Cross Culture has released Mergemill Pro 4.5, an update of their app for cleansing and de-duplicating data. The latest release is an enabler that automates many of the data extraction and processing steps in data mining. Mergemill Pro takes diverse sources of data -- such as databases, web pages, e-mails and more -- and merges them with templates to produce the desired output, from web pages to customized e-mails. The program features data-processing capabilities such as data filters, multi-level data sorting, BASIC scripting, and multiple search-and-replace actions. Mergemill Pro supports Unicode and other text encodings, and has project scheduling and auto-run functionality. Users can control output in templates through scripting with tags for content insertion, arithmetic expressions, looping, branching, statistic calculations and for marking text blocks for variable assignment or special output actions. Mergemill Pro 4.5 is available for Macs running OS X 10.5. It can be purchased...

RunRev has announced LiveCode 6.0, the first open source edition of its rapid application development platform that allows you to create your own mobile and desktop apps. LiveCode 6.0 comes just five weeks after the close of one of its Kickstarter campaigns. RunRev raised nearly half a million pounds (US$750,000) to fund the development of the next generation app development platform.   LiveCode 6.0 represents the company’s first Community Edition, free to anyone wanting to access the LiveCode engine for custom development of full-featured mobile and desktop apps. Educators, students and business professionals have put support behind the development of open source LiveCode, recognizing the platform’s ability to change the face of programming in learning and commercial environments, according to the folks at RunRev.   LiveCode 6.0 is released under the GPL3 license, which allows anyone interested in developing mobile apps to do so with the LiveCode Community Edition -- provided users...

At this week's National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) event, Boris FX (www.borisfx.com) announced Boris Continuum Complete (BCC) 8.2. The upgrade features up to 100% improvement in render time for OpenGL-accelerated filters. In addition, nearly all BCC AVX for Avid filters can now be rendered in real-time. BCC 8.2 FxPlug for Apple Final Cut Pro and Motion is available now as a free download from www.borisfx.com for BCC v8.x FxPlug users. BCC 8.2 AE for Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro, BCC 8.2 AVX for Avid, and BCC 8.2 for Sony Vegas Pro will be available as free downloads for BCC v8.x users during the second quarter of the year.

Cory Moll, the founder of a union for Apple's retail employees is leaving the company after deciding to pursue other options, reports "CNET" (http://tinyurl.com/bqfpzss). He's been with Apple since 2007 and founded the Apple Retail Workers Union. He's leaving his job by his own choice as of today, notes "CNET." "I feel that the time has come to go explore the world, discover new opportunities and learn new skills," Moll said in an e-mail.

Tension Software has updated DB-Text -- a tool to import, edit and manage text based archives -- to version 1.2. The upgrade offers new export functions with new dialog and selection of exported fields. DB-Text 1.2 also sports improved iImport functions, a Sandbox release, advanced preferences, auto detection of CSV or TAB file format to import, and minor bug fixes. DB-Text is available for US $6.99 both from the Mac App Store and the Tension Software web site (www.pomola.com/products_dbtext/ ).

At the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show this week in Las Vegas, Intel made some key announcements regarding Thunderbolt technology, the fastest data connection available in your personal computer. Intel introduced the Intel DSL4510/4410 Thunderbolt controllers which add DisplayPort 1.2 capability when connecting to native DP displays, improve power management, and reduce platform bill of materials cost. Intel (www.intel.com) also previewed early prototype silicon of its next-generation Thunderbolt controller codenamed Falcon Ridge, which runs at 20Gbs, enabling 4K video file transfer and display simultaneously. Initial production is expected before the end of this year, with ramp in 2014. 

