Tropical Software's TopXNotes (http://www.tropic4.com/) note manager for the Mac has been updated to version 1.7.5. The upgrade offers performance enhancements and bug fixes. TopXNotes will now keep your notes synchronized between TopXNotes for Mac and TopXNotes Touch for the iPhone and iPod touch. Version 1.7.2 includes a new Preference for setting vertical and horizontal text margins and a new Preference to choose manual or automatic note delete. TopXNotes 1.7.5 requires Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later. It costs US$39.99 and is available worldwide exclusively through the Mac App Store in the Productivity category and at the Tropical Software (http://www.tropic4.com).

Sonnet has introduced an upgrade of its xMac mini Server, a Thunderbolt-to-PCI Express (PCIe) expansion system and 1U rackmount enclosure for a Mac mini with a Thunderbolt port. The xMac mini Server accommodates one full-length, full-height PCIe card and one half-length, half-height (low-profile) card. The updated xMac mini Server now supports a double-width PCIe card's daughter card and includes BNC connector mounting holes on the enclosure's rear panel. In addition, the length of the xMac mini Server is now just 15.8 inches. The enhanced xMac mini Server (part number XMAC-MS) is now available at a suggested retail price of US$1,295. The xMac mini Server 2H (part number XMAC-MS-2H) is also available now for $1,295. The xMac mini Server Quiet Fan Module (part number XMFAN-Q) is available for $79.95. More information on these products and compatible PCIe expansion cards is available at http://tinyurl.com/chunw6u .

Goal Zero has released the US$399.95 Sherpa 50 Solar Recharging Kit for tablets and laptops. It can purportedly extend the life of a laptop by two hours or a tablet by 15 hours. The Sherpa 50 weighs less than a bottle of water, fits in a backpack or briefcase, and refuels from the sun in five hours with the Nomad 13 Solar Panel, or a wall outlet or car adapter in two hours.

The Sherpa 50 Recharger features a variety of outputs, including USB and DC ports with an option for AC power (110V or 220V) through the Sherpa Inverter (sold separately.) One of the most unique aspects of the Sherpa 50 is its “Power Port” that enables you to power laptops directly from the recharger, eliminating the need for an AC inverter as well as the computer’s bulky AC powering cable, says Joe Atkin, president and CEO of Goal Zero. Instead, directly plug your laptop into the Power Port on the Sherpa 50 with one of Goal Zero’s Laptop Charging Kits. For more info go to says Joe Atkin, President and CEO of...

DYMO has launched the USS$95 LabelManager Wireless PnP, the first DYMO label maker with wireless networking that enables multiple users to share printing capabilities. It has built-in wireless networking to enable easy sharing and on-demand printing for an entire office of users, says Julie Hibbard, marketing director at DYMO. It also sports customized labels with any fonts and graphics through Mac or PC connections, and labels with clear graphics, bar codes and logos at 300-dpi resolution. The LabelManager Wireless PnP is compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 or higher and Microsoft Windows Vista/7/8.XP. The multi-label printing capability comes with an automatic label cutter that creates a variety of DYMO D1 labels. For more info go to http://tinyurl.com/c6hxa2g .

Absolute Software Corp. has launched Computrace Mobile Theft Management (MTM), which the company says is the "first and only" iOS loss management and theft recovery service on the market for the enterprise.   Computrace MTM allows organizations to safeguard the iPad and iPad mini devices in their deployment. Based upon the same investigative techniques used by the Absolute Investigations and Recovery Services team for Absolute Computrace theft recoveries, customers now have the infrastructure and support to prevent and respond to iOS loss and theft, says John Livingston, CEO of Absolute Software. The Computrace MTM service provides two components: loss prevention and theft recovery. The loss prevention program provides customers with the tools to implement best practices within their organization and amongst users to ensure these iOS devices are handled responsibly, according to Livingston. The theft recovery component is an extension of the loss management program. If an iPad is...

The new Event-Driven Process Chain Diagrams Solution extends ConceptDraw PRO 9 software with EPC (Event-driven Process Chain) templates, samples, and vector shape library for the drawing of EPC diagrams. An EPC diagram is a systematic visualization of business events and functions. The libraries are designed to support alternate and matching implementation of designated processes. Using EPC flowcharts is a widely-accepted technique to depict and optimize business processes. The Event-driven Process Chain Diagrams Solution is the first addition to the new Business Process section of ConceptDraw Solution Park. It's a plug-in for ConceptDraw PRO 9. For more info go to http://tinyurl.com/blvxlqh .

