Apple has released a free WWDC iOS app on the Apple App Store. It allows users to: 

• Browse times, locations, and descriptions for sessions, labs, and special events;
 • Mark schedule items as favorites with a simple double-tap;
 • Watch session videos, available daily;
 • Start watching on one iOS device, and pick up where you left off on another;
 • Keep up with the latest news, get important notifications, and see daily snapshots;
 • View maps to find your way around Moscone West;
• Provide feedback on session content and speakers within the session details view;
 • Add attendee information to Passbook for speedier WWDC on-site registration. Apple will hold WWDC 2013 June 10 through June 14 at San Francisco’s Moscone West. At the five-day conference, developers from around the world will learn about the future of iOS and OS X. For more info go to http://developer.apple.com/wwdc . Other Options By the way, if you going to be in San Francisco during WWDC 2013? MacTech is sponsoring...

Jumsoft has announced the latest update of the Toolbox for Keynote app. Version 1.2.1 adds 10 fresh Keynote themes, 185 maps, and 42 sets of bullets and frames. The designs are designed for creating and illustrating presentations, portfolios, proposals, and other types of content. Toolbox for Keynote contains Keynote themes, business-oriented slides, badges, hundreds of clipart images, doodles, maps, flags, and other items. Toolbox for Keynote requires Mac OS X 10.7 or later and Keynote 5.0 or later. It's free and available worldwide through the Mac App Store in the Graphics & Design category (http://tinyurl.com/ln38lvl).

According to a "MacTrast" report (http://tinyurl.com/lb3wuhe), supplies of the Mac Pro are dwindling. This could hint at a long-overdue, much-anticipated revamp of the pro desktop line at next month's Apple Worldwide Developer Conference. Writing for "MacTrast," J. Glenn Kunzler said that he had checked a dozen major Apple resellers (including Apple’s own website and retail stores), and found that the vast majority were either out of stock or had very limited supplies of the US$2,499 Mac Pro. Last year Apple CEO Tim cook promised "something really great" for the pro desktop line of Macs. Perhaps that great thing is almost here.

Apple has raised the price of iPads and iPods in Japan after a weaker yen that’s boosting importing costs prompted Toshiba Corp. and Fujitsu Lt. to consider increasing prices, reports "Bloomberg" (http://tinyurl.com/mkratz2) Apple now sells the iPad Wi-Fi model with 16 gigabytes of memory for 49,800 yen (approximately $493), compared with its previous price of 42,800 yen, according to Apple’s website. The iPod Shuffle music player costs from 4,800 yen, compared with the previous starting price of 4,200 yen. "We made some pricing adjustments due to changes in foreign exchange rates,” Takashi Takabayashi, a spokesman for Apple in Japan, told "Bloomberg."

Just Mobile has released the Just Mobile AluPocket and AluDisc for the iPhone and iMac, respectively. The US$29.95 AluPocket is a high design wall mount for your Apple smartphone. It has an aluminum and plastic design with a cable slot and connector recess. You mount it with 3M glue-free tape. The $69.95 AluDisc is a 360-degree pedestal for the iMac. It's made of aluminum with a ball-bearing mechanism. It's load balanced for all iMacs and flat panel display.

Expeditions: Conquistador is now available on Steam for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux platforms for US$19.99. To celebrate the successful release, you can get a 10% discount until June 5. Here's how the game is described; "It is the 16th century -- an era of intrepid explorers and adventurers. In Expeditions: Conquistador, the player takes on the role of a famous -- or infamous -- conquistador, landing on the shores of the New World. On the search for gold, fame, and adventure, the player and a few companions venture into regions never before explored by Europeans. "In single or multiplayer mode, Expeditions: Conquistador offers the opportunity to conquer an unknown continent, or to fight on the side of the indigenous people as they defend their homeland from the invaders. This will require not only tactical skills in battle, but also diplomatic finesse. In Expeditions: Conquistador, the variety of tactical possibilities in turn-based battles, the numerous role-playing elements, and the...

