DevonTechnologies says its DevonAgent research tool is now available in version 3.0 public beta 3. Public beta 3 of DevonAgent integrates web search even tighter into the system with a brand new menu extra that makes DevonAgent's unique search technology available from anywhere on the Mac, according to DevonTechnologies President Eric Böhnisch-Volkmann. Placed on the right-hand side of the menu bar the menu lets the user type in queries and open interesting results with a single click in DevonAgent or any other web browser of choice, he adds. In addition, public beta 3 brings two new search sets querying Google and Bing unfiltered, a new plugin for the Highbeam article archive, and detail improvements. Reports support OPML and HTML now, search sets can be exported by dragging them to the Finder, and phrases can contain the asterisk operator. DevonTechnologies has also slightly overhauled the styling of search results and fixed a number of bugs and glitches. DevonAgent requires Mac OS...

Macvide has announced FlashVideo Converter 3.5 (http://www.macvide.com/Macvide_FlashVideo_Converter/), an update of the Flash to video conversion utility for Mac OS X . The upgrade includes a new video engine, a new interface and Adobe Flash 10.2 support. FlashVideo Converter allows conversion of Adobe Flash files to video. All of the most popular formats are supported, including MP4 (iPod Video), MOV, 3GP and MPEG. FlashVideo Converter 3.5 is available for US$99.95 for a single user license. It requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher. Version 3.5 is a free update for registered users of version 3.0.

Apple has released Mac OS X v10.6.7 Supplemental Update for 13" MacBook Air (Late 2010), which addresses an issue that makes the system unresponsive when using iTunes.

 Apple says it's recommended for all 13-inch MacBook Air (Late 2010) users running Mac OS X v10.6.7. You can obtain the 461KB update via the Software Updates component of Mac OS X's Systems Preferences app.

SmithBucklin (http://www.smithbucklin.com/), an association management and professional services company, is giving its employees an Apple iPad 2 as a way to reward excellent staff performance, improve productivity and enhance the company’s social media capabilities, according to President/CEO Henry Givray. SmithBucklin employees will receive a 32GB Apple iPad 2 with Wi-Fi capabilities. For a nominal fee, they can upgrade to a 64GB version or one that offers Wi-Fi and 3G service through Verizon or AT&T. Also, employees were given an US$50 Apple gift certificate that may be used to purchase iPad accessories such as the new Smart Cover, digital AV adapter, camera connection kit or keyboard. The association management company employs more than 600 people, with offices in Chicago, Washington, D.C., St. Louis and St. Paul, Minn. All of the company’s offices and conference rooms are Wi-Fi accessible, providing employees with the ability to use the iPad 2 wherever they are working. “Many...

Two analysts have weighed in on Apple's stock, looking at the potential of Apple to grow and the effect of a rumored delay in the release of the iPhone 5. Shaw Wu with Sterne Agee has initiated coverage of Apple with a Buy rating as part of a broad transfer of coverage from analyst Vijay Rakesh, reports "Barron's" (http://macte.ch/JKVG8). He says that investors still under-appreciate the growth in Apple’s end-markets, as well as its ability transform existing markets and create new ones. “One of the key concerns that we and many investors have is that AAPL has gotten to a size where it is becoming difficult to grow the way it has over the past 10 years,” writes Wu. “We believe this is a legitimate concern but at the same time, if any company could do it, it would be AAPL," Wu tells clients. "We think the beauty with the AAPL story is that the company doesn’t need to win everyone over to continue its success. The company just needs to continue winning a fair share of its vast end...

iTunes, reports "The Inquirer" (http://macte.ch/VOibq). Lizamoon is a SQL injection attack, where hackers target the database backend of a website and execute unauthorized commands by taking advantage of insecure code. Insecurity firm Websense says that, according to a Google search, over 28,000 URLs have been compromised. It saw infected iTunes URLs that the media player will download from the publisher to update podcast and episode availability, says "The Inquirer." "We believe that these RSS/XML feeds have been compromised with the injected code," says Websense security expert Patrik Runald. "The good thing is that iTunes encodes the script tags, which means that the script doesn't execute on the user's computer."

