Infovox iVox 4.0 adds 31 new TTS voices for your Mac
AssistiveWare and Acapela Group have released Infovox iVox 4.0, which brings to Mac OS X a total of 31 new text-to-speech voices.
These include the first ever genuine, natural-sounding bilingual American Spanish-English children's voices, a male bilingual American Spanish-English voice, 16 expressive voices to speak with more emotion, four new specialty voices, a new Polish voice and our first Japanese, Korean and Chinese voices. The text-to-speech voices are based on recordings by real children speaking in their natural language.
Infovox iVox now provides a total of 107 voices in 31 languages to Mac OS X. Voices can be purchased a la carte and cost 15 Euro per voice per computer. A 30-day full-function trial of each voice can be downloaded from within the Infovox iVox Voice Manager.
Infovox iVox 4.0 is a free update for existing customers. For more info go to http://tinyurl.com/k6ydg7d .
VOX 2 for Mac OS X gets new interface
Coppertino has updated VOX, its free Mac OS X audio player, to version 2.0. It now sports a redesigned smart interface that displays album art and tucks away controls until they're needed.
Additionally, VOX 2.0 now features gapless playback that eliminates pauses between audio tracks. There's also smarter searching across all devices and file locations and improved multi-device support via the Audio MIDI. For more info go to http://www.coppertino.com .
ChronoSync, ChronoAgent get updated
Econ Technologies has revved ChronoSync to version 4.4.4 and ChronoAgent to version 1.4.5. These updates include several fixes to ChronoSync and ChronoAgent.
ChronoSync is the automated synchronization and backup application for Mac OS X that can synchronize, backup, and create bootable backups. It's designed to work on Mac OS X 10.6 and higher. Full working trial versions are available online; registration is US$40.
ChronoAgent runs on a Mac and provides a direct connection to ChronoSync on another Mac or InterConneX on an iPhone or iPad. ChronoAgent for Mac runs on Macintosh computers and is designed to work on Mac OS X 10.5 and higher. Full working trial versions are available online; registration is $10.
InterConneX brings file sharing and file management to the iPhone and iPad. You can share files between any iOS device running InterConneX, access files from a Mac running ChronoAgent, or synchronize files from a Mac running ChronoSync. InterConneX for the iPhone and iPad will...
Output Factory for InDesign improves alternate layouts output
Zevrix Solutions (http://www.zevrix.com) has announced Output Factory 1.4.21, a maintenance update to its professional solution to automate output from Adobe InDesign.
Output Factory automates printing, exporting and post-processing from InDesign and offers batch output, variable file names, layer versioning, preflighting, detailed history and more. The new version lets users output specific alternate layouts and export them as single pages by including layout names directly in page range string.
Output Factory supports printing as well as exporting to PDF, PostScript, EPS, Flash, INX, IDML, EPUB, INDD and several image formats. It costs US$159.95.
Photo Recovery for Mac gets new interface
AppleXsoft (http://www.applexsoft.com) has released version 5.0.8,0 of Photo Recovery for Mac, an app for recovering photos, videos or other files from digital cameras, memory card, and other storage devices.
The most important improvement of the new update version is the new interface, which sports a redesigned step-by-step wizard. The enhanced data recovery wizard guides users through the search and restoration process.
A free trial version can be downloaded from the AppleXsoft web site; registration is US$49.95. AppleXsoft Photo Recovery for Mac 5.0.8.0 is compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 and higher.
Apple retail stores generate $7 billion last quarter
Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's chief technical offer, in discussing Apple's financial results for its fiscal 2014 first quarter that ended Dec. 28, 2013, said revenue was up 9% from the year-ago quarter to US$7 billion, thanks to record iPhone and iPad sales and strong Mac sales.
Apple remodeled six stores and opened four new ones. Apple now has 420 brick-and-mortar stores.
With an average of 418 stores, $16.7 million average revenue per store. There were almost 21,000 visitors per store per week last quarter, Oppenheimer said.
Apple reports record quarterly revenue
Apple has announced financial results for its fiscal 2014 first quarter that ended Dec. 28, 2013. The company posted record quarterly revenue of US$57.6 billion and quarterly net profit of $13.1 billion, or $14.50 per diluted share.
These results compare to revenue of $54.5 billion and net profit of $13.1 billion, or $13.81 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 37.9% compared to 38.6% in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 63% of the quarter’s revenue.
The company sold 51 million iPhones, an all-time quarterly record, compared to 47.8 million in the year-ago quarter. Apple also sold 26 million iPads during the quarter, also an all-time quarterly record, compared to 22.9 million in the year-ago quarter. The company sold 4.8 million Macs, compared to 4.1 million in the year-ago quarter.
Apple’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $3.05 per share of the company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on Feb. 13, 2014, to...
