RE:Vision Effects (http://www.revisionfx.com) has announced a new version (version 4) of their ReelSmart Motion Blur OFX plug-in for Nuke, Maya/3ds Max Composite, and Scratch is now available. ReelSmart Motion Blur (RSMB) automatically adds more natural-looking motion blur to a sequence. Proprietary tracking technology is at the heart of RSMB, so there's no handwork involved, according to the folks at RE:Vision Effects.. Of course you can add as little or as much blurring as you need and even remove motion blur. The latest version adds support for 64-bit on Mac OS X and offers speed boosts. Multi-host application floating licenses are available. With multi-host licensing users can float a single license across many applications, including: Nuke, Flame, Fusion, After Effects (Twixtor PRO only), Shake, Softimage, Smoke, Flint, Flare, Inferno, Combustion, Premiere Pro (Twixtor PRO only), and Maya and Max Composite. A ReelSmart Motion Blur v4 OFX node-locked license is US$189.95, and a...

BragIt today releases update 1.3 of BragIt HTML Slideshow (http://photo.bragit.com/Lightroom/WebGalleryPlugin.shtml), a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. It lets you publish a collection of photos to your web site, like a slideshow, telling a story. Visitors to the website can scroll through thumbnails of all photos, and then start the slideshow to see large photos sequentially with annotations below each photo. The slideshow is based on HTML and has a scrolling index page of all photo thumbnails, an identity plate, and an introductory description. The full frame version of each photo can have multiline captions in a compact design to make room for photos in both landscape and portrait orientation with separate bounds for width and height. When a full frame photo is clicked, it advances to the next full frame photo. The plug-in has extensive choices for text labeling, fonts, layout and color controls. Version 1.3 of BragIt HTML Slideshow supports the new customizable...

Logitech (http://www.logitech.com) has announced the Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 and the Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305 (pictured) for Mac and Windows laptops. They also work with iPads and iPhones. To free you from the hassle of cords and let you place your speakers up to 50 feet away, the Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 uses 2.4 GHz wireless technology to deliver wireless audio. To set it up you plug the included wireless adapter into a USB port on your laptop. If you want to connect to an iPad or iPhone, you won’t even need the USB dongle; just put your device into Discovery mode and the Logitech Z515 speaker will find it and connect wirelessly. The speaker’s dual two-inch drivers give full stereo sound and plenty of bass, says Mark Schneider, vice president and general manager of Logitech’s audio business unit. Plus, so you can take your music with you wherever you go, the Z515 includes a rechargeable battery that can power your speaker for up to 10 hours. The Logitech Laptop...

Apple has sent out invitations to the press for a special event to be held on Wednesday, Sept. 1. It's been widely rumored that the event would focus on a revamped Apple TV. However, the invitation shows a guitar with an Apple logo/cut-out indicating that the event will focus on music instead. Or perhaps in addition to Apple TV Take Three. The event will be held at 1 pm (Pacific) at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco. Doubtless, new iPods will be introduced. Beyond that, it's anyone's guess. "MacNews" will, of course, be covering the event.

Another day, another lawsuit. A company called Triton Tech is suing Apple for violating a patent (5,181,181) for a "computer apparatus input device for three-dimensional information." The company says Apple is infringing on its patent with the accelerometer and gyroscope features of its idevices, notes "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com). Here's part of Tritron Tech's patent: "A mouse which senses six degrees of motion arising from movement of the mouse within three dimensions. A hand-held device includes three accelerometers for sensing linear translation along three axes of a Cartesian coordinate system and three angular rate sensors for sensing angular rotation about the three axes. Signals produced by the sensors are processed to permit the acceleration, velocity and relative position and attitude of the device to be conveyed to a computer. Thus, a person may interact with a computer with six degrees of motion in three-dimensional space. Computer interface ports and...

It wasn’t long ago that every dollar spent at the iTunes store was spent on music and video, but now mobile software apps are vying for consumers’ time and budget, according to recent findings in NPD’s “iTunes User Report.” The NPD Group (http://www.npd.com), a market research company, recently surveyed Apple iTunes, iPod, iPhone, and iPod touch users to determine how they use iTunes to acquire music, video, games and other entertainment content. According to NPD’s “iTunes User Report,” apps are garnering a lot of attention among iTunes users, but music is still central to the iTunes experience. According to NPD’s entertainment industry research, virtually all iPhone or iPod youch users have downloaded an app for free, but 82% report actually purchasing music. More than half (56%) of iTunes buyers purchase music exclusively, and a majority of iTunes user search time tends to be focused on looking for music, as well. “Sales growth in digital music has been slowing, and some of that...

