Apple will to open its first retail store in the U.S. state of Idaho this fall. It will become the 42nd state with such a store. According to ifoAppleStore (http://www.ifoapplestore.com/db/2010/02/19/another-state-added-to-store-list—idaho/), the new store will be built at the Boise Town Square shopping mall, west of downtown Boise. It may open in September. Apple now has 283 stores in 10 countries. Approximately 100 stores were remodeled during the 2009 calendar year and 10 new stores opened, including one in Louvre in Paris and Upper West Side in New York.

PaperNow (http://papernow.tumblr.com/) is a new platform for online newspaper and magazines. Targeted at Apple's upcoming iPad, it's designed to make newspapers and magazines uniquely interactive. "Many were expecting the iPad to be a revolutionary device. And it is," the PaperNow developers write. "For books, movies, games, music, apps… and so on. The expectation that Apple would come up with a solution for newspapers and magazines to monetize on their content, however, was not met." They plan to change that. With the PaperNow app for the iPad -- due in June -- you'll purportedly be able to read newspapers and magazines on the iPad -- and have 'em update in real time. Pricing hasn't been announced.

The four recipients of the fifth annual Jim Henson Honors were announced today by Lisa Henson, CEO of The Jim Henson Company (http://www.henson.com). Among them is Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who won the Jim Henson Celebration Honor. Established in 2005, the awards program "acknowledges organizations, individuals or products that reflect the core values and philosophy of the legendary Jim Henson and the company he founded."  Criteria used in the evaluation process include: a commitment to creativity, innovative applications of art and technology, and inspiration of others. In addition to Jobs, the other winners were: ° The Jim Henson Community Honor – 826 National, a tutoring, writing, and publishing organization; ° The Jim Henson Creativity Honor – Neill Blomkamp, director; ° The Jim Henson Technology Honor – YouTube Symphony Orchestra, the world's first collaborative orchestra "I am always excited and inspired by the selections made by our artists and staff," saysLisa Henson.  "This year...

Apple has expanded its Apple App Store (http://www.itunes.com/appstore). Developers can now distribute their apps to more customers. Apple has added App Store support in Armenia, Botswana, Bulgaria, Jordan, Kenya, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, Tunisia, and Uganda. Developers can log in to iTunes Connect (https://itunesconnect.apple.com/WebObjects/iTunesConnect.woa) to view and update the countries where their applications are available.

Paradigma Software (http://www.valentina-db.com) has released Valentina DB 4.5, an update of the columnar database for business and developers, and and Valentina Reports 4.5, the cross-platform database reporting solution for Windows and Mac OS X. The upgrade sports over 100 improvements, including 64-bit versions on Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. Valentina Reports is a visual report creation and generation engine that drops right into the Valentina DB kernel and generates charts, graphs, complex layouts of data with groups and sub-reports, PDFs and more. It's available on Mac OS X and Windows and for every major development environment -- from .net to Cocoa applications on Mac OS X. Unlimited Report deployment is available starting at US$200. Valentina DB based products include Valentina ADK and Valentina Developer Network for developers desiring to incorporate the incredibly fast Valentina DB into their applications. VDN also allows royalty free deployment of Valentina Embedded Server...

HP (http://www.hp.com) has introduced five point-and-shoot digital cameras and three camcorders with features such as LCD displays, up to 5X optical zoom and fashionable colors. The cameras and camcorders -- due this spring -- come in slim, lightweight designs at prices ranging from US$99 to $199. Adding to its portfolio of touch-enabled notebooks and desktops, HP now features LCD touchscreen displays on select cameras and camcorders. In addition, select models feature a new user interface that include a high color contrast to help ensure better visibility of menus and a choice of more than 25 scene modes. When choosing a scene mode, the display shows two images -- how the photo will look in auto mode and how it will look in the selected scene mode. The premium HP CW450t and HP PW460t point-and-shoot digital cameras feature 2.7-inch and 3-inch LCD touchscreen displays, respectively, and a newly designed touch interface for viewing photos with the swipe of a finger. Both have 4X...

Kingston Digital (http://www.kingston.com), the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, has released the DataTraveler 310, which it says is the first 256GB USB Flash drive in the United States. The company has also released a SDHC Class 10 card in 16GB and 32GB capacities. The DataTraveler 310 replaces the 256GB DataTraveler 300, released in July 2009 to the Asia/Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. It features Password Traveler software, which allows the user to create and access a password-protected privacy zone. The secure area of the drive can account for up to 90% of the drive's capacity and does not require administrator rights. The DataTraveler 310 has a protective cap that snaps onto the back for the drive for convenient storage when not in use. This drive is available only in 256GB and costs US$1,008 (nope, that's not a typo). Meanwhile, Kingston's SDHC Class 10 cards meet the Class 10 data transfer rate specification but has an enhanced...