Priority Matrix adds new 'Tags' feature
Appfluence has revved Priority Matrix to version 2.3, adding a new feature for project management called "Tags." The feature is designed to give project managers visibility across all their responsibilities and projects.
Combined with Priority Matrix's Master List, project managers can zoom in and out of responsibilities to get important things done, according to the folks at Appfluence. The software is available for Mac OS X, Windows and iOS.
On the Mac it requires Mac OS X 10.7 or higher. It's available under a personal or business license. Go to http://www.appfluence.com/?pr_mac for more info .
Rasty Pelican flies to Mac OS X
baKno Games has introduced Rasty Pelican 1.0.1 for Mac OS X. In the game, players control Rasty the Pelican by flying and swimming around the Caribbean sea.
In addition to avoiding different obstacles like fishing boats and palm tree islands, Rasty must avoid natural dangers like sharks and whales while maintaining his energy and oxygen levels. Collecting as many coins as possible, players can help Rasty restore his energy with by capturing fish.
Rasty Pelican requires MacOS X 10.6.6 or later. It costs US$4.99 (USD) and available worldwide through the baKno website and the Mac App Store in the Games category. A free trial version is available from the baKno website (http://www.bakno.com).
Synalyze It! Pro for Mac OS X revved to version 1.7
Synalysis (http://www.synalysis.net) has released Synalyze It! Pro 1.7, an update to their hex editor for Mac OS X 10.5 and later.
Synalyze It! Pro allows users to edit and analyze binary files of any size. Featuring enhanced support for many character encodings, Synalyze It! Pro allows users to interactively define grammars for various file formats. Used as a modeling tool, Synalyze It! Pro can be useful for users to modify saved games or other unknown binary file formats and actively supports reverse engineering.
Version 1.7 contains several new features and fixes to the grammar directory and toolbar. Installed grammars are displayed now in the toolbar, results of custom elements are read-only, and the grammar window has been resized for smaller screens. The update also allows pascal strings to have size 0, includes a debugLog ("text") method, and has addressed 10.9 related issues.
For a limited time, Synalyze It! Pro 1.7 is US$29.99 and available worldwide through the Mac App...
Syncro Soft announces new version of Oxygen XML Editor
Syncro Soft, the developer of the Oxygen XML suite of products, has announced the availability of version 15.2 of its Oxygen XML Editor, Oxygen XML Author and Oxygen XML Developer products containing a set of tools supporting all the XML related technologies.
Version 15.2 of oXygen XML Editor improves the support for developing Schematron schemas by adding intelligent search and refactoring actions, working with modules by providing in-context editing and validation, hierarchy/dependencies views, improved error reporting and more. You can experiment with the new XML Schema 1.1 recommendation as oXygen handles the attributes that specify the minimum and maximum XML Schema version directly within the schema document, according to the folks at Syncro Software.
Oxygen 15.2 can be freely evaluated for 30 days; a demo is available at http://tinyurl.com/34bhvw. Oxygen XML Editor is available in three editions. Go to http://tinyurl.com/d6c2d for more info.
LogTen Pro 6.5 for Mac, iPhone and iPad with iCloud Sync launched
LogTen Pro 6.5, the latest update for Coradine's electronic pilot logbook software, includes over 200 new features, fixes and performance improvements alongside the major addition of free iCloud Sync for current LogTen Pro users. This is true for both the OS X and iOS versions of the app.
Pilots can enter a scheduled flight on their Mac, head to the airport and the flight will be ready to go on their iDevice. They can then log further details enroute and when arriving home all the data will already be updated automatically on all devices.
Another major addition for 6.5 is increased Smart Groups functionality. With LogTen Pro's unique Smart Groups feature, pilots can create their own custom groups to track virtually any aspect of their flying. Changes to how Smart Groups are programmed behind the scenes enables pilots to create more complex Smart Groups giving them unprecedented ability to manipulate their data. Go to http://coradine.com for more info.
Mac X DVD Ripper Pro rips to version 4.5.0
MacXDVD Software (http://www.macxdvd.com) has upgraded Mac X DVD Ripper Pro, its DVD ripping software, to version 4.5.0. The new version sports several technical improvements.
By taking advantage of a high-quality conversion engine, multi-core CPU and hyper-threading technology, this DVD ripper for Mac is now able to rip the latest DVD movies with no quality loss, according to the folks at MacXDVD Software. It adds: a sync option to solve the A/V sync problem when ripping DVD to MP4 format in Safe Mode; a validity check for the destination folder; and support for the newly published DVD movies, such as "Captain Phillips," "Despicable Me 2," "Fast and Furious 6," "The Wolverine" and more.
