What do connected cars, e-book readers, smartphones and HDTVs have in common? They have all been radically transformed by connectivity. And in the next decade, driven by both consumer demand and market opportunities, many more connected devices will emerge, according to a new report by the Yankee Group (http://www.yankeegroup.com). Data from Yankee Group’s Anywhere Consumer: 2009 U.S. Survey indicates that 55% of consumers highly value connectivity in e-book readers, 50% in MP3 players and 40% in HDTVs. But how can device makers distinguish the next big thing from the also-rans? Yankee Group’s new model evaluates 16 CE devices against 10 business and connectivity attributes, and groups the devices into three segments: ° Anywhere Target Devices, like e-book readers and HDTVs, have the most untapped potential. ° Anywhere Impaired Devices, like game consoles, digital cameras and portable navigation devices, have only a marginal capacity to innovate. ° Anywhere Has-Beens, like computers,...

Zevrix Solutions has updated BatchOutput Server (http://zevrix.com/BatchOutputServer.php), an output workflow automation solution for Adobe InDesign, to version 4.3. The new version adds support for InDesign CS5. Under BatchOutput Server workflow, production artists and prepress operators simply submit files to hotfolders that reside on the network. BatchOutput Server automatically outputs the files from its dedicated station using hotfolder settings, and will auto-activate document fonts as well. BatchOutput 4.3 can be purchased from the Zevrix Solutions web site for US$699.95, as well as from authorized resellers. A demo is available for download. BatchOutput 43 is available for

Sonoma Wire Works has added Kickin' Country to the Discrete Drums (http://www.discretedrums.com) multitrack drum recording library. Kickin' Country features drummer Tony Morra recorded at Downtown Batterie in Nashville, and is produced by Rick DiFonzo, Discrete Drums' founder. The Kickin' Country Pro Set (9GB) includes multitrack WAV files with Pro Tools sessions, stereo REX and WAV files, and one shot samples for US$199. The Kickin' Country Stereo Set (3GB) includes stereo REX and WAV files for $99. Styles included are brushes, ballads, waltz, train, pop and more. The 19 sessions included in Kickin' Country are organized into song parts including verse, chorus, bridge, intros, outros, fills, solos, breaks, and more, making it easy to build great sounding arrangements. Portions of the Kickin' Country drum content are also available as InstantDrummer Sessions for RiffWorks recording software with more on the way. Kickin' Country InstantDrummer iPhone apps will be launching soon....

Apple has updated its iWork components -- Pages, Numbers, and Keynote -- for the iPad to version 1.1. All three apps are now designated version 1.1, and add a couple of minor improvements and support for several languages. Pages 1.1 (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pages/id361309726?mt=8) changes include: ° Support for French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Spanish; ° Toolbar and ruler are now available in wide-screen landscape view; ° Documents automatically fit to page width in landscape view; ° Enhanced Back/Front slider in the Arrange panel. Numbers 1.1. (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/numbers/id361304891?mt=8)changes include: ° Support for French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Spanish; ° Enhanced Back/Front slider in the Arrange panel. Keynote 1.1 (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/keynote/id361285480?mt=8) changes include: ° Support for French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and...

Adobe has released Camera Raw 6.1 Release Candidate (http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Camera_Raw_6.1). It adds support for new cameras. Camera Raw 6.1 also includes new lens correction functionality that can apply profile-based corrections to accommodate geometric distortions, chromatic aberration and lens vignette effects. Manual corrections for geometric distortion as well as vertical and horizontal perspective transforms are also available. A handful of lens profiles are included for automatic correction and more can be created by the community with the Adobe Lens Profile Creator. This release addresses a bug on the Mac platform that could cause Photoshop CS5 to quit unexpectedly when opening a file in the Camera Raw 6.0 plug-in. Version 6.1 also contains performance enhancements designed to improve the responsiveness of the controls and the scrolling mechanism relative to Camera Raw 6.0.

Pegatron Technology has received orders for an iPhone based on CDMA from Apple with annual shipments expected to reach 10 million units., reports"DigiTimes" (http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20100513PD205.html). The orders should start contributing to the Taiwan-based company's revenues in August or September, according to "sources from component makers." If it actually happened, this would be the first time Apple has produced a version of the iPhone for a CDMA wireless network, which is different from AT&T’s GSM technology. Vodafone, co-owner of Verizon Wireless, already sells the iPhone in Europe. Verizon is on DCMA.