Apple has introduced a 16GB iPod touch for US$229 alongside its 32GB and 64GB models. Like its bigger siblings, it sports 4-inch Retina display and dual-core A5 chip. However, as noted by "Macworld" (http://tinyurl.com/oqckzm6), it lacks a few of its siblings’ features: For one thing, you’ll find no rear-facing camera on the model. Apple dropped the fancy 5-megapixel iSight camera from the 32GB and 64GB models, leaving only the front-facing FaceTime HD camera, with its 1.2MP photo and 720p video capabilities.

Apple has announced that fan favorites including Justin Timberlake, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Jack Johnson and Jessie J are among the headliners at this year’s iTunes Festival in London. Running every night in September at the Roundhouse, the iTunes Festival features over 60 acts performing at the legendary venue. Performances can be watched live or on-demand by millions of iOS users around the world on their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, as well as by music fans with iTunes on their Mac or Windows PC or in HD with Apple TV. Tickets are free for competition winners only. "This year’s iTunes Festival is the best ever with an incredible lineup of global superstars and stellar emerging artists," says Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. "Music fans around the world are going to love watching this incredible month of music, whether in London at the Roundhouse or on their iOS device. We’re honored so many renowned artists are part of this year’s lineup."...

Smith Micro Software Productivity and Graphics Group (http://motionartist.smithmicro.com) has updated MotionArtist -- an US$59.99 tool that lets users add motion to their comics, create interactive HTML5 presentations as well as uniquely styled photo-shows -- to version 1.1. The upgrade, free to registered users, adds new tap or click "trigger" commands for HTML 5. MotionArtist 1.1 also adds Artboard and Timeline navigation to support gesture controls on multiple devices. Plus, there are visual effect improvements, including default panel styles, sequence for blur and fade, improved arrange in 3D and auto-camera. It's a composition and presentation application unlike anything that exists in the world of digital comic creation, says Steve Yatson, senior director of Product Marketing at Smith Micro Software. It boasts GPU acceleration for a fast work environment and 3D layering for that cool parallax effect, he adds. Artists of any skill-level can quickly convert their work into digital...

ZAGG has released the Origin, a two-in-one sound system that combines a desktop speaker and portable speaker into one unit. The Origin’s travel-size speaker offers crisp, high-fidelity sound on-the-go, and works with any Bluetooth-enabled smartphone, tablet, or device, including Mac OS X, Windows, iOS and Android, according to Kent Wuthrich, executive vice president of marketing for ZAGG. The portable speaker connects magnetically to the larger desktop speaker where sound output is transferred. With full battery power, the portable speaker purportedly offers 10-15 hours of continuous play and is recharged when docked. The Origin’s desktop speaker provides room-filling sound with full dynamic range and rich, deep bass, says Wuthrich. Powerful audio drivers allow the volume to increase without losing sound clarity or quality. he adds. The Origin comes complete with a remote control and USB ports for auxiliary use. Available online at ZAGG.com and ZAGG retail locations, the Origin...

"We have some incredible plans that we have been working on for a while," Apple CEO Tim Cook said at his AllThingsD conference talk. Some of those plans could still involve a TV. Cook reiterated the market is of "great interest" to Apple and that the current experience is outdated. Cook also declared Google Glass to be a niche product, while adding (in a possible iWatch hint) the broader wearable computing market is a very interesting area. The Apple CEO said Apple will likely offer more developer options for customizing iOS, while preserving the user experience. He also hinted that Apple isn't opposed to a bigger iPhone per se, only one that doesn't meet its standards. Read more at http://tinyurl.com/ornqjgp .

Basil Salad Software has introduced Scuttlebutt Pro 1.0, a new Yammer client designed specifically for Mac enthusiasts. It requires Mac OS X 10.8.3 and higher, a Yammer account, and an Internet connection. Written with the Mac power users in mind, Scuttlebutt Pro supports Yammer external networks and allows simultaneous log-ins using multiple Yammer accounts. The client allows people from different locations and time zones to share workplace-sensitive information. Scuttlebutt is a native Cocoa application written with the Mac power user in mind. The folks at Basil Salad Software say it was developed in response to people's requests on Yammer's user support forums (which is now offline) to have a native client for the Mac and not a cross-platform application based on Adobe AIR. Scuttlebutt Pro debuts at US$49.97. It's available from http://scuttlebuttapp.com with a 30-day free trial.