MacX DVD Ripper Pro is priced at US$59.95 for a single-user license. However, the full-license DVD ripper for Mac is being offered at a limited time $25 price cut.
FrostyGlass Effects for Final Cut Pro X released on FxFactory
FxFactory has introduced FrostyGlass to its family of SUGARfx plugins. A set of eight fully customizable plugins for Final Cut Pro X, FrostyGlass simulates the effect of glass distortions on a video.
FrostyGlass comes with a filter effect, a theme and a title generator in one single package. You can use the filter effect to choose either one or two customizable glass panels. The theme can help unify the style, look and feel of your work thanks to several elements that function as Main Title, lower thirds, bumpers or identifiers and title generators. All FrostyGlass title elements provide two layers of frosty glass effect. Effects can be layered with or without text.
SUGARfx FrostyGlass is now available through FxFactory (http://fxfactory.com/info/frostyglass/) for US$49. After downloading, FrostyGlass can be used in Final Cut Pro X by going to the Titles Browser or Theme Browser under the FrostyGlass category.
New tutorial available for AutoCAD 2014
Infinite Skills has released a 10-hour AutoCAD tutorial video series available via instant streaming, download and DVD. Presented by author of CADaBlog and renowned trainer Brian Benton, the tutorial includes 108 lessons on drafting, editing, dimensioning and plotting and more.
Following an introduction to the AutoCAD interface, students begin learning to draw in AutoCAD, picking up fundamentals and learning time-saving techniques developed by experienced practitioners. Infinite Skills offers its Learning AutoCAD 2014 For Mac Training Video as a DVD-ROM or direct download from the company website (http://tinyurl.com/nxxghe6) at a retail price of US$99.95, or through its online learning library that includes streaming access to all courses for $25 per month.
Transloader for iOS, OS X updated to version 2.0
Eternal Storms Software has released Transloader 2.0 for iOS and Mac OS X. The app is designed to make easy to download URLs from an iOS device via iCloud to a Mac. Version 2.0 has been tweaked for iOS 7 and Apple's Maps app.
On an iOS device, URLs to dmg- or zip- files (for example) are pretty much inaccessible and the files themselves more or less not usable. The "workflow" up until now was to copy-paste that link into an eMail and send it to oneself to remember to download it later on the Mac.
With Transloader, the user can paste that link into the app and it will sync that URL to iCloud. The Mac counterpart of the app will receive that URL and download it to the Downloads folder.
Version 2.0 stores URLs from your clipboard for later use. For better feedback on the progress of downloads on the Mac, the iOS app now shows if a download is still running or finished. URLs can be shared with other users of Transloader via AirDrop (among others).
Transloader for Mac is available...
Apple posts tributes to the Mac on its 30th birthday
To celebrate the 30th birthday of the Mac, Apple has posted a tribute on its home page (http://www.apple.com).
Apple has also posted a "Thirty Years of Mac" page (http://www.apple.com/30-years/) with tributes to the ground-breaking computer. The same video is also available at YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp697DqsbUU).
Pixelmator 3.1 Marble is fully optimized for the new Mac Pro
The Pixelmator Team (http://www.pixelmator.com) has announced Pixelmator 3.1 Marble, an update to its image editing app for Mac OS X. Version 3.1 adds support for 16-bit per channel images on the new Mac Pro and a new option for ordering prints.
It leverages the full power of the dual workstation-class GPUs built into it, says Saulius Dailide of the Pixelmator Team. Both graphics cards are used simultaneously to accelerate composition rendering and compute demanding tasks.
The Pixelmator Team also partnered with MILK Print on Demand to offer a new Order Prints feature. You can now turn your images into prints. With just a few clicks, you can order Pixelmator images as postcards, notecards, gallery frames, or posters and have them delivered right to your door.
Pixelmator 3.1 Marble requires Mac OS X 10.8.5. It's available from the Mac App Store for US$29.99. Version 3.1 is a free upgrade for all existing customers who purchased the app from the Mac App Store.
All editions of DEVONthink DEVONnote get maintenance updates
DEVONtechnologies has releases a maintenance update for all editions of its information and document manager DEVONthink, as well as for its smart notebook app DEVONnote.
Depending on the edition, the new versions bring import from BareBones Yojimbo, faster and more reliable email archiving, performance enhancements, and a few tiny bug fixes. The updates are free and recommended for all users.
Also, all editions of DEVONthink now shorten long document names in menus, better handle database-like file formats such as Scrivener files, and improve the way Quick Look panels are shown. The AppleScript support in DEVONthink Pro and up has been enhanced, too, and all scripts been made more future-proof, according to Eric Bohnisch-Volkmann, president of DEVONtechnologies.