DssW has released Activity Audit for Mac OS X. The US$8.99 app creates a journal of the applications used on a Mac. It requires Mac OS X 10.6.7 or lataer. Activity Audit creates calendar events as applications are launched and quit. These events create a complete audit trail showing users the applications they were using and when. The resulting calendar provides visual insight into how a user's Mac has been used. Activity Audit works with Mac OS X's built-in calendaring support. The audit calendar is visible to iCal and other calendaring software. Activity Audit can create a new calendar to store events, or the user can specify an existing calendar. Once started, the auditing process runs in the background and doesn't require Activity Audit to be left running. The audit is restricted to the user who started the process, and that user can opt to exclude specific applications or entire folders of applications. By default, Activity Audit excludes applications located in the System and...

Independent software developer Reggie Ashworth has updated VidConvert, his video converter for Mac OS X, to version 1.0.3. The upgrade offers improvements to the various presets, a new iPhone/iPod Retina display preset, a new Windows Media preset, a new Flash Video preset, new .aiff and .wma audio presets, and a new preference that allows VidConvert to remember the last conversion settings used. Also, a potential display bug in the time remaining field was fixed, some minor adjustments were made to the Advanced panel, and other miscellaneous improvements were made. VidConvert It will convert just about any type of video into one of the a variety of formats, allowing you to create videos for your iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV. To use you add a file, select a format and a quality, and click convert. Optionally you can change your save folder from the main window. For advanced users you can select the Advanced quality if you choose to allow such options as custom Frame Rate, Bit Rate,...

Vinotekasoft has uncorked Vinoteka (http://www.vinotekasoft.com) 2.5 an update of their wine cellar management software for Mac OS X (10.5 or better). It costs US$49.99 for a single user license. Vinoteka offers a realistic interface to manage your bottles (wine, liquors or spirits) and recreate your cellar and organize wine tasting sessions. You can choose among a large variety of bottle shapes, get the labels you want online and pick among different rack types to make your virtual cellar as personalized as possible. You can also create a group for a better organization.

Publicspace.net has announced Vitamin-R 1.57 (http://www.publicspace.net/Vitamin-R/index.html), an update of its Mac OS X compatible productivity tool for creative professionals. The new version adds support for associating "tags" with time slices to facilitate project, activity and client based time tracking. Vitamin-R is a collection of tools and techniques for managing attention and maintaining motivation. According to the folks at publicspace.net, it complements the task capturing and organizing features of modern to-do list managers by forcing you to concentrate fully on one task a time and keeping distractions at bay. It breaks down large, vaguely defined tasks into a series of short "time slices" of between 10 and 30 minutes, each with specific and actionable objectives. Vitamin-R provides you with the "Now & Later Board," complete with FastType magic, to give you a place to quickly dump all those things that go through your head and allows to get back to the task at hand....

Apple's production of iPhones and iPads may be “meaningfully impaired” in the coming months in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, according to Pacific Crest Securities, as reported by "Bloomberg" (http://macte.ch/KM9ut). “If Apple is unable to find replacement supply of certain components, then iPhone and iPad production volume could be meaningfully impaired in the second half” of its fiscal third quarter, which ends in June, Andy Hargreaves, an analyst at Pacific Crest in Portland, Oregon, told clients. The earthquake and tsunami earlier this month left Apple with as little as two months of inventory for key components for the iPhone and iPad tablet, Hargreaves said. Japan is a hub for consumer-electronics parts such as flash memory, which stores songs and photos in portable devices; batteries and touch-screen overlay glass that’s used in Apple products, IHS ISuppli said this month, as noted by "Bloomberg."

Apple appears on target to top the US$100 billion annual revenue mark for the first time when it reports results for the fiscal year ending September 2011. That puts the company "well ahead" of Microsoft and close to parity with IBM, while still trailing tech revenue leader Hewlett-Packard, which should top $130 billion in revenue for its October 2011 fiscal year, reports "Forbes" (http://macte.ch/ACTMs). The article adds that CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets analyst Steven Fox has upped his fiscal year 2011 earnings per share [EPS] forecast to $23, from $22.75, while boosting his FY 2012 view to $26.14, from $25.95. “We think competition is scrambling and our iPad share assumptions are likely too conservative,” he writes, adding that he thinks Samsung has pushed out tablet launches in the US “to better respond to iPad2’s form factor, which we think further extends Apple’s first-mover advantage.” He adds that a proprietary survey finds “robust iPad uptake and purchase intentions.

