MetaCommunications (http://www.meta-comm.com) has announced the launch and immediate availability of the new Software for Students Program. Under the new program, any accredited educational organization interested in teaching real-world estimating, billing, scheduling, project collaboration, productivity techniques, and project management skills to their students can acquire and use the new Workgroups 2010 Suite for free. "Educators preparing students for careers in ad agencies, internet marketing, photography, video production, graphic design, printing, and many other industries are telling us that it's now more important than ever for their students to have a working knowledge of real-world electronic workflow and project collaboration skills," says Robert T. Long, Executive Vice President of MetaCommunications. "Our new Software for Students Program formalizes our commitment to the industry and to educators interested in preparing students with the essential skills demanded by a...

Chronos (http://www.chronosnet.com) has released SOHO Notes 8 and SOHO Organizer 8, upgrades to the, respectively, note manager and personal/business productivity suite.products. According to Robert McCullough, vice president of Development at Chronos, SOHO Notes 8 offers the following new features: faster performance; iPhone synchronization over Wi-Fi (requires the purchase of companion software on iPhone); Cover Flow and Icon views; voice, video, and photo recorder; a new backup system; a new encryption system and more. SOHO Organizer 8 offers the following new features: faster performance; a desktop calendar; email integration; themes for calendar customization; a voice, video, and photo recorder; print preview and more. SOHO Notes is a digital note-taking application for Mac. Customers can use it to capture, organize, sync, and share all of their stuff including text notes, PDF's, images, voice recordings, videos, forms, and web archives. SOHO Organizer is a l productivity suite...

Miraizon, a digital media software company, has released Reframe for Macintosh. It's a video standards converter that allows users to convert video and audio from one standard to another. Priced at US$129.95, Reframe for is available for purchase immediately at http://www.miraizon.com/store/store.html . Using pre-defined settings, users can convert between PAL and NTSC video, SD (Standard Definition) and HD (High Definition) video, or film and video. Reframe also provides options for advanced users to custom-set video attributes such as frame size and frame rate, and audio attributes including sampling rate and sampling size, to meet their conversion goals. Reframe supports a variety of input and output file formats. Users can convert their movies into highly editable formats as well as formats suitable for presentations, for posting on YouTube, or for viewing on iPods or iPhones. Priced at US$129.95, Reframe for is available for purchase immediately at http://www.miraizon.com/store/...

Extensis has updated Universal Type Server (http:///www.extensis.com/typeserver) to version 2.1. It adds compatibility for Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard") and Windows 7. The update also includes: ° Deeper font compliance management: the administrator can see who added which font to which workgroup and reverse those actions; ° Active Directory flexibility: the administrator can now exclude individual users from distribution group mappings; ° Enhanced user management that allows easier batch application of settings and refined filtering of users; ° A simplified network password using optional LDAP bind authentication;; ° Font integrity screening enhancements; ° A new command line scripting tool for automation and integration; ° A new optional MySQL external database module (chargeable add-on component for Universal Type Server Professional only); ° Enhanced Directory Integration, now standard with Universal Type Server Professional; ° Improved overall performance including...

Absoft Corp. (http://www.absoft.com) has announced general availability of the new Absoft Pro Fortran 11.0 for Mac OS X. It's ready for Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard") Release 11.0 is the first of Absoft's high-performance, auto-parallelizing Fortran compilers to include support for OpenMP multi-core parallel programming standards for Mac OS X with Intel Xeon (Nehalem) processors. Absoft's Fx3 debugger has added thread support and the Absoft multi-platform IDE included with Pro Fortran, now includes OpenMP and MPI features among other improvements. Supported environments include Leopard (version 10.5) and Snow Leopard (version 10.6). Absoft Pro Fortran 11.0 includes both 32-bit and 64-bit compilers and incorporates a new scheduler that the company says has demonstrated performance increases of up to 10%. Auto-parallelization, auto-vectorization and SSE4.1/4.2 instructions are also supported. Pricing starts at US$299.

Code 42 Software has announced a new version of CrashPlan (http://www1.crashplan.com/landing/index.html), their personal backup service. This update offers new controls to enable users to maximize protection for more recent files, while minimizing unnecessary versions for older files. Version retention is the ability to specify rules for removing versions and files from your backup after you no longer care about them. This can have a huge influence on the size of the backup volume, making it smaller, requiring less disk space, according to Code 42 co-founder Matthew Dornquast. "In most backup software, the ability to set the frequency of backups and the number of versions to keep can be a daunting task for the average user," Dornquast says. "It's a feature usually only found in large and complex backup systems. However CrashPlan has devised an easy-to-use version retention feature that uses slider controls to specify versions to retain over specific periods." The user can set the...