Epson America has introduced three new all-in-ones: the Epson WorkForce 635, WorkForce 633 and WorkForce 630. They're designed for small business owners, such as real estate agents, architects and engineers, and business consultants.   Rodrigo Catalan, product manager, Business Ink Jets, Epson America, says the WorkForce 635, WorkForce 633 and the WorkForce 630 bring several key advantages to small businesses starting with print speeds of 15 ISO ppm black and 7.2 ISO ppm color. In addition, each model has a 250-sheet input tray allowing users to load up to half a ream of paper at a time. All three models ship with Extra-High capacity black and color cartridges with Epson's exclusive fade, smudge- and water-resistant DURABrite Ultra inks. In addition to printing functions, the new WorkForce All-in-Ones offer 2400 dpi scanning and faxing with the capability to store up to 60 names and numbers. The Epson WorkForce 635, 633 and 630 include the latest in wireless technology, Wi-Fi n. In...

In first half of 2010, iPhone and iPod touch traffic increased from 33.9% to 41% in Finland, reports asymco (http://www.asymco.com). Apple’s devices account for a very small percent of the total phones in use in Nokia’s home country, the article adds.The analysis was performed by QAim on a sample of 64 million “mobile downloads."

Inspired by the reggae drummers of the mid-seventies, Swedish music production company OddGrooves (http://www.oddgrooves.com/) has released Reggae Drumming, an US$27 MIDI drum loop pack arranged for several popular drum samplers. According to OddGrooves' chief drummer Magnus Brandell the goal with the Reggae Pack was to "get into the soul" of the reggae drummers of the 70's. Burning Spear, Peter Tosh and The Wailers served as major sources of inspiration when recording the loops. Reggae Drumming features 247 reggae drum loops, predominantly roots reggae, but also reggae pop such as The Police and loops inspired by Frank Zappa's classic reggae variations. It's recorded in a total of 10 tempos. All drum loops are played live by a professional session drummer. The grooves aren't quantized All grooves are in song format to make life easier for composers and producers on a time schedule, Brandell says. It's arranged for Toontrack EZdrummer/Superior Drummer, XLN Audio Addictive Drums, Sonic...

Apress's latest book "Objective-C for Absolute Beginners: iPhone and Mac Programming Made Easy," (http://www.apress.com/book/view/1430228326) is written for those who have never programmed before. Author Gary Bennett shares his formula for success in four tips for brand-new programmers: ° Learning to program is an interactive process. Code, code, and keeping coding. The more you code, the better you'll get. Like learning to play an instrument, you have to practice. ° Be patient with yourself. You are going to have to spend time coding. Your program doesn't care if you are having a bad day or how many times you ask it to perform a task. Your program will do whatever you tell it to do. Often, what you think you've told your program to do and what it actually does are two different things. ° You will really learn when you debug your programs. Spending time walking through your code to find out why it is not working the way you want is a learning process that is unparalleled. ° It is...

REAL Software -- creator of REAL Studio, a cross-platform software development tool for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux -- has announced a new platform for their development tool, the web, which will be available in REAL Studio Web Edition. Traditional web development requires developers to learn multiple languages including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, AJAX, PHP and Java. REAL Studio Web Edition, that includes patent pending technology, provides a visual drag and drop interface builder that saves hours of development time when compared to hand-coding HTML and CSS, according to Geoff Perlman, REAL Software Founder and CEO. Developers will only need to learn a single high-level, object-oriented language which is tightly integrated with the REAL Studio web framework, he adds. Perlman says benefits of using REAL Studio Web Edition to develop web applications include: ° A low learning curve compared to learning multiple complicated languages; ° Speed of development is 30 to 50 times faster than...

Canon U.S.A. (http://www.usa.canon.com) has announced the new Canon XF105 and XF100 professional camcorders for mobile HD video capture in a compact form factor. Canon’s smallest professional camcorders, the new XF105 and XF100 utilize the same Canon XF Codec featured in the Canon XF305 and XF300, introduced earlier this year. The Canon XF Codec is an MPEG-2 4:2:2 50Mbps codec used for high-definition image quality and full non-linear editing (NLE) systems. These camcorders include in-camera features enabling the set-up and capture of high-definition 3-D video when two XF105 or XF100 camcorders are paired, as well as Canon’s built-in infrared low-light feature enabling the capture of HD video in complete darkness. Both models record to Compact Flash (CF) cards and feature hot-swappable card slots. Differentiating the two models are HD-SDI output and genlock in/SMPTE time code (in/out) terminals available on the Canon XF105. The XF105 and XF100 camcorders are designed for Electronic...