Apple has released a new support document for its Aperture photo editing and management software for photographers. Version 3 was introduced earlier this month. After you upgrade Aperture from an earlier version to Aperture 3, Aperture may quit unexpectedly when opening or when you enter the Aperture 3 upgrade serial number, Apple says. The support document (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3231) offers advice on resolving the issue.

Monster (http://www.monstercable.com) has introduced its new Butterfly in-ear headphones ($199.95), created in conjunction with fashion designer Vivienne Tam. The new patent-pending Butterfly headphones echo the Butterfly Lovers theme of Tam’s spring 2010 fashion collection, featuring a curved design, light gold-brushed finish and butterfly images on the earpieces. Monster’s Butterfly in-ear headphones come with a carry case that reflects the Butterfly theme. Monster’s cable management system features an on-cable slider and clip that keeps weight off the headphones so they stay snug in the user’s ears. The Butterfly comes in multiple shapes and sizes.

The event will feature Adobe's senior vice president of Creative Solutions, John Loiacono, as well as vice president of Photoshop Product Management, Kevin Connor, Photoshop co-creator Thomas Knoll and famed Adobe creative director and Photoshop evangelist, Russell Brown. To be a part of this celebration and view the live webcast, visit http://www.photoshopuser.com/photoshop20th. The festivities continue overseas in Japan, Southeast Asia and throughout Europe. In honor of the 20th anniversary, Adobe Germany will host a special 20-hour online marathon, featuring over 15 local Photoshop "gurus" demonstrating their favorite tips and tricks live for Photoshop fans. In India and France, digital imaging contests will be held to showcase the work of Photoshop users. A special Adobe TV broadcast will also air on the anniversary date at http://tv.adobe.com/go/photoshop-20th-anniversary, reuniting the original "Photoshop team" for the first time in 18 years, to discuss their early work on the...

Wolfram Research (http://www.wolfram.com) has released Wolfram Workbench 2, an update of its solution for enterprise-class software development and deployment. New in Version 2 is the ability to create and integrate documentation for your Mathematica applications, as well as improvements to code editing, navigation, and more. Workbench is used throughout Wolfram Research; it's a key tool for the development of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha, and other Wolfram technologies. Built on the Eclipse software platform, Workbench 2 combines Mathematica's programming language and computation, visualization, and modeling features with one of an integrated development environments (IDEs). It gives developers the luxury of working with any Eclipse-supported language, making Workbench one of the market's most efficient organizational tools, according to Adam Berry, senior developer of Workbench. Workbench lets developers code as they think, using Mathematica's multi-paradigm expression language....

Ken Winograd and Space-Time Associates (http://www.winograd.com) have released the first completely rewritten version of the Mac accounting and bookkeeping program called TinyBooks Pro. The new version is version 7.0. 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. A fully non-modal Reports and Transaction Search Window offers standard and custom reporting and searching. All lists and reports are exportable to other programs as standard tab-delimited text files. Expense, income and special mileage entry forms can be printed for off-line entry of data as desired....

Kin Winograd and Space-Time Associates (http://www.winograd.com) has released version 6.0.3 of TinyBooks, its US$49 (per individual) accounting and bookkeeping software for Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X. The new version adds the ability to create a "TinyBooks-Pro-Conversion" file. With this file, existing TinyBooks users can upgrade to TinyBooks Pro 7 without having to re-enter even a single transaction. The app is designed for sole proprietors, home and other small businesses, and family finances. A fully non-modal Reports and Transaction Search Window offers standard and custom reporting and searching. All transactions are exportable to other programs as standard tab-delimited text files. Expense, income and special mileage entry forms can be printed for "off line" entry of data as desired. Non-fiscal years are supported, as is the concept of recurring expenses. TinyBooks includes a Professional Invoice Printer for printing invoices, estimates, proposals, statements (and more) on plain...

Future Media Concepts (FMC), an authorized digital media training organization for postproduction, broadcast, and content creators, has announced their 6th annual Post|Production World Conference at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention, held in Las Vegas April 10-14. With over 250 session offerings delivered by industry professionals, the Post|Production World Conference has developed into the largest, most comprehensive training event in the world, according to says John Marino, vice president, Science and Technology, NAB. Produced in partnership with NAB, its successful training methodology provides a learning experience for TV, video, film, and new media professionals. Post|Production World Conference encompasses five days of in-depth training in 11 concurrent breakout rooms, featuring the very latest technology applications and workflow techniques from Apple, Adobe and avid., The 2010 agenda offers several exclusive session topics, including tracks specific...