Objective Development has released the final version of LaunchBar 5 (http://www.obdev.at/launchbar/) for Mac OS X, the next major release of the productivity utility. The new version comes with built-in Clipboard History and ClipMerge functionality for merging subsequent Copy operations, LaunchBar 5 also adds Quick Look support, iCal support for creating events and to-do items. Plus, it includes lots of new and improved actions and file operations and has an improved, extensible Calculator. LaunchBar is now scriptable via AppleScript, provides keyboard access to Mac OS X Services, and more. LaunchBar is an utility that provides instant access to your applications, documents, contacts and bookmarks, to your music library, to search engines and more. A 30-day demo is available for download. LaunchBar 5 costs approximately US$36 for a single-user license and $59 for a five-computer family license. Upgrades from previous versions start at $14.

SmileOnMyMac (http://www.smileonmymac.com) has updated TextExpander, a Mac OS X utility that lets users define abbreviations for frequently-used text strings and images, to version 2.7.1. The upgrade adds import of Spell Catcher shorthand files exported in XML format. Users can now nest plain text snippets within AppleScript and shell script snippets for greater flexibility with scripting. The update also fixes a number of issues, including a problem with dragging the slider in the Snippets view on Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard"), a performance problem when the Clipboard content is large, and an issue when the Key Repeat Delay is set to None on Snow Leopard. With TextExpander, users can define abbreviations for frequently-used text strings and images, also known as snippets. When an abbreviation is typed, it expands automatically to the full snippet. The regular cost is US$29.95 for a single user license or $44.95 for a five-pack family license. A 30-day fully-functioning demo of...

Nemetschek North America (http://www.vectorworks2010.net) has released its first Service Pack for the Vectorworks 2010 product line. While addressing issues with wall joining and the snap loupe in particular, this Service Pack has also improved the overall stability and performance of the package. "Early feedback from our customers indicates that the initial release of Vectorworks 2010 was of very good quality," says Mark Farnan, director of Software Development at Nemetschek North America. "We traditionally create a Service Pack for our international localizers about a month after our initial release, and this gives us a great opportunity to fix any problems reported by early adopters." Currently, this Service Pack is available for all licenses as a downloadable updater. To install the Service Pack, go to the About Vectorworks dialog box in the Vectorworks 2010 application and click Check for Updates. The 2010 release of the Vectorworks line of design software was released on Sept....

Apple has introduced the new wireless Magic Mouse, the first mouse to use Apple's Multi-Touch technology. Pioneered on the iPhone, iPod touch and Mac notebook trackpads, Multi-Touch allows customers to navigate using intuitive finger gestures. Instead of mechanical buttons, scroll wheels or scroll balls, the entire top of the Magic Mouse is a seamless Multi-Touch surface. Magic Mouse comes standard with the new iMac and will be available as a Mac accessory at US$69. "Apple is the Multi-Touch leader, pioneering the use of this innovative technology in iPhone, iPod touch and Mac notebook trackpads," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Apple's Multi-Touch technology allows us to offer an easy to use mouse in a simple and elegant design." Magic Mouse features a touch-sensitive enclosure that allows it to be a single or multi-button mouse with advanced gesture support. Using gestures, users can scroll through long documents, pan across large...

Apple Introduces Magic Mouse--The World's First Multi-Touch Mouse CUPERTINO, California--October 20, 2009--Apple today introduced the new wireless Magic Mouse, the first mouse to use Apple's revolutionary Multi-Touch technology. Pioneered on iPhone, iPod touch and Mac notebook trackpads, Multi-Touch allows customers to navigate using intuitive finger gestures. Instead of mechanical buttons, scroll wheels or scroll balls, the entire top of the Magic Mouse is a seamless Multi-Touch surface. Magic Mouse comes standard with the new iMac and will be available as a Mac accessory at just $69. "Apple is the Multi-Touch leader, pioneering the use of this innovative technology in iPhone, iPod touch and Mac notebook trackpads," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Apple's Multi-Touch technology allows us to offer an easy to use mouse in a simple and elegant design." Magic Mouse features a seamless touch-sensitive enclosure that allows it to be a...

Apple has updated its MacBook with a new, durable polycarbonate unibody design featuring a LED-backlit display, a glass Multi-Touch trackpad and Apple's built-in battery for up to seven hours of battery life. Inheriting technology and design features from the MacBook Pro line, the new MacBook is an ideal consumer notebook for students and new Mac users, and is available for US$999, says Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "The new MacBook includes many of the great features found on the innovative MacBook Pro, such as an LED-backlit display, glass Multi-Touch trackpad and built-in long-life battery," he adds. "With the only lineup of notebooks all featuring unibody enclosures, LED-backlit displays and long-life battery technology, there's never been a better time to switch to a Mac." The new MacBook features a unibody, polycarbonate enclosure that makes it lighter and more durable. The new design includes a non-skid bottom surface and at 4.7...

