At this week's National Association of Broadcasts (NAB) event, PROMISE Technology, which specializes in developing high-performance RAID storage solutions for the media and entertainment market, unveiled a comprehensive, low cost turnkey scale out SAN storage solution for big data: the new VTrak A-Class.

Developed with creative professionals in the media and entertainment market in mind, the VTrak A-Class is designed for the storage intensive workflows of post-production, broadcast and data asset management and archiving. PROMISE's new storage solution enables multiple clients running Mac OS X, Windows or Linux to access a shared SAN filesystem over Fibre Channel.

PROMISE Technology's VTrak A-Class will first be available in North America on April 29, through the network of PROMISE distributors and value added resellers. For more info, go to www.promise.com/VTrakA-Class .

At this week's National Association of Broadcasts (NAB) event, G-Technology announced its new G-DRIVE PRO with Thunderbolt, a compact, desktop external hard drive that purportedly delivers hard drive capacity with SSD-like performance, taking advantage of the speed and power of Thunderbolt.

Leveraging G-Technology's well-known G-DRIVE design, the new G-DRIVE PRO with Thunderbolt delivers sustained data transfer rates of up to 480MB/s, which is up to three times faster than standard 3.5-inch desktop external hard drives, according to the folks at G-Tech. Optimal for Thunderbolt-enabled Mac systems, the G-DRIVE PRO with Thunderbolt is transportable for editing in the field or in the studio.

Based on G-Technology's G-DRIVE design, it provides dual Thunderbolt ports for future external storage expansion and to daisy chain with other Thunderbolt-based devices. It supports compressed 4K and multiple streams of 2K, HDV, DVCPro HD, XDCAM HD, ProRes 4444 and uncompressed SD...

EditShare has announced that the Mac version of Lightworks. EditShare's popular cross-platform editing software will be demonstrated for the first time at NAB 2013 in Las Vegas.

Lightworks has been redesigned to work on Mac OS X, making it the first professional NLE to be tri-platform (Mac OS X, Windows and Linux), according to Matt Sandford, Lightworks worldwide product manager. Visitors to the EditShare stand at NAB 2013 (SL9010) will be treated to a demonstration of the all-new Lightworks Mac OS X version, followed by a Q&A session in the stand's theatre area hosted by Scott Hill, long-time Lightworks user and Hollywood editor.

In addition to the new releases, EditShare is busy developing new additional features for Lightworks users to enjoy when version 11.2 is released in the near future, says Sandford. These include: added support for AJA I/O hardware; support for screen capture using the record panel; an improved import panel; native H.264 MOV playback;...

PixelCut has introduced WebCode, a new a vector drawing app for Mac OS X that instantly generates JavaScript Canvas, CSS HTML or SVG code. It's available at the Mac App Store (http://tinyurl.com/czhj7nn) at an introductory price of US$49.99.

While designers focus on drawing HTML5 games, infographics or web user interfaces, WebCode automatically writes the code for them. Developed from the ground up with resolution independence in mind, the code generated by WebCode works on both Retina and non-Retina displays. WebCode also imports SVG and PSD documents.

As noted by "MacRumors" (http://tinyurl.com/dysup3j), Microsoft says it will end support for Office 2008 for Mac on Tuesday, April 9.

"Support for Office for Mac 2008 will end April 9th, 2013. View the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy for further details, such as the support dates for this product," the company says.

Microsoft recommends that affected users purchase an Office 365 subscription, which includes Office for Mac 2011 and future updates to the product. Office 365 costs $100 per year or $10 per month. Office 2011 can be purchased for $140 to $220.

Office for Mac 2008 updates will be available for download until April 19, 2014, but no new updates will be provided after April 9, 2013. The software will remain functional even though it will no longer be supported.

Speaking of Office, Microsoft has created a new pilot program specifically designed to train and accredit...

Media 100 -- a provider of advanced editing systems for corporate, broadcast, and post-production -- has announced Media 100 Suite version 2.1.3.

It adds support for AJA’s Io Xt, Io Express, T-TAP, and KONA LHe Plus video I/O hardware as well as Matrox’s Mojito MAX. Media 100 Suite is video editing software for Mac OS X with broad support for 4K, 2K, HD, and SD standards, Media 100 Suite delivers broadcast-quality output for tape and file-based workflows.