Absolute Software (http://www.absolute.com) has joined the Enterprise Desktop Alliance (http://www.enterprisedesktopalliance.com), an organization to help IT departments integrate Macs into the corporate environment. On Dec. 3, 2009 Absolute purchased LANrev, which was a founding member of the EDA. By joining the EDA, Absolute has broadened the categories of cross-platform integration that the EDA represents to include cloud-based data security, theft recovery and computer tracking. Absolute's security and computer lifecycle management solutions support both Mac computers and PC, says T. Reid Lewis, president of the Enterprise Desktop Alliance, and CEO of Group Logic. Absolute has participated in all the activities sponsored by the EDA in 2010 including the webcast "Snow Leopard Integration in the Enterprise" which is available on-demand on the EDA web site. Absolute was also represented at Macworld in the Enterprise Desktop Alliance booth.

MetaCommunications (http://www.meta-comm.com) has announced the immediate release and availability of the Workgroups 2010 Package 162.4 upgrade. Workgroups 2010 is a collaborative workflow and project management suite that now features built-in support for third party document scanning and OCR solution. The latest version includes usability enhancements to the Spark! browser-based document reviewer plus bug fixes and performance improvements for the Workgroups 2010 project management suite. The software includes support for most scanning and OCR solutions, including Nuance Paperport & OmniPage, SimpleSoftware's Simple OCR, Epson Scan, eCopy PaperWorks, and Microsoft Office Document Imaging. Once a document has been scanned, it can be picked up by Workgroups 2010, automatically indexed, and moved to the correct location on the file server. This makes all scanned documents immediately available to all Workgroups 2010 users. If scanned documents include OCR information, the text is...

Zerion Software, developer of the exZact data collection platform (http://www.iformbuilder.com), is developing a native iPad data collection solution. Customers will now have an additional platform option for their data collection needs, while at the same time allowing them to take advantage of the iPad's new look, screen size, and enhanced feature-set, says Zerion President Sze Wong. The new release of exZact is aimed at data collection, work order management and task management for the iPad. Features include: a side-by-side reference view (the ability to reference a document, map or video side-by-side with a form); the ability to view full page attachments; and enhanced drawing and HTML widgets Development for the iPad native version of exZact has already begun, with a target date for the first release scheduled for the second quarter of 2010, coinciding with the launch of the iPad. Zerion has been offering the exZact Mobile platform since June 2009.

ExactCode has updated its ExactScan Pro scanning software (http://www.exactcode.de/site/products/exactscan/) for Mac OS X (10.4 and higher) to version 2.9. The upgrade gets a speed boost and adds: support for various new scanners from Visioneer, Xerox, Avision, and other vendors; document splitting on blank, placeholder pages; and online help. ExactScan includes built-in drivers for over 180 document scanners, including devices from Avision, Kodak, Oki, Visioneer and Xerox. Together with the Spotlight indexing services built into Mac OS X since 10.5 ("Leopard") this features form a document management solution suitable for small-office and home-office (SOHO) environments. What's more it has image enhancement algorithms that can recognize automatically how the images and documents have to be cropped and de-skewed. ExactScan comes with support for many languages (English, Dutch, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Simplified-Chinese, Traditional-Chinese) and works with Mac...

Mirye Software (http://mirye.net/) has released Shade 10, an update to their professional 3D modeling, animation and rendering suite. The new version emphasizes greater integration with other applications and export options, as well as overall improvements to workflow. Shade is an all-in-one 3D solution that includes both curved surface modeling and traditional polygon based modeling tools. New features in version 10 include: ° Multipass rendering, which lets you render images into layered TIFF files that allow post processing of each discreet effect; ° New, interactive 3D manipulator, custom work planes, fully customizable viewports and more workflow enhancements; ° New support for adding 3D fur, hair masks, additional hair styling tools, hair collision detection and gravity; ° An interactive joint object allows models to switch between alternative geometry; ° External surface and geometry; ° Toon rendering features; ° Support for Smith Micro Poser 8 for incorporating or hosting...