Wal-Mart may start selling the iPad this in some U.S. stores as it competes with electronics chains for consumers who want to connect their e-mail, movies, games and music, reports "Bloomberg" (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&tkr=AAPL%3AUS&sid=aFs...). “We anticipate being able to have the iPad later this year,” Gary Severson, senior vice president of entertainment for Wal-Mart’s U.S. stores, said in a telephone interview. Apple has sold more than one million iPads since they went on sale in the U.S. last month. Apple sells the device in its retail stores, online and at Best Buy.

Adobe founders Chuck Genschke and John Warnock have posted an online letter (http://www.adobe.com/choice/openmarkets.html) in regards to the company's ongoing feud ... er, debate ... with Apple on the merits -- or lack thereof -- of Flash. Here's a sampling of the letter: "When markets are open, anyone with a great idea has a chance to drive innovation and find new customers. Adobe's business philosophy is based on a premise that, in an open market, the best products will win in the end — and the best way to compete is to create the best technology and innovate faster than your competitors. "That, certainly, was what we learned as we launched PostScript and PDF, two early and powerful software solutions that work across platforms. We openly published the specifications for both, thus inviting both use and competition. In the early days, PostScript attracted 72 clone makers, but we held onto our market leadership by out-innovating the pack. More recently, we've done the same thing...

South Winds Games, developer of the Airport Mania game, has released Inner Quest (http://www.southwindsgames.com/inner-quest), a game for Mac and Windows systems. It's a puzzle game that costs US$5.95; a demo is available for download. Here's how the game is described: "With Inner Quest you will find yourself immersed in an amazing journey that will help you decrease the wear and tear on your mind from the challenges and hassles of daily life by evoking the same emotions that you have while traveling on a sunny day, going on a picnic with the people you love, or while looking at the stars on a warm night". Inner Quest sports 100 levels, arcade and relaxed modes, and more. The game is available in English, German, Portuguese, Swedish and Spanish in the same download. More information about the game, screen shots, video and demo download are available from South Winds Games online. For unlock codes for game reviewing please South Winds Games online for a review copy specifying your...

Mireth Technology has updated Music Man (http://www.mireth.com/) -- the Mac OS X ripper, converter, burner, player digital music software -- to version 3.0. The upgrade adds the ability to make an iPhone ringtone, adds ID3 tag editor support, adds FLAC and Apple Lossless playback and convert from support, and improved Clip support. Music Man can rip, convert, burn and play MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, AIF, Audio CD, MIDI and Ogg Vorbis on Mac OS X. It also has burning features, such as variable burn quality that allows for burning up to four times as much music on a USB Flash Drive as when using standard burn technology, according to the folks at Mireth. Another feature is the mono mixdown feature, which burns all the music to both the right and left track, so one-ear listening lets you hear both tracks. Music Man is available for immediate download, or on CD-ROM, starting at $24.95. Registered users of Music Man version 2.8.4 can take advantage of this free update. Registered users of...

Yazsoft has updated ShareTool (http://www.yazsoft.com/st/) for Mac OS X, which lets you access all of your Bonjour services from anywhere in the world, to version 2.0. With the new version you can now connect to multiple home/office networks simultaneously. Formerly known as Rendezvous, Bonjour lets you create an instant network of computers and smart devices by getting them connected to each other. ShareTool automatically configures routers supporting NAT-PMP or UPnP. Remote services automatically appear in the Finder, iTunes, and other applications. ShareTool 2.0 costs US$15 for a single-user license, $25 for a two-user license and $45 for a family pack (five licenses). Users that purchased ShareTool 1.x from April 13, 2010 - May 13, 2010 are entitled to a free 2.x upgrade.

Sonnet Technologies has announced the availability of the Fusion Fibre-for-4 package, which offers the Fusion RX1600Fibre rackmount 16-drive RAID 6 Fibre Channel (FC) shared storage system with a 4-port 8Gb FC interface, four 1-port 8Gb Fibre Channel PCIe host adapter cards, four fiber optic cables, and a 4-seat Tiger Technology metaSAN software license. This package is designed for video editors in workgroups of up to four users who want shared access to common data files, have heavy bandwidth requirements, need easy capacity expandability, and require robust data protection, says Robert Farnsworth, CEO of Sonnet Technologies. Everything needed for setting up four users is included in one box, he adds. Optimized for video editing, the Fusion Fibre-for-4 package provides four users direct high-speed access to stored assets through its 8Gb Fibre Channel ports without the need for a dedicated server. It supports multi-stream, multi-user collaborative workflows, and does so without the...