In addition to video I/O hardware from AJA, Matrox, and Blackmagic Design, Media 100 Suite provides AVCHD, AVC-Intra, FireWire, Panasonic P2, and Sony XDCAM acquisition interfaces. Boris RED is included for integrated 3D compositing, transitions, titling, and visual effects. Media 100 Suite 2.x customers can download the 2.1.3 update free of charge from the Media 100 web site at http://www.media100.com . A full-functioning 14-day trial version of...

Through April 11, Cirrus Thinking is offering free 10GB accounts of the Dolly Drive service for a limited time.

DollyDrive provides a four-in-one solution for online storage, access and protection of everything on a Mac. You can create a bootable clone of a Mac on an external drive for immediate recovery from any hard drive related failures. For more info go to http://www.dollydrive.com .

A company called Mobile Telecommunications (MTEL) is suing Apple, claiming its Messages services violates seven of its patents, reports "Patently Apple" (http://tinyurl.com/dy68yus).

The lawsuit concerns iMessage, Airport Express, Airport Extreme, Time Capsule and devices such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. According to the formal complaint, Apple has directly infringed and will continue to directly infringe claims of the 5,809,428 Patent by making, using, selling, offering for sell, and/or importing in the United States mobile devices using iOS and networks that provide Apple's iMessage communication service and other messaging services.

At NAB 2013, EditShare (www.editshare.com) announced it has added support for a new content panel on all EditShare Shared Storage systems to its list of new features and integration.

The new panel integrates EditShare's advanced project-sharing/project-locking capability directly inside Adobe Premiere Pro. With this new feature, editors can more easily store and share their project files in a common central location and know that only one editor at a time can open a Premiere Project file with "write" access.

Subsequent users are restricted to "read only" access until the first user with "write" access gives up that privilege. EditShare prevents multiple users from obtaining "write" access simultaneously and thus promotes a collaborative workflow that eliminates accidental overwrites.

Support for Adobe Premiere Pro Panels on EditShare Shared Storage systems is the first step in plans for even...

Dalet Digital Media Systems (www.dalet.com) -- a developer of Media Asset Management (MAM) solutions, software and services for broadcasters -- is featuring Dalet Cube, a 3D graphics solution for news production at NAB 2013.

This IT-based offering is available as an optional package that integrates natively with Dalet News Suite and Dalet News Pack. The modular suite incorporates tools to create a production workflow for graphics creation and playout. Graphics artists can use the Cube Designer to construct multilayered 3D animations that project the style and individual look of different programs and channels.

Design models from Adobe After Effects and other software programs can also be imported. Both Dalet News Suite and Dalet News Pack are open to integration with third-party systems, including graphics systems other than Dalet Cube.

An internal document from the Drug Enforcement Administration complains that messages sent with iMessage, Apple's encrypted chat service, are "impossible to intercept," even with a warrant, reports "CNET" (http://tinyurl.com/bm7jfve)

An internal DEO document seen by "CNET" discusses a February 2013 criminal investigation and warns that because of the use of encryption, "it is impossible to intercept iMessages between two Apple devices" even with a court order approved by a federal judge. When Apple introduced iMessage in mid-2011, the company said it would use "secure end-to-end encryption." It has became the most popular encrypted chat program in history, according to "CNET."

Monotype Imaging Holdings -- a provider of typefaces, technology and expertise for creative applications and consumer devices -- has released a collection of typefaces designed for digital reading environments, including e-books, Web content, mobile applications, digital publications and online newspapers.

Device manufacturers, digital publishers and Web designers can now turn to a selection that includes some of the most popular text faces used in print -- designed and tuned for readability on e-readers, tablets, smartphones and other Web-enabled devices. Monotype’s initial collection includes multiple weights of nine typeface families, designated for digital publishing: Amasis eText, Monotype Baskerville eText, PMN Caecilia eText, ITC Galliard eText, Malabar eText, Neue Helvetica eText, Palatino eText, Sabon eText and Ysobel eText

The new typefaces can be integrated in a number of ways. They may be embedded in consumer devices for use as system fonts that can be...