Needham analyst Charlie Wolf told investors in a note -- as reported by "Fortune" (http://macte.ch/nG5xM) -- has raised his iPad shipment numbers for this year and next by 10 million units, from 20 million to 30 million units in 2011 and from 30 million to 40 million units in 2012. "Our expectation going into the March 11th launch of the iPad 2 in the U.S. was that it would be successful, but probably more subdued than the launch of the original iPad a year ago," he wrote. "The launch blew out our expectations. Meanwhile, Asymco (http://www.asymco.com)analyst Horace Dediu predicted that Apple’s current-generation iPhone 4 smartphone handset will likely sell around 60-65 million units in total. Sales of its future successor, the iPhone 5, could nearly double that amount, he said. Dediu based his predictions on Apple’s historical iPhone sales figures, iPhone production ramps and market growth patterns. Through the first four generations of the iPhone, he said, each new version of the...

The worldwide smartphone market is expected to grow 49.2% in 2011 as more consumers and enterprise users turn in their feature phones for smartphones with more advanced features, according to the IDC research group (http://www.idc.com). The group also says that Windows Mobile will rise to second place among smartphone operating systems by 2015 with Android in first place and the iOS in third place. According to the "(IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker,"smartphone vendors will ship more than 450 million smartphones in 2011 compared to the 303.4 million units shipped in 2010. What's more, the smartphone market will grow more than four times faster than the overall mobile phone market. "Android is poised to take over as the leading smartphone operating system in 2011 after racing into the number 2 position in 2010," sys Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. "For the vendors who made Android the cornerstone of their...

The Epson Stylus Pro line of printing solutions is expanding with a wider selection of Designer Edition bundles that combine Epson Stylus Pro printers with EFI eXpress for Epson Software RIP. These bundles are engineered to solutions for professional graphic designers and photographers, enabling them to print their creative visions as they see them. The Epson Stylus Pro 4900 Designer Edition is now joined by the Epson Stylus Pro 3880, 7890 and 9890 Designer Editions. The combination of these printers and the EFI eXpress for Epson RIP gives users the ability to create color accurate CMYK comps, proofs, and mockups, alongside RGB photographs. The software includes spot color support with embedded libraries for DIC, HKS, PANTONE, and Toyo, ensuring accurate color production out of the box. True Adobe interpreters allow for complete compatibility with the latest design suites on a Mac or PC. In addition, users can work the way that suits them best by printing directly from the...

iZooLu has announced Lock Desktop 1.0 (http://www.izoolu.com/) for Mac OS X (10.6.6 or higher) on the Mac App Store in the Productivity category. The US$0.99 app will secure your Mac and return you to a log-in screen. It allows you to switch between users from the log-in screen as applications and data continue to run on the other desktops. Once locked, you also have access to the log-in, restart and shutdown buttons. Additionally, Lock Desktop allows you to switch between users from the log-in screen. Applications and data continue to run in the background.

CodingMammoth has just released a new version of QuickScale, an application designed to batch-scale images without losing quality. The upgrade offers five different options, ranging from scaling methods to custom names. QuickScale also features Droplets, little applications that work with the settings when you created the droplet. This release has some great features like support for watermarks and a CoreImage export-engine for better quality. Another feature lets you specify the custom name of saved images with the use of predefined tokens like date, index numbers and sizes. It's also possible to add a watermark to your images, both text and images are supported. QuickScale embraces the latest technology; QuickLook is used to show quick previews of the imported images and CoreImage can be used as export-engine for better scaling results. In the latest update, we increased the performances of QuickScale. QuickScale is shareware and costs approximately $14. QuickScale is available in...

Embraceware Software has announced Awaken 5.0 for Mac. The app turns your Mac into a music alarm clock and sleep timer. Version 5.0 was rewritten from scratch and sports an all new user interface and more. The application supports multiple timers with sorting and labeling and can even launch applications or files. Users can select from over a dozen built-in sounds. Fall asleep to your music, as well as gradually fade out the music volume and screen brightness. Awaken 5 is available now in the Mac App Store for US$9.99. It requires Mac OS X 10.6.6. If you'd like Awaken to wake and power on your Mac at alarm time, download the free AwakenHelper app from Embraceware online (http://www.embraceware.com/awaken/).

