The next meeting of The Macintosh Business Users Society of Greater Philadelphia (http://www.macbus.org/) will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. This month's meeting will feature a presentation on Mountain Lion by Dave Marra, senior systems engineer for Apple. A general Mac troubleshooting Q&A session will also be held. Attendees are encouraged to bring questions and invite friends or coworkers who may find the meeting beneficial. MacBUS was the first user group in the United States to focus on the business and professional uses of the Macintosh operating system.  The group of approximately 75 members meets this month at: Giant Food Store
315 York Road 2nd Floor Conference room
Willow Grove, Pennsylvania 19090 Meetings are usually held on the last Tuesday evening of each calendar month. To inquire about presenting, or to suggest a meeting topic, please contact the MacBUS board at macbusboard@gmail.com .For additional information about MacBUS, including directions to meetings...

While in San Francisco, TUAW and MacTech Magazine teamed up to speak to developers at Apple's WWDC 2012 about the keynote and how Apple's new technologies will help them and their customers. In the weeks following the event, we'll bring you those videos on TUAW, MacTech and MacNews. If you aren't currently a reader of MacTech Magazine, check out the special WWDC free MacTech on iPad issues for MacTech Magazine here. This video features Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) and Arnaud Thiercelin of Flying Pig Corp at WWDC. Arnaud was kind enough to tell us about their thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect their plans moving forward.

Sony Creative Software has released Sound Forge Pro Mac 1.0 software, the newest addition to its line of audio and video production software products. It has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of US$299. A multichannel audio recording and editing application, Sound Forge Pro Mac software was developed from the ground up on a clean slate for OS X and features an elegant interface that redefines the audio editing experience, according to Dave Chaimson, vice president of global marketing for Sony Creative Software. The application ships with a full suite of audio mastering and repair plug-ins, making it a comprehensive solution for audio professionals who work on the Mac platform, he adds. "People who work on audio editing platforms recognize the need for a fresh option in the marketplace, one that's built for OS X as opposed to something that's simply been ported over," Chaimson says. "In addition, it's no secret that cross-platform professionals have been demanding Sound Forge for...

Mariner Software has released Persona 1.0 for Mac OS X (10.7 and higher). It's their latest app for writers, dedicated to developing the characters of a story. Built around the psychological profile of 32 archetypes, Persona reveals a character's behavior, motivation, and potential dialogue. The software is designed to assist the writer who wants to purposely develop compelling, believable, and empathic characters for a story. "We're always searching for opportunities to expand what we offer to writers of all types and genres," says Michael Wray, president of Mariner. "Persona is a definite asset to a writer's toolbox because it focuses exclusively on the development of the characters in a story. We're excited about adding this new app to our product line, which is going to be a great complement to all our other writing products." Other features of Persona 1.0 enables the writer to: ° Explore relationships and interactions between characters; ° Create Smart Groups of characters based...

Following the news that Apple has begun sending out invitations for a special media event on Sept. 12, at which the next gen iPhone is expected to be CouponCodes 4u (www.CouponCodes4u.com), an U.S. coupon code website, has conducted an online survey to discover just how far some consumers are willing to go to update their tech gadgets -- and if they are willing to get into debt for the privilege.   CouponCodes 4u surveyed 1,909 Americans. All respondents said they owned at least one Apple product and are considering buying the iPhone 5 in the next couple of weeks. When asked on average to speculate how often they buy Apple products, not including accessories, 42% of respondents admitted that they bought more than two new Apple products a year, while over a quarter, 29%, said they bought one product per year. Just 5% of respondents said that they only bought a new Apple product when they "could afford it" and when they "needed" another gadget.   Respondents were then asked to calculate...

Audience (www.audience.com), a provider of "intelligent" voice and audio solutions, has provided an update on the prospects for use of its processor intellectual property. The company says it doesn't look like Apple will use its new noise suppression technology in the next gen iPhone. Audience sells processors and licenses its processor IP to Apple, though Apple isn't obligated to use it. Audience now believes that it is unlikely that the the iPhone maker will enable Audience's processor IP in its next generation mobile phone.  "While we are disappointed by this development, we are confident in the diversification of our business and see sustainable growth in 2012 and beyond," says Peter Santos, president and chief executive officer. "As such we are raising guidance for the third quarter of 2012. Looking ahead, we believe our expansion into adjacent markets such as Smart TVs, automotive, and notebooks, will continue to bring growth in 2013 and beyond." So what voice processing...