At this week's National Association of Broadcasts (NAB) event, Sonnet announced the Echo Express III-D desktop and Echo Express III-R rackmount Thunderbolt-to-PCI Express Expansion Chassis, the newest members of the company's Echo family of Thunderbolt expansion chassis for PCIe cards. Featuring three PCIe slots, a 300W power supply, and 75W auxiliary power connector, both new Thunderbolt-to-PCIe expansion chassis enable the use of a wide variety of high-performance PCI Express cards -- originally designed for use in desktop computers -- with any Mac with a Thunderbolt port. These Sonnet products support every Thunderbolt-compatible PCIe card available. Both the Echo Express III-D desktop and Echo Express III-R rackmount chassis feature dual Thunderbolt ports to support daisy-chaining of devices, and are designed for users needing the optimum solution for connecting three PCIe cards to their computer. Each new chassis supports up to three full-length, full-height, single-width PCIe 2...

At this week's National Association of Broadcasts (NAB) event, Blackmagic Design announced the US$995 Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, a pocket sized digital cinema camera that includes features such as Super 16mm sized 1080HD sensor, super wide 13 stops of dynamic range, built in SD card recorder for Apple ProRes, lossless compressed CinemaDNG RAW capture and active Micro Four Thirds lens mount. The new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera has most of the features of its bigger brother, including its feature film look, but has been redesigned with a smaller size that is less than an inch thick and can be held easily in your hand, says Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design. It's so small that it can be used in situations in the field where a larger camera could be dangerous, he adds. The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera features an industry standard Super 16 sensor size. The camera includes a SD card recorder that allows the full sensor dynamic range to be recorded in professional ProRes...

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) -- which recently denied Apple’s trademark application for the iPad mini because Apple's patent filing merely described the product -- has now withdrawn its objections, notes "MacRumors." A second objection related to Apple's use of the iPad mini overview page as its specimen proving that the named product was being offered for sale. "The issue has in fact mostly been resolved without Apple having had to address the examiner's objections," notes "MacRumors" (www.macrumors.com). "Presumably responding to the publicity surrounding the initial decision, the USPTO has preemptively withdrawn its two main objections to Apple's objections." Avid has announced Avid Pro Tools 11, an update of its digital audio workstation for music and audio production. This latest version enables audio professionals to take on the most demanding productions with new, high-powered audio and video engines, 64-bit architecture, expanded metering, and direct...

Sorenson Media has released Sorenson Squeeze 9, an upgrade of its video encoder that improves the encoding workflow and optimizes multi-screen video encoding. Benefits of the newest version of Squeeze include industry-first HTML5 optimization; an enhanced, more intuitive streamlined user interface and optimized user experience; enhancements to video quality and speed; and improvements to the product’s review and approval functionality. According to Mitch Holyoak, vice president of engineering for Sorenson Media, says Squeeze 9 makes encoding video files for playback in HTML5 easy and intuitive. Users simply drag and drop a single HTML5 preset onto a source file, and Squeeze then automatically creates two output renditions of the file -- one in MP4, the other in WebM -- together with a coding of the video onto an HTML5 web page, using the video tag. The two renditions enable native video playback in all major browsers, including Safari, Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Firefox. "HTML5 is...

A "handful" of Samsung smartphones infringe an Apple patent on text selection, according to the initial determination of a U.S. International Trade Commission judge, notes the "IDG News Service" (http://tinyurl.com/br27qyd). The patent in question concerns the selection of text on the browser of a handheld device by covering it with a translucent layer, where the layer becomes active for user inputs, the article adds. In his initial decision, Judge Thomas Pender found several Samsung phones did infringe two parts of U.S. patent RE41,922, filed by Apple in 2002.

A federal judge will not allow a lawsuit accusing Apple, Google and other technology companies of conspiring not to poach each other's employees to proceed as a class action, "but left the door open for affected workers to eventually sue as a group," reports "Reuters" (http://tinyurl.com/ckhy4yx) U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, said the five software engineers who brought the case had yet to show that the proposed class plaintiffs had enough in common to allow them to sue together. However, in light of new evidence, she said the nature of the "alleged overarching conspiracy" and desire to litigate it all at once weighed "heavily" in favor of class certification. As a result, she gave the plaintiffs a chance to seek class certification again, notes "Reuters."

