MacPlay (www.macplay.com) says its 4X strategy game, StarDrive 2, is now available worldwide on the Apple’s Mac App Store for US$29.99. It requires Mac OS X 10.8 or higher. Here's how the game is described: "Developed by Zero Sum Games and published by Iceberg Interactive, players in StarDrive 2 will reach into the unexplored regions of space fully loaded with options to engage in massive real-time space combat or enter into the all new ground combat, partner with friendly factions, research new technologies, design new ships, and much more. Built on the Unity Engine, StarDrive 2 is highlighted by its impressive new levels of graphic polish and detail, streamlined interfaces, and intense, sophisticated 4X gameplay. "StarDrive 2 is a turn-based 4X strategy that builds on the premise of the popular original game, StarDrive, with the goal of building an empire to span the stars. Players will explore a vibrant galaxy filled with danger and intrigue in a deep turn-based strategy layer....

According to MacG (http://tinyurl.com/ls6zhtn), a French site, Apple will update its MacBook Pro line and the 27-inch iMac this week. Updates of the pro laptop and best-selling all-in-one weren't anticipated until next month's Apple Worldwide Developer Conference. However, build-to-order options for the 15-inch MacBook Pro have been unavailable of late, and shipping times for Apple's online inventory have slipped from immediate availability to 2-3 weeks. A revved pro laptop, whenever it arrives, will doubtless pack the latest high-end Broadwell processors from Intel and the Force Touch trackpad introduced with the MacBook and revved 13-inch MacBook Pro. As for the iMac, there's no clear indication on what the update might include beyond a faster processor. Apple's 27-inch model with 5K Retina display is still advertised to ship immediately.

MCE Technologies (http://mcetech.com/) has begun shipping its USB 3.0 16X Blu-ray Authoring System for the Mac. It takes advantage of the powerful high-definition video editing capabilities of the Mac Pro, iMac 5K, and MacBook Pro with Retina Display and is compatible with Final Cut Pro X. The Blu-ray Authoring System is available with optional Blu-ray authoring software and includes Mac Blu-ray Player for viewing authored titles. The retail price is US$149 — $229 with Toast 12 Titanium Blu-ray Disc authoring software. The MCE USB 3.0 16X Blu-ray Authoring System is compatible with 25GB through 128GB Blu-ray media, as well as M-Disc media for permanent archiving. It can record to 25GB single-layer and 50GB dual-layer write-once Blu-ray BD-R media at up to 16X (72MB/sec), to 100GB triple-layer and 128GB Quad-Layer write-once Blu-ray BD-R XL media at 6X (27MB/sec), and to 25GB, 50GB, and 100GB rewritable BD-RE discs at up to 2X (9MB/sec). The drive is compatible with Apple's DVD Player...

AKVIS (www.akvis.com) has released AKVIS Decorator 4.0 as a standalone application and Photoshop compatible plug-in, in versions for Windows and Mac OS X. The software applies a new texture and color to an object on an image. Decorator applies a new texture or a color keeping the volume of an object, following its folds and creases. The program is equipped with a Texture Library boasting more than 1,800 textures, from fabrics to stones and metal, from food to nature elements. You can also apply your own textures. Decorator 4.0 adds a Share option that lets users post pictures from the program to Flickr, Twitter, Google+, and Dropbox. It also adds native support for 64 bit, improves the program performance on 64-bit Windows and Mac OS X sytems, and improves the compatibility of the plug-in with Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 2014. All registered users of Decorator can upgrade to the new version 4.0 for free. For new users the cost is US$54. A demo is available for download.

PROMT (www.prompt.com) has announced PROMT Offline Translator English Pack 1.1.7, an update of the translation app that lets Mac owners translate texts without an Internet connection. PROMT Offline Translator English Pack translates text right on a source page without switching between program windows or browser tabs. Users only need to highlight a word or a text fragment, use a hotkey, and translation immediately appears in a pop-up window. The desired hotkey combination can be set by users. Data is stored not on a server, as is the case with online translators, but on your Mac. PROMT Offline Translator English Pack supports translation from English to German, French, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and vice versa. PROMT Offline Translator English Pack 1.1.7 is US$36.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide through the Mac App Store in the References category. It requires Mac OS X 10.8 or higher. More language pairs are available through in-...