NetGear has announced the Powerline AV 500 family. The company also announced the NetGear Powerline AV 200 Wireless-N Extender Kit, which it says is the industry's first powerline + wireless-N access point solution with automatic wireless set-up. NetGear Powerline AV solutions let consumers set up a home network. With such a set-up, consumers can simultaneously enjoy HD video streams on multiple TVs and computers and makeVoice over IP (VOIP) phone calls using the electrical wiring and outlets already in their homes as the conduit to the Internet. NetGear powerline technology also gives consumers a way to create a Ethernet LAN connection using any ordinary electrical outlet. NetGear Powerline AV 500 products are all HomePlug AV certified. Designed for compatibility with the draft IEEE P1901 global standard for high-speed powerline communications, users can enjoy data rates of up to 500Mbps. In addition, all AV 500 products come with a Gigabit Ethernet connection, which is suitable for...

TransGaming has released Dragon Age: Origins -- Awakening for the Mac. It's an expansion pack for the dark fantasy series game from BioWare, a division of Electronic Arts,and is available now for all Mac gamers through TransGaming’s digital download Mac games portal, GameTreeOnline.com. Set after the events of Dragon Age: Origins in the land of Amaranthine, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening places the player in the role of a Grey Warden trying to rebuild the order while also dealing with political matters as the Arl of Amaranthine. As the Warden Commander, the player travels to Vigil's Keep to assume command of the Grey Wardens there. Throughout the game, the player journeys to several locations and recruits party members of whom may undergo the Joining ritual to become Grey Wardens. Dragon Age: Origins --Awakening is available now at http://www.gametreeonline.com/bioware/dragon-age-awakening/ for US$39.95, plus Mac gamers can also enjoy DLC add-on content packages such as Return to...

Autodesk has announced an upcoming version of AutoCAD, software for professional design and engineering, that runs natively on Mac OS X (10.5.8 or later). The company also announced the AutoCAD WS mobile application, a new app for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch that will allow users to edit and share their AutoCAD designs in the field. “The release of AutoCAD for Mac marks the return of professional design and engineering software to the Mac platform and an important convergence of power and design. Over 5000 customers have helped develop this product through our beta program and they are delighted to have the choice of a native Mac version of AutoCAD,” says Amar Hanspal, senior vice president, Autodesk Platform Solutions and Emerging Business. “The combination of this new version of AutoCAD and the extension of AutoCAD to iPad, iPhone and iPod touch is a big step in Autodesk’s efforts to accelerate design and make design more accessible for an ever-greater number of people so they can...

A Freedom of Information request to the BBC has revealed that streaming to Apple's mobile devices is currently significantly more popular than iPlayer on Google Android devices, reports "Macworld UK" (http://www.macworld.co.uk/ipod-itunes/news/?newsid=3237438). Ben Griffiths of the WhatDoTheyKnow web site made the request earlier this year, with the BBC providing figures for July in response, the article adds. The data covered both streaming to Apple iOS devices -- iPhone, iPod touch and iPad -- and Android 2.2 smartphones using flash 10.1 technology. The BBC responded that in July 2010 there were 5,272,464 programs requested via the BBC iPlayer from the iPhone, iPod Ttouch and iPad devices. During the same time period, 1,026 hours of programming were streamed from the BBC iPlayer to Android devices.

The Alchemist Guild has released the latest version (1.3) of TaskCard (http://www.taskcardosx.com), a task management application for Mac OS X. There's a new "TaskCardHelper" background application that notifies of overdue tasks even if TaskCard isn't open (see the manual for more information). Also, cards can now have a background or title image. To add an image to the title drag and drop a file on the title text or choose the Card menus "Add Title Image..." item. If you wish to add a background image use the Card menus "Add Card menus "Add Background Image..." item. To clear the image choose the "Clear Image" item. TaskCard offers a way to organize your thoughts and tasks into to-do lists. Like sticky notes on the desk, TaskCards can be posted and organized in different sizes and colors around your desktop to help you remember important things or keep lists for projects. TaskCard is also a to-do application which lets you set due dates for tasks so you can keep on track and on time...

In depth interviews with low-income first-time mobile phone owners in Manila show that basic no-frills phones will meet the needs of some emerging market consumers, but others want more features -- and will pay for them, according to the Strategy Analytics (http://www.strategyanalytics.com) research firm “Voices of the Next Billion: Mobile Adoption at the Bottom of the Pyramid,” a new report from the Strategy Analytics Emerging Markets Communications Strategies service (EMCS), introduces a set of consumers for whom the ultra low cost handset (ULCH) is not necessarily the only viable offering, despite limited spending power. With household incomes of $ 200 a month or less, these consumers fall well below the median for metropolitan Manila. “They obviously do not have a lot of money to spare,” notes Tom Elliott, dDirector of EMCS and author of the study. “But if they want an international brand or a phone with a camera to take pictures of their children, they will find a way to get...