Apple has launched a MacBook repair extension program for hard drives issues (http://www.apple.com/support/macbook/hd/repairextension/). The company says it's determined that "a very small percentage" of hard drives that were used in MacBook systems, sold between approximately May 2006 and December 2007, may fail under certain conditions. If your MacBook was purchased in the date range listed above and shows a flashing question mark on the screen, take it to Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider and they'll examine the hard drive to confirm if it's eligible for a replacement, free of charge, under this program. If Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider confirms that your hard drive is affected, Apple will replace it with a new hard drive. You'll need to have the original OS installation discs that were shipped with your product in order to re-install your operating system, other applications, and any backed up data.

FluxDVD, a platform-independent video solution, now supports secure video downloads and playback on iPhone and iPod touch devices. The optionally DRM-protected files can be downloaded directly on the iPhone or may be transferred from a computer without requiring iTunes. Once the content and license is stored on the iPhone, the content can be used as defined in the DRM and does not require any Internet connection. Support for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch has been added through the custom "My Movies" app, which is available free of charge in the Apple App Store. FluxDVD supports Windows, regular DVD players, portable media players, navigation systems, Windows Mobile phones, Blackberry, Android, feature phones, PlayStation and iPhone/iPod touch. Solutions for Mac OS X and Android are planned to be released in the near future. Encoding and distribution tools are available at no cost at http://www.fluxdvd.com .

Useful Fruit Software has released Pear Note 1.4 (http://www.usefulfruit.com/pearnote/), an update of the note-taking utility for Mac OS X. The upgrade adds support for including images within notes, providing a way for users to add figures, charts, photographs, or anything else that can be represented in an image to their notes. Version 1.4 also includes many other improvements such as the ability to search in slides, export to RTFD files, and several interface and reliability enhancements. At its core, Pear Note integrates audio, video, and slides with traditional text notes. By recording all activity, the software keeps track of what's going on while taking notes as well as what the user has to say about it. Pear Note records audio, video, and what the user does, including typing notes and changing slides, on a timeline. Since keystrokes and slide changes are kept on this timeline, users can find what was being said during typing or a particular slide. They can play back an entire...

Exacq Technologies (http://www.exacq.com) has released version 4 of its exacqVision video management system software and version 2.0 of the exacqVision Webserver video management(VSM). ExacqVision 4.0 adds a new mapping feature and an Enterprise Server Option. Mapping is now available on all exacqVision systems. Users can add maps of geographic locations, entire facilities, rooms and more by uploading an image (e.g. JPEG, bitmap, gif) and then associating cameras with it by utilizing the icons. With the release of version 4.0 Exacq Technologies introduces the new Enterprise Server Option. In addition to having all of the features of the Standard version, the new Enterprise Server Option adds three new features to exacqVision: Multi-level Mapping, Enterprise User Setup and integration with Active Directory and LDAP. The Enterprise Server Option can be added to any new or existing exacqVision server running version 4.0 or later. The multi-level mapping feature allows users to create...

Adobe Systems is readying a mobile version of Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR), its runtime for running Flash and Web applications outside of a browser, reports "InfoWorld" (http://www.infoworld.com/d/developer-world/adobe-air-20-full-featured-fl...). The company plans to demonstrate AIR 2.0 running on a Google Android-based smartphone today at the Mobile Word Congress in Barcelona. Adobe expects to make mobile AIR available for Android and RIM BlackBerry devices, and perhaps for other platforms as well, said Adrian Ludwig, Adobe's marketing director for the Flash platform. However, he didn't mention the iPhone specifically so who knows? AIR 2.0 is currently in a beta release for Mac, Windows, and Linux desktops. Adobe expects AIR 2.0 will be generally available on desktops by July, and later on mobile devices. There will be no beta version of the mobile release. AIR is a cross-operating system application runtime that allows developers to use HTML/CSS, Ajax, Adobe Flash and Adobe Flex...

Kingston Digital (http://www.kingston.com), the flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology, has released a 16GB microSDHC Class 10 card. It complies with the SD‚Ñ¢ Association Specification 3.00 to meet Class 10 requirements. The 16GB microSDHC card has a minimum data transfer rate of 10MB/second and ships either as a stand-alone microSDHC card or with adapters. It costs US$138. "Now that the Class 10 card specification is five times faster than a Class 2 card, users will see swifter copying and transferring of photos, music, videos and e-books when using a multi-format card reader such as the Kingston Media Reader or MobileLiteG2 with a personal computer," says Wendy Lecot, flash card business manager, Kingston.

"Wired Magazine" Editor-in-Chief Chris Anderson announced at the Technology, Entertainment and Design conference on Friday that the publication would be releasing its content for the iPad by summer. "I’m from the media world, and as you may have heard, we have lots of questions about our future," Anderson told the audience. "The good news is I think we found part of the answer…. We think this is a game changer." He said the iPad allows periodicals for the first time to do digital content with all of the same values and artistic range that are the hallmark of print magazines. "Wired" Creative Director Scott Dadich worked with Jeremy Clark from Adobe over the last six months to design the "Wired iPad Magazine." You can read more at http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/02/ted-2010-wired-for-the-ipad-to-la....