DEVONthink and DEVONnote require an Intel-based Mac and OS X 10.6.8 or later (in the App Store: OS X 10.8.3 or later). They can be downloaded from www.devontechnologies.com and be test-driven for free before they need to be...
MCE Ships first internal Blu-ray recordable drive for the...
MCE Technologies (MCE) has begun shipping what it says is the first internal Blu-ray recordable drive for the MacBook Pro. It can record data and high definition video to 25GB, 50GB, and 100GB Blu-ray recordable discs and it can playback commercial Blu-ray movie titles directly on the MacBook Pro with included software.
CD and DVD burning and playing are included. The retail price is US$199; it's available immediately. For more info go to http://tinyurl.com/q256az9 .
2014 FileMaker Developer Conference registration open
FileMaker, Inc., has opened registration for its 19th annual FileMaker Developer Conference, the worldwide gathering for corporate and independent FileMaker developers.
The 2014 FileMaker Developer Conference (http://tinyurl.com/mbrxrz) takes place July 28-31, 2014, at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio, Texas. The conference is for anyone "who wants to sharpen their professional skills, innovate with the FileMaker Platform, pick up new ideas for their FileMaker solutions, or to grow a FileMaker-based businesses."
Conference attendees can save US$300 off the full price, paying US$1,295 by taking advantage of the "early bird" discount available now through June 3, 2014. Paid attendees will also receive a free Not-for-Resale copy of FileMaker Pro 13 Advanced, a $549 value.
Also available is an "early bird" Gold Registration package for $1,895, which includes admission to a full day of three two-hour pre-conference sessions on July 28 as well as all...
IK Multimedia announces iRig Mic HD for iDevices
IK Multimedia has announced the iRig Mic HD, a digital handheld microphone for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac.
The iRig Mic HD sports a 24-bit audiophile-grade A/D converter, a 44.1/96 kHz sampling rate, and a low noise/high definition pre-amp. Featuring metal-body construction and a handheld form factor, it's designed for interviewers, broadcasters, presenters, singers and musicians. The iRig Mic HD's standard housing can be mounted on any regular mic stand clip, and its design, featuring detachable cables, keeps its overall size to the minimum for the greatest portability.
It supports a wide range of Apple devices via a series of three detachable cables. It's purportedly the first handheld microphone that includes a Lightning connector cable for the newest iPhone, iPad and iPod touch models, while a USB cable allows for connection to any Mac computer. A 30-pin cable for legacy iOS models is also available.
The iRig Mic HD comes with free apps, so users can start recording,...
Folx Download Manager now available in the Mac App Store
Eltima Software has launched the Folx Download Manager in the Mac App Store under the name Folx GO. It comes with downloads management, neat file organization, search for the files that's been downloaded, and more.
With Folx GO, it's possible to split downloads in threads, renew interrupted downloads, create tagging according to files content, and more. A special browser extension allows you to choose whether to download all or selected.
You can get a free version of the download manager, but can upgrade to the pro version when you wish for US$9.99. Go to http://tinyurl.com/6xvuae for more info.
Rockstar Consortium drops patent infringement claim against...
Rockstar Consortium — an alliance made up of Apple, Microsoft, BlackBerry, Ericsson, and Sony — has dropped a patent infringement claim against China-based Huawei, a telecom gear maker, reports "FOSS Patents" (http://tinyurl.com/kroh3op).
In a motion filed Tuesday with the US District Court of Northern California, both parties jointly requested dismissal of the lawsuit, which accused the telecom gear maker of violating patents the alliance acquired from Nortel Networks earlier this decade. The filing didn't specify that a settlement had been reached.
"While the motion to dismiss does not explicitly state that the parties have settled, it would be utterly unrealistic to believe that Rockstar would let Huawei use those patents without a royalty-bearing license," Florian Mueller writes for "FOSS Patents. "Whatever the basis of this settlement may be, a 'freebie' it's certainly not."
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified now available for Steam at Macs
TransGaming ,which initially brought The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, to Mac gamers through the Mac App Store -- says the game is now available for digital download via Steam for Macs.
To commemorate the launch, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified will go on sale for 75% off from Jan. 24-27 at 10 a.m. (Pacific), on both Steam and the Mac App Store. For more info go to http://tinyurl.com/lfbo84p .
Here's how the game is described: "The year is 1962, JFK is President and the Cold War has the nation gripped by fear - but a far more powerful enemy than communism is threatening America. Known only to a select few, a top-secret government unit called The Bureau begins investigating and concealing a series of mysterious attacks by an otherworldly enemy.
"As special agent William Carter, players call the shots, pull the trigger and lead their squad in a gripping third-person tactical shooter set within a high-stakes, covert war to protect humanity. The Bureau's mission is clear - survive, adapt...
Watermark Sense for Mac OS X gets improved watermarking...