Design Science and Syncro Soft have announced that the newly released Oxygen XML Editor and Oxygen XML Author 11 have been designed to support MathML editing with Design Science's three MathFlow equation editors: Structure, Style and Simple. This combines Oxygen'sXML editing and development platform with MathFlow's MathML editing technology. MathML is an XML standard for representing mathematical notation and is a crucial component of technical publishing workflows, content managed websites, accessibility and education applications, says Bruce Virga, Design Science's vice president of Business Development. MathFlow is used in publishing, elearning, assessment, aerospace, defense, education, government, science and engineering, as well as enterprise solutions and commercial products. The MathFlow product line consists of a set of components for editing, display, and accessibility of mathematical notation for websites, applications and services. It includes MathFlow for Arbortext and...

Gefen (http://www.gefen.com) has released its new 16x16 DVI Matrix, delivering a one-to-one or one-to-many video distribution. Access is controlled by the front-panel, RS-232 connection, IR remote or an IP local area network. The front panel display lists status and switching information. This matrix switcher supports 1920x1200 resolutions, and offers a fast switch with very low cross-talk between adjacent channels, according to the folks at Gefen. It can be rack mounted and combined with any of Gefen's DVI extension solutions to deliver high resolutions to remote displays. The Gefen 16x16 DVI Matrix can be used in a variety of applications, including recording studios with a need to command and control multiple workstations. It's also designed for digital signage, large presentations in corporate, medical, education and broadcast facilities, and for video walls. It will begin shipping in November; pricing hasn't been announced.

RadTech (http://www.radtech.com) has released the DockExtender, an US$14.95 data extension cable for Apple 30-pin devices. It allows you to dock your iPod or iPhone from a distance, or while in a case. A small diameter, flexible cable provides connection pathways for power, audio output, USB data sync, play controls, accessory power and composite video. The DockExtender doesn't, however, support S-video output or input for recording audio. It's compatible with the iPhone, iPod (touch, classic, video), & iPod nano (second and third generations).

Zevrix Solutions (http://www.zevrix.com) has announced BatchOutput 3.5.4, a maintenance update to its professional solution to automate printing and exporting to various formats from Adobe InDesign. The new update introduces compatibility with Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard") and addresses some Flash export related issues. BatchOutput automates InDesign output workflow of printers, ad agencies, service providers and publishing houses. With the software, users can select the files to output and adjust the settings, instead of opening and printing each document manually. For example, BatchOutput can be left to output hundreds of InDesign files overnight, and the completed job can be picked up next morning. BatchOutput also allows users to output InDesign documents as single pages, update links automatically, and output files invisibly for the user. The software automatically composes complex variable file names. Because BatchOutput can run in the background, it allows users to keep...

CalDigit (http://www.caldigit.com) is now offering support for 2TB hard drives. Previously 1.5TB drives were the maximum capacity available to users. CalDigit is now offering a 33% increase in storage at no additional cost and, lesser capacity products now have a lower price tag. The CalDigit VR is now available in capacities up to 4TB. Supporting a quadruple interface for easy connectivity, the CalDigit VR's modular design also provides two hot swappable drive modules. It sports a front LCD and includes software for configuration and monitoring. It has support for RAID 0, 1, JBOD and SPAN. The CalDigit VR starts at US$49. The HDElement is an external storage solution that harnesses the power of the CalDigit RAID Card. It's now available in capacities of up to 8TB, in the same compact enclosure. The CalDigit RAID Card provides RAID 0, 1, 5, 6 and JBOD support to the HDElement, and with three ports up 24TB of storage can be run off a single card (up to 32TB combined with internal...

Dover Studios has released Maya Surface Materials 2nd Edition, their latest visual effects training video. It provides visual effects artists with an introduction to texturing and surface materials in Maya. The second edition has been completely updated and features 1080p high definition video. Visual effects artists, Andrew Hazelden and Russell Hazelden, share tips and techniques that will help you create realistic surface materials. Maya Surface Materials 2nd Edition begins with an overview of the many render nodes available in the Hypershade. Topics include: exploring common material attributes, shading models, specular highlights, texture mapping, 3D projections, IPR rendering and raytracing. The video shows in detail the methods used to render reflective metallic and glass surfaces, and discusses photographic techniques used to create environment maps. Both the Maya Software and Mental Ray renderers are used throughout the video. For more information visit http://www.DoverStudios...

Paradigma Software (http://www.valentina-db.com) has released Valentina DB 4.3, an update of the columnar database for business and developers, and and Valentina Reports 4.3, the cross-platform database reporting solution for Windows and Mac OS X. Valentina Database Technology Release 4.3 includes over 40 user requested improvements to all Valentina DB products. You can now return statistics about Valentina Server through PHP based server calls, return names of registered databases and more. There are new view related features; you can create temporary views not saved with db.close and create a view if the view doesn't already exist. Now multiple ->Operators can be chained together. Valentina for Cocoa includes improvements to class-based database development and date handling, as well as additional code examples. Example code was updated for Valentina for REALbasic to account for changes in file handling in REALbasic. Because of the integration between Valentina database and...

