KnowledgeMiner Software has released Insights 5.1 for the Mac. It’s an update to its alternative and supplemental tool to established confirmatory science based modeling approaches. Insights is now macOS Sierra compatible. Following the principle of Occam's razor, the app now develops complexity minimized predictive models from observation data, autonomously, and extracts new knowledge in form of explicit model equations that describe the data, mathematically. And it generates new knowledge in form of explicit model equations that describe the data, mathematically, for further analysis, interpretation, and theory formulation purposes. Insights for macOS 10.9 or later is available as free, student, advanced, or pro edition exclusively from the KnowledgeMiner Software website (http://www.knowledgeminer.eu). Until Oct. 21, promotional pricing is available. Academic versions can be purchased by contacting KnowledgeMiner Software directly.

AKVIS (www.akvis.com) has unleashed a new cat-themed frame collection for AKVIS Frames and AKVIS ArtSuite. The Cats Pack includes 50 horizontal and 50 vertical frame designs. To use AKVIS frame packs, you need to have installed one of following programs: AKVIS Frames (available for free) or AKVIS ArtSuite. All AKVIS products run on macOS 10.7 or higher. The new Cats pack sells for $17.

Apple has released its third developer beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.1. It can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center (https://idmsa.apple.com).

SchwanSongs (http://www.schwansongs.com/fortuna/) has launched Ask Fortuna 1.0, a fortune generator for the Mac. It creates almost-random sayings and prescient prognostications. According to the folks at SchwanSongs, these aren’t plagiarized lists of old quotes, nor are they completely random sentences of computer-speak; They are something in between. Ask Fortuna requires macOS 10.8 or later and costs $2.99 (with additional in-app purchases available). It’s available at the Mac App Store in the Entertainment category.

CS Odessa (www.conceptdraw.com) has updated ConceptDraw Pro 10, ConceptDraw MindMap 8, ConceptDraw Project 7 for macOS 10.12 (Sierra). In addition the company has released six free solutions for ConceptDraw Pro. ConceptDraw Office 3 is a suite of software tools designed to help individuals, teams, and organizations meet their business objectives. ConceptDraw Office consists of a diagramming platform, a mind mapping tool, and a project management tool. ConceptDraw Office 3 retails for $499. It supports the latest macOS and Windows operating systems.

einstein's legacy (http://www.einsteinslegacy.com) has revved Bix, Mac movie playlist tool for fullscreen and multi-screen playback, to version 1.3.1. Built on Apple's AVFoundation technology, it lets you organize and configure playlists, trimming individual clips as needed, for use in kiosk and digital signage applications. Bix separates your clips from their playback settings, allowing you to make changes to the display location, looping mode and other behaviors without making any changes to your movies. With version 1.3.1, you can drag and droop segments to position them in the order you desire for final playback. You can also use Watch Folders to dynamically change your playlist without needing to edit your Bix project. Bix requires macOS 10.11 or higher. It's available for $19.99 at the Mac App Store in the Video category.

St. Clair Software has announced Default Folder X 5.0.7 (http://www.stclairsoft.com/DefaultFolderX/index.html), an upgrade to the utility for Mac OS X Yosemite and El Capitan. Default Folder X enhances the file dialogs in all macOS applications. It provides fast navigation to your files, convenient previews, integrated Spotlight tagging, and more. Default Folder X's custom keyboard shortcuts put your favorite and recent folders at your fingertips.Version 5.0.7 provides several compatibility fixes for macOS 10.12 Sierra. It’s a free upgrade for registered users. New licenses are $34.95; upgrades from version 4 and prior are $14.95.

Troi Automatisering (www.troi.com) has released Troi File Plug-in 8.6 for FileMaker Pro 14. It’s an update of the plug-in for manipulating external files and folders directly from FileMaker Pro. The new version has improved compatibility with macOS Sierra. It adds a new TrFile_GetIcon function, which gets the icon of a file. It can create icons in sizes varying from 16x16 to 1024x1024 pixels and with double resolution for retina screens. Troi File Plug-in 8.6 adds a new switch "-CreatePNG" to the TrFile_CreateThumbnail function; this will give as result a thumbnail in the PNG format, with an alpha channel. This means that the thumbnail will have the same transparent areas as the original image. There’s also improved support for PDF/X files, which enables you to determine if a file confirms to the PDF/X standard. A fully functional demo version of Troi File Plug-in 8.6 is available for downloading at Troi's website. Licenses cost $99 per user. Developer licenses and multi-user...