Intelligent Assistance has introduced a new software tool that takes Transcription XML from Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 or Soundbooth CS4 and converts it text, Excel Spreadsheet or Final Cut Pro clip markers. According to Intelligent Assistance’ CEO Philip Hodgetts, the software imports the transcription XML from the Adobe Production Bundle and allows editors and producers to name the speakers -- something not possible in the Production Bundle. From there users have the option to: ° Export a plain text file, suitable for the needs of a producer or to import into Media Composer’s Script Sync engine; ° Export an Excel spreadsheet with a variable number of words per row; ° Open the XML from a Final Cut Pro clip and add the transcription to Markers. There are a variable number of words per Marker (including one Marker per speaker).                        The speaker name is placed in the Marker name. Transcription appears in the clip Marker comment. Marker colors are used to identify each...

Flurry (http://www.flurry.com), a cross-platform mobile application analytics provider, says that developers integrating Flurry analytics into iPhone OS applications in January increased by nearly three times over December thanks to the iPad announcement. This represents the single largest spike in Flurry history, with over 1,600 new iPhone OS application starts for January. Historically, Flurry has measured surges in new application starts within its system in anticipation of new the company hypothesizes that excitement generated by Apple's iPad event in January is driving this growth. For developers who get a jump on customizing their applications for the iPad, there may be an opportunity to stand out early on, and earn more downloads. The iPad is due to ship in late March and late April for the WiFi and 3G versions, respectively.

Apple has hired Christopher Wright of Kineme Interactive Media, the creator of a variety of Quartz Composer applications and plugins and a consultant for Quartz Composer development, "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com) reports. The hiring is an apparent effort to expand the utility of Apple's Quartz Composer, which is a free graphical development tool for building interactive visuals called Quartz Compositions, the article adds. According to Apple, Quartz Composer is a groundbreaking graphics development environment that allows you to explore the incredible power of the graphics stack of Mac OS X. With Quartz Composer, you can combine the capabilities of Cocoa, Quartz 2D, Core Image, OpenGL, and QuickTime, all using an approachable visual programming paradigm. Developers can use Quartz Composer to prototype Core Image filters, build engaging screen savers, create custom user-interface widgets, make data-driven visual effects, and even perform live performance animations....

Synology America (http://www.synology.com) has launched a brand new addition to their two-bay DiskStation line. The DS710+, is a scalable two-bay NAS server that grows from two bays to seven. 
The DS710+ is scalable up to 7 bays with the DX510 expansion enclosure for a total of 14TB of storage. It has built-in file sharing, automatic backup, remote access, web hosting, email hosting and media streaming. 
The Synology DS710+ is equipped with the new Intel Atom D410 CPU, one Gigabit LAN ports, three USB ports and 1 GB DDRII RAM. It sports green features such as lower power consumption, wake on LAN, scheduled power off and hard drive hibernation. 
The DS710+ comes with the award-winning Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM) 2.2. DSM 2.3 is scheduled for official release next month and will include new features such as Volume Manager, Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR) that optimizes the use of disk capacity with data protection when using hard drives of different sizes are used, share level...

LaCie (http://www.lacie.com) has announced the Rugged eSATA, a mobile external hard drive that features a Power eSATA interface. Bus-powered when connected to a USB-eSATA combo port, it purportedly offers transfer speeds of up to 90MB/second. The USB-eSATA combo interface, also known as Power eSATA, features a slightly different connector than eSATA and is frequently found on late-model laptops. The drive is also compatible with standard eSATA ports when the included USB power-sharing cable is additionally connected. Housed in the Rugged casing designed by Neil Poulton, the LaCie Rugged eSATA features a scratch-resistant aluminum shell, internal anti-shock absorbers, and a shock-resistant rubber bumper. It will be available in 500GB capacity through the LaCie Online Store, LaCie Reseller+ and LaCie Storage Partner starting at the suggested retail price of US$159.99.