A federal judge in San Jose, California, threw out a class action lawsuit from iPhone 4 owners who claimed that Apple misrepresented the strength of the phone’s glass, reports "GigaOm" (http://macte.ch/tbmUS). The lawsuit was filed by Betsalel Williamson of California who had to replace the screen of his brand new iPhone after he knocked it off the arm of a chair, resulting "in spider cracks across the back glass panel." In his ruling US District Judge Edward Davila said "it is a well known fact of life that glass can break under impact." He added that the iPhone owners failed to show that Apple breached a warranty or violated California’s consumer protection laws.

Sprightly Software today announced Screen Ruler 3 for Mac OS X, an update to the utility for working with on-screen graphics. It requires Mac OS X 10.7 or higher, costs US$14.99 and is available worldwide exclusively through the Mac App Store in the Developer Tools category. Screen Ruler runs from the Menu Bar, and includes keyboard shortcuts. You can take accurate measurements anywhere on-screen, even across multiple displays. New in version 3.0 is support for Mountain Lion, a new compact interface, a new zoomed-in cursor view, persistent rulers, and more. Screen Ruler's Box Measurement Tool provides a way to get the exact pixel width and height of an area anywhere on your display. The Line Measurement Tool determines the length between any two pixels. The Color Picker provides a way to obtain a web-ready hex color, or Core Graphics compatible RGB fraction from anywhere on your display. The Grab Image Tool allows one to take a screenshot of anything on-screen.

Keith McMillen Instruments (www.keithmcmillen.com), creator of the controllers for human-to-machine music making, has announced new Drum Pad Emulation mode for the QuNeo, a 3D multi-touch pad controller. It can now approximate the feel and response of popular MPC-style drum pads such as the Maschine, Akai, and Korg, as well as others.   "All other drum pads have a mechanical switch that does a one-time detection of when the pad is hit, so the feel of the pad is largely determined by the type of switch and where it is located," says Keith McMillen, president and founder of KMI. "QuNeo continuously senses the varying pressure and location of the player’s gestures, so we can acquire the displacement, velocity and acceleration data of the hit to generate pretty much any response and feel."   QuNeo's Multi-touch, X-Y location and continuous pressure capabilities give it a unique advantage over traditional MPC-style drum pads, he adds. Each of the four corners of every pad can be...

Native Union (http://www.nativeunion.com/us/) has announced the US$49.99 Gripster, a multi-functional case for the iPad 2 and new iPad. Its patented Smart Handle can be spun, inclined, or gripped, providing a number of options for using the iPad in landscape or portrait mode. The Gripster’s handle can also act as a carrying case -- and even allows for the Apple tablet to be hung on a wall. It's available in 11 colors.

Last week Apple brought a motion for leave to file a motion for reconsideration, essentially complaining about "asymmetrical" schedules for a decision on Samsung's request to dissolve the preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and a decision on new injunctions requested by Apple. Judge Koh just denied Apple's motion, notes "FOSS Patent" (www.fosspatents.com). Samsung's motion for dissolution will be heard on Sept. 20. However, Apple will have to wait until (at least) December before any new injunction issues, notes "FOSS Patents." 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.

"Vanity Fair" magazine (www.vanityfair.com) has published its 2012 "The New Establishment & The Powers That Be" list, which lists "the visionaries who are defining innovation" today. Apple CEO Tim Cook and design guru Jonathan Ive both make the list. Here's what "Vanity Fair" has to say about the dynamic duo: "The two longtime understudies have more than proved their mettle in the wake of Steve Jobs’s death: in August, Apple surpassed Microsoft as the most valuable company of all time, with a market cap of $621 billion. As C.E.O., Cook has presided over an increase of more than 50 percent in the company’s stock price since October. Ive, Apple’s design chief—whom Jobs gave 'more operational power than anyone else at Apple except me' -- has seemed to channel his former boss in recent statements. 'Our goal at Apple is absolutely not to make money,' he said in July. 'Our goal, and what makes us excited, is to make great products'."