Media 100 (http://www.media100.com) -- a provider of advanced editing systems for the corporate, broadcast, post production, and new media industries -- has announced that Media 100 Suite Version 1.1 is now available. Media 100 Suite 1.1 adds support for Blackmagic Design's Intensity Pro, DeckLink SDI, DeckLink Studio, and DeckLink HD Extreme video cards. Released in August, Media 100 Suite brings editing and compositing to Mac OS X. It takes advantage of many QuickTime codecs including DVCPRO HD and Apple ProRes 422. Apple Final Cut Studio and Adobe After Effects integration lets users share projects among Final Cut Pro, Color, and Media 100 and export timelines from Media 100 to After Effects. Editors can export legacy Media 100 projects to Final Cut Pro for further editing and revisions, export Final Cut Pro sequences into Media 100, or export a Media 100 sequence to Color for color grading. In addition to Blackmagic Design video I/O cards, Media 100 Suite supports Matrox MXO2, AJA...

Excel Software (http://www.excelsoftware.com/) is shipping RbApp 2.3 for REALbasic developers. RbApp is a collection of reusable classes for developing Mac OS X and Windows software using the REALbasic programming language from REAL Software. RbApp 2.3 has new properties, methods and events within some components. The new release has been updated to support the latest 2009 R4 release of REALbasic from Real Software. RbApp 2.3 supports REALbasic 2005, 2006 and 2007. It's been tested on PowerPC and Intel Macs and Windows 98 through Vista. RbApp is US$295 for a single user license. It can be added to a Mac or Windows REALbasic program using a step-by-step procedure. It includes sample applications, source code examples, a printed and PDF Developer's Guide and royalty-free distribution of RbApp code compiled into applications.

Innovelis has released CordFits (http://www.CordFits.com), which enables headphone cord length customization and tangle-free cord storage. Headphone designers include extra cord length to ensure the cord is never too short. This approach ensures the cord is never too short, but it often forces the cord to be too long, says Wes Schwie of Innovelis. CordFits prevent the extra cord length from getting in people's way, he adds. "CordFits let people shorten their headphone cord length to fit their style, and when they are done listening, they can quickly store their cord without tangles," says Schwie. "Now people can listen to their favorite pair of headphones without the cord getting snagged and having to untangle the cord each time they want to use the headphones." Innovelis offered a sneak peek of CordFits earlier this year at the 2009 Macworld Conference & Expo and the International Consumer Electronics Show. They're based on a patent-pending system of pulleys and channels....

Softpress Systems (http://www.softpress.com) has eleased version 5.4.2 of Freeway, its web site design software. This latest update includes native support for Intaglio files to allow easy editing of drawings and illustrations. For a limited period, Softpress is offering a free copy of Intaglio for every full-priced purchase of Freeway Pro made through either the Softpress Store or through the Apple Store. You can learn more about the Intaglio bundle at http://www.softpress.com/offers/intagliobundle. Intaglio from Purgatory Design offers graphic manipulation tools. Able to convert most Mac legacy files, Intaglio harnesses the full power of Quartz and CoreImage. Intaglio normally sells for US$89. Freeway 5.4.2 is a free maintenance update for all registered owners of Freeway 5. Freeway 5 Pro and Freeway 5 Express are available for purchase and immediate electronic delivery directly from the Softpress Store. Freeway 5 Pro is $249, and Freeway 5 Express is $79. Existing Freeway users...

Dingo Games has released The Three Musketeers: The Game (http://www.dingogames.com/three-musketeers-game/) for the Mac. Available exclusively online, the US$24.98 game closely follows the plot of the original "Three Musketeers" novel. The adventure story and the rarely used setting of 17th century France make this game a unique experience. Players take on the role of the young gentleman d'Artagnan as he sets off for Paris in hopes of becoming a Musketeer. Soon after arriving, d'Artagnan finds himself in duels with each of the famous three Musketeers: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. By fighting alongside them, he is able to prove that he has the heart of a Musketeer and is accepted by them as a friend. When the evil Cardinal Richelieu launches a plot to disgrace the queen, only d'Artagnan and his three friends can defend her honor. Created by independent developer Dingo Games, the game features an old school top-down perspective with hand-drawn 2D graphics. Players gather loot, duel...

Zengobi has released Curio 6 (http://www.zengobi.com/curio), an upgrade of the note taking, mind mapping, brainstorming, and task management application for Mac OS X. The upgrade adds completely style-able index cards for jotting down and organizing notes. Version 6.1 also adds a decoration image well for associating an image with a figure, smarter text exporting of multiply selected figures and other features and fixtures. Using Curio's freeform interface and tools, you can gather, associate, and recall your ideas, while managing all the notes and documents associated with your project. Curio is available in two editions: Standard (US$99) and Professional ($149, US$69 academia). Discounted Curio 6 upgrades are available to current Curio 5 (and earlier) customers. Version 6.1 is a free upgrade to registered users of version 6.0.

