CrumplePop has released Metal (http://www.crumplepop.com), an US$69 tool for creating "big, mean, summer blockbuster titles" in Final Cut Pro. It allows editors to add giant, high-quality metallic titles to any FCP project by typing in text and rendering. CrumplePop Metal works right on the Final Cut Pro timeline, without requiring a trip to another application. You can add titles that appear to be cut from a solid block of steel, copper, chrome-plated steel, or steel diamond plate. CrumplePop Metal is based on Apple's Master Template architecture. In addition to text, CrumplePop Metal also lets you drop in any logo artwork with transparency, instantly giving it a "dipped in steel" look. For instance, you could import a Photoshop document containing your logo into FCP, drop it into CrumplePop Metal, and your logo will look as if it was cut from a solid plate of metal. CrumplePop Metal gives you four metald to choose from: Steel, copper, chrome-plated steel, and steel diamond plate....

Kensington Computer Products Group has announced its TrackballWorks software (http://www.trackballworks.com), designed to customize the user experience with Kensington’s trackballs for increased productivity and comfort. It lets users assign functions or keyboard shortcuts to any trackballs buttons to match the way they work. Additionally, the software enables “chording” to assign additional functions to combinations of trackball buttons. Bill Rathbone, global product marketing manager, Kensington, says the TrackballWorks software offers customizable buttons, pointer motion, scrolling speed and direction adjustability. TrackballWorks is free. It's compatible with Mac OS X and Windows.

Apple CEO and Co-founder Steve Jobs appeared at the eighth D: All Things Digital, in an interview Tuesday night. The event is sponsored by "The Wall Street Journal." In the almost two-hour, wide-ranged interview, Jobs covered a variety of topics. You can read the entire transcript at http://d8.allthingsd.com/20100601/steve-jobs-session/, but here are some of the highlights: ° Concerning Flash (and his dislike of it): "Flash has had it’s day, but HTML5 is starting emerge ... The video looks better and it works better and you don’t need a plug-in to run it." ° On the Foxconn suicides: Saying that Apple is extraordinarily diligent and rigorous about vetting its manufacturing partners, Jobs says, “Foxconn is not a sweatshop. They’ve got restaurants and swimming pools ... For a factory, it’s a pretty nice factory.” ° On Apple's purchase of Siri, which is widely regarded as a search company: "I don’t know if I would describe Siri as a search company. They’re not in the search area .. they’...

SmileOnMyMac (http://www.smileonmymac.com) has updated TextExpander, a Mac OS X utility that lets users define abbreviations for frequently-used text strings and images, to version 3.1. The new version adds hotkeys to activate TextExpander and to search snippets. Also, the TextExpander icon can now be hidden in both the Dock and the menu bar. Search has been improved with highlighting of matched text and inclusion of snippet label text in the search. The regular cost is US$34.95 for a single user license or $44.95 for a five-pack family license. A 30-day fully-functioning demo of TextExpander can be downloaded at the SmileOnMyMac web site. Upgrades to TextExpander 3.1 from earlier versions costs $15. Version 3.1 is a free update for registered users of version 3.0. It requires Mac OS X 10.6 or later.


According to a new survey by Citrix (http://community.citrix.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=141690231) -- a company that specializes in centralization, optimization and virtualization-- 84% of businesses polled will support personal iPads. The 494 respondents (so far) have indicated a high adoption rate and anticipation of the iPad as a business tool. This isn't a cross section of all businesses, but is mostly comprised of Citrix customers and those that go to their web site and have interest enough in the iPad to take a short survey (which you can, too). The high level of support for personal iPads seems to reinforce the notion that the iPad will be the door opener for BYOC at many companies, according to the folks at Citrix. The fact that IT can safely provide access to company apps, data and virtual desktops without managing the device will make the iPad a game changer for business beyond just the form factor and features, the company says. This device will provide the leading...

Sunbelt Software, a provider of security software, has added VIPRE Enterprise for Mac to its VIPRE Enterprise product line. This new client software is designed to provide virus protection against a wide range of Mac-specific malicious threats, leveraging Sunbelt’s VIPRE engine. VIPRE Enterprise for Mac supports Mac OS X versions 10.5.6 and 10.6. Users will be able to run both scheduled and on-demand scans and view quarantine and scan history. Definition updates are downloaded from Sunbelt across the Internet. The product will also be able to detect and clean any Windows-specific malicious threats that may find their way onto a Mac system. “As the market adoption of the Macintosh platform continues to grow, so will the attention they receive from virus writers, making it all the more important to offer those users protection against threats,” says Alex Eckelberry, CEO of Sunbelt Software. “This is our first step in our support for the Mac platform, and is specifically targeted at...