Native Instruments (http://www.native-Instruments.com) has released Maschine1.6, a free update of its computer-based music production system. With the addition of plug-in hosting for Instruments and effects, the new version expands the scope and functionality of the system. Maschine1.6 also includes a free download of the new Komplete Elements  bundle, and adds a other new features for studio production and live performance. With added support for VST and AU plug-ins, Maschine1.6 widens its creative possibilities, turning the system into a full-featured instrument host, according to the folks at Native Instruments. Both the whole range of Komplete Instruments as well as all third-party Instruments and effects can now be used directly in Maschine, complementing its integrated sampler and FX features. Due to an "Auto-Mapping" function, plug-in parameters are pre-assigned to the high-resolution knobs on the Maschine controller, allowing for sound tweaking directly from the hardware....

Sprint Nextel (http://www.spring.com), the US’s third largest wireless provider, has announced its opposition to AT&T’s proposed $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA. The transaction, which requires the approval of the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission, and will likely spark a host of hearings in the U.S. Congress, would reverse nearly three decades of actions by the U.S. government and the courts that modernized and opened U.S. communications markets to competition, says Sprint. The wireless industry has sparked unprecedented levels of competition, innovation, job creation and investment for the American economy, all of which could be undone by this transaction, the company adds. In a statement, Sprint said: "AT&T and Verizon are already by far the largest wireless providers. If approved, the proposed acquisition would create a combined company that would be almost three times the size of Sprint in terms of wireless revenue and would entrench AT...

ECS ICT Bhd, a Malaysian distributor of computer-related products, has been awarded distribution rights for the iPad in the Southeast Asian nation, reports the "Business Times" (http://macte.ch/GXomA). The appointment will start in April, the company said in a statement. ECS currently distributes other Apple products such as the MacBook notebooks and iPod.

A group of Chinese workers who were poisoned while manufacturing iPhones say Apple and its supplier have yet to provide for the additional medical treatment they need, reports "PC World" (http://macte.ch/JBOnx). In 2009, 137 workers at an Apple supplier factory in Suzhou, China were exposed to n-hexane, a chemical cleaning agent. Apple has said the workers have been all successfully treated since the incident occurred. But a group of remaining workers at the factory say their health is worsening and that Apple has yet to do anything to help them, according to "PC World." The workers have even sent an e-mail message to Apple CEO Steve Jobs asking him to intervene, the article adds. It the third e-mail the workers have sent.

NCP engineering has released its centrally managed IPsec VPN Client for Mac OS X 10.5 and higher. Mobile employees using Mac OS X are now able to access the company network remotely. The NCP Secure Enterprise Management System monitors and controls the fully automatic remote access VPN.  NCP's VPN client offers an integrated personal firewall and NCP's VPN Path Finder Technology. On top of that, it supports strong authentication as well as "FIPS inside." The NCP Secure Enterprise Management software is the virtual private network's "single point of administration" -- this means -- combined with NCP’s VPN client suite -- it offers all features and automatisms for rollout, as well as for certificate, change and security management. In addition, various network access control features monitor network access of the end devices.    NCP’s Secure Enterprise Mac client can be managed centrally. The central remote access management also controls the integrated, dynamic personal firewall. "...

Intel (http://www.intel.com) has announced its third-generation solid-state drive (SSD): the Intel Solid-State Drive 320 Series (Intel SSD 320 Series). Based on its 25-nanometer (nm) NAND flash memory, the Intel SSD 320 replaces and builds on its Intel X25-M SATA SSD. The new Intel SSD 320 offers new higher capacity models, while taking advantage of cost benefits from its 25nm process with an up to 30% price reduction over its current generation, says Pete Hazen, director of marketing for the Intel Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) Solutions Group. The Intel SSD 320 is the next generation of Intel’s client product line for use on desktop and notebook computers. It's targeted for mainstream consumers, corporate IT or computer enthusiasts who would like a substantial performance boost over conventional mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs), says Hazen. The Intel SSD 320 Series comes in 40GB, 80GB, 120GB, 160GB and new higher capacity 300GB and 600GB versions. It uses the 3 gigabit-per-second (...