At this week's Macworld Expo, the Microsoft Macintosh Business Unit (http://www.microsoft.com/mac) is previewing Office for Mac 2011, the next version of the productivity suite on the Mac. It's due in the fourth quarter of the year; pricing hasn't been announced. Based on user feedback, the upgrade is designed to simplify how people work together, according to the MacBU. The suite has new connections to Microsoft services so you can work together more effectively, an updated user interface making tasks easier, and essential compatibility to ensure your documents look the way you made them when shared, says Eric Wilfrid, MacBU general manager at Microsoft. There are over half a million Office users worldwide, according to the MacBU. The new co-authoring tools in Office 2011 give folks the ability to work on a file from Word, PowerPoint or Excel1 from different locations, brainstorm ideas, and stay on the same page regardless of time, geography or platform. Co-authoring improves the...

SubRosaSoft.com (http://www.SubRosaSoft.com/) has released version 7 of its entire Salvage line for Mac OS X. CameraSalvage, PodSalvage, and OfficeSalvage have all been upgraded.  This new release of the file recovery applications features a more powerful recovery engine and support for Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard"). Plus, an easier-to-use interface makes recovering critical data even quicker and simpler than before, says Marko Kostyrko, CEO of SubRosaSoft.com Inc. SubRosaSoft Salvage software requires Mac OS X 10.4 or above. They have a manufacturer's suggested retail price (each product) of US$49.95 plus shipping for the CD version or $39.95 for the download only version.

Couture Book has released a new book plug-in that allows users of Aperture 3, the new version of Apple’s photo editing and management software, to design and order museum-quality photo books directly within Aperture. The Couture Book plug-in for Aperture 3 makes it easier than ever to create unique hand-sewn press-printed photo books, says Phyllis Lane, co-founder of Couture Book. The plug-in (http://www.couturebook.com/) allows photographers to build their photo books using themed templates professionally designed by Couture Book. Users simply download and run the installer, then re-launch Aperture 3. The Couture Book themes appear in the theme chooser menu with previews of each book style.

Macworld Expo: KB Covers (http://www.kbcovers.com), which specializes in Apple Mac keyboard covers and keyboards, has released the US$29.95 Mac OS X Shortcuts keyboard cover, which contains color-coded Universal OS X shortcuts, plus shortcuts for Mail, Safari, and Finder. Developed to help users take advantage of the power of OS X's most important and useful shortcuts, KB Covers has designed a keyboard cover for users of all experience levels. Learning new shortcuts or just helping to remember old ones, the cover can improve your workflow, says Greg Sad for KB Covers. Consisting of "ultra-thin" silicone, the KB Covers OS X Shortcuts Keyboard Cover has a smooth texture that won't slip off the keyboard and is non-restrictive to regular typing. It also helps to safeguard a Mac from dirt, spills, wear and tear.

Sennheiser http://www.sennheiserusa.com has introduced a new addition to its new class of wireless headphones. The PX 210 BT portable mini headphone is equipped with Bluetooth and new apt-X coding technology. The PX 210 BT has a transmission range of up to 33 feet, which means your audio source can be stored in a backpack or bag when you're out and about. Audio controls are located directly on the earpiece. They can be used to activate or deactivate the Bluetooth function, regulate the volume and navigate a playlist. The rechargeable lithium polymer battery provides up to 12 hours of non-stop listening. The PX 210 BT has neodymium magnets that ensure a natural and lifelike sound image with a frequency response of 15 to 22,000 Hertz, according to Maurice Quarré, head of product management for consumer electronics at Sennheiser. The company's patented Duofol diaphragms almost entirely eliminate standing waves to reproduce brilliant highs and fast, tight low end with impeccable clarity,...

REAL Software, creator of REAL Studio -- a cross-platform development tool for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux developers -- has begun shipping REAL Studio 2010 Release 1 today. With this release REAL Software has changed the name of their development tool to REAL Studio. The programming language will continue to be called REALbasic. REAL Studio is available in three editions: Personal Edition, Professional Edition and Enterprise Edition. "The primary reason behind this name change is to make it easier to differentiate between the IDE (Integrated Development Environment) and the programming language itself," says Geoff Perlman, REAL Software's Founder and CEO. "As an added benefit, the name change better convey's what a professional and powerful development tool REAL Studio is." This release adds 46 improvements and 17 new features including improved ActiveX support. Previously only a small subset of ActiveX controls were supported. Now, most ActiveX controls work and are much easier...

So which virtualization product do you go with? Which solution is faster? Should you run Windows XP or 7? 32-bit or 64-bit? One virtual processor or more? In short, there are different answers for different people: it all depends on your needs. Volume Number: 26 Issue Number: 01 Column Tag: Virtualization  Head-to-Head: How do VMware Fusion 3 and Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac compare? By Neil Ticktin, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher Start | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 Next Page> Why Virtualization? A few years back, Apple switched the Mac platform from PowerPC to Intel processors. This introduced some interesting opportunities for the Mac, including the ability to run operating systems other than Mac OS X on a Mac. This includes not only your everyday Windows XP, but also other Windows OSes, including 64-bit versions, and a wide variety of Linux and other OSes. You may already understand your options for running Windows on a Mac, but in case you don't, your first...