BragIt has released version 4.1 of StockXloader (http://stockxloader.com), a native Mac OS X application for fully automated downloading of stock market quotes and indexes to the technical analysis program ProTA or ProTA Gold from BeeSoft, or to MS Excel or Numbers. Or you can drag & drop a text file for import into other applications. It collects quotes for almost any stock exchange in the world. The free update expands its use and simplifies current usage. StockXloader 4.1 offers two new choices of what to do with the downloaded and converted data. One is "Default Text App", which will open the final resulting file in the application you've set as the default for text files. The other is "Show File in Finder," which will select and show the final resulting text file. StockXloader is fully optimized for Retina Macs with high-resolution graphics and text. It's compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 and higher. You can download a 60-day demo version at the product web site. Registration is...

CAVU Media has announced BrushMarket.com, a custom Adobe Photoshop Brush resource for graphic designers using Macs or Windows systems. The ecommerce store offers graphic designers, artists and creative professionals brush options to complement their design efforts. With each purchase, the customer accumulates points that can be applied to future purchases or merchandise that is made available. All downloads are $0.99 USD and royalty-free (personal and commercial). Art students and alumni of art schools can register and receive a 20% lifetime discount of each order placed. For more info go to http://www.brushmarket.com .

Worldwide computer shipments are now expected to fall by -7.8% in 2013 according to the IDC research group (www.idc.com) The new forecast reflects a shift in computer buying trends as users increasingly consider alternatives such as delaying a computer purchase or using tablets and smartphones for more of their computing needs. In place of a limited decline of -1.3% in 2013 followed by a gradual increase in volume, the new outlook calls for a more substantial decline of -7.8% in 2013 and -1.2% in 2014 with shipment volume reaching only 333 million in 2017 – still below the 349 million shipped in 2012 and a peak of more than 363 million shipped in 2011. The updated forecast reflects the significant drop in volume during the first quarter of 2013 as well as the transitions happening in computer design as vendors bring products to market that are optimized for Windows 8, including more thin, convertible, touch, and slate models. "As the market develops, usage patterns and devices are...

MaBaSoft (http://www.mabasoft.net/) has conjured up Application Wizard 3.3.4, an update of the Mac OS X software that provides access to your applications, documents, folders, and disks. Now, on Mac OS X 10.6 or later, the Recent Folders submenu of the Special menu lets you browse the folders you have recently opened using the Finder. The Background-only Applications submenu of the Quit menu in Application Wizard 3.3.4 now shows process identifiers so that you can distinguish multiple instances of a same process. The clickable area of the Application Wizard buttons in the menu bar has been slightly increased. Finally, a bug that could cause Application Wizard to quit unexpectedly when particular processes were launched has been fixed. Application Wizard -- which requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher -- lets you open, quit, and make applications active, run AppleScripts, and turn single application mode on to reduce screen clutter. You can also browse volumes and favorite folders to quickly...

In a pre-trial "tentative view," Judge Denise Cote said the U.S Department of Justice will likely be able to prove that Apple colluded with major book publishers to falsely inflate the prices of e-books sold through the iBookstore, reports "Reuters" (http://tinyurl.com/nfw824c). While she stressed that the view was not final and that she had read only some of the evidence so far, her comments could add to pressure on Apple to settle the lawsuit, in which the Justice Department accuses the company and five publishers of conspiring to fix e-book prices, the article adds. "I believe that the government will be able to show at trial direct evidence that Apple knowingly participated in and facilitated a conspiracy to raise prices of e-books, and that the circumstantial evidence in this case, including the terms of the agreements, will confirm that," Cote said. Orin Snyder, a lawyer for Apple, said in a statement, "We strongly disagree with the court's preliminary statements about the case...

CS Odessa (www.conceptdraw.com) has introduced a Spatial Infographics Solution for ConceptDraw Pro 9. The new solution permits users to draw professional infographics that orient viewers so they can be self-directed to a point of interest. The maps and images are scalable vector images that can be exported to Adobe PDF format, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Visio, graphic image file, or HTML. ConceptDraw Pro 9 supports Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. The ConceptDraw products are licensed per user and users have the capability of running ConceptDraw on either supported operating system with their purchased product. ConceptDraw Pro has a suggested retail price of US$199. It's available as a standalone product. It's also included in ConceptDraw Office suite ($499), which in addition to ConceptDraw PRO, the ConceptDraw Office suite includes ConceptDraw MindMap and ConceptDraw Project.