MacSpeech (http://www.macspeech.com) has announced the Plantronics Calisto Headset with Bluetooth USB Adapter is now certified for use with MacSpeech Dictate, the speech recognition solution for the Mac. By combining the Calisto Headset with Bluetooth USB Adapter and MacSpeech Dictate, customers can now use a single wireless headset for dictation and control of the Mac, that can also simultaneously pair to a Bluetooth-enabled mobile device, such as the iPhone, to make and receive calls, according to Andrew Taylor, founder and CEO of MacSpeech. The Calisto Headset with Bluetooth USB Adapter is the only Bluetooth-enabled device certified for use with MacSpeech Dictate, he adds. The Calisto Headset with Bluetooth USB Adapter is available today for use with MacSpeech Dictate 1.5.5 or higher. MacSpeech Dictate requires Intel-based Macintosh hardware and requires Mac OS X 10.5.6 or higher. Currently registered customers of MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 are being notified about special pricing...

Toon Boom Animation (http://www.toonboom.com) has announced that its entire line of products is compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard"). All software for kids, home users and professionals were thoroughly tested and proved to be running smoothly on the new operating system, according to Joan Vogelesang, president and CEO at Toon Boom. Only Toon Boom Studio and its plug-in required a new build which is available to all Studio 5 customers.

ProStor (http://www.prostorsystems.com) -- which specializes in enterprise-class removable disk storage systems for business backup, archiving and retention management -- has announced the general availability of the new ProStor InfiniVault Model 5. ProStor InfiniVault Model 5 is designed for the storage needs of the SMB (small-to-medium businesses) that may have two different data retention requirements, and where two copies of the data are necessary for disaster protection. It's an integrated storage appliance in a tower design with five slots for RDX removable disks and a 1.8TB file area that can manage 250 million files. Using 500GB RDX removable disk cartridges, ProStor InfiniVault Model 5 is able to keep 2.5TB (5TB compressed) data online (in RDX removable disk cartridges) and an infinite amount of data capacity offline. In an application requiring two separate retention periods, the Model 5 can be configured to provide self protection while allowing RDX removable disks to be...

Stick Software (http://www.sticksoftware.com/) has announced version 1.5 of Fracture, their screensaver for Mac OS X, and version 3.1 of Constrictor, their screen shotshot utility. Both are now compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard"). Fracture generates a variety of fractal images based upon mathematical formulas such as the Mandelbrot Set. If you have multiple processors, it will use all of them to calculate its images as quickly as possible. If you have multiple monitors, it will display fractals on all of them, in any of several different multimonitor modes. It's also user controllable. Constrictor helps you take screenshots, using a positionable frame to grab the right area every time. Snapshots can be scaled, framed and feathered by Constrictor, to save you from having to post-process your shots manually. They can be saved in five different file formats, copied to the clipboard, or even, using Constrictor's AppleScript support, e-mailed. The apps cost US$10 each. Demos are...

Atlona Technologies (http://www.atlona.com), a solutions based manufacturer of audio video products, has released their new line of Matrix switchers for component, composite, and S-Video applications. Because this new series of units are matrix switchers, any number of the inputs can be routed to any number of the outputs independently; or the same input can be routed to all outputs simultaneously, or any other combination. For AV component switching needs, there are the AT-COMP-42M (US$399) and AT-COMP-88M ($1,999). The COMP-42M offers four component inputs and two component outputs, while the COMP-88M offers eight inputs and eight outputs. Atlona's new Component Matrix Switchers feature lossless component with stereo audio and digital optical/coaxial. These componentswitchers feature manual, infrared remote, or RS232 control. For composite/S-Video, Atlona has released the AT-SAV-42M ($189) and the AT-SAV-84M ($699). The SAV-42M has four composite and four S-video inputs going out...

QNAP (http://www.qnap.com) has expanded their Turbo NAS lineup with the addition of the TS-210 desktop NAS server targeted specifically at the SOHO (small office/home office)and prosumer market segments. The TS-210 supports up to 2 3.5-inch SATA hard drives with up to 4TB of total capacity (using 2TB drives) and features a Marvell 800MHz CPU and 256MB DDRII memory which purportedly provides sustained high performance with low power consumption. The TS-210 can be configured to RAID 1 for high data redundancy. The TS-210 also supports iSCSI Target service with Thin Provisioning and a Gigabit LAN port, features generally found on much higher end NAS servers. The TS-210 is equipped three USB ports (one on the front and two on the back) for expanding the storage capacity, printer sharing, or data backup to an external storage device. It's compatible with Mac OS X, Windows, Linux and UNIX systems. It features a built-in UPnP/ DLNA media server (with TwonkyMedia enabled) supporting a range...

