Endpoint security software firm Avecto has announced a Mac version of its Defendpoint software (avecto.com/defendpoint). Go to the product web site for more info, including pricing.   By drawing on Avecto’s least privilege capabilities, organizations can finally achieve least privilege on their OS X devices.Taking this approach, all Mac users operate without admin rights and can still remain productive, while closing a security loophole that has made Macs an increasingly soft target for hackers, says Paul Kenyon, EVP at Avecto. "It is naive to think that Macs are more secure than Windows devices as that is a totally false perception. With Macs becoming an increasingly popular choice in business, it is no longer possible to ignore the growing risk they present," he says. "In recent weeks we've seen growing evidence of Mac products becoming an increasing target for cyber criminals. The recent XCode Ghost Malware, where cyber criminals planted malware on Apple apps, is a prime example of...

Open Planet Software (http://www.openplanetsoftware.com) has introduced Just Press Record, an audio recording app for iOS 9, watchOS 2 and OS X. It instantly syncs your recordings across all your devices using iCloud. It's designed for capturing ideas, thoughts and memos at home, in the studio or on the go. You can record with a single tap on your iOS device, Apple Watch or Mac and instantly play back high quality audio across all your devices. The app's compatibility with iCloud Drive allows audio recordings to be used anywhere. You can record on your Apple Watch even when your iPhone isn't around. The next time they connect, recordings made on Apple's smartwatch will transfer to your other devices. With Just Press Record, you can share to any of the apps and services you have set up on your device (e.g. Dropbox, email, Messages) and into your iTunes library. With unlimited recording time you can record just about anything, so long as you have enough storage on iCloud Drive.

Tap Guides (http://www.tapguides.co.uk ) has published "iPhone 6s Guidebook," a 313-page eBook available in the iBookstore for US$3.99. It's packed with in-depth tutorials and tips about the things you need to know about the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, their apps, user interface and settings. You'll learn about the history of the iPhone, how 3D Touch can be used to peek, and pop at content, how to stream songs via Apple Music, capture Live Photos, troubleshoot common problems and more. "iPhone 6s Guidebook" includes color screenshots. It's available on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac. It requires an iOS device with iBooks 1.5 or later and iOS 4.3.3 or later or a Mac with iBooks 1.0 or later and OS X 10.9 or later.

Troi Automatisering has released Troi File Plug-in 8.0.4 for FileMaker Pro 14. Version 8.0.4 is a maintenance update of our plug-in for manipulating external files and folders directly from FileMaker Pro. In this version Troi added compatibility with Windows 10, fixed some problems in the LaunchFile and DiskInfo functions and improved the working of the FindFolder and Metadata functions. A fully functional demo version of Troi File Plug-in 8.0.4 is available for downloading at Troi's website (www.troi.com). Licenses cost US$99 per user. Details on developer licenses and multi-user discounts can be found on the web site. Upgrading to version 8.0.4 is free for all users of version 8.0 to 8.0.3: version 8.0.4 works with the same registration as the 8.0 version. Users who bought a license for Troi File Plug-in on or after Nov. 1, 2014, are entitled to a free upgrade to version 8.0.4. Eligible users have been sent a new 8.0 registration. Contact Troi if you've not received yours....

Maintain has announced Cocktail 8.6 (Yosemite Edition), the latest maintenance update for users running OS X Yosemite. Cocktail is a general purpose utility for OS X that lets users clean, repair and optimize their Macs. This version addresses compatibility issues with OS X Server 5, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6 and Microsoft Office 2016. It also contains many other bug fixes and overall performance improvements. Cocktail 8.6 (Yosemite Edition) requires OS X Yosemite 10.10 to run. Cocktail (Mavericks Edition) for OS X 10.9, Cocktail (Mountain Lion Edition) for OS X 10.8 and Cocktail (Lion Edition) for OS X 10.7 are available for download from Maintain website. Cocktail 8.6 (Yosemite Edition) is US$19 for a single user license and available for purchase from the Maintain website (www.maintain.se/cocktail).

