Sonasoft Corp. (http://www.sonasoft.com) has announced the availability of its new version of SonaSafe for SQL Servers. This release contains features including pre-defined templates for backup, new user interface, improved manageability, enhanced replication and recovery capability. Sonasoft provides a high-availability solution, protecting data from hardware/software failures and human errors. SonaSafe application maintains the redundant, standby server by continually updating the data with that retrieved from the primary system. The standby system can take over instantly in the event of primary system failure. The standby system can be on-site, or located at a remote site for protection against natural or man-made disasters. Users can configure pre-defined templates to meet their data protection and disaster recovery needs. Once created, these templates can be used over and over again. One of the key requirements from customers is the ability to use a SQL database for reporting...

Truphone (http://www.truphone.com), a global mobile service provider, has added Truphone Anywhere functionality to its iPhone application, enabling users to make international calls across the Internet for as little as £0.03/$0.06 [UK/Rest of World] per minute even when they're not connected to the Internet. Inbound Truphone calling on the iPhone is also added for the first time, making it possible to enjoy free Truphone calls between two iPhones. Truphone Anywhere works in 33 countries around the world. Truphone Anywhere doesn't require a user to remember what to do. Whenever an international number is dialed from outside Wi-Fi, Truphone Anywhere simply asks whether he/she wants to make a Truphone call. The user simply accepts, and Truphone connects the call. The second new key feature -- inbound calling for Truphone on the iPhone -- works in all countries. Using the new "presence" feature, iPhone users can see which of their other Truphone-using contacts are online, including...

RE:Vision Effects (http://www.revisionfx.com) has released its DE:Noise plug-in set for Nuke, Fusion and Toxik. DE:Noise is a plug-in set that removes excessive noise and artifacts in one tool. It's compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 and up, Windows 32 and 64 bit (XP or Vista) and Linux 32 and 64 bit. It handles spurious frame-to-frame defects ranging from fine digital and electronic noise to blotchy spots (e.g., dirt on the film). DE:Noise combines proprietary motion estimation (optical flow) techniques with feature-sensitive, edge-preserving spatial filtering methods to reduce the visual impact of various problems such as: noisy video (that can happen with low-light capture), excessive film grain, prefiltering noisy greenscreens before keying, CG renders affected by ray-tracing sampling artifacts, dust captured during film scan/transfer and printing, snow, drop-outs and many other defects. Features of DE:Noise include: ° Pre-processing contrast controls to help enhance the noise for...

OpenZone (http://www.openzone.com/s/index.php) has announced PlusOffice Mac, new productivity software with the native support for the Mac. PlusOffice Mac will be available for purchase in January 2009 for Intel-based Macs. PlusOffice is an open source software, sharing the code with OpenOffice.org and offering Mac OS X users the same functionality. PlusOffice incorporates all OpenOffice.org applications: Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Base and Math, as well as other features including: PDF export and import, full support for Open Document Format (ODF) 1.2 and possibility to open documents in MS Office Open XML. PlusOffice Mac will be available with technical support and upgrades.

Chronos (http://www.chronosnet.com ) has released SOHO Labels 4, an upgrade to its label, envelope, and letterhead software for Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard"). This new version adds six new features and a free bonus. The new features are: ° One-click address formatting. You can change the address used on labels and envelopes on a contact-by-contact basis in Preview mode with one click; ° U.S. Postal FIM Support. You can print facing identification marks on envelopes to help orient and separate certain types of First-Class Mail. Support for FIM A, FIM B, FIM C, and FIM ° U.S. postal guidelines. Users can turn on U.S. postal guidelines to improve the deliverability of mail; ° A new Image Kit Browser for managing and searching artwork; ° Six new smart shapes for cropping photos; ° The new smart shapes for cropping photos; ° Multiple objects that can be resized together without being grouped. SOHO Labels 4 also includes Christmas a Hanukkah artwork as a bonus. SOHO Labels 4 is a US$19.99...