Publicspace.net has announced Vitamin-R 1.11 (http://www.publicspace.net/Vitamin-R/index.html), an update of its Mac OS X compatible productivity tool for creative professionals. The new version allows the tool to run as a un-intrusive dockless application. 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. It requires Mac OS X 10.5 or higher. Vitamin-R may...

Plymix (http://plyxim.com) has updated Exibia, broadcast scheduling software for Mac OS X, to version 2.0. The upgrade sports a redesigned web interface and complete web-based administration of all Exibia settings. Other new features include: °A "Default Playlist" of still images or videos that will loop continuously when there's no scheduled content; ° Creation and scheduling of playlists of videos; ° Repetitive scheduling of videos (i.e., daily, weekly, monthly); ° The ability to add descriptions to uploaded videos and playlists; ° Automatic creation of thumbnail images for uploaded videos; ° The ability to stop a scheduled video or playlist; ° The ability to bulk upload video content. Exbia allows clients in a multi-user, multi-platform environment to upload and schedule QuickTime-compatible videos to a centrally-located server. The Exibia Server, connected to a closed-circuit television system for broadcast, handles the scheduling and playback of the video content. Users of any...

Human Software (http://www.humansoftware.com/) has updated HSC Edit for Aperture (Apple's software for pro photographers) to version 2.0. HSC Edit is an edit plug-in to Apple Aperture that offers more than 4,000 effects to apply on one or a set of images. Version 2.0 offers new depth of field, brush retouching, grid distortion, lens distortion features and more. It also has a revamped interface. HSC Edit 2.0 is available for download at US$89.95 per module, $39.95 for the Multi-Curves module and $59.95 for the image enhancer -- or $299.95 as a bundle.

Mac OS X, Safari and iPhone market share for Internet usage rose from April to May, according to the latest market share survey NetMarketShare (http://www.netmarketshare.com). According to the report, among operating systems, Mac OS X had 5.27% of the global market share in May, compared to 5.32% in April (that's global market share; in the US it's almost 10 %). Windows remains dominant with 91.28% as of April. That's down from 91.46% in March. Apple's highest percentage previously was 5.27% in October 2009. When it comes to browsers, Safari had 4.77% in May compared to 4.72% in April, while Internet Explorer had 59.95% Firefox had 24.59% and Chrome had 7.05%. That compares to, respectively, April percentages of 60.65, 24.52 and 6.73%, for the browsers. The iPhone's market share also rose, according to Net Applications. The Apple device had 0.61% of the global market share in May compared to 0.53% in April. The iPod touch also had 0.12% of the mobile market share in May, compared to...

Companies can now integrate the iPhone and iPad into their IT infrastructure with equinux's new TARMAC, a provisioning tool tailored specifically for the Apple platform. With TARMAC (http://www.equinux.com/us/products/tarmac/demo.html) medium to large enterprises can securely set up and manage their iPhones and iPads  over-the-air, says equinux CEO till Schadde. Businesses can use TARMAC to remotely set up their iPhones and iPads without needing to manually connect them to a machine. TARMAC Server operates within a company's network and using an existing directory service to automatically create personalized user profiles. TARMAC is installed as middleware on a company's network, and supports directory services in Active Directory, Open Directory, Open LDAP and MySQL databases. The configuration settings available in TARMAC guarantee safety in provisioning iPhones and iPads, according to Schadde. To install a profile on their iPhone or iPad themselves, users y log in to the TARMAC web...

Apple is reportedly cutting 0.7% of iPad profits to give factory workers at Foxconn, a China-based unit of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, a 20% raise, reports "DailyTech" (http://www.dailytech.com/Report+Apple+Cuts+07+Percent+of+iPad+Profit+to+...). The move follows a rash of recent suicides at the plant. Apple's products are almost entirely manufactured by Foxconn. The 20% raise won't hit Apple's wallet too hard, says "Daily Tech." It's estimated to raise the costs of labor for the iPad from 2.3% of the cost to 3%.