Pariahware has introduced version 2.1 of File Stitcher (http://www.pariahware.com/filestitcher.php), an utility that provides users an easy way to merge either MP3 files or text files together. The upgrade is compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard"). To use File Stitcher, drag and drop files into the window and click the "Stitch the files" button to start the process. A progress bar will show the process, and after MP3s are merged, the user has the option of editing the ID3 tags for the new file. File Stitcher is shareware and costs US$15 to register. Version 2.1 is a free update to registered users of version 2.0. An unregistered copy will work in a limited mode, allowing only two files to be merged or stitched at a time. File Stitcher requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher.

WoodWing Software (http://www.woodwing.com) has unveiled the next generation of its Enterprise publishing system. Enterprise 7 offers flexibility when it comes to the integration of social media into modern multi-channel publishing environments, according to Erik Schut, president of WoodWing Software. Also, the planning of editorial content can now be based on instant analysis of online reader interests, while the new Search 2.0 provides highly relevant results when doing research, he adds. Enterprise 7 comes with Content Station 7, a new version of the client application that provides publishers with the ultimate tool to plan, produce and manage content for multiple destinations. WoodWing Enterprise 7 can publish to virtually any channel, including Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and YouTube. More traditional channels such as web, mobile, e-mail, SMS and print are also covered. Enterprise 7 has the open-source Apache Solr search engine on board, and the generated Faceted Search results are...

Future Media Concepts (FMC) -- an authorized digital media training organization for postproduction, broadcast, and content creators, announced that they're working alongside Pearson VUE (http://www.pearsonvue.com) for test delivery. Pearson VUE specializes in computer-based testing for information technology, academic, government and professional testing programs. Testing is offered exclusively through FMC Washington, D.C. using the Pearson VUE Authorized Test Center network of more than 5,000 sites in 165 countries. Pearson VUE's real-time testing system allows FMC to administer a variety of their Adobe Certification examinations through a centralized scheduling system. Pearson VUE also provides FMC with instantaneous access to reporting and tracking, alongside 24-hour technical support. FMC Washington D.C. is currently offering Pearson VUE certification testing for a variety of Adobe software, including: After Effects, Illustrator, Photoshop, Premiere Pro and After Effects. For a...

Syncro Soft Ltd, the producer of Oxygen XML Editor and Author, has announced the immediate availability of version 11 of its XML Editor and XML Author containing a comprehensive set of tools supporting all the XML related technologies. Oxygen combines content author features like the CSS driven Visual XML editor with a fully featured XML development environment. It has ready to use support for the main document frameworks DITA, DocBook, TEI and XHTML and also includes support for all XML Schema languages, XSLT/XQuery Debuggers, WSDL analyzer, XML Databases, XML Diff and Merge, Subversion client and more. Oxygen XML Editor 11 comes with new features covering both XML authoring and XML development like: integrated documentation for XSLT stylesheets, improved support for very large documents, an XQuery debugger for the Oracle Berkeley DB XML database, MathML rendering and editing support, DITA 1.2 features, a smarter Author mode for an improved visual editing experience, and XProc...

MACTECH SURVEYS APPLE ECOSYSTEM ECONOMIC OUTLOOK - 70.7% of respondents feel good or great about their next 6 months - Nearly 90% see 2009 as almost as good or better than 2008 - MacTech sees 13% increase in ad revenues 2009 over 2008 YTD - 72.9% feel good or great when asked about the Apple/Mac segment Westlake Village, CA -- October 8, 2009 -- MacTech(r) Magazine today announced the results of its latest economic outlook survey of the Apple market ecosystem. The survey asked five questions about the experience companies are having in the Apple related markets. Despite a generally gloomy or worse feeling towards the general U.S. economy, the Apple related markets are fairing well and many are actually forecasting growth. "The MacTech team decided to survey those in the market after seeing three significant trends starkly contrasting the general U.S. economic news. First, MacTech experienced a 8% increase in advertising revenues for the first three quarters of 2009 when compared to...

Independent software developer Martin Wengenmayer has updated Cheetah 3D (http://www.cheetah3d.com/) -- software for modeling, animating and rendering 3D objects -- to version 5.0. The upgrade adds a completely new node-based material system, optimized render engine, extended modeling tools, and small user interface enhancements. Cheetah3D 5.0 sports an optimized raytracing core that supports up to 16 CPU cores, new pre-made materials, pivot points, a new bevel tool and bend modifier, a new tag selector to accelerate the work flow, the ability to export to static Collada files and automatic texture reload. It's also been localized in German. Cheetah3D costs US$149 for a single user version. Registered users of versions 1.x through 4.x can upgrade for $69. Cheetah3D requires requires at least Mac OS X 10.4 and 16MB of VRAM. It's a Universal Binary product, which means it will run natively on both PowerPC and Intel Macs.