The data synchronization engine SyncDeK is now SyncServer Pro (http://syncserverpro.com/) and offers a completely redesigned wizard based assistant, simplified setup requirements and easy-to-use tools to help recover from disasters. According to the folks at Linear Blue, SSP has completely reimagined how synchronization solutions are setup, deployed and managed. By answering simple questions about project goals, a user can trigger one of several set-up assistants depending on the complexity of the project, making it ideal for all knowledge levels. With this new release of SyncServer Pro, there's a free version offering the capability of a re-deployment assistant to roll live data into your offline development version. Because the brand-new SyncServer Pro has been designed to meet both the needs of small businesses and large enterprises, the functionality built-in to it is purposely wide-ranging. Beyond the free version, there's a three-tier pricing plan. Tier the freebie. Tiers two...

Here are some of the latest apps available at the Apple App Store for the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and/or Apple Watch. Mac Daddy's Legendary Outdoors has announced Brother's Keeper. It's a free app to help you know the relative location of other hunters to help maintain safe separation in the field. Digital World Studio has released Udaaku: The Destiny of a Charm King. In the US$0.99, 2.5D endless adventure game players save their beloved king Udaaku from notorious birds and kill them to be on the top in the leaderboards. InRFood is a new, free app for helping individuals manage dietary restrictions. By simply scanning the barcode of a food's packaging or searching for that food on the app a shopper will learn essential information on its sodium and sugar content, as well as that food's carbohydrate and calorie scores. Ubacoda has launched Spooktacular Creeps. It's a free, physics based puzzle game in which players collect gold by popping spooky monsters to level up characters and...

Red Giant has rolled out Magic Bullet Suite 12.1, a free update to the Magic Bullet Suite 12 color correction, finishing and film looks solution. Packed with new features, presets and host support, the Magic Bullet Suite 12.1 update offers a more fluid color correction experience that includes new trackpad controls and real time color correction during video playback. Magic Bullet Suite 12 includes Magic Bullet Looks, Magic Bullet Colorista III, Magic Bullet Film, Magic Bullet Mojo, Magic Bullet Cosmo, Denoiser II and LUT Buddy. To update an existing Magic Bullet Suite, go to For more information, or to purchase, cruise on over to http://tinyurl.com/o9fnhwh. It costs US$799 for new users.

The team at booq have announced their latest messenger bag: the Shadow. Available in gray and black, the Shadow features a unique profile and sleek exterior. Compact and lightweight, the Shadow’s interior offers a spacious main compartment, a zippered pocket to store smaller accessories and a padded laptop compartment to keep a 15-inch MacBook or PC safely stored. The Shadow is available now for US$130 (black) and $160 (gray) at www.booqbags.com and various retailers. The exterior of the gray Shadow features a water resistant jute, custom nylon seatbelt shoulder strap and a front flap that’s secured with aluminum buckles, while the black version features a water resistant 1680D ballistic nylon material, custom nylon seatbelt shoulder strap and a front flap that’s secured with plastic buckles. Both include a large back pocket for exterior storage. The interior of the gray Shadow is lined with a smooth polyester, while the black Shadow is lined with nylon and offers room for books,...

Vito Technology (www.vitotechnology.com) has announced Star Walk 2, an update to the company's stargazing guide for iOS and Android devices. The app provides a journey through thousands of stars, comets, and constellations. Among new features in version 2 are iOS 9 and Watch OS 2 support, including integrated spotlight search, slide over, new widget, new Apple Watch app, notifications for calendar events, New Horizons mission, Portuguese language, and more. Star Walk 2 costs US$0.99 (all additional content is $2.99). It's available worldwide through the Apple App Store in the Education category. There's also an Android version available on Google Play.

Zevrix Solutions has announced BatchOutput XLS 2.3, a compatibility update to its popular output automation solution for Microsoft Excel on Mac OS X. In addition to batch printing and PDF exporting, the software lets users carry out automated professional PDF production directly from Excel eliminating time consuming post-processing. The app also helps users effortlessly repurpose Excel spreadsheets for web and mobile devices. The new version makes BatchOutput XLS compatible with Microsoft Office 2016. BatchOutput XLS can be purchased for US$39.95 from the Zevrix website (www.zevrix.com). A demo is available for download. BatchOutput XLS requires Mac OS X 10.6 - 10.11 and Microsoft Excel 2008, 2011 or 2016.