In a new report, IMS Research (http://www.fpdmarketresearch.com) says the success of the iPad is not slowing down the eBook reader market. Shipments of electrophoretic display (EPD) frontplanes were up over 20% in the first quarter of 2010 (Q1’10) with even faster growth expected in Q2’10. In addition, eBook shipments are expected to rebound from a seasonally weak Q1’10 and rise by over 30% quarter-over-quarter worldwide in Q2’10. Based on supply chain surveys, 2010 eBook shipments are headed to around 15M units, according to IMS Research. Amazon continued to dominate the global eBook market with a 48% share in Q1’10. Barnes & Noble rose to #4 with an 8% share with its innovative Nook product. Prime View International (PVI) widened its share advantage over its competitors in Q1’10 accounting for nearly 90% of the eBook display market. Its financials have also improved remarkably with its gross margins rising from -16% in Q1’09 to 30% in Q1’10, the highest among all TFT LCD...

Trailrunner (http://www.trailrunnerx.com/), a Mac OS X solution for folks doing long distance sports, has been updated to version 3.1. You can now send Trails to the iPhone and iPad versions of the app. With TrailRunner you can plan workout routes on a geographical map, export the route directions as small NanoMaps onto an iPod and import workout data from the Nike + iPod sports kit back into the workout diary. Other features are an exercise plan, .Mac weblog publishing, a GPS, GPX and KML import/export, an integrated map and elevation data download from global mapping services like USGS topo maps. TrailRunner is donationware. You can download the software, and, if you like it, make a donation to the developer.

RapidweaverTemplates (http:/www.RapidWeaverTemplates.com) has added new Rapidweaver themes to be used with Realmac Software's web site building application. They are: YellowPages, Summertime, Sunset, Nature and Sunny. The new collection complement the existing Rapidweaver themes. Each theme incorporates a number of different graphic elements that can be removed, moved and changed in size, opacity or color. RapidWeaver themes require Mac OS X with RapidWeaver 4.0 installed. Each RapidWeaver theme is available for US$12.99. The complete set of 18 RapidWeaver Themes may be purchased for $49.95. Samples and more information about RapidWeaver Themes are available immediately from RapidWeaverTemplates.

Mark/Space (http://www.markspace.com) has updated their all-in-one Android PIM and media synchronization software, The Missing Synv for Android. Version 1.4 brings phone-to-desktop calendar synchronization to Android phones. You can now synchronize Microsoft Outlook or Apple iCal calendars wirelessly over a Wi-Fi network or via Bluetooth.

 The Missing Sync for Android software is available for Windows PC and Mac computers and supports phones running Android OS, such as the Google Nexus One, Verizon Motorola Droid and HTC Droid Incredible.

 The calendar app included on Android-powered phones syncs with Google Calendar. To sync with a Mac or Windows PC, Mark/Space had to develop their own Android calendar app. Fliq Calendar is their full-featured calendaring app designed especially to synchronize with calendars from Outlook and iCal. Fliq Calendar works with The Missing Sync to keep calendar events updated and in sync between a phone and computer.

 In addition to calendar syncing,...

The Dept. of Justice's probe into Apple is expanding to include how the iPhone and iPad maker does business with media outfits in areas beyond music, according to "The New York Post" (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/apple_probe_grows_eC2Xojek2kBNijBO...), quoting "several," anonymous sources. According to these sources, the Justice Dept. has contacted a handful of the country's biggest media and technology companies to get their views on Apple, "which, after years of casting itself as the tiny outsider, has become an 800-pound gorilla calling the shots in several arenas," the article adds. Hollywood industry source purportedly said: "You can't dictate terms to the industry. The Adobe thing is just inviting the wrath of everybody." With the iPad, Apple has been criticized by many for banning Adobe's Flash, the web's most popular video software, from being used on the device.

Microsoft and Apple are in long-term talks about adding the Bing search service as a prominent option on the iPhone and not as a replacement of Google as has been rumored, according to"All Things D" (http://kara.allthingsd.com/20100528/microsoft-talking-to-apple-about-bei...). Currently, Google is the default search on the popular mobile device, although you can switch the search option to Yahoo, if you wish. Microsoft wants to be added to the search options, "but has wanted to do so in a way that makes the choice more visible," according to "All Things D." In addition, Microsoft wants to make its Bing mapping more integrated with the iPhone, the article adds.