SMEStorage (http://www.smestorage.com/), a multi-cloud data access provider, has released the second beta of a Mac Cloud Drive that enables up to 10 commercial storage providers to be accessed directly from a virtual drive in Mac Leopard and Snow Leopard Operating Systems. "We are really pleased to announce the second beta of our virtual cloud drive for the Mac," CEO Ian Osborne says. "This drive enables users to access their cloud storage files directly from their shell or Mac Finder. The drive brings cloud computing directly into the Mac OS with over 10 popular Cloud Storage vendors supported, including Amazon S3, Google Docs, Microsoft SkyDrive and RackSpace Cloud Files." Having a virtual Cloud Drive on the Mac fits SME's business strategy of providing data access entry points that overlay all storage clouds and include all operating systems, as well the best of breed mobile vendors, he adds. As part of the next release SME will also be adding sync so that user can have desktop...

At Citrix Synergy 2010 Wyse Technology (http://www.wyse.com) revealed the Wyse Zero engine. It's software designed to simplify the development of cloud connected devices. Wyse Zero, which connects users to cloud computing services and virtual desktops with communications and protocol technology, is already in use in millions of devices, including thin clients, handheld smart devices, and zero clients. Specifically, the Wyse Zero engine is currently powering all devices that are utilizing Wyse ThinOS, all implementations of Wyse PocketCloud and For current users of Wyse ThinOS -- the optimized, "management-free" solution for Citrix XenApp, Citrix XenDesktop, Microsoft Terminal Server and VMware View virtual desktop environments, Wyse Zero ensures that every Wyse thin client delivers flexible and secure user access, boots-up in seconds, updates itself automatically, and delivers IT managers with simple, scalable administration to suit their organization's needs; all while featuring an...

Pragmatic Bookshelf has released "Cocoa Programming: A Quick-Start Guide for Developers" (http://oreilly.com/catalog/9781934356302/?utm_content=em-pb-pr-Cocoa+Pro...), an $32.90, 280-page book by Daniel Steinberg that looks at Apple's Cocoa frameworks. The author shows readers the shortcuts, best resources, and places to avoid. He presents best practices and insider tips for finding more information. Readers will finish the book as Cocoa programmers, primarily for desktop Mac OS X but with portability to the iPhone, iPad, and mobile platforms, Steinberg says. As early as the second chapter, they'll use Apple's Xcode and Interface Builder dev tools to create a web browser, then they'll dive into the square brackets and unique syntax of Objective-C, the language of Cocoa. Throughout the four sections of the book, Steinberg emphasizes the wisdom of using and reusing all the methods, classes, tools, and resources built into the Cocoa frameworks. The book begins with you creating an...

Extending the use of its 3D content and toolsets toward game developers, DAZ 3D-Gizmoz (http://developer.daz3d.com/) has released the Digimi Game Developer Kit, which allows users of DAZ Studio to create and customize 3D characters and directly export them into a game engine. DAZ 3D-Gizmoz has additionally instated a brand new content catalog, dedicated specifically to game developers, which further enhances game development possibilities by providing fully licensed content and models for distribution within any project or pipeline, says DAZ 3D-Gizmoz President Eyal Gever. The developer kit includes the following tools: ° Decimator for DAZ Studio -- enabling drastic polygon reduction to complete models or selected objects by either a percentage or fixed number of polygons, users may utilize the decimator to create any number of Levels of Detail to accommodate any game engine. 
° Texture Atlas for DAZ Studio -- users can combine, size, scale or convert their textures into a single...

China Mobile, China's dominant mobile carrier, is interested in selling the iPad in China, the company's chairman said -- as reported by "Reuters" (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64B0PS20100512?feedType=RSS&feedNa...) The company was also talking to Apple about developing a next-generation iPhone that runs on TD-SCDMA, the home-grown third-generation (3G) mobile standard being used by China Mobile, Chairman Wang Jianzhou said at the company's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday. In related news, the "Wall Street Journal" (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870333930457523974412765171...) says that China Unicom said it expects to provide "hundreds of millions" of dollars of subsidies to users who buy the iPhone and other smartphones for use on the Chinese carrier's high-speed wireless network. Unicom Executive Director Lu Yimin said the company plans subsidies this year for third-generation, or 3G, mobile phones of three billion yuan to five billion yuan, or...

Another day, another lawsuit. Apple is being sued for patent infringement by a company called Softview over the way it displays mobile content on its iPhone and iPod touch devices, reports "The Loop" (http://www.loopinsight.com/2010/05/12/apple-sued-over-safari-web-browser...). According to court documents filed in the District of Delaware, Softview alleges that Apple is infringing on its so-called ‘353 patent, issued to Gary Rohrabaugh and Scott Sherman, and owned by Softview. The patent describes the “Scalable Display of Internet Content on Mobile Devices.” AT&T is also being sued since it sells the iPhone in the U.S. Softview is asking the court for a preliminary and permanent injunction against Apple, and an unspecified amount of cash, notes "The Loop." SoftView (http://softview.us/index.html) makes a vector graphic display system and web browser for PDAs, cell phones, and other Internet devices. It includes vector graphic viewers and web browsers for PDA, Cell Phone, Smart...

