Sonnet Technologies (http://www.sonnettech.com) has introduced the latest addition to its Fusion line of RAID storage systems: the D800P2. The D800P2 is a mid-level, software-configured RAID storage system containing eight hard drives, which can be formatted in RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 10 sets, or JBOD (individual drives) for individual projects or daily backups. The unit's dual port multipliers offer high-performance data transfers of up to 390 MB/second write, 475 MB/second read. The D800P2 is designed for use with the Sonnet Tempo SATA E4P, Tempo SATA X4P, and Tempo SATA Pro ExpressCard/34 SATA controller cards for Mac and Windows PCs to support multiple streams of ProRes HD video. An economical solution, the D800P2 enables Sonnet's customers to choose a system preconfigured with RAID/Enterprise edition or select Sonnet-certified desktop hard drive modules in 4TB to 16TB capacities, or without drives. Simple to deploy, the D800P2 includes two 2-meter locking eSATA data cables to...

According to the "Mobile & Social Media Study: Physicians’ Views of Emerging Technology" report from SDI (http://www.sdihealth.com) -- a healthcare analytics organization -- approximately 30% of physicians access medical information using a handheld device or smartphone. The most popular handheld device or smartphone is the iPhone, with 31% of respondents owning one. Not surprisingly, 95% of physicians who use handheld devices/smartphones download applications to access medical information. The most popular application reported is Epocrates, followed by Medscape and Skyscape. The majority of handheld device/smartphone users also access medical information utilizing desktop and laptop computers. However, the type of medical information physicians seek differs greatly by device. When using a handheld device or smartphone, physicians are most likely to access information about drugs, drug interactions, and prescribing. When using a computer, physicians are more likely to seek...

SkypeCap has updated SkypeCap for Mac (http://www.skypecap.com/SkypeCap_for_Mac/), their Skype audio session recorder for Mac OS X , to version 3.7. It's a maintenance update that fixes some bugs. SkypeCap for Mac allows you to record audio conversation from Skype to audio mp4 file. It fully integrates the process into the Mac experience by allowing human interaction during recording. You can save your Skype sessions so that you could hear them again later or share them with someone else. You can use SkypeCap to record Skype Casts, teleconference calls, meetings, training sessions, announcements, interviews, group brainstorming sessions, telephone and cellular phone calls and more. SkypeCap costs US$49.95 and requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher. Version 3.7 is a free update for registered users of version 3.x.

BeeSoft (http://www.beesoft.net) has updated ProTA and ProTA Gold, stock market charting and technical analysis software for Mac OS X, to version 3.2.3. The upgrade offers compatibility with the February 2010 changes to options symbology as set forth by the Options Clearing Corporation. For new users ProTA 3.2.3 is US$129, and ProTA Gold 3.2 is $299. Discounts are currently available for registered owners of the previous, Classic versions. Both programs can be evaluated in a free, fully-functional trial mode, but the database is limited to the Dow 30 stocks plus Apple, Inc. and the S&P 500 Index. ProTA software is compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 or higher. Version 3.2.3 is a free update for registered users.

Apple ranks fourth on the list of the top UK ecommerce shops in terms of visits. Amazon UK tops the list, followed by Argos and Play.com, according to the latest research from IMRG and Hitwise. Rounding out the top 10 are Amazon US, Tesco, Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, Next and easyjet. Nine of the November 2009 top 10 brands (including Apple) are still in the top 10. Six of the top 10 have physical stores, the same as last quarter.  "This new Hot Shops List (http://www.netimperative.com/news/2010/march/top-50-online-retailers-in-...) records retail traffic when online sales were growing at their lowest rate since records began, a decade ago," says IMRG CEO James Roper,. "The current recession began in December 2007 according the National Bureau of Economic Research (the official arbiter of recessions) so it is interesting to note how HSL rankings compare with the period prior to the economic collapse."

Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek told clients in a report on Monday that a manufacturing bottleneck could limit supplies or push the launch to April. However, Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry) -- which makes iPhones and iPods for Apple -- says everything is still on track. Foxconn's component suppliers tells DigiTimes (http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20100303PD227.html) that their supplies are on schedule and Foxconn should be able to ship 600,000-700,000 iPads in March and one million units in April. As for whether Apple will delay the launch of iPad, the sources believe plans are unlikely to change.