Plustek Technology (http://www.plustek.com/usa) -- a manufacturer of consumer, prosumer, professional and office imaging devices (including portable scanners, sheet fed/flat bed scanners, wide format scanners and IP cameras) -- has announced that the SmartOffice PS282 Scanner -- which has a list price of US$399 -- is now certified for use with Kofax VirtualReScan (VRS) and compatible with other Kofax software (http://www.kofax.com) such as Kofax Capture, Kofax Express and any other application supported by Kofax VRS. Kofax VRS helps the Plustek SmartOffice PS282 reduce the time involved in manual document preparation and enhances the quality of scanned images, enabling faster processing, fewer data errors and increased productivity for organizations in paper-intensive business environments, according to the folks at Plustek. The SmartOffice PS282 is a compact high-speed sheetfed scanner. Features include 600-dpi resolution, a scanning speed of 25-ppm and full color duplex scanning (...

Zevrix Solutions (http://www.zevrix.com) has updated InPreflight Pro -- its quality control, packaging automation and preflight reporting solution for Adobe InDesign -- to version 2.6.12. The new version adds support for Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard"). InPreflight provides a preflight solution for service providers, printers, ad agencies, designers and publishing houses. It gathers information about document fonts, colors and links and lets users locate potential problems according to preflight presets. The software is also a packaging automation solution that allows users to preflight and package multiple documents. Among other abilities, it can collect all files into one folder, eliminating the need to collect the same links multiple times for each design. In addition, InPreflight lets users print graphic preflight reports and save them as fully searchable interactive PDF files, providing an easy way to analyze, archive and send reports to service providers. InPreflight Pro/Studio...

Linotype GmbH and its parent company, Monotype Imaging Holdings, a provider of text imaging solutions, have announced that the Linotype FontExplorer X Server font management solution (http://www.fontexplorerx.com) is available for 10 users at US$999 until Dec. 31. Included with each downloaded package are the server installer, the FontExplorer X Server administrator software, the FontExplorer X Pro client software, and the respective number of user licenses for working with the Pro software on Macs within the workgroup. FontExplorer X Server runs on both Mac systems (Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5) and servers (Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5), as well as Windows server (2003 Server, XP and 32-bit Windows Vista) environments. The FontExplorer X Server license fee includes one year phone or e-mail support. Applications are available in English or German and include comprehensive documentation. Font licenses must be purchased separately. As a solution that combines the FontExplorer X Pro client edition...

DocAuto (http://www.docauto.com), a provider of software solutions for Autonomy iManage WorkSite, has announced enhancements to its OutiM Server e-mail management application. These enhancements include the ability to use pattern matching in Subject and Content filters, now with support for a broader set of wildcards. Wildcard matching is useful for assuring compliance with HIPAA and other personal information compliance statutes, according to David Kiefer, president of DocAuto. These wildcards can be used whether performing filtering to identify content to be moved into WorkSite, or wildcard searching for WorkSite Folders or WorkSpaces in order to dynamically determine e-mail filing destinations. DocAuto provides a suite of software solutions for Autonomy iManage WorkSite that reduce risk, improve user experience, and optimize performance, says Kiefer.

Sonoma Wire Works (http://www.sonomawireworks.com), makers of RiffWorks recording software and the FourTrack and InstantDrummer iPhone apps, has acquired the Discrete Drums (http://www.discretedrums.com) brand and product line of drum recording libraries. This move will ensure the continuation and expansion of drum library products for both Discrete Drums and Sonoma Wire Works customers, according to Doug Wright, president of Discrete Drums. Discrete Drums' libraries are available in a variety of formats, and new Discrete Drums products will be launching soon in various styles, including the Heavy Mental 2 multitrack drum library of performances by drummer Tony Morra, recorded in the Big Boy Room at The Sound Kitchen.

MacSpeech (http://www.macspeech.com) has released MacSpeech Dictate 1.5.5, an upgrade to the speech recognition solution for the Mac. The upgrade addresses several minor functional and cosmetic issues when used with Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard"). All MacSpeech Dictate products, including MacSpeech Dictate Legal, MacSpeech Dictate Medical, MacSpeech Dictate International and MacSpeech Dictate localized in German, French and Italian can update to version 1.5.5 today. MacSpeech Dictate 1.5.5 adds a contextual menu for the Available Commands window, providing options to Edit, Execute, and Copy Description to Clipboard, and is also a maintenance release that fixes other reported issues. MacSpeech Dictate requires Intel-based Mac hardware and Mac OS X 10.5.6 or higher. New MacSpeech Dictate solutions, with a choice of headsets, are available today starting at US$199. Registered customers of MacSpeech Dictate are eligible to purchase MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 at special upgrade price of $54.95...