VeprIT has releasedWatermark Sense 1.1.0, an update of the batch image watermarking utility for Mac OS X 10.7 and higher.
The update improves watermarking flexibility, allowing to achieve more creative and consistent results for images of different sizes and aspect ratios, according to the folks at VeprIT. Version 1.1.0 also introduces a number of often requested features, fixes issues, provides a PDF user guide and more.
A trial version of Watermark Sense (which adds an additional watermark to the saved images) is freely available for download at the application web page (http://veprit.com/watermarksense). Registration is US$19.99. The license can be purchased at the application web page. Watermark Sense is also available on the Mac App Store.
PDFpen 6.1.3 adds redaction options, clickable phone links
Smile has released PDFpen 6.1.3, an update to its PDF editing tool for OS X. The update adds new redaction toolbar buttons for Block Selection and Erase Selection and support for clickable telephone numbers. Numerous enhancements and fixes have also been made in this update.
The changes in PDFpen 6.1.3 have also been made in PDFpenPro 6.1.3, the pro version that can also convert websites into PDFs, automatically create fillable PDF forms, and construct document table of contents. In addition, PDFpenPro 6.1.3 can now create clickable telephone links, via support for the "tel:" URI scheme.
PDFpen 6.1.3 works with PDFpen for iPad and PDFpen for iPhone, allowing editing across devices when used with iCloud or Dropbox storage. Users who wish to use iCloud must purchase PDFpen 6 from the Mac App Store. (Apple restricts iCloud access to applications purchased via the Mac App Store.)
PDFpen retails for US$59.95, PDFpenPro for $99.95. Family Pack licenses, which cover up to five computers in...
Blackguards RPG now available for Mac, Windows
Blackguards, the new turn-based RPG from Daedalic Entertainment, is now available worldwide for Mac OS X and PC on Steam and GOG.
Here's how the game is described: "Blackguards offers strategic combat and combines the studio's high standards of storytelling and unique characters with thrilling action and an elaborate 3D environment. The player takes on the role of a convicted murderer, accompanied by a group of no less dubious characters. Challenging quests lead the player through a dark story of doubt, treachery and loss."
The Standard Edition on Steam is available for US$39.99, and the Blackguards Deluxe Edition for $59.99. The Special Edition on GOG is available for $44.99.Go to http://www.daedalic.de/en/game/Blackguards for more info.
Apple posts iTunes 11.1.4
Apple has released iTunes 11.1.4. It adds the ability to access your Wish List from the iTunes library, instead of having to go to the iTunes Store or the Apple App Store.
There's also enhanced support for Arabic and Hebrew and stability improvements. iTunes 11.1.4 can be downloaded via the Mac App Store's Update section or Software Update.
VMware buys AirWatch
VMware (http://www.vmware.com), a virtualization software company that makes products such as VMware fusion and VMWare Workstation, has agreed to buy AirWatch (http://www.air-watch.com) for as much as US$1.54 billion, adding technology to help businesses manage and protect mobile devices.
VMware will pay $1.18 billion in cash and $365 million in installment payments and assumed unvested equity. AirWatch marks the second VMware acquisition of more than $1 billion in 18 months, after the 2012 purchase of Nicira, whose technology helps networks work more efficiently. AirWatch makes mobile device, email, application, content, laptop and browser management solutions.
The AirWatch team will continue to report to founder and chief executive officer John Marshall as part of VMware's End-User Computing group, led by Sanjay Poonen, EVP and GM. Alan Dabbiere, AirWatch's co-founder and chairman, will be overseeing a new AirWatch operating board which will report to Pat Gelsinger, VMware chief...
DMG Master for Mac OS X gets upgraded internal engine, more
Tension Software has revved DMG Master, its Mac OS X (10.8 and higher) app for creating standard disk image archives, to version 2.5. The new version upgrades the internal engine and improves the source table list.
DMG Master requires Mac OS X 10.8 or higher and costs US$6. It's available at the Tension Software (http://www.tensionsoftware.com) web site.
WaveMachine Labs releases AAX-compatible version of Drumagog
WaveMachine Labs has released an AAX-compatible version of Drumagog, their drum replacement plug-in. The company has also released 64-bit VST and Audio Units versions for both Mac and PC systems.
With these updates, Drumagog 5 is now compatible with Pro Tools 10/11, and 64-bit Digital Audio Workstations on the Mac and PC such as Logic X, Ableton Live 9, and Cubase 7. It's available now in all plug-in formats and is available in three editions: Basic, Pro and Platinum.
Drumagog requires Mac OS X 10.4.11 on the Mac platform. Available now in all plug-in formats, this is a free update for registered Drumagog 5 users. Go to http://www.drumagog.com for more info.