Cole Haan (www.colehaan.com), the American lifestyle footwear and accessories brand, has launched Apple Pay within their mobile shopping application, allowing customers to make purchases with one touch. Cole Haan partnered with leading mobile commerce platform, PredictSpring, to build the Cole Haan iPhone, iPad and Android mobile apps. Features include Shop the Look, allowing consumers to shop directly from the Cole Haan Instagram feed, as well as geo-fencing technology that alerts consumers to nearby Cole Haan stores. The Cole Haan app with Apple Pay is available for free download on the Apple App Store.

24U Software has announced the compatibility of their plug-ins with the new FileMaker 14. Almost every single plug-in from 24U is now compatible with FileMaker Pro 14, and some of them even with FileMaker Server 14. All compatible plug-ins can be used with FileMaker Pro 14 in the 32-bit mode, Toolbox Plug-In also in 64-bit mode, 64-bit versions of SimpleFile and SimpleDialog are coming later this month. 64-bit versions of other plug-ins will be announced as they become available. Every individual plug-in has its own pricing. All 24U plug-ins are available as a shareware and FileMaker developers can try them free of charge for 14 days. More information about plug-ins is available on the 24U website (http://www.24usoftware.com/).

Addonics Technologies (www.addonics.com) has announced a M2 Hybrid Controller and M2 SSD (Solid State Drive) adapter that gives PCIe-based systems a performance boost over SATA-based SSDs with READ/WRITE speeds up to 1000 MB/s via a PCIe 4-lane slot. The Addonics Dual Hyper HDD – M2 Hybrid Controller and the M2 PCIe SSD Adapter X100 are solutions for building your own SSD for IO intensive applications such as gaming, video editing, CAD/CAM or workstations.The Dual Hyper HDD - M2 SSD Hybrid Controller (model AD4SAHM2) is a two port SATA III PCI-e 4-lane host controller combined with two M2 (NGFF) SSD slots. In standard mode, the connected two M2 SSDs and the two SATA hard drives can be set up to operate as four individual drives or combined to form a RAID 0, RAID 1 or RAID 10 group. The two SATA ports are Port Multiplier compatible and SATA III compliant with maximum throughput up to 6Gbps. When set to operate in Hybrid mode, the M2 SSD can be paired with a high capacity hard drive to...

Zevrix Solutions (www.zevrix.com) has announced Output Factory Server 1.2, a feature update to its output workflow automation solution for Adobe InDesign. Output Factory Server automates printing and exporting from InDesign by processing files from hot folders. The software offloads output tasks to a central system leaving operator workstations free from the output process. The new version lets users automate creation of secure PDF files with password protection, encryption, print restrictions, and other options. Output Factory Server can be purchased from the Zevrix web site for US$699.95 A demo is available for download. BatchOutput Server users can upgrade for $350. Output Factory Server runs on Mac OS X 10.6-10.10 and works with Adobe InDesign CS3-CC 2014.

Global shipments of over-the-top (OTT) set-top boxes (STBs) sold at retail -- including Apple TV, Chromecast and Roku boxes -- will overtake shipments of IPTV STBs used for pay TV services in 2015, according to a new report from IHS (www.ihs.com). This year, 31 million retail OTT STBs will be shipped, compared to 30 million IPTV STBs shipped by telcos, according to the research group.  "OTT STBs were initially written off as a temporary measure for consumers to bring OTT video to TV screens," says Daniel Simmons director of connected home research at IHS Technology. "It was assumed that smart TVs, Blu-Ray disc players and gaming consoles would eventually take the place of STB devices; however, while consumer adoption of smart devices has grown considerably, OTT STBs have still managed to flourish." Based on the latest information from IHS Technology, the success of OTT STBs can be attributed to the content strategies of their respective vendors. Apple, Google and Roku have been much...

Norbert M. Doerner has released a new version (6.7) of NeoFinder (formerly CDFinder). The new version has improved cataloging of RAW, DPX, and Open Office files, and more. NeoFinder (www.cdfinder.de) is designed to make it easier to keep track of your digital files, photos, songs, movies, fonts on hard disks, USB sticks, server disks, Blu-ray disks, DVD-ROMs, CDs and other digital media. It generates thumbnails and reads metadata during cataloging for search possibilities. NeoFinder 6.7 requires Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. It's a paid update to licensed users of CDFinder with update price starting at approximately US$25. For new users the cost is $40. Version 6.7 is a free update to all NeoFinder customers.