Norbert M. Doerner has launched NeoFinder 6.9.3. It’s an update of the macOS app that helps you keep track of your digital files, photos, songs, movies, fonts on hard drives, USB sticks, servers, Blu-ray disks, DVD-ROMs, CDROMs, and any other digital media. NeoFinder (http://www.cdfinder.de) generates thumbnails and metadata of your files for search possibilities, smart folders, albums, and more. Version 6.9.3 is certified to run in macOS Sierra, and can catalog Affinity Designer files. The app requires macOS 10.6.8 or higher. NeoFinder 6.9.3 is a paid update to licensed users of CDFinder, update price starting at approximately $21. Cross-grades for users of competing applications (DiskLibrary, FileFinder, CatFinder, Canto Cumulus, Disk Tracker, DiskCatalogMaker, Atomic View, iView Media Pro, and more) are available. A demo version can be downloaded from the NeoFinder website. The price for new users starts at $32.50. Multiple user packs are available for network users. NeoFinder 6.9....

Insider Software has unveiled FontAgent 7.1.2, an update to its professional font manager for the Mac. It integrates diagnostics, repair, font selection, font book creation, and design tools in a single application for creative professionals. The new release includes support for macOS 10.12 Sierra and a new auto-activation XTension for QuarkXPress 2016. FontAgent 7 is available in a Standard Edition for standalone users and a Sync Edition that features one-click sharing of fonts with others in your workgroup and auto-syncing of fonts across your Macs. Version 7.1.2 is free to all licensed users of FontAgent 7. FontAgent Pro 6 Standard Edition users can upgrade in the Insider online store for $59. Other users can purchase the new release for $99. Quantity discounts and crossgrades from competitive products are available. The new release runs on macOS Sierra, El Capitan and Yosemite and is available for immediate download from the Insider website (http://insidersoftware.com).

A new Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) study has found that consumer app revenues from augmented reality (AR) will remain below that of the enterprise sector through to 2021, despite the high visibility of games such as Pokémon GO. Juniper forecasts that revenues from enterprise AR apps will reach $5.7 billion by 2021, rising tenfold from an estimated $515 million in 2016, according to the research group. The research found that enterprise interest in AR technologies has continued to grow, fueled by improvements in field of vision and latency on HMDs (Head Mounted Displays). Future releases of these units, such as Microsoft HoloLens, are set to drive AR content revenues in the enterprise sector as businesses opt for HMDs over smartphones and tablets, according to Juniper Research. According to the new study, the bespoke nature of content in the enterprise AR sector, such as DAQRI’s partnerships with Hyperloop and Siemens, will lead to higher app prices. The combination of...

Apple has released a second beta of an upcoming macOS Sierra update to developers. macOS Sierra 10.12.1 beta 2, build 16B2333a, can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center and through the Software update mechanism in the Mac App Store.

einstein's legacy (http://www.einsteinslegacy.com) has created Achroma 1.0.1, an image manipulation tool developed exclusively for macOS. The app lets you removes colors from your images by providing two conversion modes; you can select from a set of preset color ranges or create your own collection of user-defined color ranges for processing. Achroma also lets you export images in a variety of formats, create interactive slideshow presentations and share images using various internet services. Achroma requires macOS 10.11 or higher. It’s available for $9.99 from the Mac App Store in the Photography category.

Pixel Film Studios has released ProClone (http://tinyurl.com/zhuqok4) for Apple’s Final Cut Pro X. It’s a $29.95 repeating media tool plug-in that allows users to add layers of duplicated footage on top of an original source. You can add some extra stylization to videos using ProClone’s duplicating tools. You can emphasize dynamic shots by adding extra layers of action. To use ProClone, select a preset and drop it on top of a video or photo in the timeline. Squash, stretch and/or position the the title layer in the timeline to adjust how long the clones appear on screen for as well as when they begin and end. ProClone gives users the options to add anywhere from one to eight layers of repeated media to footage. You can edit the spread of clone layers to be close together, or far apart and reposition where the clone layers begin using a simple slider. You can adjust the slant slider to change the angle of the clones. Vertical and horizontal layouts are included for every section of...

Mac OS X File Recovery has announced Mac Data Recovery Guru 4.0, an update to its data recovery utility for macOS. The app can recover all common file types from any Mac drive or volume. Mac Data Recovery Guru scans any drive, and displays a list of all recoverable files on the disk. Users then select the files they wish to recover, select a destination drive, and click the "Recover" button. Version 4.0 offers the ability to scan disk images that can't mount for file recovery. Mac Data Recovery Guru requires macOS 10.7 or higher. It costs $89 and is available directly from the publisher's website (https://macosxfilerecovery.com). A free scan-only download is also available.

To celebrate the launch of macOS Sierra, Wide Angle Software has announced that its duplicate file finder software, Duplicate Sweeper, is now available for free for a week at the Mac App Store in the Utilities category. Duplicate Sweeper allows you to find and remove duplicate photos, music, documents and other files on your Mac quick and easy. It’s compatible with macOS Sierra, as well as all 64-Bit Macs running OS X 10.8 or higher. Duplicate Sweeper 1.02 normally retails at $19.9 from Wide Angle Software's website (https://www.wideanglesoftware.com).