ATTO Technology (http://www.attotech.com), a provider of storage connectivity and infrastructure solutions for data-intensive computing environments, has announced the immediate availability of the ExpressSAS H608 and ExpressSAS H680, which the company says is the industry's only 6-GB/second SAS host adapters. Leveraging PCI Express 2.0 and 6-Gb/s SAS performance, the H608 and H680 deliver the fastest available connection to SAS/SATA storage (up to 8-GB/second full-duplex), powering data-intensive IT and digital media applications such as email compliance, tape backup, data warehousing, high-definition video post-production and digital film production, says Tim Klein, president and CEO of ATTO Technology. ATTO's next-generation ExpressSAS H608 and H680 offer native x8 PCIe 2.0 to 6-GB/second SAS connectivity ensuring compatibility with the latest in SAS and SATA technology. The ExpressSAS H608 offers eight internal lanes of connectivity, and the H680 offers eight external lanes of...

Tekkeon (http://www.tekkeon.com) has unveiled myPower for iPhone, a leather sleeve that purportedly doubles the iPhone battery life while protecting the iPhone from everyday wear and tear. A rechargeable, reliable and safe lithium polymer battery is hidden within the sleeve. What's more myPower also acts as a dock, enabling users to automatically sync and charge iPhone. It sports a capacity indicator that provides the power level in the battery. The battery can be charged via a computer, or USB power adapter. In the latter case the iPhone and myPower for iPhone can be charged simultaneously. myPower for iPhone includes an USB cable for connection to a computer or USB power adapter, and myGuardä screen protector for iPhone 3G. The manufacturer's suggested retail price is US$69.95. Pre-orders for this product are being accepted on the Tekkeon web site, and will begin shipping on Dec. 15.

iPresentee (http://www.ipresentee.com/), a developer of add-ons for Apple's iWork and iLife applications, has released free Christmas Mail Stationery templates to be used with Apple's Mail software. The new Mail Stationery package includes 10 templates: Santa Claus Letter, New Year's Day, Christmas Wreath, Merry Christmas, Gift, Snowman, Christmas Letter, Christmas Socks, Santa Claus and Christmas Tree. Creating an e-mail with Christmas Mail Stationery templates is exactly the same as creating an e-mail using the usual Mail Stationery templates. New Mail Stationery templates comes with an installer to make sure the templates end up in the right place and would be displayed in Apple Mail New Message Stationery menu automatically. Christmas Mail Stationery templates are offered free of charge and requires any Mac running Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard") and Leopard Mail.

Griptonite Games has announced the "Hall of Stein," the official winner's board for Ben Stein: It's Trivial, the trivia game currently available for the iPhone and iPod touch. To celebrate the launch, the first 100 players that successfully complete the game and steal Ben Stein's mansion will receive a diploma personally signed by Stein. And one winner will have the opportunity to play the game live against Stein himself. Here's how the game is described: "Ben Stein: It's Trivial features fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek gameplay and over 1200 ranked trivia questions. Alongside simian cohort Cheex the Monkey, players are up against the Master of Trivia himself to win points and prizes from Ben Stein's Estate." Players who complete the game can submit screenshots online at http://www.bensteinitstrivial.com. The first 100 players to do so will be inducted into the Hall of Stein, and will be mailed an official certificate commemorating the achievement. Of the first 100 submissions, one...

Zevrix Solutions has released BatchOutput DOC 2, which provides solutions for demanding enterprise and office publishing environments through automation of printing and PDF output. With BatchOutput DOC, users only need to select the files they wish to output and adjust the settings, and BatchOutput will do the rest automatically. It can run in the background, so users can output large jobs without monopolizing a workstation. The new version introduces the solutions designed to automate, simplify and streamline the direct PDF output from Microsoft Word: the abilityt to split multi-page Word documents into single page PDF files; the ability to assign variable output file names that can include page number, user name, date and other value; the ability to reduce PDF file size and optimize documents for various purposes; the ability to apply the Mac OS X Quartz Filters; the ability to encrypt and password protect PDF documents using various levels of security; and the ability to define...

