple components; bugs in any of these types of components can lead to remote compromise ... Mac OS X is like living in a farmhouse in the country with no locks, and Windows is living in a house with bars on the windows in the bad part of town."

In other words, Apple users are "safer" (due to the lack of work that goes into hacking them), "but less secure," notes "Endgadget."

What'...

Ben-Q (http://www.benq.com) has extended its line of LED monitors with the addition of the 24-inch wide screen V2410T (US$319) and V2410B ($279). The former is targeted more to business users, the latter to home users.

According to the folks at Ben-Q, the V2410T is designed to cater for corporate users’ needs. It comes with a height adjustment function allowing users to adjust the screen’s height according to theirs. Unlike the CCFL technology used in the LCD monitors, V2410T and V2410B use energy efficient LED backlighting. In comparison to a CCFL monitor, V2410T and V2410B purportedly consume 44% less power -- and 56% less in Eco mode.

BenQ’s V2410T and V2410B’s LED backlit screens offer Full 1080p High-Definition at 16:9 aspect ratio and are enhanced with BenQ’s Senseye Human Visual Technology using its six proprietary calibration techniques. A "Display mode hot key", located on the right side of these...

Sewelltech and Apple are sponsoring free Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Snow Leopard Server Tech Forum Virtual Events. A total of 5 different topics and 12 different event times will be offered.

These one-hour sessions are free, include live demonstrations and Q&A, and begin at 11 a.m. (Pacific). You can register now at http://seminars.apple.com/go/wc/ent/SewellTech/ .

The Tech Forum Virtual Events are designed to teach learn how your organization can benefit from the power and flexibility of Snow Leopard and Snow Leopard Server. The Mac OS X Snow Leopard for IT sessions are designed for medium to large IT departments that want to learn how easy it is to deploy, manage, and secure Mac clients in a network environment. And the Snow Leopard Server events will introduce business users to the key features that offer simple and innovative ways to...

Here are the latest iPhone/iPod touch/iPod/iPad apps announced. You can find 'em at the Apple App Store (http://www.itunes.com/appstore/).

Namco has released Tinseltown Dreams: The 50s for the iPhone and iPod touch. The US$2.99 app is a Match 3 movie-making game that allows players to "create their very own box-office sensation."

Spoonjuice has released new organizational app, Daily Deeds, for the iPhone and iPod touch. The $0.99 app lets users create a task list to carry with them on-the-go, and monitor accomplishments over time.

Good.iWare has released a new version of its $0.99 GoodReader file viewer for the iPhone that includes "server-style" support for DropBox. Now users can upload files and even entire directories to Dropbox from GoodReader, and are also able to delete files just like they could with a normal file server, such as FTP.

I-itch has introduced ABC...

EveryThingHerePlus has released the 5-Port FireRepeate-800 Pro (http://www.everythinghereplus.com/electronics/unibrain-firerepeater-800-...), a FireWire 800 repeater hub. The US$102.25 device provides port expansion on FireWire 800 IEEE 1394b device chains.

Oriented towards industrial and machine vision applications, the FireRepeater-800 Pro provides the ability to connect up to five FireWire 1394b devices. Its metallic compact case is designed to minimize the risk of physical damage.

The platform agnostic device provides five 9-pin (bilingual) FireWire 800 ports with a maximum throughput of up to 800 Mbps each. The hub utilizes FireWire 800 bus power or accepts an optional power adapter (sold separately) for...

Universal Audio, a manufacturer of audio hardware and UAD-2 powered plug-ins for Mac and PC, has released the EMT 140 Classic Plate Reverb plug-in for the UAD platform.

It replicates the sonic signature of three different EMT 140 plates formerly installed at the Plant Studios in Sausalito, California, and is licensed and endorsed by EMT Studiotechnik as the world’s only authentic EMT plate reverb emulation, says EMT President Jules Limon. Available for US$199, the EMT 140 includes three distinct plate models and original EMT 80 Hz input Shelving Filters or custom aftermarket Martech Low-Cut Filters

The EMT 140 also sports Pre Delay, Low and High Shelving Filters, Wet/Dry Mix, Balance and
Width controls with Hard Bypass via the lighted EMT power icon. Plus, it includes Modulation controls to add additional movement to the stereo field.

The EMT 140 Classic Plate Reverb plug-in is available as part of the new UAD Software 5.6.0 release. UAD Software v5.6.0...