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...

Route1 -- a digital security and identity management company whose customers include the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Energy and the Government of Canada -- has released MobiKEY technology for the iPad.  MobiKEY is a desktop, secure remote access technology that integrates multi-factor authentication and identity management in a mobile computing environment. MobiKEY subscribers will now be able to use MobiKEY on an iPad running iOS 5 and higher.  The MobiKEY technology includes the use of both Route1’s universal identity management and service delivery platform and MobiKEY application software. For more info go to www.route1.com/store/index.php .

Sonnet has announced the Echo 15 Thunderbolt Dock, a fully featured docking station for Mac and Windows computers with Thunderbolt ports. Sonnet's latest Thunderbolt technology product features 15 ports: four USB 3.0, one Gigabit Ethernet, one FireWire 800, one headphone, one microphone, one speaker, one audio in, one pass-through Thunderbolt (for either another Thunderbolt device or an external display), two eSATA, and two internal SATA (one port for included optical disc drive and one 6 Gb/s port for a user-installable 2.5-inch SSD or 3.5-inch hard drive). In addition, the Echo 15 Thunderbolt Dock includes an 8x DVD±RW drive, or optionally, a Blu-ray BD-ROM/8x DVD±RW drive with Blu-ray player software for OS X. The Echo 15 Thunderbolt Dock with DVD Drive (part number ECHO-TBD-CD-0TB) has a suggested retail price of US$399.95. The Echo 15 Thunderbolt Dock with Blu-ray Drive (part number ECHO-TBD-BL-0TB) has a suggested retail price of $449.95. The Echo 15 Thunderbolt Dock with DVD...

Photography software developer, Everimaging, has released Fotor, new photo editing software for Mac and Windows systems. It contains editing tools to adjust exposure, brightness, contrast, white balance, and saturation, sharpen/blur, add a vignette, or crop, straighten and rotate. Fotor also includes 13 one-tap enhance configurations, over 60 effects and 30 styles of frames, an advanced tilt-shift editor, conversion functionality for RAW files, full support for retina displays, built-in social network sharing capability, high-resolution file saving and more. Fotor is available on the Mac App Store (http://tinyurl.com/cojolxj) for free. For more info go to www.fotor.com .

Apple will hold its quarterly conference call and announce its fiscal second-quarter earnings on Tuesday, April 23, starting at approximately 2 pm Pacific. This will be the first earnings report since Apple announced it has moved to what it says is a more accurate system for reporting revenue and expenses. The call will be streamed live on Apple's website. You can listen in if you have iTunes.

Next year’s Macworld/iWorld Expo will now take place March 27 through March 29, 2014, reports "Macworld" (http://macte.ch/Y0C7s). It had previously been slated for the first three days of February. The rescheduled event will move from Moscone West to Moscone North in San Francisco, as well.

Apple told "The South China Morning Post" that it would not comment or a make response to an ongoing litigation. Read more at http://tinyurl.com/c7oxx66 . A state-owned Chinese animation studio has filed suit against Apple in a Beijing court, claiming the Cupertino-based tech company sold its movies in the iTunes store without approval, according to "The Hollywood Reporter" (http://tinyurl.com/cdx8mjd). Shanghai Animation Film Studio is backed by the Chinese government and is seen as a leading player in the nascent Chinese animation space. It's seeking a little over half a million dollars in damages in the suit, the article adds. The "South China Morning Post" says a senior executive at the Shanghai-based studio confirmed that the litigation had been filed with the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, which accepted the case. Apple declined to comment. 

Hyperbolic Software (http://www.hyperbolicsoftware.com/) has announced Tidy Up 3.0, the latest version of the duplicate finder and disk tidying utility. The upgrade features a new interface and more. Tidy Up locates duplicate items using a wide range of criteria including owner application, time created or modified, name, label, extension and content. Version 3.0 features include: the ability to search for duplicate folders by content; a priority option; the ability to compare only the representation data of the images; results shown as a grid or list; pre-definite smart baskets that show the files by kind; and more. Version 3.0 of Tidy Up requires Mac OS X 10.6.6 or greater. For a limited time, it's on sale for 23% off its regular price of $39.

Smile (www.smilesoftware.com) has announced PDFpen 6.0.1, the latest version of its all-purpose PDF editing tool. The upgrade of PDFpen enables Microsoft Word export when running on OS X 10.7 Lion, and includes several essential fixes to PDFpen 6.0. The changes in PDFpen 6.0.1 have also been made in PDFpenPro 6.0.1, the pro version that can also convert websites into PDFs, create fillable PDF forms, automatically create form fields in non-interactive PDF forms, construct document table of contents, and set document permission settings that restrict saving, printing, and copying. PDFpen 6 works with PDFpen for iPad and PDFpen for iPhone, allowing editing across devices when used with iCloud or Dropbox storage. Users who wish to use iCloud must purchase PDFpen 6 from the Mac App Store. (Apple restricts iCloud access to applications purchased via the Mac App Store.) PDFpen retails for US$59.95, and PDFpenPro for $99.95. Family Pack licenses, which cover up to five computers in one...