Western Digital (http://www.wdc.com) is shipping its first consumer-oriented solid state drive (SSD) with the new WD SiliconEdge 2.5-inch SSD family. The company has also introduced WD SiliconDrive N1x 2.5-inch SSD family. WD SiliconEdge Blue SSDs are available in capacities up to 256GB, feature a native SATA 3.0 gigabits per second (Gb/s) interface with read speeds up to 250MB per second (MB/second) and write transfer rates up to 170 MB/second. F WD SiliconEdge Blue SSDs are available through select distributors and resellers. The manufacturers suggested retail price for WD SiliconEdge Blue SSD 64GB capacity is US$279, the 128GB capacity is $529, and the 256GB capacity is $999. The WD SiliconDrive family is designed for embedded system OEM (original equipment manufacturer) applications and are single-level cell (SLC)-based systems. The products feature a native SATA 3.0 gigabits per second (Gb/second) interface with target read speeds up to 240MB per second (MB/s) and write transfer...

Apple has posted a job opening (http://jobs.apple.com/index.ajs?BID=1&method=mExternal.showJob&RID=48043f) for an iPhone Advertising SDK Manager. The company says "this will involve managing a talented team of developers working on the frameworks included in the iPhone SDK" (software developer kit). "The ideal candidate will be responsible for the day to day management of the engineering, as well as related frameworks," according to the job posting. "He or she will spend much of their time interacting with the engineering team, program managers, other engineering teams, and executives. We need someone who is comfortable working in a fast paced environment with rapidly changing priorities."

Volitans Software has updated SMART Utility (http://www.volitans-software.com/SMART%20Utility.html), a hard drive status monitoring application that's compatible with Mac OS X 10.4.x, to version 2.2. The upgrade adds support for saving and opening drive reports in native format and support for printing SMART reports. SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) is a system built into hard drives by their manufacturers to report on various measurements(called attributes) of a hard drive's operation. The attributes can be used to detect when a hard drive is having mechanical or electrical problems, and can indicate when the hard drive is failing. The SMART Utility can read and display these attributes. This allows time to hopefully backup, and then replace the drive, according to the folks at Volitans Software. SMART Utility costs US$25 a personal license and $40 for a family license. SMART Utility is Universal Binary so runs natively on both PowerPC and Intel Macs....

Managing Editor Inc. (MEI), an Adobe premier development partner and a provider of software solutions for the publishing industry, has released InPorter 2.0. The latest version of MEI’s versatile add-on module for the vjoon K4 Publishing System includes support for reading XMP content embedded in files being “InPorted” into the workflow. InPorter is a server-side utility that streamlines and automates the process of moving content into K4, an editorial solution integrating Adobe InDesign and Adobe InCopy. InPorter handles any kind of object that can be managed in the K4 system, including InCopy articles, InDesign layouts, photos, ads, multimedia and more. When content arrives in a watched folder, InPorter automatically checks it into the K4 database, applying the default metadata defined for that content type, or using custom metadata read from an XML-based job ticket or, with Version 2.0, from embedded XMP. The content is immediately ready to proceed through its normal K4 workflow....

When it comes to mobile advertising, the iPhone OS was most dominant in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong with 93%, 84% and 76%, respectively, of ad requests in December 2009, according to AdMob (http://metrics.admob.com). These three countries are responsible for 69% of the region's total iPhone traffic. The Symbian OS lost 39%, 29% and 16% of ad requests in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, respectively. AdMob stores and analyzes handset and operator data from every ad request in its network of more than 15,000 mobile web sites and applications to optimize ad serving. Each month, the AdMob Mobile Metrics Report aggregates this data to provide insights into major trends in the mobile ecosystem.

Starting March 1, Microsoft began offering a browser ballot screen (http://www.browserchoice.eu/BrowserChoice/browserchoice_en.htm) to Windows users all over Europe. The ballot screen (also called the Choice Screen), which will be provided via a Windows Update, will contain the top 12 browsers including Safari, Opera, Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer. It will have users pick a browser that they would like to use on their computer. This initiative was mandated by an agreement Microsoft reached last year with antitrust regulators in the European Commission. This was after Opera made the initial complaint to the Commission in December 2007 stating that Microsoft was engaging in anti-competitive practices by bundling IE with Windows.