Embarcadero Technologies, a provider of software solutions for application and database development, has announced InterBase ToGo for iOS, an embeddable, high performance, secure and scalable relational database. Designed for developers who are looking to embed a low cost, zero-admin, lightweight database into their multi-device applications, InterBase ToGo is available for Mac OS X, Windows, and, now iOS. In addition, Embarcadero is also announcing a new, free version of InterBase, called IBLite, an embeddable database for iOS that can be freely deployed.   Designed for ISVs, enterprises and app development shops, InterBase ToGo provides a common relational database across iOS, Mac OS X and Windows. The goal is to improve development efficiencies and speed to market. InterBase ToGo also uniquely delivers automatic, end-to-end encryption and powerful transaction support on mobile devices, says Michael Swindell senior vice-president of Products for Embarcadero Technologies. IBLite is...

Native Instruments has launched a new range of iMaschine Expansions with the release of Kaoz Theory. It's created by DJ and producer Kerri "Kaoz" Chandler. These new iMaschine Expansions will be created in collaboration with artists from different genres, and will be available for iMaschine only. However, users can export their iMaschine projects to the Maschine software for further editing and arranging. Native Instruments will continue to release compact iMaschine versions of their iMaschine Expansions. Kaoz Theory is available for iMaschine for US$0.99. For more info go to http://tinyurl.com/c5h8rpy .

Newer Technology (NewerTech) says its miniStack MAX, is now available in DVD/CD only read/write optical drive models for those computer users that don’t require the Blu-ray functionality other miniStack MAX models provide. As the only four-in-one external drive, optical drive, SD card reader and USB powered hub solution on the market, the miniStack MAX supports multiple interfaces for plug and play storage of entire music, photo and video libraries, as well as burning backups via the internal optical drive, with new and legacy Macs or PCs. OWC is offering a limited time rebate offer on both versions of Roxio Toast 11 Titanium with savings of up to US$110 off retail prices with sales of the miniStack MaX. Toast 11 Titanium is a versatile multimedia application that lets users read, burn, capture, copy, convert and share digital media. With the purchase of any of the new miniStack MAX models, including the 0GB enclosure kits, this ultimate media toolkit is available for US$29 for the...

Graphic Node has further expanded its assortment of iWork templates with their release of Mix for Pages 1.0. The new collection is designed to help Mac users produce modern and polished content without the help of hired designers. This pack for Apple's Pages features a set of 50 customizable document templates from business cards and brochures to letters and envelopes. All templates are available in the U. S. and in international paper sizes. Virtually all objects in Mix for Pages can be recolored, moved, or removed. Users can type or paste in their own text, add or remove text boxes, and change fonts. Stock images can be replaced with users' own photos or pictures. Mix for Pages 1.0 require Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later and Pages '08 or higher. It costs US$4.99 and is available worldwide through the Mac App Store in the Productivity category (http://tinyurl.com/bqqz7rc).

Whetstone Apps has rolled out DayMap 1.6 (http://whetstoneapps.com/), an update to their personal productivity application for Mac OS X (10.7 or higher). Recurring tasks can now be scheduled to repeat daily, weekly, monthly, etc. DayMap offers a way of organizing and scheduling projects and tasks in a visually intuitive Project Outliner and Weekly Scheduler. Version 1.6 sports a simplified look, a "Show Backups" item to the Help menu, and the ability to archive projects by minimizing to a narrow column. DayMap 1.6 is regularly priced at US$12.99 and is available for purchase from the Mac App Store in the Productivity category (http://tinyurl.com/dxce8d3). It's being sold for a limited time for $4.99.

MaBaSoft (http://www.mabasoft.net) has released World Clock Deluxe 4.10, an update of its Mac OS X tool for companies and organizations regularly communicating with people across the world, for frequent travelers, and for home users having family or friends in other countries or time zones. Version 4.10 adds the possibility to show medium, long, and full dates in clocks and supports non-Gregorian calendars and date and time formats using non-European scripts. With World Clock Deluxe you can display multiple clocks in a configurable horizontal or vertical palette, in the menu bar, and in the Dock, and show the time in over 1,600 cities and 200 time zones, including Greenwich Mean Time and Coordinated Universal Time. The app also lets you calculate time conversions between different cities or time zones and show the current weather all over the world. World Clock Deluxe requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later. It costs US$10 for registered users of version 3.x and higher and $19 for new users....