Tomb Raider arrives on the Mac Jan. 23
Feral Interactive says Tomb Raider will be released for the Mac on Jan. 23. Developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix for PC and consoles, Tomb Raider is the series reboot that tells the story of how a young woman becomes the extraordinary Lara Croft, Tomb Raider.
Here's how the game is described: "Alongside the thrilling single-player adventure, Tomb Raider features an exhilarating online multiplayer mode. A Steam account will be required to access online multiplayer, which supports Mac-to-Mac play only. Online multiplayer will not be available in versions of the game purchased through the Mac App Store."
The game will launch on the Mac App Store on Jan. 23, and will launch on other stores Jan. 30. Tmb Raider for the Mac will retail in North America for US$49.99. It will be available online for direct digital download from a variety of digital partner sites worldwide including the Feral Store (http://tinyurl.com/n4gztzw) and the Mac App Store. A mini-site dedicated...
FileMaker introduces FileMaker Training Series: Basics
FileMaker, Inc. has unveiled an all-new free training series for the recently announced FileMaker 13 Platform. FileMaker Training Series: Basics is designed to help everyone learn to build professional custom business solutions that run on Mac OS X, iOS, Windows, Mac and the web.
The new training series is offered in iBook format for easy use on iPads and iPhones. A PDF version is also available. According to Ryan Rosenberg, vice president of marketing and services for FileMaker, Inc., FileMaker 13 users now have a broad range of training options to get started and become productive, while building the skills to make powerful solutions.
The Getting Started Tours guide users through the key features of FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Go. The tours are automatically installed with the software -- simply download a trial of FileMaker Pro 13 or download FileMaker Go 13 for iPhone or iPad from the App Store.
FileMaker Training Series: Basics, a brand new addition to the FileMaker Training...
St. Clair revs App Tamer for Mac OS X to version 2.0
St. Clair Software has introduced an upgrade to App Tamer, its Mac utility that manages applications to deliver more efficient CPU usage and increased battery life.
You can now monitor and optimize the performance of your Mac even more quickly and easily with the software's completely revamped user interface, according to the folks at St. Clair. In addition to automatically pausing applications when you switch away from them, App Tamer now offers the option to limit the amount of CPU power used by an application.
App Tamer comes pre-configured to automatically manage Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Spotlight, Time Machine, Word and many other apps when they're in the background. You can customize it for other apps, as well.
App Tamer will operate on any Mac running Mac OS X 10.7 or higher. You can try App Tamer free for 15 days. A license to continue using it after the trial period is US$14.95. Users of App Tamer 1.x that bought their license after July 1, 2013 receive the upgrade for free...
Judge says Samsung infringes on at least one Apple patent
In a summary judgment order entered on Jan. 21, Judge Lucy Koh, the federal judge presiding over two Apple v. Samsung patent cases in the Northern District of California, found Samsung's Android-based devices to infringe an Apple patent on word recommendations (autocomplete) and declared a Samsung patent on multimedia synchronization invalid, reports "FOSS Patents."
Judge Koh denied a couple of other summary judgment requests by Apple and the entirety of Samsung's related motion, leaving those issues to a federal jury. "This decision increases, not hugely but significantly, the likelihood of Apple emerging victorious in a multi-patent trial scheduled to begin on March 31, 2014," writes Florian Mueller for "FOSS Patents." Read more at http://tinyurl.com/m2agd2b .
This is all part of the ongoing, global legal battle. Apple and Samsung have filed more than 30 lawsuits against each other across four continents. For example, Apple alleges that Samsung copied the slide-to-unlock technology...
AKVIS updates three photo retouching apps
Three AKVIS photo retouching programs have been updated: AKVIS Retoucher v.6.5, AKVIS MultiBrush v.7.5, and AKVIS Coloriage v.9.5.
All of these products are available in two variants: as Photoshop plugins and as standalone applications, in versions for Mac OS X and Windows. They can be purchased as separate products as well as in the AKVIS Restoration Bundle at a discounted price.
AKVIS Retoucher is a photo restoration tool. It removes dust, scratches, stains, and other defects that appear on damaged photos. The software "intelligently" reconstructs the missing parts of the photo using the information of the surrounding areas. The program also helps to remove odd objects from your image.
AKVIS MultiBrush lets you retouch photos and enhance portraits. Featuring a collection of healing and enhancement brushes, stamping and drawing tools, the software helps you to perform portrait enhancement, retouch image flaws, remove unwanted objects from digital pictures, and even paint funny...
CS Odessa announces Winter Sports solution
CS Odessa has announced a new ConceptDraw Solution Park Solution for ConceptDraw PRO 9 and ConceptDraw MindMap 7. The new libraries provide a wide range Winter Sport objects that can be used to augment documentation and graphics that deal with winter sports.