As you may have noticed, MacTech has an all new web site. :) In fact, if you are reading this now, you are seeing it before we've really publicized that the new site is up.  A couple of things to point out if you've not already discovered them. The home page is your "industry dashboard" and your starting point for most items. News scanners: MacTech scans over 60 web sites and brings you up to date links from around the Apple community. Forum discussions: Got a question? Ask the community for answers in our forums.   News and Reviews: See what MacTech's expanded editorial team has to offer.  This month's issue: Each month, MacTech brings you in-depth articles, how-tos, and more. And, after 25 years in print, the print magazine continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Rumor Scanners: Want to hear the latest rumors about the industry? Our scanner is on the lookout for you.  Documenation Scanners: It's hard to keep up with the latest knowledgebase entries,...

ZiggySoft has announced iWeb Valet 2.3.7, the tool to enhance iWeb pages, add new interactive widgets and upload only modified files to your server. Changes in this version: - Added basic support for international fonts - Removed FTP real-time logging to increase listing speed (20% about) - Corrected an iDisk transfer bug - Enhanced Text menu - Fixed a rare div by 0 bug - Fixed a rare email masking bug Features description: - Add many powerful widgets to your web pages, as clocks, site search engines, auto-redirecting, days remaining fields, calendars, scrolling texts, navigation menus, falling snow and much more. - Personalize iWeb page titles by adding a prefix of your choice. - Add a favicon to your web pages. - Add a Hit Counter to your web pages (with Google Analytics, Statcounter or similar) - Fool Spam Bots by encoding all email addresses in your iWeb pages, so bots don't get them for spamming. - Add META tags to provide more information about your web...

NICHENICH, Germany (February 6, 2010) -- Monkeybread Software releases Extract Movie Soundtrack v2.0, a utility to extract the sound track of a movie file. This small utility application was created to export the sound track of QuickTime movie files into AIFF files. This way I can take some of my movies and get the sound track into iTunes. In iTunes you can use the Advanced menu to convert the AIFF to MP3 or AAC to save space. Chapters in the movie are preserved. Make Icon v2.0 is made with REALbasic from REAL Software, Inc. Requires Mac OS X 10.4 or newer; source code is included. This application shows REALbasic developers how to use the QTMovieExporterMBS classes to recompress a movie. The application is freeware, but contributions are accepted through PayPal. All freeware applications: The Extract Movie Soundtrack website:

Primera Announces BravoPro Xi-Series Disc Publishers Next-generation disc publishers have 300% faster robotics. Primera Technology, Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer of CD/DVD and Blu-ray Disc Publishers, today announced it will be showing its BravoPro Xi-Series Disc Publishers at Macworld Expo. BravoPro Xi-Series Disc Publishers are new and improved versions of Primera’s award-winning BravoPro Disc Publishers. With their built-in high-speed recorders, direct-to-disc printing and fast robotics, these desktop units automate the process of burning and printing quantities of CDs and DVDs. Features of the Xi-Series include: • 300% faster robotics for higher throughput • Interior blue LED lighting with job status feedback • Seventh-generation disc picking mechanism • Compatible with Windows XP/Vista/7 and Mac OS X 10.5 (or higher) • Optional Blu-ray Disc™ recordable drives • New lower prices Three Xi-Series models are available: BravoPro Xi AutoPrinter: 100-disc capacity for print-...

Atlona Technologies (http://www.atlona.com), makers of the DP200, a HDCP and DPCP compliant DVI to Mini DisplayPort converter, has introduced the Dual Link DVI to MDP converter DP400. It's designed to bring the DVI to MDP gap and convert DVI dual link video signals to MDP. The DP400 will on sale next month. It's available for pre-order at a manufacturer's suggested retail price of US$199.According to the folks at Atlona, the DP400 lends itself to photo and video editing software used on Mac Pros such as Final Cut and Photoshop, due to its ability to render a true pixel to pixel image on MDP displays. DVI based Mac users can optimize work their work space to utilize their Cinema Displays as their preview monitor, utilizing the new capabilities of display to its fullest. The DP400, is powered by a USB seven-inch pigtail connected to the unit itself. The unit also features a DVI-D 7 inch pigtail allowing users to connect to DVI based computers and laptops. The DP400 is...