TuneWear (http://www.tunewear.com) has announced new iPod products. The PRIE Slim for the iPod nano 4G (shown) is a US$24.95 nappa leather carrying case for iPod nano 4G. It provides protection for the device against dirt and scratches and comes with a TuneFilm screen protector. The company has also released the PRIE Ambassador for iPod nano 4G, a new line of genuine leather cases that let you carry the device in a variety of ways. You can use the hook to attach the PRIE Ambassador to a belt loop or strap. You can remove the hook for a slimmer case profile and easily slip it into your pocket or bag. You can attach your own lanyard or wrist strap (not included) and hang PRIE Ambassador around your neck or loop it around your wrist.The suggested retail price is $39.95. TuneWear is also shipping the $24.99 TuneMax Car Charger. It charges all of your electronic devices including iPhones, iPods, mobile phones, handheld game consoles and PDAs. To use you insert the TuneMax into a 12V outlet...

WinMagic has launched SecureDoc for Mac. It lets you deploy enterprise-class full-disk encryption throughout an organization to protect all data stored on Mac systems running Mac OS X 10.4.x and 10.5.x SecureDoc for Mac provides transparent, "always-on'" full-disk encryption to users with Mac desktops and laptops, according to Thi Nguyen-Huu, CEO of WinMagic.. SecureDoc for Mac also supports removable media encryption as well as hardware-based encryption. SecureDoc is fully scalable and has had consistent success in government agencies and commercial enterprises of every type worldwide, Nguyen-Huu says. Features include: "government-grade" AES 256 true full-disk encryption; pre-boot authentication; a SecureDoc Enterprise Server central admin console; centralized management and reporting consolidated across Mac and other endpoints; and support for the encryption of external USB drives Nguyen-Huu says that SecureDoc for Mac is also the industry's first solution to support and manage...

Both Fire Eagle and BOSS join SemantiNet's support for Yahoo! properties such as Flickr, Upcoming and Delicious. Through headup, users can now experience a new method for experiencing many of Yahoo!'s technology advances, as well as the power of Semantic Web technology in a single solution, says Tal Keinan, CEO of SemantiNet. Fire Eagle is a Yahoo!-owned service that acts as a "clearinghouse" for a user's physical location information. Other services and applications can update or access this information via the Fire Eagle API (application programming interface), having first obtained the user's permission. SemantiNet's headup is considered by Yahoo! to be an example for Fire Eagle integration, Keinan says BOSS is Yahoo!'s open search web services platform. Developers, start- ups, and large Internet companies can use BOSS to build and launch web-scale search products that utilize the Yahoo! Search infrastructure. headup is a new plugin for the Mozilla Firefox Web browser that enables...

The Sound Guy has released SFX Machine Pro for RTAS. It's a multi-effects and sound design tool and is now available in RTAS format for Digidesign's Pro Tools systems. SFX Machine Pro for RTAS provides access to hundreds of audio effect. Features include: a modular synthesis preset editor; host tempo sync; MIDI automation; a Randomize function; an output limiter and over 300 effects. The SFX Machine family of plug-ins is streamlined for use in audio production environments. In addition to providing a collection of effects, all of which can be modified, SFX Machine Pro for RTAS lets you create your own effects from scratch and also serves as a "Swiss Army knife" of audio utilities. SFX Machine Pro for RTAS is available from http://www.sfxmachine.com/pro_rtas/index.html; the cost is US$199.95. It requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later and is Universal Binary so runs natively on both PowerPC and Intel Macs.