Made for Use has introduced a suite of Mac OS X templates for use with Apple iWork and Microsoft Office. They were previously available only for iOS. The templates are packaged individually or in a choice of two bundles: Templates for iWork Pro -- Pages, Numbers, and Keynote; or Templates for Office Pro -- Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Every template contains customizable slides for tables, pictures, charts, diagrams, quotes, and more. Templates for Pages Pro 1.0 costs US$19.99 and is available worldwide exclusively through the Mac App Store in the Productivity category. Templates for Numbers Pro is $19.99, and Templates for Keynote Pro is $19.99. Templates for iWork Pro (Bundle Edition) includes all three sets of templates for $49.99. Templates for Word Pro 1.0 is $19.99 and is available worldwide exclusively through the Mac App Store in the Productivity category. Templates for Excel Pro is $19.99, and Templates for PowerPoint Pro is $19.99. Templates for Office Pro (Bundle Edition)...

Etón Corp. has released the Etón BoostSolar (http://bit.ly/10kx5JJ), a splash-proof, solar-powered backup battery pack designed to provide power to handheld devices. It's available at Amazon.com and REI stores at a manufacturer's suggested retail price of US$99.99. Equipped with an interchangeable, rechargeable lithium battery (5000 mAh) to fully charge most smartphones two and one half times, it also features a 5V/2A USB port for charging tablets. The BoostSolar will fully charge in 16 hours via the sun, or in seven hours by way of the Micro-USB DC input. It can also charge multiple backup batteries in succession. Simply snap in a removable battery pack and allow it to charge, and then immediately replace it with another to gain unlimited backup power. Other features include a LED battery charge indicator, a rubberized and IPX-4-rated splash-proof exterior in addition to fastener holes and straps to hook to a backpack for portability.

Apple has been told by a German court to change its rules for handling customer data, reports "Bloomberg" (http://tinyurl.com/bqm6fno) A Berlin court struck down eight of 15 provisions in Apple’s general data-use terms because they deviate too much from German laws, the Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverbandconsumer group said in a statement on its website. The court said Apple can’t ask for "global consent" to use customer data or use information on the locations of customers. The German press office of Apple declined to comment. The ruling, which only applies to Germany, can be appealed, notes "Bloomberg."

Google, HTC, Red Hat, and Rackspace all filed friends of the court briefs on behalf of Samsung on Monday urging the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals to rule against Apple's request for a Android device sales ban in the two company's ongoing patent infringement fight, reports "The MacObserver" (http://tinyurl.com/ccme6zb) Apple has been pushing for a permanent injunction blocking the sale of some Samsung devices following a win in court. Naturally, Samsung doesn't want to see a permanent injunction over concerns that retailers and consumers will be intimidated into staying away from its products, notes "The MacObserver." 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 of its iPhone and iPad devices.

Intel has taken the wraps off its new, low-power, high-performance microarchitecture named Silvermont. The technology is aimed squarely at low-power requirements in market segments from smartphones to the data center. Silvermont will be the foundation for a range of innovative products beginning to come to market later this year, and will also be manufactured using the company's leading-edge, 22nm Tri-Gate SoC manufacturing process, which brings significant performance increases and improved energy efficiency, according to Dadi Perlmutter, Intel executive vice president and chief product officer. The Silvermont microarchitecture delivers industry-leading performance-per-watt efficiency, he adds. The highly balanced design brings increased support for a wider dynamic range and seamlessly scales up and down in performance and power efficiency, according to Perlmutter. Intel’s Silvermont microarchitecture was designed and co-optimized with Intel’s 22nm SoC process using 3-D Tri-gate...

At Adobe MAX, The Creativity Conference, Adobe says it has accelerated its shift to the cloud with a major update to Adobe Creative Cloud, the company’s flagship offering for creative professionals. Adobe has also announced Photoshop CC. The update to Creative Cloud is packed with features that re-imaging "the creative process through a new set of 'CC' desktop applications and enhanced cross-device collaboration and publishing capabilities," according to Adobe. With this update, creative files can be stored, synced and shared, via Creative Cloud, on Mac OS X, Windows, iOS and Android. What's more, Behance, an online creative community, is integrated with Creative Cloud, so customers can showcase work, get feedback on projects and gain global exposure. For more info go to http://tinyurl.com/c5cly75 . As part of the update to Creative Cloud, Adobe has announced Photoshop CC, which includes new tools and workflows. Adobe Photoshop CC will be available, exclusively to Creative Cloud...