Other World Computing (OWC) has announced 64GB 1066MHz DDR3 ECC Memory Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro 8-Core Pro models. The memory upgrade kits for Mac Pro 8-Core models offer more configuration options and savings over factory memory upgrades, according to the folks at OWC. The two 8GB module-based OWC upgrades -- 48GB (6 x 8GB) and 64GB (8 x 8GB) -- offer a maximum performance configuration for Mac Pro 8-Core machines not available from the factory. In addition to the savings offered by OWC Upgrades, Mac Pro users also retain their original factory memory modules that can either be set aside for future use or be sent to OWC for a cash back trade-in of up to US$25 per Apple factory 2GB memory module. OWC offers a guide to select and order OWC Memory Upgrade Kits for Mac Pro models. You can find it here: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory

Excel Software (http://www.excelsoftware.com) has introduced LicenseSupport 1.0 for customer support on Mac OS X and Windows Systems. Software vendors can use LicenseSupport to manage customer licenses for protected applications and documents. A support person can provide an activation code, reset a license, block an activated license before issuing a refund or change the number of allowed activations for a serial number. LicenseSupport works directly with an application or document protected by QuickLicense, QuickLicense Server, DocProtect or AppProtect. LicenseSupport also connects by Internet to the Safe Activation server. This task-oriented tool prompts the customer support person for the required information and generates a license code to support a customer by phone or email. LicenseSupport stores customer records, maintains an historical log of support activities, provides integrated email support and presents a secure log-in process, according to the folks at Excel Software....

Wacom (http://www.wacom.com) has announced the Intuos 4 Wireless 4 professional pen tablet, which features Bluetooth technology. Designed for home, office, classroom or remote-meeting use, the Intuos4 Wireless provides mobility and freedom when working with Bluetooth-enabled desktop or laptop computers, says Don Varga, senior product manager for Wacom's line of professional branded products. The Intuos4 Wireless features USB charging directly from the computer. The Grip Pen that comes with the Intuos4 Wireless features Wacom's proprietary Tip Sensor technology, offering users near-zero (one gram) starting pressure for the most sensitive Intuos pen tablet performance to-date, Varga adds. It has 2048 levels of pressure, doubling the resolution of the pen's pressure curve. The Grip Pen also features a pressure-sensitive eraser and two customizable side switches that can be set for commands such as double- click and right-click. Available in a single size (medium) only, the Intuos4...

Canto (http://www.canto.com) has announced that the Cumulus Native Client has been localized for Spanish speaking users. Joining localized editions currently available for English, German, French, Japanese and Korean, the Spanish edition enables Canto to offer a native language Cumulus interface to users in Spain, Mexico, South America and other regions the company considers important for its continued growth. Leveraging the diversity of its worldwide partner network, Canto worked with Spanish longtime partner Microgestió on the localization, according to Canto CEO Ulrich Knocke. The Spanish edition of Cumulus is available at no additional charge to all customers on software maintenance agreements.

QuickerTek has released the US$89.95 nCard (http://www.quickertek.com/products/nCard_2010.php) for use with a MacBook, MacBook Pro or Mac mini with any wireless network. The company says that users of the new nCard can expect wireless speeds "that are the absolute fastest the wireless network can manage." To boost performance even further, this card can be upgraded with an external antenna. That means even more distance from the wireless access point. The nCard offers compatibility with all Apple AirPort Base Stations, as well as Linksys, Belkin and virtually all other wireless network hardware, including the "draft N" equipment. This new nCard installs into the internal AirPort card slot. The installation itself is no more complex than upgrading memory, according to the folks at QuickerTek. It's compatible with: all 2006-2009 models (white and black, no unibody) of MacBooks; all 2006-2008 (15, 17-inch models, no unibody) of MacBook Pros; and 06-early 2009 (no G4s, not most current...

2X Software has released version 8 of its 2X ApplicationServer and 2X VirtualDesktopServer products. The new version not only includes the ability to publish applications and virtual desktops, but also allows the management of user thin client configurations from within the application console. This creates an all-in-one application for remote publishing and device management, according to Nikolaos Makris, CEO of 2X Software. The new release will further reduce IT administration hassles, by allowing centralized control of both device groups and published resources, he adds. 2X VirtualDesktopServer v. 8 publishes any Windows application or virtual desktop to remote devices, including thin clients and Mac, Windows and Linux systems, without the need to install applications or desktops to local machines. The 2X VirtualDesktopServer also serves as a connection broker for the Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware ESX, Parallels Containers and Windows Terminal Server virtualization platforms. Makris...