SmallTree (www.small-tree.com) has released the Titanium4 storage solution. It's available in 8GB to 16GB models with pricing starting at US$7,345. The Titanium4 is a video editing, shared-storage, Ethernet-based appliance with advanced file sharing capabilities. It's designed to enable video editors with limited resources to focus on the task of editing videos and meeting their schedule requirements, according to the folks at SmallTree. Server, networking, and storage features are all accommodated within the Titanium4’s space saving, desk top design. It's a four-drive system supporting 2TB, 3TB or 4TB disk drives, combined with four GbE ports. The Titanium4 supports a variety of editing software applications, including Adobe Creative Suite, Apple Final Cut 7, and Apple Final Cut Pro X. None of the Titanium products require any additional client or server licenses or metadata server(s). The Titanium4 supports AFP (Apple File System), NFS (Network File System) and iSCSI which allows...

When it comes to the ongoing Apple-Samsung patent battle, the post-trial proceedings in California won't take place until at least December, but there will be two design-rights-related hearings to be held by the Düsseldorf Regional Court -- the first court in the world to ban the Galaxy Tab 10.1 -- in late September and late October:, according to "FOSS Patents" (www.fosspatents.com). There will be a trial of Apple's design rights infringement and unfair competition claims against various Galaxy Tabs on Sept. 25. Then there will be an Oct. 23 hearing on a preliminary injunction motion targeting various Samsung smartphones, one of the newest ones of which is the Galaxy Note, notes "FOSS Patents." 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.

Apple has released iMovie 9.0.8 for Mac OS X 10.7.4 or higher. The upgrade improves stability when using third-party QuickTime plug-ins such as Perian, Flip4Mac WMV Player 3.0 and other non-Apple extensions. 
iMovie 9.0.8 also sports MPEG-2 previews during camera import, and resolving an issue with missing audio from some AVCHD and MPEG-2 imports. Mountain Lion users can obtain the update via the Mac App Store and Lion users can grab it via the Software Updates component of the Mac OS X System Preferences app.

WD, a subsidiary of Western Digital Corp., has introduced its newest version of My Passport line of portable hard drives for the Mac and PC with the debut of My Passport Edge. The My Passport Edge and My Passport Edge for Mac feature 500GB of storage and a USB 3.0 interface. The latter portable hard drive complements the MacBook computers and MacBook Air computer designs with an all-aluminum exterior to protect the drive and its contents from everyday bumps. The My Passport Edge for Mac is also compatible with Apple Time Machine for backing up your files. My Passport Edge and My Passport Edge for Mac 500GB portable hard drives come with a three-year limited warranty and are available on the WD store (www.wdstore.com) and at select retailers and distributors. The manufacturer's suggested retail price of the My Passport Edge is US$109.99 and $119.99 for the My Passport Edge for Mac.

Twelve South (http://www.twelvesouth.com) has unveiled a refreshed version of its BookArc stand. The upgraded BookArc is designed exclusively for the Retina display MacBook Pro models. This desktop stand features built-in cable management and a more precise fit for the Apple laptop. The BookArc for the Retina display MacBook Pro is available at Amazon.com and other outlets for US$49.99. Underneath BookArc for MacBook Pro there are two hidden cable managers that prevent your monitor, USB and power cables from slipping to the floor when you unplug your MacBook Pro. Already a BookArc Pro user? You’re covered too. Twelve South now offers a $9.99 insert for BookArc that makes all previous BookArc Pro stands fully Retina-compatible.

onOne Software (www.ononesoftware.com) has announced Perfect Photo Suite 7 for Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, Apple Aperture® and as a standalone application. Improved to give photographers more ways to maximize their creativity and solve common problems in digital photography, the suite provides new tools to: develop black and white images; enhance, stylize and correct images; retouch portraits; and prepare all images, including mobile snapshots, for enlargement and print. Perfect Photo Suite 7 includes the new module Perfect B&W, Perfect Effects 4, Perfect Portrait 2, Perfect Layers 3 and Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro­–powered by Genuine Fractals technology, Perfect Mask 5.2 and FocalPoint 2.   Users can select their image from Lightroom, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or Aperture, send it directly to the Perfect Photo Suite 7 module of their choice, make adjustments, then immediately return it to their original photo editing or organization application. The new modules in Perfect Photo...