Axiotron Unveils Updated Modbook Improved Hardware and Enhanced Pen Tablet Responsiveness Are Among the Modbook's Many New Features El SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA (December 4, 2008) -- High-tech hardware manufacturer Axiotron today introduced significant improvements and enhancements to the Modbook, its award-winning tablet Mac solution. Praised as "an impressive feat of engineering" by CNET and as "cleverly designed" by USA Today, the Modbook lets users draw and write directly on the screen by seamlessly integrating Axiotron's technology with a Wacom Penabled digitizer and an Apple MacBook computer. The new Modbook ((http://www.axiotron.com/modbook)http://www.axiotron.com/modbook) features a collection of hardware and software changes impacting almost every aspect of the device. Axiotron has upgraded the Modbook's hardware controller board for improved sleep, battery and system performance. In addition, specially designed radio frequency (RF) shielding boosts the digitizer's responsiveness,...

Contexture Design has refreshed its line of iPod accessories with the release of their latest cases made from reclaimed audiocassettes. Originally launched in 2007 to fit first and second-generation nanos, the cases known as 45 nano have been updated to fit the fourth generation iPod nano. 45 nano follows Contexture's sold-out limited-edition iPod cases know as 45, named after the typical playing speed of the seven-inch records from which they were custom-made. One side of the cassette-cases has been hollowed out to fit fourth generation iPod nanos, shielded by a clear plastic window that includes openings for access to the music player's controls, headphone jack and charging dock. The cases' flipside has been retained and looks like a "vintage" cassette. For added cushioning, the cassette-cases include foam padding and come enclosed in their original, clear plastic cases. According to Contexture's philosophy of using recycled and repurposed materials, 45nano -- which costs US$45 --...

Neotrope, an entertainment publishing company, has announced a free news feed plug-in for WordPress, the blog and CMS application. The plug-in allows a business site, content portal, or blogger running WordPress to ntegrate custom news content by topics like business, computing, entertainment, medical, or travel; and micro-topics like books, or music. News content is powered by Send2Press Newswire, a U.S. based news service. For more information on the WP plug-in and other free news feed options -- including JavaScript snippets or RSS full-text feeds, visit: http://feeds.send2press.com To download the free WordPress plug-in, visit the WP Plugins Directory at (compatible with WP 2.3.3 or higher): http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/send2press/

LightWork Design (http://www.lightworkdesign.com), a supplier of rendering solutions for developers of 3D computer graphics software, will be exhibiting at this year's inaugural SIGGRAPH Asia Computer Graphics Exhibition in Singapore from Dec. 11-13. LightWorks will launch the latest version of their Studio Edition, 2.0. LightWorks Studio Edition, or SE, brings the latest LightWorks functionality such as Ambient Occlusion and Complex Reflectance Shaders to the SE product suite. LightWorks SE will be used in a client/server environment, to demonstrate the benefits of off loading the rendering process. Data from SE can be passed to either local or remote network machines, and the result streamed progressively or in a prescribed image format (such as bitmap or JPEG) back to the client, freeing up local resources. Progressive Rendering, available for both LightWorks and LightWorks SE customers, will be announced and presented ahead of its general release in early 2009. Progressive...

Opera Software is introducing the first look at Opera 10, the next generation of its web browser. An alpha version of Opera 10 is now available at http://www.opera.com/browser/next/ This release gives people a taste of Opera's new rendering engine, Opera Presto 2.2 -- the foundation of all future Opera 10 products. Opera Presto 2.2 offers approximately a 30 percent faster browsing experience as compared to Opera Presto 2.1, introduced in Opera 9.5 in June, according to the folks at Opera Software. Opera has fine-tuned its standards support and, as a result, Opera 10 alpha achieves an Acid3 100/100 Test score. This version also provides Web developers with a whole range of new technologies for building better Web sites. Other new features in Opera 10 alpha include spell checking as you type, as well as auto-updating to the latest versions as they become available. Opera Mail also has added support for HTML formatting of e-mails.