The new addition to ConceptDraw Solution Park is a free item for current users of ConceptDraw PRO and ConceptDraw MindMap. The Winter Sports Solution is the first addition to the Sport Area of ConceptDraw Solution Park, a collection of templates, samples, and libraries of vector stencils, icons and clipart that help professionally illustrate documents.
ConceptDraw PRO is compatible with Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows and retails for $199. ConceptDraw MindMap is also compatible with Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows and retails for $199. Go to http://www.conceptdraw.com for more info.
EditShare qualifies Mac OS X 10.9 for products
EditShare, which specializes in shared media storage and end-to-end tapeless workflow solutions, has announced Mac OS X 10.9 compatibility for all EditShare shared storage, Flow media asset management and Ark archiving and backup products.
EditShare customers using Mavericks with Avid Media Composer 7.0.3 and 6.5.4.1, Final Cut Pro X 10.1, and Pro Tools 11.1 can connect to EditShare shared storage systems via Thursby’s DAVE 11 SMB client, or via AFP for optimal performance. Avid Media Composer 7.0.3 editors who connect to EditShare shared storage via AFP and 10GB Ethernet will see marked performance improvements even when editing multiple streams of 10-bit uncompressed HD, according to the folks at EditShare. Go to http://www.editshare.com for more info.
Apple gets temporary break from court-appointed monitor
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has issued an order that temporarily halts compliance monitor Michael Bromwich's oversight while the appeal awaits a ruling, reports "AppleInsider" (http://tinyurl.com/kxu5lo8).
"It is hereby ordered that the motion for a stay pending appeal is referred to a three-judge motions panel and shall be heard as soon as possible," the order reads. "It is further ordered that an administrative stay of the district court's order is granted until the motion for stay pending appeal is determined by the motions panel."
The order, handed down by Circuit Judge Raymond J. Lohier, Jr., comes five days after Apple told the court that it planned to appeal Judge Denise Cote's imposition of an external compliance monitor.
Dot Hill rolls out Ultra48 AssuredSAN storage arrays
Dot Hill Systems has announced a suite of high-performance, ultra-density Ultra48 AssuredSAN storage arrays. Targeted at customers with throughput-intensive applications, the arrays use a patent pending enclosure developed by Dot Hill to maximize storage processing power in a minimal rack footprint.
This ultra-density solution delivers twice the performance and twice the capacity per rack unit compared to traditional arrays while maintaining easy serviceability, according to Brad Painter, vice president of channel sales, Dot Hill. The company's ultra-density chassis houses nearly 58 terabytes of data on small form factor 2.5-inch hard disk drives (HDD), while utilizing 23% less power in an efficient 2U footprint, he adds.
For high performance transaction workloads, the array can support any combination of solid state drives (SSD) and HDD drives in the same enclosure. This footprint also purportedly reduces weight by 25%. For more info go to http://www.dothill.com .
Apple expands worldwide access to educational content
Apple says iBooks Textbooks and iTunes U Course Manager are expanding into new markets across Asia, Latin America, Europe and elsewhere around the world.
iBooks Textbooks bring Multi-Touch textbooks with dynamic, current and interactive content to teachers and students in 51 countries now including Brazil, Italy and Japan. iTunes U Course Manager, available in 70 countries now including Russia, Thailand and Malaysia, allows educators to create and distribute courses for their own classrooms, or share them publicly, on the iTunes U app.
iBooks Textbooks offer iPad users fullscreen textbooks with interactive animations, rotating 3D diagrams, flick-through photo galleries and tap-to-play videos. iBooks Textbooks don’t weigh down a backpack, can be updated as events unfold and don’t need to be returned, says Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. With nearly 25,000 educational titles created by independent publishers, teachers and leading education...
Noteboom Productions introduces Tutor for iPhoto
Noteboom Productions has released Tutor for iPhoto, their latest video tutorial, now available on the Mac App Store for US$4.99.
With Tutor for iPhoto, the user watches videos to learn how to use Apple's latest version of iPhoto for the Mac. The video tutorial consists of 50 video chapters on various subjects. Go to http://www.noteboomproductions.com for more info.
WiQiQi introduces Wireless Charging Solution for the iPhone
WiQiQi, a designer of wireless chargers for Samsung Galaxy phones, is introducing the i5 thin wireless receiver for Apple iPhone 5/5S/5C, and iPod touch.
It's a more powerful (700 mAh) version of the WiQiQi Samsung receiver, with a thin ribbon and iPhone 5 compatible connector at the end. It attaches to the outside of the iPhone 5 and purportedly takes only seconds to plug the i5 to the charging port. It's smaller and thinner than a credit card and will fit under any soft case.