Quark says that until Sept. 30, all QuarkXPress 2015 users are eligible for a full year of the new Fonts.com Desktop Font Subscription of 9,000+ fonts for US$99. The offer saves QuarkXPress 2015 users $451 off the standard retail price. QuarkXPress 2015 users who take advantage of the offer will have access to the Monotype, Linotype and ITC typeface libraries, which feature signature designs like the Neue Helvetica, Avenir Next, and ITC Franklin Gothic families, as well new releases, including the Metro Nova and Neue Haas Grotesk collections. To learn more about the offer go to http://www.fonts.com/quark. Designers who don’t have a copy of QuarkXPress 2015 can purchase or upgrade now to take advantage of this special offer. Upgrades to QuarkXPress 2015 are available from all previous versions of QuarkXPress at www.quark.com/2015.

Microsoft has announced (http://tinyurl.com/ney2yq6) that Office 2016 for Mac is now available as a one-time $149.99 purchase without an Office 365 subscription. Office Home & Student 2016 includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote for home use on one Mac. It requires OS X 10.10 or later. In July, Office 2016 for Mac was released to Office 365 customers. The new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote "are a significant step forward and provide the best of both worlds for Mac users—a familiar Office experience paired with the best of the Mac platform," according to Microsoft.

For a limited time, BeLight Software is giving away (http://tinyurl.com/qe24ba6) Get Backup Pro, the company's backup and disc cloning software, for Mac users preparing to migrate to OS X El Capitan. The software lets users clone their Mac's HD and SSD to get a backup disk that can be booted up and used in case of a crash or accidental data loss that may happen during migration to the new OS. Get Backup Pro will remain free until Sept. 30, when El Capitan is due for release. The regular price is US$19.95.

China Unicom, a Chinese state-owned telecommunications operator, will offer a mobile service for Apple’s iPhone 6s handsets for CNY 76-596 (about US$12-94) a month, reports IT168.com reported, citing Internet posting on the prices. Customers have to sign a 30-month contract for minimum CNY 396 ($62) a month to get a free iPhone 6s with 16 GB, says IT168.com (as noted by BrightWire.com, a global investment newswire). The contract for a free 64-GB iPhone 6s or 16-GB iPhone 6s Plus will cost minimum CNY 596 a month for 24 months. China Unicom received more than 300,000 pre-orders for iPhone 6s devices on the first day of offer on Sept. 10. Chinese carriers will start selling the new Apple handsets on September 25.

Comm-Unity Networking Systems has released CNS Barcode 1.5, which includes 64-bit support for FileMaker Pro 14 and FileMaker Pro Server 12+. It's available immediately at http://cnsbarcode.cnsplug-ins.com/ for both Mac OS X and Windows. A demo is available for download. Like its sibling product, CNS Barcode for iOS, this plug-in can both scan and generate barcodes. CNS Barcode can scan JPEG or PNG images containing barcodes or it can use an attached webcam to scan any barcodes held up to the camera. Any of the barcode formats you can scan, you can also create with the plug-in, including Codabar, Code 3 of 9 (Code 39), Code 3 of 9 Ext. (Code 39+), Code 93, Code 128, DataBar-14, DataBar-14 Stacked, EAN 2, EAN 5, EAN 8, EAN 13, EAN 14, EAN 128, Interleaved 2 of 5, ISBN, QR Code, UPC A, and UPC E. If you purchased CNS Barcode any time after Sept. 21, 2014, you can install this latest version free of charge. If you purchased CNS Barcode any time between Sept. 21, 2013, and Sept. 20, 2014...

Here are some of the latest apps available at the Apple App Store for the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and/or Apple Watch. Hovik Melikyan has announced Magnetola. Stylized as a vintage compact cassette player, the US$1.99 music player can play tracks either unaltered or, for more sensitive ears, slightly "softened." Itemtopia has released their free cross-platform app Itemtopia. It instantly notifies consumers if any item they own has been recalled (all vehicles and all consumer items) and allows consumers to attach receipts, warranties, photos and notes to each item at any time during the life of the item's ownership. Red Bull Media House has introduced Clashem - Video Battles. It's a free competitive mobile video app and online community. All Clashem videos are five seconds long. There's no need to wait passively for likes and views to add up; users know in an instant if their video is a hit or flop. Armstrong Santiago has launched Your Second Chance. It's a free, GPS-enabled app that...