Recosoft Corp., the developer of the PDF2Office family of products, has announced PDF2ID Standard 2.0 and PDF2ID Professional 2.0. The company will be shipping them for both the Macintosh and Windows platforms in January. In addition to more than 200-plus new features and enhancements, PDF2ID 2.0 integrates and supports InDesign CS4. PDF2ID is the a PDF converter available for InDesign and offers a direct, transparent process for PDF document data retrieval and reuse within InDesign. Some of the new features of version 2.0 are: ° A logical text frames linking mechanism has been introduced that automatically links text frames that are deemed connected, allowing text to flow from one frame to another. ° PDF2ID 2.0 now recognizes and applies properties such as Drop Caps, Drop Shadows and demarcates paragraphs in Table cells. ° PDF2ID 2.0 remembers and stores all font substitutions into a Typeface library, eliminating the process of repeatedly specifying font substitutions. The mappings...

Markzware (http://www.markzware.com) has released an upgrade to its conversion tool Q2ID (QuarkXPress To InDesign). Q2ID v4 is created as a method for migrating QuarkXPress content into a new Adobe InDesign document. This new version boasts full plug-in support for Adobe InDesign CS3 and CS4 and converts QuarkXPress versions 3.3 through 8. Q2ID v4 enables the details of content in a QuarkXPress document to be quickly re-created in InDesign. This conversion technology will save you countless hours of scanning, re-keying and formatting, says Mary Gay Marchese of Markzware. Q2ID converts and transforms files created with QuarkXPress on either Mac or Windows systems, into an Adobe InDesign file, which can then be opened on either platform. Markzware's Q2ID v4 for $199; the upgrade is $99 for users of Q2ID v2 or v3.

Truphone for iPod touch (http://www.truphone.com/) is new software that effectively turns the iPod touch into a mobile phone. It uses the device's Wi-Fi connection to carry calls over the Internet to its destination. There's no monthly line rental, no subscription or other hidden charges. Not only is the software free, but calls made using Truphone's application for the iPod touch are also free. Once installed, and with the addition of a microphone adaptor (the Truphone microphone adaptor will be available soon), iPod touch owners can make free calls to other iPod touch owners, to customers of Truphone's Internet telephony service and to users of Google Talk instant messaging service. The following features are purportedly coming soon: ° Calling to landlines (PSTN) at low cost (simply set yourself up with a Truphone account); ° Instant messaging to Skype and MSN (free); ° Calling to Skype users (free); ° Calling to MSN users (free); ° Check and set facilities for Twitter (free); °...

TrueShip (http://www.trueship.com) has released ReadyShipper 4 Mac, the first FedEx ready shipping software for Mac OS X. Based on the company's ReadyShipper software, ReadyShipper 4 Mac is designed for businesses who use FedEx for shipping. ReadyShipper brings integrated shipping for ecommerce, order management and accounting systems. It's a client-based solution designed to import, organize and ship order. Its design and workflow expedites the shipping process and eliminates errors associated with manually sorting shipping documents and re-keying address information, according to the folks at TrueShip. ReadyShipper 4 Mac features a native Mac interface that lets you create labels, make packing lists and email tracking confirmations use the Order Inspector and batch shipping capabilities. The software includes an assistant designed to identify common shipping mistakes before they happen and a database for high-capacity shipping. ReadyShipper is offered as a subscription-based...

callas pdfToolbox Server 4 is now available for download from the callas software web site (http://www.callassoftware.com). It's based on one technology platform and is designed to offer an easy way to automate the PDF workflow by allowing several actions to a PDF in one run. All new features found in the pdfToolbox 4 plug-in, extensive PDF correction, page manipulation, preparing PDF presentation or imposition, can now be done fully automatically. pdfToolbox Server 4 costs EUR3.999. Upgrades from previous versions are EUR1.499. In conjunction with the release of pdfToolbox Server callas software has also updated its plug-in, callas pdfToolbox 4. This new version provides specific enhancements with regards to metadata. This allows to explore and export the XMP information that is embedded in the PDF file to a fully configurable report in XML or tab delimited format. callas pdfToolbox 4 is available at EUR499. Owners of a pdfToolbox 3 license are entitled to a free upgrade. Upgrades...