D-Link (www.dlink.com) has released its newest installment to its ShareCenter storage solutions -- the 4-Bay Cloud Storage 4000 (DNS-345). It sports a CPU to simultaneously support multiple user streams, more memory to boost performance, four drives for up to 16TB of storage, and two Gigabit Ethernet ports. The Cloud Storage 4000 (US$449.99) is a storage, back-up and recovery solution. When combined with D-Link Cloud Cameras, it enables a full-featured network video recorder (NVR) which supports real-time monitoring, recording and playback of surveillance video. The Cloud Storage 4000 creates a personal Cloud portal via the free mydlink cloud app, enabling users to store, safeguard, share, and remotely access or stream their digital documents, music, videos, and photos from anywhere on their iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, or Microsoft Mobile OS device. In addition, the mydlink cloud app supports two-way data syncing. The Cloud Storage 4000 is equipped with four SATA HD bays for 3....

Oranged Software (www.oranged.net) has released Studiometry 10.0, an upgrade for their business management software package for Mac OS X. The new version adds over 150 new features and improvements based on feedback from users. Oranged has added the ability to assign and track Employee Roles for Projects, helping better organize each each employee's purpose and responsibilities. You can automatically assign roles based on project type, and even display roles on invoices and reports. Oranged has added a Weekly Timesheet feature that helps you both enter and visualize your daily and weekly work totals. You can modify daily hours while Studiometry does all of the filing and sorting for you in the background. New invoicing features have been added in Studiometry 10. You can now merge items on your invoices. There are also new Combo Data Rows for templates, which let you display information for multiple types of data (such as work, taxes, totals) inline and consecutively. Oother features...

Here are the latest updates for Mac OS X apps: Elgato has rolled out a free software update that brings 1080p Full HD support to all Elgato Game Capture HD products (gamecapture.com) for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Elgato Game Capture HD is an USB capture product. Maintain has served up Cocktail 5.3.5 (Lion Edition), the latest maintenance update for users running OS X Lion 10.7. Cocktail (maintain.se/cocktail) is a general purpose utility for OS X that lets you clean, repair and optimize your Mac. Version 5.3.5 adds Safari 6 and OS X Lion 10.7.5 compatibility, addresses an issue in which Cocktail may fail to scan preference files and contains improvements to the Pilot scheduler. Zevrix Solutions (www.zevrix.com) has cooked up InPreflight Pro 2.10.3, a compatibility update to its document preparation solution for Adobe InDesign. The new version adds support for Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and improves compatibility with Adobe Exchange. AppViz (www.ideaswarm.com) a tool for...

Earlier this week the AntiSec hacking group claimed (http://macte.ch/FPecX) it had obtained over 12 million of unique identifiers for Apple devices from an FBI laptop. The FBI denied this; now Apple has issued a statement saying it did not provide any UDIDs to the FBI. Natalie Kerris told "AllThingsD" (http://macte.ch/QWkhQ) that "the FBI has not requested this information from Apple, nor have we provided it to the FBI or any organization. Additionally, with iOS 6 we introduced a new set of APIs meant to replace the use of the UDID and will soon be banning the use of UDID."

After a generation of setting the pace and calling the shots in the computer market, the Microsoft/Intel cartel known as Wintel now finds itself playing catch-up in the new era of smartphones and media tablets, spurring a widening rift in the historic alliance, according to IHS iSuppli (www.isuppli.com). Despite a flurry of activities to adjust to the changed realities of the technology industry, Wintel is expected to suffer a declining share of the "new" computer market, a category consisting not just of PCs but also of the much faster-growing smartphone and media tablet segments, says the research group. Microsoft’s share of the operating system market for the three products combined is expected to slip to 33% in 2016, down from 44%in 2011, according to an "IHS iSuppli DRAM Dynamics Report." Meanwhile, Intel’s share of microprocessors will fall to 29%, down from 41%. At the same time, the total size of the market will double from 2011 to 2016, almost entirely due to the strong...

Nuance Communications (www.nuance.com) has announced Dragon Dictate for Mac 3, an update of the voice recognition software. According to the folks at Nuance, the new version sports a 15% increase in accuracy, new Smart Format Rules, new correction capabilities, wideband Bluetooth support, the ability to transcribe recorded audio files from a single speaker, and more. Dragon Dictate harnesses the power of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking voice recognition technology to let Mac users simply speak to see their words instantly captured in real time on their screen. Version 3 now further adapts to the way people speak with Smart Format Rules, which customize and personalize every user's Dragon Dictate experience, according to Peter Mahoney, chief marketing officer for Nuance and senior vice president, general manager, Dragon. Dragon Dictate now detects formatting changes such as abbreviations, numbers and more, so dictated text appears the way you prefer, he adds. With its revamped correction...