Seapine Software (http://www.seapine.com), a provider of application lifecycle management (ALM) solutions, has released TestTrack 2010.1 The upgrade of the Mac OS X compatible software includes a number of new capabilities to support Agile development. Key features enable development teams to better collaborate, improve productivity, shorten release cycles, and deliver higher-quality software product, according to the folks at Seapine. TestTrack 2010.1 offers a process-agnostic approach to development. It also supports user acceptance testing and helps teams define doneness criteria for stories. TestTrack 2010 is available immediately for evaluation at Seapine Software’s web site. For more info on purchasing TestTrack Pro, TestTrack TCM, and TestTrack RM, contact Seapine Software sales.

Another day, another lawsuit. Apple has filed a lawsuit against HTC for infringing on 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture and hardware. The lawsuit was filed concurrently with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and in U.S. District Court in Delaware. "We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it," says Apple CEO Steve Jobs. "We've decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours." HTC (http://www.htc.com) was founded in 1997 by Cher Wang, chairwoman, HT Cho, director of the Board & Chairman of HTC Foundation, and Peter Chou, president and CEO. It makes such smartphones as the Android and Touch Pro2.

CalDigit (http://www.caldigit.com) has unveiled the HDPro2, the next generation of the HDPro. The HDPro2 has all the features of the original HDPro, but with nearly double the speed, over 700MB/second sustained with RAID 5 protection. The HDPro2 also adds support for 8 SATA-II 3Gbs or 10000~15000RPM SAS drive modules. It features a next generation Intel XScale processor to accelerate the RAID engine. The HDPro2 also has a new environmental monitor and control system that communicates with RAID Shield, CalDigit’s RAID management and monitoring software. The HDPro2 provides hardware RAID 0, 1, 5, 6 and JBOD support. It features Active Sustained Transfer Technology (ASTT). Its modular design allows for eight hot swappable drive modules in various capacities. It features an optional hot swappable load bearing power supply, two hot swappable ambient temperature controlled, and low noise smart fans. Even the built-in controller is removable/upgradeable. The HDPro2 is made of lightweight...

Yazsoft has introduced Playback Media Server 1.5 (http://www.yazsoft.com/products/playback/information/), an update of their zero configuration media server for Mac OS X 10.5 and higher. The update offers built-in HD MKV support for the Playstation 3 and Xbox. Playback can share media stored in folders or even make entire disks available to a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360. No configuration is required. By default, it will share almost any content on the users system. And Playback automatically integrates with iTunes, iPhoto, and Aperture. Users can share all content from these applications transparently or choose specific playlists and albums. Those who like to tinker will appreciate Playback's built-in Access Control List (ACL) and bandwidth throttling. The ACL allows users to control which devices have access to their media. Bandwidth throttling limits the transfer rate from the computer to their UPnP device. This allows others on the network to do other Internet related activities,...

Former Apple exec, Pablo Calamera, has been appointed to the newly-created role of chief technology officer for Thumbplay, a mobile entertainment company. At Apple he oversaw technology development for MobileMe. As of March 8, Calamera will be based in New York, reporting to Evan Schwartz, Thumbplay CEO and co-founder. Calamera brings with him more than 25 years of experience in computer, mobile, set-top box and cloud-computing. This includes a total of 10 years at Apple, six years at Danger (acquired by Microsoft) and two with WebTV (also acquired by Microsoft).   Calamera will have oversight of all technology initiatives for the company, including its recently launched Thumbplay Music. Thumbplay Music is a cloud-based service that provides unlimited, on-demand access to millions of songs and is now offered in the U.S. in Private Beta by invitation-only (http://music.thumbplay.com).    Calamera most recently served as director of Apple's MobileMe, Apple's US$99-per-year, subscription...

CS Odessa has released a beta version of its mind mapping tool (http://www.conceptdraw.com/en/mindwave) for Google Wave. This is a no-charge add-in to Google Wave that can be used as part of Google Wave to map out a strategy or brainstorm on a critical topic. The ConceptDraw MindWave for Google Wave tool allows teams to collaborate on a mind map in an interactive flowing manner building a map structure that represents the planned work. The map add-in supports Google Wave playback that allows one to step back through a map. Once a mind map is has the contents from the interactive session the mind map file can then be downloaded to one’s desktop to be further developed using ConceptDraw MindMap for Ma OS X or Windows. Just remember: beta software is unfinished software. So use with care.

Divine Fiat has released The Complete Set (http://www.divinefiat.com/index.php?id=2), their entire collection of themes for Apple's Keynote. Keynote is the presentation component of Apple's US$79 iWork Suite. All 14 themes are now available for US$130 -- 60% off the individual theme set price. Every theme comes in both standard and widescreen formats. Each theme also includes extras such as fully customizable icon objects, custom texture and color palates and video tutorials. The Complete Set requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later and Keynote 5.0 or higher.