In a note to clients Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu is expecting some big announcements beyond iPhone OS 4 and a likely new iPhone at June's Apple Worldwide Developer Conference. Among them is a new Mac Pro. "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com) concurs, expecting a pro Mac desktop that adds a total of 12-cores from Intel's latest Westmere architecture to the high-end desktop. (Apple is also expected to release a second LED-backlit Cinema Display, measuring 27-inches diagonally and resembling its existing 24-inch model," says "AppleInsider"). And Wu also thinks we'll see a revved MacBook Air and a web-based version of iTunes. “Sources tell me that in the past few weeks, Apple has started signaling to the labels that it’s interested in a web-based version of iTunes, its dominant music retail platform,” Wu has told clients. “But those conversations are preliminary at best. So if you’re expecting to hear about an ‘iTunes.com’ offering in the near future–like during Apple’s June 7...

Apple has bumped up its iPhone production plans, which include a Verizon iPhone that will be available for the holidays, according to a report at "TheStreet" (http://www.thestreet.com/story/10769660/1/apple-verizon-iphone-set-for-h...). Rodman Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar, who has been monitoring the production plans in Asia, says Apple has asked its supply and manufacturing partners to prepare for a production rate of four million iPhones a month by September, a 25% increase. The company has also told its manufacturing partner Asustek to plan on starting full-scale production of a CDMA version of the iPhone to be available at Verizon as early as November, the analyst adds. Most pundits think that a Verizon iPhone is inevitable and just a matter of time. However, the general consensus seems to be that it will be 2011 before such a device arrives. If Kumar is right, however, that timetable has been moved up.

Jumsoft has announced Money 3.6 (http://www.jumsoft.com/money/), an update to their personal and small-business accounting application for Mac OS X. The upgrade adds a Reconciling feature, which allows keeping Money accounts in balance with users' bank accounts. Other highlights of Money 3.4 include improved backup reversion, localizations, and interface. Moreover, minor bugs were fixed, such as in setting the default currency. The new version will also contain expanded documentation, making the application even easier to use, says Algirdas Unguvaitis, general manager of Jumsoft. Money allows tracking transactions to and from a user's wallet, bank accounts, or share trading accounts, budget planning and monitoring the actual outcome, managing bills and invoices, and generating income/expense reports. Users will be able to download the new Money for iPhone from the Apple App Store for free as soon as it is approved by Apple. A free trial copy of Money, requiring Mac OS 10.5 ("Leopard...

Federal antitrust regulators may be able to build a case against Apple over its iTunes business because the company has a dominant share of the U.S. music download market, an antitrust lawyer told "Computerworld" (http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9177460/Apple_vulnerable_in_iTune...). The size of Apple's share matters to the government, according to Hillard Sterling, an antitrust attorney at Chicago-based law firm Freeborn & Peters LLP. The Justice Department is reportedly examining Apple’s tactics in the digital music market for digital music, and its staff members have talked to major music labels and Internet music companies. Apple is the largest seller of online music in the U.S., with 69% of the market, according to data from the NPD Group, research firm. Amazon’s MP3 store was in second place, with an 8% share. Apple is also the largest seller of music, with 26.7 percent of the overall market, up from 12 % in 2007. "This has much stronger promise than the mobile...

app4Mac has updated Projector (http://www.app4mac.com/projector.html), a Mac OS X app designed to keep track of tasks and calculate a project's cost, to version 2.1. The new version is compatible with the iPad version, which is available for US$14.99 at the Apple App Store. Projector provides tools for professional project management. It's designed to help you organize, administer and monitor your tasks. Version 2.1 also offers improved performance and stability, a tweaked user interface, enhanced day off management, improved export to iCal, and better documentation. Also, an "auto save management" has been added to the preferences. The app is now available in English, French, German and Italian. Projector works with Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6. It costs approximately US$84. All owners of a Projector or xTime Project license can upgrade to Projector 2.1 for free.

The Free Software Foundation is up in arms over Apple's iTunes Store Terms of Service, suggesting that these terms fundamentally conflict with the terms of the GNU Public License, according to an "Ars Technica" report (http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/05/fsf-apples-itunes-store-terms-...). The foundation has warned Apple that a version of GNU Go distributed by the App Store makes Apple liable to comply with GPL terms that allow free sharing of code, but warned that its "Usage Rules" violate those terms. The fallout could potentially affect any app that uses GPLed code, says "Ars Technica." An iPhone port of GNU Go is currently being distributed through Apple's App Store. However, this distribution is not in compliance with the GNU GPL, says the Free Software Foundation. The primary problem is that Apple imposes numerous legal restrictions on use and distribution of GNU Go through the iTunes Store Terms of Service, which is forbidden by section 6 of GPLv2. "So today we have...