SpriTec Software has announced SuperTab 2.3 (http://www.supertab.me/SuperTab.html), an update to its utility application for macOS. SuperTab enhances and extends the Mac's built-in Command-Tab Application Switcher. Version 2.3 now integrates with the Snagit screen capture app. The update also adds an in-app preview of MP4 and .mov videos, enabling Snagit users to preview their video captures, as well as to preview MP4 and .mov files within SuperTab. SuperTab 2.3 is free to download and install and is fully-functional for 30 days. After 30 days, it remains fully-functional but will occasionally ask users to register. Users can take advantage of a special 50% off sale price of $10 through Oct. 31. SuperTab 2.3 is a free upgrade for SuperTab 2.x users. Users of earlier 1.x versions of SuperTab can upgrade to 2.3 for $2.99.

Cocoatech has announced Path Finder 7.4 (http://www.cocoatech.com/) , a free update of their file browser for users running macOS Sierra 10.12. Path Finder allows you to view hidden files, compare, merge and synchronize folders, batch rename and batch select files, use Dual Pane and full keyboard navigation to browse your file system and much more. P You can try Path Finder 7.4 — which requires macOS 10.7 or later — for free for 30 days with all the features available to you during that period. Path Finder costs $39.95 for a single user license applicable for up to three user-owned computers. The software is available for purchase from the Cocoatech online store or from within the application itself. Volume license discounts are available.

Twocanoes Software (www.twocanoes.com) says Winclone, Boot Runner and SD Clone are macOS Sierra ready.  Winclone is a solution for cloning and migrating Boot Camp on the Mac; pricing starts at $19.99. Boot Runner is a dual-boot startup control and boot management utility for enterprise Macs; pricing starts at $9.99. SD Clone offers a way to clone SD and other media cards on the Mac; pricing starts at $99.99.

Hot on the heels of Tuesday’s release of macOS Sierra, Apple has released the first developer betas for version 10.12.1. iOS 10.1, watchOS 3.1, and tvOS 10.0.1. They can downloaded from the Apple Developer Center.

Paragon Software Group has released Paragon UFSD (Universal File System Driver) Value Pack (http://tinyurl.com/jxbdg4c), a bundle of five cross-platform tools: NTFS for Mac, ExtFS for Mac, HFS+ for Windows, ExtFS for Windows, and NTFS-HFS Converter. The $49.95 UFSD Value Pack has been developed for users working with multiple operating systems to instantly solve compatibility issues. It comes with a lifetime free upgrade guarantee. For existing Paragon NTFS for Mac customers, the UFSD Value Pack is available for $19.95.   Paragon UFSD Value Pack includes tools for read and write access to NTFS, HFS+, and ExtFS partitions from macOS or Windows-based systems. With Paragon UFSD Value Pack installed, dual-boot users can write files to NTFS-formatted USB flash drives, SSDs, or traditional hard drives, and copy data to NAS-based storage from a macOS-based computer.

Match Software has released Check Print'R 3.21, an update to their check printing application for macOS. The app allows anyone to create and print checks for up to 15 separate bank accounts. Check Print'R can print checks to plain letter-sized paper, or to check refill paper available at most office supply stores. Version 3.21 brings the ability to print the contents of the check register in either portrait or landscape format. Check Print'R 3.21requires macOS 10.7 or later and costs $15.99. It’s available worldwide through the Mac App Store in the Finance category. The app is also available for purchase from the Check Print'R website (http://tinyurl.com/jaonr8s).

Openwave Mobility has launched SmartidM for mobile operators to effectively manage their subscribers’ data, and launch new services. SmartidM is part of the company’s Subscriber Data Management (SDM) portfolio of products. Use cases for SmartidM include centralized ID management for fraud prevention, delivering BingeOn type services and introducing micropayments that require collaboration between mobile operators and OTTs.   SmartidM (http://tinyurl.com/hd8y2r7) is able to handle both encrypted and non-encrypted sessions and a number of operators are deploying Openwave Mobility’s technology ahead of Apple’s deadline for new protocols. Starting Jan. 1 2017, Apple will force all apps to comply with its App Transport Security (ATS) HTTPS encryption protocols. This will adversely impact mobile operators that do not have the technology to manage encrypted traffic, according to Indranil Chatterjee, SVP of Product & Sales at Openwave Mobility. What’s more, mobile operators will not be...

AT&T is phasing out the U-verse brand with AT&T Internet and AT&T Phone replacing U-verse Internet and phone. AT&T has already implemented a shift away from U-verse TV to its Directv brand for video, and there are rumors that Directv won’t survive over the long term either. First reported by DSLReports.com, AT&T confirmed to Telecompetitor.com that the U-verse brand is being retired for “simplicity.” AT&T U-verse, commonly called U-verse, is an AT&T brand of triple-play telecommunications services in 21 states of the U.S. Launched on June 26, 2006, U-verse includes — or, rather, included — broadband Internet, IP telephone, and IPTV services in 21 states.[2][3] The U-verse name has also used for the bundling of wireless and DirecTV services, even outside AT&T's 21 state local coverage area.