Native Instruments has announced Alicia's Keys (www.native-instruments.com/aliciaskeys.info), software that recreates Alicia Keys' personal grand piano. Developed in close collaboration with the Grammy-winning artist, the software is used as the primary instrument on her new album and on the current world tour. Designed as a comprehensive digital recreation of Key's own custom Yamaha "C3 Neo" grand piano, and based on Native Instruments' Kontakt 4 sampler platform, Alicia's Keys provides a piano sound designed to accommodate R&B, soul and pop styles. The instrument was recorded in Alicia's personal studio by her engineer Ann Mincieli and sampling expert Thomas Scarbee over the course of two years. Alicia's Keys utilizes 17GB of high-resolution samples with 12 discrete velocity layers per note, and emulation of crucial sonic aspects like key release, sustain pedal functionality and sympathetic resonance. The user interface of the software gives e control over the sound to further...

NetGear (http://www.netgear.com) has announced two new networking accessories for home theaters, as well as new networking accessories and NAS products. The High-Performance Wireless-N HD Home Theater Kit (pictured) is a carrier-grade solution for wirelessly playing multiple jitter-free 1080p HD video and audio streams to every room in the house. The Universal WiFi Internet Adapter for Home Theater Devices and Gaming Consoles delivers Wireless-N performance of up to 300 Mbps through the Ethernet port of consumer electronic (CE) devices such as Internet TVs, game consoles, Blu-ray players and more. The Universal WiFi Internet Adapter for Home Theater Devices and Gaming Consoles (WNCE2001) will be available in May at a manufacturer's suggested retail price of US$79. The High-Performance Wireless-N HD Home Theater Kit will be available in third quarter of the year with pricing for the kit and for single adapters to be announced at the time of market availability. NetGear has also...

Plextor (http://www.plextor.com), a developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment,has released its first line of solid-state drives (SSDs) – the PX-64M1S (64GB) and the PX-128M1S (128GB). They use non-volatile NAND Flash memory as the storage medium. Utilizing Marvell controller chipsets, the new SSDs deliver faster speeds for system boot-up, application launch and file transfer, lower power consumption and longer battery life, among other benefits, according to Esteban Kim, director of New Business Development at PLDS. Both the PX-64M1S and the PX-128M1S feature 2.5-inch small form factors and an integrated SATA II interface.The PX-64M1S delivers up to 110MB/second sequential read, 65MB/second in sequential write, and up to 4,200 random read IOPS and 1,200 random write IOPS. The PX-128M1S delivers up to 130MB/second sequential read, 70MB/second sequential write, and up to 4,300 random read IOPS and 1,800 random write IOPS. Both drives offer low power...

WD (http://www.wdc.com) has introduced its new My Passport Studio portable drives featuring FireWire 800 interface and a customizable e-label that's always visible, even when the drive is unplugged. 
The drives are formatted for Macs, compatible with Apple's TimeMachine software, and feature automatic and continuous backup with WD SmartWare software, and 256-bit hardware-based encryption. Available now at select retailers and shopwd.com, the new My Passport Studio drives are offered in capacities of 320 GB, 500 GB and 640 GB with prices ranging from US$149.99 to $199.99. The e-label smart display on the front of the My Passport drives can be changed as often as desired using the included WD SmartWare software. Users can y create a label to personalize their drive or remind themselves of its contents. The e-label also shows available capacity and whether the drive is locked. Utilizing e-paper technology, the information on the display remains clearly visible, even when the drive is...

Say it ain't so, Steve. I need an iPad RIGHT NOW, but I can (maybe) wait until the end of March. However, an analyst is speculating that the release may be delayed a month. When it was unveiled by Apple, it was announced that the iPad will be available in late March worldwide for a suggested retail price of US$499 for the 16GB model, $599 for the 32GB model, $699 for the 64GB model. The Wi-Fi + 3G models of iPad will be available in April in the US and selected countries for a suggested retail price of $629 for the 16GB model, $729 for the 32GB model and $829 for the 64GB model. However, Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek told clients in a report -- as noted by "Fortune" (http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/03/01/ipad-might-be-del...) -- that a manufacturing bottleneck could limit supplies or push the launch to April. On the bright side, he doesn't expect the delay to materially affect iPad sales for fiscal 2010 or 2011, which he had pegged for 1.2 million and 3.5...