Zymbit has announced the first three products within its integrated IoT platform: the Zymbit Orange edge device, the Zymbit Iris interactive display, and Zymbit Connect software. The platform is the first pre-configured hardware and software solution that is a finished, secure, out-of-the-box-ready product to let creative makers and developers get their IoT prototypes off their desk and into the market in just days. The company also announced a contest to find the top 5 most inspiring and impactful IoT projects. Makers can post their projects to the Zymbit website at www.zymbit.com/make, and the winning projects will each receive the first five Zymbit Orange devices to scale their projects. These announcements were made today at the MakerCon event in San Francisco where Zymbit will be exhibiting. "Like the motherboard was to personal computing, Zymbit Orange is to the IoT market," sayshil Strong, CEO of Zymbit.  "We're giving makers the first pre-packaged hardware and software...

Zevrix Solutions (www.zevrix.com) has announced Deliver 2.4.17, a feature update to its OS X automated file transfer solution for remote and local destinations. Deliver lets users send files to FTP, Google Storage, Amazon S3, WebDAV and other servers and offers automatic e-mail notifications, delivery to multiple destinations, file encryption, delivery history and other time saving features. The new version allows users to transfer non-compressed folders directly to FTP and SFTP servers. Deliver requires Mac OS X 10.5 or higher. It can be purchased from the Zevrix website for US$19.95. A demo is available for download. The 2.4.17 update is free for licensed users of Deliver 2.x.

Peercisely (www.peercisely.com) is a new cloud-based service that "fixes how companies recruit new talent by marrying the most effective method of recruiting - personal referrals - with the most powerful source of knowledge and insights, the social network." The service is starting with the San Francisco Bay Area, but expanding nationally and internationally soon. "Peercisely allows anyone to become a recruiter," says Arek Sokol, CEO and founder. "Referrers make recommendations based on all the intangibles that make for a great hire: personality, temperament, flexibility, dedication. Qualities that don’t appear on a resume." An employer posts jobs by buying Peercisely coins. One coin (which costs US$100) buys one posting and displays a thumbnail of the responses. For five coins ($500) the employer gains full access to the resumes, contact information and the referrals’ comments. Employers can also apply coins toward promotions such as tax-deductible charitable donations and referral...

Tosha Serbian has announced Video Ambush for Mac OS X, a rebranded update to his MPEG encoder and movie re-converter application MPEG2 Works. The app lets you convert your media, video and audio files, DVD and Blu-Ray discs to iOS compatible movies, video for the web, H.264, MP4, DivX, MKV, x264, MPEG2, DVD, HD DVD and all available standard and pro Quick Time formats. You can encode to MPEG2, make DVDs with built-in menus, burn it on a blank DVD media, and more. Video Ambush requires Mac OS X 10.6 or later. It costs US$25 and is availalbe here (http://www.videoambush.com).

In its eleventh quarterly Mobility Index Report, Good Technology (www.good.com), which specializes in secure mobility, today announced key findings showing that organizations are mobilizing apps and content at a rapid and accelerating pace. And Apple's iOS maintains its lead. Over the past year, total app activations grew 160% as companies enable their workforces with enhanced collaboration tools and corporate content across an increasing range of mobile devices, according to Good Technology. Insurance emerges as an early adopter of custom apps with over a third of all apps activated focused on mobilizing custom business processes, says Christy Wyatt, chairman and CEO at Good Technology. Secure IM represented 27%of all apps activated. Business and professional services demonstrated a preference for apps that help mobilize content, with document editing, document access and secure browser making up 64% of all apps deployed by these firms. In manufacturing, almost half (47 percent) of...

DIRECTV customers have a new way to control and engage with their favorite shows through the update of its new DIRECTV app for iPhone, which now includes support for the Apple Watch.  Available at the App Store for Apple Watch, the updated DIRECTV Everywhere App enables users to remotely control the following functions on their HD DVRs. You can play, pause, rewind, and fast forward recorded content on your TV on any connected receivers within the home. You can view program title, channel and episode details of TV shows and movies, as well as set DVR recordings. And the DIRECTV app lets you navigate the on-screen guide, playlist and menu.   No separate DIRECTV app is needed for Apple Watch. All DIRECTV customers will have to do is to download the latest DIRECTV App from theApp Store on their iPhone 5 or later. Once Apple Watch is paired with your iPhone, the DIRECTV App will automatically appear on Apple Watch. The updated DIRECTV App requires a connected HD DVR (HR20, H21 and above). 