Mushkin has announced the worldwide availability of its new line of 1.8-inch Chronos GO SATA III (6Gbps) solid-state drives (SSDs), now shipping in 120GB, 240GB and 480GB capacities. The new line of 1.8-inch drives feature a smaller, lighter footprint than the previous generation, and offer performance and reliability improvements for power users, according to Nicolas Villalobos, director of Global Marketing at Mushkin. Originally designed as an enterprise-class drive, the new Chronos SSD has been adapted and re-engineered to deliver the highest possible storage capacity in a drive optimized for high-performance and ultimate reliability, even in the most demanding 24x7 environments, he adds. For more information, visit http://www.mushkin.com/ .

Third Street Software has announced the availability of preview releases of Sente 6.6 for Mac and iPad. It's an update to the academic reference manager. New features include a complete overhaul of the library synchronization engine to make it easier to keep reference libraries synchronized across multiple Macs and iPads. Sente 6.6 also now supports Find-in-PDF on both platforms and there is a new, streamlined PDF annotation interface on the iPad. Sente 6.6 for Mac is available at http://tinyurl.com/bsk4fqf . The iPad is available in the Apple App Store. The final release of Sente 6.6 will be available later this month.

MAXON -- a leading developer of professional 3D modeling, painting, animation and rendering solutions -- has revealed at NAB 2013 the first step in its strategic alliance with Adobe, aimed at delivering a new level of integration between its 3D application, CINEMA 4D, and Adobe After Effects. The recently revealed next release of Adobe’s industry leading software will include two MAXON technologies directly within the new Adobe After Effects: CINEWARE and CINEMA 4D Lite. CINEWARE: The New Live 3D Pipeline between CINEMA 4D and After Effects, which eliminates intermediate rendering between applications, is made possible by CINEWARE, which establishes a bridge between the two applications. CINEMA 4D Lite: Also included in the next version of After Effects is a taste of CINEMA 4D's workflow and toolset. This limited version of CINEMA 4D gives artists access to a selection of the software’s functionality. Since CINEMA 4D Lite launches directly from within After Effects, the availability...

From the makers of Localscope, the popular location browser app for the iPhone, comes Phlo for the Mac, a tool for searching your favorite websites. With a few keystrokes, it lets you jump right to the search results for anything that you need to lookup on a site of your choice. Phlo also lets you customize preferred sites or search engines from which to search. Phlo can be summoned with a configurable global hotkey from anywhere on the Mac. To search, a user has to type the search phrase and then hit Tab to choose the website that he'd like to search in. Phlo filters the websites and search engines as the user types and automatically bubbles up the most used sites. For example, a user can type "The Hobbit" and then choose the site "IMDb" to search from and the results will be displayed on their default web browser. Phlo requires Mac OS X 10.8 or later. It's available for US$3.99 exclusively on the Mac App Store in the Productivity category (http://tinyurl.com/cq5lcdu).

Bare Bones Software (www.barebones.com) has announced TextWrangler 4.5.1, an update to its general purpose text editor for Mac OS X. The upgrade includes various refinements and fixes for specific reported issues. TextWrangler requires Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later, and is fully compatible with Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. It's a free download.

Coding Turtle has announced Scrambler 1.2.2, an update to their encryption app for the Mac. The app allows users to encrypt their files and folders before sending them to other Macs over untrusted email, instant messaging or cloud-based services. Scrambler resides in the menu bar -- providing a small icon in the upper-right area of the screen. To encrypt, users drag files or folders on Scrambler's icon and type in a password via a small and non-intrusive pop-up window. Version 1.2.2 is a minor bug fix release. Scrambler is available on the Mac App Store (http://tinyurl.com/d6y5qxk) for US$2.99. It is also available as a shareware product from the developer's website (https://codingturtle.com/scrambler), where a free and fully functional five-day trial can be found.