You place the phone on top of any Qi standard compatible charging pad, and it will wirelessly connect and start charging. The WiQiQi i5 wireless receiver will be available in late February at a suggested retail price of US$30.
WiQiQi is offering discounted prices for "early bird" orders placed directly on www.wiqiqi.com before Feb, 29. The i5 wireless receiver will cost $5 when ordered with any WiQiQi charging pad, or $15 by itself.
HOYO introduces waterproof pocket for smartphones, music players
The new HOYO waterproof pocket allows users to take their phones with them virtually anywhere. It's made of 100% waterproof and dustproof plastic, HOYO protects electronics in humid and dirty environments while preserving touch-screen sensitivity. HOYO comes in a variety of primary and secondary colors.
Supporters of the Kickstarter campaign ending March 16 will be the first to receive their HOYOs. The HOYO is designed for use in the shower, the kitchen, and the garden. Go to http://www.gethoyo.com for more info.
Photo Sense for Mac OS X revved to version 1.12.0
VeprIT has released Photo Sense 1.12.0, an update of the non-destructive batch photo enhancement solution for Mac OS X 10.7 and higher. The upgrade introduces a number features, such as the original directory structure replication when exporting results, the ability to use IPTC/EXIF metadata in output filenames, and more.
° Photo Sense enhances photos automatically, and allows users to customize results to their liking. It ensures that the users get great results very quickly by supporting batch processing and image settings synchronization. In addition, it offers various creative effects.
Photo Sense (US$33.99) has a "lite" version, Photo Sense Lite (free), and an iPhone/iPad/iPod touch version ($1.99) with a native iPad interface. Photo Sense Lite and the mobile version implement the same automatic photo enhancement algorithm as the full Mac version. They also provide similar semi-automatic processing tools. However, they only work with a single image at a time, and don't allow...
Raildale releases a railway building game for Mac OS X, iOS
Anton Zherdev has released Raildale, a new railroad building and management game for Mac OS X and iOS.
The rules of the game are simple: the gamer connects multicolor cities with railways and has to send trains to the same color cities. Your task is to maintain the positive balance during the allotted time avoiding crashes and delays. In the case of a crash you will have to fix rails calling a service train.
Raildale is currently available at the Mac App Store (for OS X) and the Apple App Store (for iOS) at the discounted rate of US$1.99instead of $3.99. The discount will only be available during the launch period. Go to http://www.raildale.com for more info.
Default Folder X 4.6.3 fixes Open and Save locations
St. Clair Software has released Default Folder X 4.6.3, an update to their Mac OS X utility. The software enhances the file dialogs in all Mac OS X applications. Its custom keyboard shortcuts put your favorite and recent folders at your fingertips. It provides fast navigation to your files, convenient previews, integrated Spotlight tagging, and more.
Version 4.6.3 changes the behavior of last-used-folder tracking so that Pro Tools, Pages, InDesign, Microsoft Word and other applications will default to the correct folder. It also fixes some bugs and changes the SetSaveName AppleScript command so it works with UTF-8 encoded text
Default Folder X requires Mac OS X 10.5 or higher. Version 4.6.3 is a free update for existing version 4 users. It's $34.95 for new users. Go to the St. Clair Software web site (http://tinyurl.com/2gm24v) for more info.
International Space Station app for Mac OS X orbits to version 1...
Tension Software (http://www.tensionsoftware.com) has revved International Space Station, Mac OS X (10.8 or higher) software that lets you see the exact position of the ISS over the Earth, to version 1.2.
The route path is visualized over the map to evaluate if the station is coming near your position (when meteorological and light condition are adequate you can see it without any instruments). The interactive map (OpenMap) allows 11 level of zoom. The future route of the ISS over the Earth can be displayed up to the next eight hours.
International Space Station 1.2 sports an extended orbit track prevision (from one to eight hours), better internal management of NASA orbit data, and more. It costs US$2.99 and is available at the Mac App Store.
Blackmagic Design announces DaVinci Resolve 10.1
Blackmagic Design has rolled out DaVinci Resolve 10.1, an update of the on-set editing and color correction solution, that adds new editing and 3D stereoscopic features, as well as support for Final Cut Pro™ X 10.1.
The upgrade adds editing features that includes allowing users to preview and align multiple camera takes while editing, so they can switch between takes to show their clients shot options live from the timeline. Editors can now copy individual clips in the editing timeline with a simple drag and drop, making it easier to use the same footage in different parts of the edit.
The enhanced editing tools also include support for trimming frame based clips such as DNG and DPX that reduces time in transferring clips for even faster workflows, as well as Rich Text title support that allows every character’s size, position and color to be adjusted individually directly from the Edit page.
Also featured in DaVinci Resolve 10.1 are XML import enhancements for both FCP X 10.1 and...