comScore (www.comscore.com), which specializes in digital media analytics, has released data from comScore MobiLens and Mobile Metrix, reporting key trends in the U.S. smartphone industry for March. Apple ranked as the top smartphone manufacturer with 42.6% OEM (original equipment manufacturer) market share. Google Android led as the number one smartphone platform with 52.4 % platform market share. Facebook ranked as the top individual smartphone app. According to comScore, 187.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (77 % mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in March, up 3% since December. As mentioned, Apple ranked as the top OEM with 42.6% of U.S. smartphone subscribers (up one percentage point from December). Samsung ranked second with 28.3% market share, followed by LG with 8.4% (up 0.4 percentage points), Motorola with 5% and HTC with 3.8% (up 0.1 percentage points). Android ranked as the top smartphone platform in March with 52.4% market share,...

Apple's TestFlight beta-testing platform for iOS has been inaccessible to developers since late Wednesday, with no hint as to when the service might be restored, reports AppleInsider (http://tinyurl.com/prm3e8b). Trying to install apps through the official TestFlight app, for instance, will trigger an error message saying the service is "currently unavailable." Apple hasn't updated its System Status page (http://tinyurl.com/a3swxz2) with any mention of the problem. TestFlight lets you install and beta test apps on an iOS device. After a developer invites you to beta test their app, you can install new versions as they become available. TestFlight also allows you to provide feedback to developers on the features you are testing in the prerelease apps you’ve been invited to.

Yahoo says the Yahoo Mobile Developer Suite (https://developer.yahoo.com) now includes analytics for the Apple Watch. Just weeks after the debut of the Apple Watch, Flurry Analytics has made it possible for developers to better understand how users interact with their apps on the smallest screen, says Brad Jones, director, Product Management at Flurry from Yahoo. Like Flurry Analytics always has, Yahoo is making analytics for the Apple Watch available to developers for free. With the latest Flurry iOS software development kit and a few minutes of implementation time, developers will be able to track new users, active users and the actions of their Watch users with custom events. They will also be able to understand how usage balances out between the Apple Watch app and its parent app on the user's smartphone. Apps will be reimagined, more intuitive and simplified for the Apple Watch, says Jones. Watch analytics are now available for free within Flurry Analytics.

Apple has released Safari 8.0.6, Safari 7.1.6, and Safari 6.2.6 for, respectively, Mac OS X Mountain Lion, OS X Mavericks, and OS X Yosemite. The security update fixes the following problems: ° Multiple memory corruption issues existed in WebKit. These issues were addressed through improved memory handling. ° A state management issue existed in Safari that allowed unprivileged origins to access contents on the filesystem. This issue was addressed through improved state management. ° An issue existed in the handling of the rel attribute in anchor elements. Target objects could get unauthorized access to link objects. This issue was addressed through improved link type adherence. The Safari updates can be downloaded via the Updates tab at the Mac App Store.

olloclip (www.olloclip.com) has introduced the US$29.99 olloCase, a slim, protective case for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus that integrates with olloclip photo lenses.  "This new case is a significant improvement over our previous version. It improves speed and removes any unnecessary obstacles between a user and the photos or videos they want to shoot," says Patrick O'Neill, CEO and founder of olloclip. Grip lines recessed into the olloCase's rubberized shock-resistant bumpers allow for control when taking photos or simply browsing the web. The case has a scratch-resistant back for added protection. A raised bezel keeps the screen from contacting flat surfaces. The new olloCase works with all olloclip lenses for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. It's available in two colors -- matte clear with dark gray bumper and matte smoke with black bumper.  It's available now for pre-order.

Apple has confirmed the existence of its Applebot web crawler. In a support document (http://apple.co/1H0Mp37) the company had this to say: "Applebot is the web crawler for Apple, used by products including Siri and Spotlight Suggestions. It respects customary robots.txt rules and robots meta tags. It originates in the 17.0.0.0 net block. "User-agent strings will contain 'Applebot' together with additional agent information. For example: "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_10_1) "AppleWebKit/600.2.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/8.0.2 Safari/600.2.5 (Applebot/0.1) "If robots instructions don't mention Applebot but do mention Googlebot, the Apple robot will follow Googlebot instructions."

Apple continues to add new channels to the Apple TV set-top box. The latest are CBS Sports and USA Now. CBS Sports lets users watch free clips from a variety of sports, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, college sports, and more. USA Now features content from the USA network. CBS Sports don't require a cable or satellite provider to access it; USA Now does.