Bluezbox Software has announced MLSwitcher 2.0, an update to their improved input language manager for Mac OS X. It's designed to make life easier for those who have to input text in several languages or share their time between Mac OS X and Windows. Version 2.0 includes new combos for cycling through layouts and minor bug fixes. MLSwitcher requires Mac OS X 10.7 or later. It costs US$2.99 and is available worldwide through the Mac App Store in the Utilities category (http://tinyurl.com/bopdpf6).

LifeProof is offering a Total Water Protection Program for the Apple iPhone and iPad to anyone who purchases a LifeProof case on its website. The first of its kind available in the case market, this optional program offers a one-time repair or replacement of the device for up to one full year if it sustains accidental water damage in a LifeProof case.   LifeProof cases are water proof down to 6.6 feet, as well as dirt proof, snow proof and shock proof. The LifeProof Total Water Protection Program will offer consumers even greater peace of mind, says Gary Rayner, CEO of LifeProof. The program is available as on option when purchasing a case on the LifeProof website at www.lifeproof.com. The program in limited to one-time use and includes a nominal upfront fee and a service fee.! It also requires the case be used in accordance with all of the provided instructions. For full terms and conditions, visit www.lifeproof.com/twpp .

Apple has responded to Samsung's claim that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has rejected multiple claims of Apple's "overscroll bounce" patent, claiming the re-examination isn't finished, reports "Macworld UK" (http://tinyurl.com/chl2cnw) The article says Apple may also appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and if unsuccessful, may seek judicial review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Earlier this week Samsung said in a filing to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose division that a Final Office Action by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) was relevant to the dispute before the court between Apple and Samsung, because it "finally" rejects multiple claims of U.S. Patent no. 7,469,381. This is all part of the ongoing, global legal battle. Apple and Samsung have filed more than 30 lawsuits against each other across four continents. For example...

Adobe has announced the availability of Lightroom 4.4 and Camera Raw 7.4 final releases as downloads. The releases provide bug fixes reported in previous releases, including a correction to the demosaic algorithms for Fujifilm cameras with the X-Trans sensor, such as the Fujifilm X-Pro1 and X-E1. In addition, these releases add raw file support for 25 cameras. The Lightroom 4.4 final release is available as a free download for Lightroom 4 customers on Adobe.com and through the update mechanism in Lightroom 4. The Photoshop Camera Raw 7.4 final release is available for Photoshop CS6 customers through the update mechanism within Photoshop CS6.

In May Saperion (www.Saperion.com) will start deliveries of version 7.5 of its ECM Suite. Saperion ECM Together will be the company's first cloud-based file and sharing solution. E-Mail Lifecycle Management (ELM) uses tagging to archive e-mails and also supports Exchange Web Services. The Saperion Web Client contains new functions and Saperion ECM Consolidation Services permits direct access to third-party electronic archives. Saperion ECM Together is a digital archive in the cloud for corporate documents. This product is designed to securely store business-critical data while simultaneously enabling access from virtually any location. Saperion ECM Together is designed to make it easy to integrate users into business processes, access important records, and collaborate with others on documents. In addition to the cloud-based SaaS solution, Saperion offers another version for internal, on-premise installation that integrates seamlessly into Saperion ECM installations. Instead of MAPI...

Matrox Graphics says Matrox Avio KVM extenders are compatible with APCON IntellaPatch Series 3000 XE network switches, supporting 10 Gbps and forming the world's highest-bandwidth KVM extension and switching solution. With this new digital matrix switch solution, enterprises will benefit from superior performance through 10Gbps link connectivity, says Caroline Injoyan, business development manager, Matrox Graphics. Cabling complexity and cost is also minimized due to single-cable-per-desktop configurations and leading switch-to-desktop density, she adds. Avio takes advantage of the full bandwidth available in 10Gbps SFP+ transceivers to transmit two uncompressed HD video signals, USB keyboard and mouse, USB 2.0 devices, and stereo analog audio over a single fiber-optic duplex LC-LC cable. Once each workstation is connected to its own port on the IntellaPatch XE switch, administrators can use the APCON software interface to route a workstation or server to a remote location. The...