ShoreTel has announced the ShoreTel Dock, which it says is the industry's first business-grade docking station that transforms iPhones and iPads into desk phones when paired with ShoreTel Mobilit Users simply slide their ShoreTel Mobility enabled iPhone or iPad into the ShoreTel Dock and get instant access to the battery life and call quality of a business desk phone. The ShoreTel Dock only requires a single power adaptor and automatically keeps Apple handheld devices charged so employees. When combined with ShoreTel Mobility and conferencing applications, users can take advantage of voice, instant messaging (IM), presence and conferencing on their iOS device. "ShoreTel is the only unified communications provider delivering an intuitive and easy-to-use solution that truly optimizes how end users communicate for work," says Pejman Roshan, vice president of product management at ShoreTel. "We didn't try to change or replace devices users already love, but instead enabled those same...

The European Commission has informed Motorola Mobility of its preliminary view that the company's seeking and enforcing of an injunction against Apple in Germany on the basis of its mobile phone standard-essential patents ("SEPs") amounts to an abuse of a dominant position prohibited by EU antitrust rules. While recourse to injunctions is a possible remedy for patent infringements, such conduct may be abusive where SEPs are concerned and the potential licensee is willing to enter into a license on Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (so-called "FRAND") terms. In such a situation, the Commission considers at this stage that dominant SEP holders should not have recourse to injunctions, which generally involve a prohibition to sell the product infringing the patent, in order to distort licensing negotiations and impose unjustified licensing terms on patent licensees. Such misuse of SEPs could ultimately harm consumers, according to the Commission. Read more at http://tinyurl.com/...

Ken Winograd and Space-Time Associates (http://www.winograd.com) has updated TinyBooks Pro, its Mac accounting and bookkeeping program, to version 8.0.3. The upgrade includes improvements in the Professional Invoice Printer and the Professional Check Printer windows. It also sports more logical tab-ordering, and new pop-up menus allowing instant access to previously saved invoice or check templates. TinyBooks Pro is a single-entry bookkeeping and accounting system designed for sole proprietors, home and other small businesses, and family finances. To use you enter your expenses and income, and TinyBooks Pro does the rest. Current and year-to-date on-the-fly totals are continually displayed. Fully automatic bar-charting of all expense and income accounts make the determination of monthly trends intuitively obvious, according to the folks at Space-Time Associates. TinyBooks Pro 8.0 costs US$79.99 for a single user license. It requires an Intel-based Mac.

U.S. (uscellular.com) says it will begin carrying Apple products -- namely the iPhone -- later this year. The wireless carrier made the announcement as part of its quarterly earnings update. U.S. Cellular reported service revenues of US$996.3 million for the first quarter of 2013, versus $1,023.8 million for the comparable period one year ago. Net income attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders and related diluted earnings per share were $4.9 million and $0.06 respectively, for the first quarter of 2013, compared to $62.5 million and $0.73, respectively, in the comparable period one year ago. "We have a number of strategies in progress to increase loyalty and attract more customers, including our announcement today that we will begin offering Apple products later this year," Mary N. Dillon, U.S. Cellular president and CEO, said in a press release. "By further strengthening our device portfolio, we'll give consumers another great reason to switch to U.S. Cellular, and enable our...

On Thursday the Pentagon cleared BlackBerry and Samsung mobile devices for use on Defense Department networks, reports "Reuters" (http://tinyurl.com/csxzmrk). Apple mobile devices using iOS 6 are expected to receive clearance sometime this month. "This is a significant step towards establishing a multi-vendor environment that supports a variety of state-of-the-art devices and operating systems," Lieutenant Colonel Damien Pickart, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement. The move to open up Defense Department networks is expected to set the stage for an intensified struggle for Pentagon customers among BlackBerry devices, Apple's iPhones or iPads and units using Google's Android platform such as Samsung Electronics' phones, according to "Reuters." The Pentagon currently has some 600,000 users of smart phones, computer tablets and other mobile devices. The department has 470,000 BlackBerry users, 41,000 Apple users and 8,700 people with Android devices. Most Apple and Android systems...

Acapela Group and AssistiveWare say that Australian children's voices are now available in Proloquo2Go, a text-to-speech app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad designed to provide a voice for children who can't speak. The companies also announced, Lisa, a new adult Australian female voice to complete the Australian voice family. Version 3.0 of Proloquo2Go for iOS also adds a number of other features, including ExpressivePower and much more. The Proloquo2Go text-to-speech application is available for US$199.99 from the Apple App Store. For more info go to http://www.assistiveware.com .