Group Logic (http://www.grouplogic.com) has announced today a partnership with Symantec (http://www.symantec.com) to market a joint solution for file system archiving (FSA) for Mac-based organizations. The solution is based on Symantec's Enterprise Vault software and Group Logic's newly released ArchiveConnect software. Prior to availability of this joint offering, customers with Mac populations were blocked from deploying FSA software, despite its potential to alleviate major storage management challenges, according to Simon Jelley, senior director of Product Management in the Information Management Group of Symantec. Now, with the combined solution, Mac-based enterprises and departments can take full advantage of file system archiving to reduce storage costs by up to 60 percent and increase both IT and user productivity, he adds. "Until now, customers utilizing the Macintosh have been challenged when attempting to deploy file system archiving," Jelley says. "In particular, key...

Until now, iPhone users have been stuck with a very bland incoming email tone. With the launch of Electric Pocket's new MailTones, iPhone users will for the first time be able to change the email alert tone and set a different tone for each and every friend, family member or colleague in their Address Book. MailTones will help users to distinguish high priority emails from their boss or spouse from lower priority emails from college buddies or email lists. With MailTones, iPhone users can set a tone for a specific user, or one for all incoming emails from a specific domain - making it easy to recognize incoming emails from work colleagues or customers. MailTones can also filter and provide custom tones for messages which include specific words in the Subject line. MailTones comes with a collection of 25 tones ranging from discrete bells to more audacious horns and buzzers. Many users will find it convenient to set their default mail tone to silent, or ignore, and use MailTones to set...

Realmac Software has acquired the Mac OS X social networking application EventBox, which allows users to keep up to date with multiple social networks such as Twitter, Flickr, Digg, as well as featuring Google Reader syncing for reading RSS feeds. EventBox, which is currently in public beta, will also be renamed Socialite for its official launch which is currently planned for November. Customers who previously purchased a copy of EventBox from the original developers will receive a full license to Socialite upon launch. Socialite Information Further details on Socialite will be made available via the Socialite website in the run up to launch: http://www.realmacsoftware.com/socialite/ . Socialite will be available in November; upon the final release single user licenses will be available for US$20. Users who purchased a copy of EventBox from its original developers before the acquisition will receive a new serial number once the application officially launches.

Gaucho Software (http://www.gauchosoft.com) has released XRG 1.5. XRG (X Resource Graph), an update of the open source system monitoring application for Mac OS X. XRG will monitor your computer's CPU usage, memory usage, battery status, network activity, disk activity, and machine temperature and fan speeds. XRG also has modules to display your local weather and stock market data. In addition to 64-Bit and Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard") support, XRG 1.5 also has a new CPU module for users with four or more processors. This module has current usage bars for each core combined with a composite CPU usage graph. XRG 1.5 will also keep track of the amount of data you read/write to the disks in your system. With support for more thermal sensors in the latest Intel Macs, XRG will give you that much closer of a look at the health of your system, according to the folks at Gaucho. Finally, XRG 1.5 fixes several bugs and memory leaks since the last version.

Pearson is releasing four new books for Mac programmers including "Cocoa Design Patterns," "iPhone for Programmers," "Sams Teach Yourself Cocoa Touch Programming in 24 Hours" and "Sams Teach Yourself iPhone Application Development in 24 Hours." "Cocoa Design Patterns" (http://www.informit.com/title/9780321535023) book explains the object-oriented design patterns found in Apple's Cocoa frameworks. The primary goal of this US$89.98 book is to supply insight into the design and rationale of Cocoa, but with that insight, you'll be able to effectively re-use the tried and true patterns in your own software -- even if you aren't using Cocoa. "iPhone for Programmers" (http://www.informit.com/title/9780137058426) uses an app-driven approach; each new technology is discussed in the context of 14 fully tested iPhone apps (7700 lines of code), complete with syntax shading, code walkthroughs and sample outputs. The book costs $53.98. "Sams Teach Yourself Cocoa Touch Programming in 24 Hours" (...

Extensis is sponsoring competitive scholarships to the Museum Computer Network (MCN) Annual Conference to be held in Portland, Oregon on Nov. 11-14. The Digital Asset Management Scholarship is sponsored by Extensis and is available to help heritage and culture professionals offset the cost of attending this annual gathering. Individuals awarded the scholarships will receive 50% off MCN conference registration and automatic registration in the digital asset management workshop offered during the conference. These are competitive scholarships awarded to a limited number of applicants. The deadline to apply for the scholarship is Oct. 9. Anyone interested in digital asset management and wishing to attend the MCN conference is encouraged to submit an application at http://www.mcn.edu/conferences/index.asp?subkey=2538 . The Museum Computer Network supports the greater museum community by providing continuing opportunities to explore, implement, and disseminate new technologies and best...