Akvis has released Akvis Retoucher 6.0 for Mac OS X and Windows systems (http://akvis.com/en/retoucher/index.php), an update of the app for restoring damaged photos by removing dust, scratches, stains, and by reconstructing the missing parts of a photo automatically. Version 6.0 adds a Batch Processing feature that lets you automatically process a series of images. Also, there are some bug fixes. Registered users of Retoucher can upgrade to version 6.0 for free, except the owners of the old Business version. They must pay $19 for an upgrade to the new version. A free evaluation download of Akvis Retoucher 6.0 is available at the Akvis web site. It sells for US$87. The software can be used as a standalone application and as a plugin to image editors (Adobe Photoshop, Corel PaintShop Pro, and other image editors). It runs on Mac OS X 10.4-10.8, both 32 and 64 bit, and Windows XP/Vista/Win7/Win 8.

A report from Norman Shark’s security analyst team entitled Operation Hangover details a cyber campaign that is believed to be gathering information from national security targets and private sector companies mostly based in Pakistan, but also in the UK and United States. The Operation Hangover campaign is reliant on previously identified vulnerabilities in popular software (such as Word) and browsers (including Java). If left unaddressed Operation Hangover will purportedly cause "lasting damage" to UK businesses. What's more, the failure of Mac users to recognize that there may be a threat to their systems, Kaspersky security expert David Emm told "Macworld UK."

WaterField Designs has unveiled its new fine leather Finn wallet. It costs US$29.90 and is available at http://tinyurl.com/qamsm6e . The naturally deer-tanned leather Finn comes in six color choices and two sizes: a compact version for cash and cards and a slightly longer version sized to also fit an iPhone 5 or similar-sized smartphone. The Finn is designed to fit into men's pants pockets without causing "wallet bulge." Self-locking zippers secure all contents. Two interior side pockets organize cash, cards, ID and receipts.

TrendNet has shipped the AC1200 Dual Band Wireless Router (model TEW-811DRU), which is designed to easily handle multiple HD streams in a busy connected home. It costs US$157.99 It generates an ultra-high performance 867 Mbps Wireless AC network and a 300 Mbps Wireless N network to connect mobile devices and computers to the Internet, according to Zak Wood, director of marketing at TrendNet. Beamforming technology boosts connectivity by directing the strongest signal to the location of each connected device. You can plug in a USB flash or network attached storage drive to share HD videos and music across the network. Gigabit ports on the back of the router maintain high speed wired connections. You can create a secure isolated guest network for guest Internet access. Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) connects other WPS supported wireless adapters at the touch of a button. For more info go to www.trendnet.com .

Prosoft Engineering's Data Rescue 3 has been named "The Best Mac Hard Drive Recovery Software" by the review site TopTenReviews. It was rated number one out of the other seven recovery programs.   Data Rescue 3 scored a perfect 10, meeting all the criteria in the review at 100%. The utility was launched in 2002 and has continued to be the most-awarded Mac hard drive recovery software on the Mac market. Data Rescue 3 works even when your hard drive fails to mount or boot. It's available for purchase at www.prosofteng.com for US$99.

The Creative Pro Group Network have announced that the London SuperMeet will return to the Great Hall at the Kensington Conference and Event Centre in London, England on Friday, June 28. This SuperMeet follows the success of the recent Las Vegas SuperMeet held in April during NAB Show 2013. Tickets are on sale now. Oscar winning film editor Tom Rolf is set to headline. Doors to the SuperMeet will open at about 17:00 with the SuperMeet Digital Showcase. Rolf is perhaps best known for editing Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" (for which he received a British Film Academy nomination). He was awarded an Academy Award for Best Film Editing for Philip Kaufman's "The Right Stuff." In addition to ACE Eddie nominations for "The Horse Whisperer" and "The Right Stuff," Rolf also received the ACE Eddie Award in 1984 for his work on "WarGames" and a Career Achievement Award from ACE. The final agenda will not be announced until shortly before the event date; however there will be USER driven...