Another day, another lawsuit. StreetSpace, a company headquartered in Malaysia, is suing several companies, including Apple, for infringing a patent related to location-based ads such as Apple's iAds, reports "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com). StreetSpace makes a remote Internet terminal known as the Web Station. The lawsuit -- filed last week in a U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California -- alleges that iAds is in violation of StreetSpace patent 6,847,969 because it delivers personalized advertisements based on a user's location, profile and usage history. The delivery of ads on the iPhone, iPod touch and (eventually) the iPad is infringing on the '969 patent owned by StreetSpace, the company claims. The StreetSpace patent -- published in 2005 -- is for: "A method and system for providing, personalized and integrated online services for communications and commercial transactions both in private and public venues. The invention provides personalized...

A security researcher has unearthed a “bizarre” flaw in Apple's QuickTime Player that can be exploited to remotely execute malicious code on Windows-based PCs, even those running the most recent versions of operating system, says "The Register" (http://macosg.me/2/t4). Technically, the inclusion of an unused parameter known as “_Marshaled_pUnk” is a backdoor because it is the work of an Apple developer who added it to to the QuickTime code base and then, most likely, forgot to remove it when it was no longer needed, the article adds. So it apparently remained undetected for at least nine years until Ruben Santamarta of Spain-based security firm Wintercore discovered it and realized it could be exploited to take full control of machines running Windows 7, Microsoft's most secure operating system to date. “The bug is is pretty bizarre,” H D Moore, CSO of Rapid7 and chief architect of the Metasploit project, told "The Register." “It's not a standard vulnerability in the sense that a...

AMD will do away with the ATI name as it plans to introduce a range of new products incorporating both AMD microprocessor technology and a Radeon graphics tech on the same chip, according to "The Tech Report" (http://techreport.com/discussions.x/19547) The plan is to replace "ATI Radeon" and "ATI FirePro" with "Radeon" and "FirePro", along with a "sprinkling" of AMD corporate identity, the article adds. Existing products, including the Radeon HD 5000 series, won't be renamed.  Instead, AMD says the first products to carry the "AMD Radeon" label will be introduced later this year.

A new Apple job posting (http://macosg.me/2/sx) shows that Apple is looking for a marketing manager for iBookstore. It will be the manager's responsibility to drive awareness and sales of iBooks through co-marketing programs with publishers and authors, strategic partnerships, and via online and direct marketing tactics. iBooks is Apple's ebook/PDF reader for the iPhone and iPad. iBooks works with the The iBookstore features books from major and independent publishers. Once you’ve bought a book -- or downloaded a free one -- it’s displayed on your Bookshelf. Just tap it to start reading. iBooks is a free download at the Apple App Store. According to Apple, the iBookstore marketing manager will: ° Integrate iBookstore into all facets of marketing campaigns for key book releases (web, social networking, print, on-air, events, promotions, pr, grass roots, etc.); ° Identify new iBookstore marketing opportunities and develop new programs to drive awareness and sales; ° Track progress of...

Sena Case has debuted the leather Folio Keyboard (http://www.senacases.com/apple/apple-ipad-cases/keyboard-folio/) case for the iPad. It sports an integrated Bluetooth keyboard and is made from European leather. The Folio Keyboard offers a book style, side folding design with cutouts for play-through functionality. This allows the device to be fully functional within the case and features an integrated recessed collapsible back stand that folds flush to act as a stand while holding the iPad at an angle to watch videos, surf the web, view slideshows, photos, and presentation. This leather portfolio book design is comprised of premium leather providing a soft layer to gently protect your iPad, says Sena Cases CEO, Ramsey Oten. The integrated Bluetooth keyboard allows you to work and type faster ergonomically. The Folio Keyboard case also features a soft velvet protective lining on the inside, as well as multiple pockets for cards, IDs and even checkbooks. It's secured with a strap and...

Kapeli has released DockView (http://kapeli.com/dockview/), a new Mac OS X app that extends the Dock and makes it aware of the windows that applications have open. With the app, whenever a user points the mouse at an application's icon, thumbnail images of the windows are displayed. DockView helps Mac OS X users visualize the windows they currently have open and find the window they're looking for. It's also able to display the previews in the default Mac CMD Tab application switcher. Users can identify the application they are looking for and reduce the time it takes to switch between applications. DockView is a 3.8 MB download that requires Mac OS X 10.6. ("Snow Leopard"). It may be purchased for US$7.99. The free version displays an alert every now and then and is otherwise fully unrestricted.