Taptu (http://www.taptu.com), a search and discovery engine that indexes touch screen content, reveals in its second quarterly report that the mobile touch web has grown 35% since last quarter, which represents a 232% annual growth rate. This puts its growth rate ahead of the Apple App Store, currently showing an annual growth of 144%, but behind the Android Market growing at an annual rate of 403%, albeit from a smaller base. The report, which covers January 2010-April 2010, also shows mobile touch web sites rose to 440,100 from 326,600 in January. At this current run rate, the report predicts that the mobile touch web will increase to 1.1 million sites by the end of the year, nearly twice Taptu’s original forecast, and nearly a full year ahead of its January prediction, fueled in part by the continued consumer love affair with touch screen phones, and even more importantly the rising sales of mid-range touch-enabled devices.

Zevrix Solutions (http://www.zevrix.com) has updated InPreflight Pro -- its quality control, packaging automation and preflight reporting solution for Adobe InDesign -- to version 2.8. The new version makes InPreflight compatible with InDesign CS5, improves user interface, and addresses some performance issues. Both Pro and Studio versions are updated. InPreflight provides a preflight solution for service providers, printers, ad agencies, designers and publishing houses. It gathers information about document fonts, colors and links and lets users locate potential problems according to preflight presets. The software is also a packaging automation solution that allows users to preflight and package multiple documents. Among other abilities, it can collect all files into one folder, eliminating the need to collect the same links multiple times for each design. In addition, InPreflight lets users print graphic preflight reports and save them as fully searchable interactive PDF files,...

App4Mac has updated wKiosk Browser (http://www.app4mac.com/wkiosk.html), a web browser designed for Internet kiosk applications, has now up to version 6. It's a Mac OS X solution for presenting web-based content (HTML, Flash, PDF, videos, etc.) and applications on public access terminals with or without access to the Internet. Version 6 is fully optimized for Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard"). It'a also rewritten in Objective C 2.0 with a Cocoa framework (instead of Carbon) and is powered by the most recent version of Apple webkbit engine (compliant to Acid 3 test / HTML 5). There are various other improvements as well. You can use wKiosk to individually restrict access to web sites, the operating system, system settings, and applications. Your computer will be protected against any manipulation from the time you boot until you shut it down. Since wKiosk is built with Apple Safari Engine, you will benefit from all the features the browser has to offer (Flash, QuickTime, Real Audio,...

Freeridecoding has released BurnAgain FS 1.5 (http://freeridecoding.com/burnagainfs), an update of the CD/DVD multisession burning application for Mac OS X. The upgrade brings a number of bug fixes and improvements for Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard"). Disks burned with BurnAgain FS are readable without additional software on all platforms. The software automatically preserves special Mac file attributes (resource forks) as well. BurnAgain FS works with Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard") and higher. It costs approximately US$14; version 1.5 is a free update for registered users. A demo is available at the Freeridecoding web site.

Dexim (http://www.dexim.net) has released the US$79.95 DCA199 Foldable Solar-Powered P-Flip for the iPhone 3G and 3GS and iPod. Purportedly capable of extending talk time up to eight hours, video or game time up to 15 hours, or audio playing time up to 60 hours. The DCA199 is equipped with a 2000 mAh lithium polymer battery and two camouflage-colored solar panels that receive a charge from the sun. The DCA199 can flip horizontally or vertically for hands-free video viewing, or fold together for easy storage and carrying. To obtain a full charge, the DCA199 takes around 15 hours of exposure to natural sunlight. Users can also still charge and sync their device using the included micro USB cable. 

Video-Recorder.net has released Easy Video Recorder for Mac 1.2 (http://www.video-recorder.net/order.html), an update of the screen-to-video capture application for Mac OS X that lets you record your desktop screen activity QuickTime movies for later playback. With the new version you can add your own text to video and more. You can record: the entire desktop, a desktop region or a specified window; sound from all possible audio devices and synchronize voice narration with video in frame; with date and time; actual cursor or custom cursor; and record from your webcam, screen or video input device. With Easy Video Recorder, any application that runs on your Mac can be recorded, both video and audio. You can use the software for Mac to create demo videos to demonstrate how to use your software, You can record web cams from AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Record DVD, VCD, MPEG, MP4, or other video media. Easy Video Recorder works with Mac OS X 10.5 or higher. It has a suggested...