Baso Labs has introduced Occasions 1.0, an app that lets you store and combine events, gifts, and people along with notes, photos and more. It offers integration with iCloud contacts. Occasions supports major holidays in 27 countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States. It's localized in 10 languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Brazilian, Korean, Turkish. Occasions requires OS X 10.10 or later and costs US$24.99. It's available worldwide through the Mac App Store in the Utilities category. For more information, go to Occasions' website (http://occasionshq.com).

Apple is cleaning up its Apple App Store to remove malicious iPhone and iPad programs following what is being described as the first large-scale attack on the mobile software outlet. The hackers took aim at popular Chinese apps by convincing developers of legitimate software to use a tainted, counterfeit version of source code known as XcodeGhost, notes Seeking Alpha (www.seekingalpha.com). According to cyber security firm Palo Alto Networks (paloaltonetworks.com), "hundreds of millions" of users are at risk of having their personal data exposed due to the malware.

Digiarty Software has announced a new version of WinX HD Video Converter (www.winxdvd.com) for Mac. It's a Mac OS X based video compression and converting solution for iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPad Pro. Designed specifically to convert HD and SD videos, WinX HD Video Converter for Mac simplifies and automates the conversion of 4K UHD, multi-track HD, and camcorder videos on Mac for the target iPhone 6s/6s Plus, iPad Pro, iPad mini 4 devices, Apple TV 4, and more. WinX HD Video Converter for Mac is designed to convert HD and SD videos. With about 370 built-in video and audio Codecs, it accepts MKV, MPEG4, H.264, H.265 (HEVC), MOV, M2TS, AVI, MPEG, WMV, FLV, VOB, F4V, 3GP, MXF and so on. It facilitates the playback of movie files on different devices and players, and also makes it easier to upload videos to YouTube, Facebook, etc. It's capable of changing video resolutions from 4K (2160p) to 1080p, 1080p to 720, etc. Users can even use it to download videos and music from over...

Ohanaware (www.ohanaware.com) has introduced ICNSmini 1.0 for Mac OS X. It's a developer utility that slims PNG, ICNS, TIFF and Iconset images down in file size. Some files can shed up to 85% of their digital fat. Underneath ICNSmini's exterior lies Ohanaware's custom ICNS generator, custom TIFF processor and "pngquant." pngquant is a process for compressing PNG files, and its behind many image compression tools. ICNSmini converts iconsets into compressed ICNS files, with the same savings as an ICNS file. It compresses PNG files up to 25% of their original size. It can slim TIFF files, on average, down to 30% of their original file size. (Actual compression rates will vary, dependent upon the content of the image.) ICNSmini requires OS X 10.9 or newer. It's free from the Mac App Store in the Graphics & Design category. Batch processing is available via an in-app purchase; without batch processing images can still be compressed, one at a time.

Apple has added a banner to the iTunes Store (http://tinyurl.com/p4buwcn) that allows customers to donate to the American Red Cross to help people affected by the refugee and migration crisis across the Mediterranean Sea and Europe. You can click the Donate button under the amount you wish to donate. Donation choices are $5, $10, $25, $50, $100 and $200.

Capparsa has released TimeTag 3, an update to their popular productivity app for Mac OS X (10.10 and higher). TimeTag is a time management tool designed for on-the-go freelancers and people who want to track their time quickly and easily. Version 3.0 brings one of the most requested features: syncing records with the iPhone and iPad. People can now login to their TimeTag Pro accounts created on their iPhone or iPad, and keep their records, tags and categories in sync automatically on the Mac. TimeTag 3 is free and available worldwide exclusively through the Mac App Store in the Productivity category. Syncing across iOS and OS X is available as an in-app purchase of $0.99/month or $9.99/year. Go to http://tinyurl.com/ozrg956 for more info.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled that Apple is entitled to blocking competitors from using its intellectual property, reports Bloomberg (http://tinyurl.com/pt6kca3). The court said Apple was entitled to a narrow order that prevents Samsung from using Apple’s slide-to-unlock, autocorrect and quicklinks features. To rule otherwise would eliminate patent rights of inventors of certain features in multicomponent devices, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington said in an opinion posted on its electronic docket. This is all part of an ongoing, global legal battle. Apple and Samsung had 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. On May 14, 2014, an U.S. appeals court affirmed a decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that Apple is innocent of violating three patents owned by Samsung....