In 2011, a major revamping Final Cut Pro editing software was roundly criticized as being a "downgrade" of the pro video editing software. After seven updates to the product, Apple is launching a marketing effort for Final Cut Pro X, according to the "Los Angeles Times" (http://tinyurl.com/cxjbdbl). The campaign is timed to coincide with the National Association of Broadcasters convention (NAB) that starts April 6 in Las Vegas. Apple plans to begin posting three stories on its website aimed at changing the minds of folks who felt burned by Final Cut Pro X by demonstrating how sophisticated users have embraced the software. The stories will also feature Tsui Hark, one of the biggest names in Hong Kong cinema, and TV Azteca, which produces thousands of telenovela episodes every year, notes the "LA Times." Also, Apple has released updates for Final Cut Pro X, Motion, and Compressor. You can find them at the Mac App Store.

Tru Protection has released new screen protectors for the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros with Retina displays. They're designed to protect your device from scratches, dust and dirt and reduce screen glare. Priced at US$29.95, the anti-glare screen protector uses a special matte finish that purportedly reduces glare for easier viewing. They come with one anti-glare screen protector. For more info go to www.TruProtection.com .

InfoLogic has released MathMagic Pro 8.5 (http://www.mathmagic.com/) for Adobe InDesign, an update of the equation editor for Mac OS X. It's a standalone multi-purpose equation editor for mathematical equations and scientific symbols. MathMagic Pro also comes with InDesign plug-ins to let InDesign use MathMagic as an equation editor within InDesign. Version 8.5 adds new symbol fonts, direct drawing option for vertical and horizontal Fences, new plug-ins for InDesign CS5~CS6 for batch applying of StyleSets, and more. MathMagic Pro Edition 8.5 is available for US$499 ($299.00 for academic licenses). A demo is available for download.

Native Instruments has announced the latest generation of its two Komplete software bundles. Komplete 9 includes 33 instruments and effects with six new additions, including the new Monark monosynth, plus the completely re-designed Battery 4 drum sampler. Komplete 9 Ultimate includes all 65 current Komplete Instruments and Effects at the time of release and over 370GB of content. Each bundle now also features studio effects. Notably, Komplete 9 and Komplete 9 Ultimate are available for the same prices as their predecessors. Komplete 9 and Komplete 9 Ultimate are available in stores and via the NI Online Shop (www.native-instruments.com/Komplete) Komplete 9 is available now at a suggested retail price of US$559; Komplete 9 Ultimate is available for a suggested retail price of $1,099. Updates for owners of Komplete 2 through 8 are available from $149.

OfficeTimes (http://officetime.net) has released an update of OfficeTime, its time and expense tracking software for Mac OS X. This new version is designed to enable companies to provide greater detail and accountability with their billing. OfficeTime users can produce invoices which show the start and end time of activities, enabling clients to see greater detail on when certain tasks were performed. OfficeTime can be purchased at OfficeTime.net for US$47. There are iPhone and iPad versions available in the Apple App Store for $7.99. Unlike web-based time-tracking applications, OfficeTime does not require a monthly subscription fee.

Seim Effects Photo Tools has introduced ColorFlow, its newest creative preset collection engineered by photographer Gavin Seim. These new color-only presets have been created specifically for photographers who use Apple Aperture software in their digital photography workflow. Aperture is Apple's software for professional photographers. The ColorFlow presets collection organizes more than 60 presets across five categories of color tools: Essential Color, Color Story, Film Inspired, Hollywood Cinema and Color Toners. For even greater control, users can mix and blend color effects for a desired mood or visual theme. Seim Effects' ColorFlow preset collection for Aperture (version 3 and newer) is now available. Until April 10, there's an introductory price of US$39 (a $10 discount). To purchase or for more information plus a Virtual Demo and to view an informative video about the Seim ColorFlow preset collection, go to http://seimeffects.com/colorflow/ .

Jumsoft (www.jumsoft.com) has revamped the import feature of its finance and budgeting app, Money. Version 4.4.4 features a redesigned import view, a duplicate detection feature for transactions being imported, support of the MT940 file format, bulk editing during import, and other improvements. Money allows users to: track transactions to and from their wallets and bank accounts; make budget plans and monitor outcomes; and manage their bills. Money 4.4.4 requires Mac OS X 10.7 or higher. It costs US$38.99 and is available Mac App Store in the Finance category (http://tinyurl.com/ck4cgmy).

ATTO Technology says it has been selected by JMR Electronics as the storage connectivity source for their latest SilverStor desktop SAS/SATA RAID storage solution. Using ATTO’s ThunderStream RAID controller, end users can now directly connect Thunderbolt-ready ultrabooks, all-in-ones and laptops to high-performance JMR storage. This portable and lightweight eight bay solution scales to 32TB and is designed for demanding imaging and video applications used on location or on set. ATTO ThunderStream devices provide fast, redundant and highly available connectivity to storage along with its time-tested RAID functionality, says Wayne Arvidson, vice president of marketing at ATTO Technology. Differentiating features of ATTO RAID products include Advanced Data Streaming (ADS) Technology and DriveAssure.  Arvidson says that Advanced Data Streaming is a core technology developed by ATTO that manages latency resulting in smooth data transfers and fewer dropped frames for consistent performance...

T-Mobile USA will begin carrying the iPhone 5 on Friday, April 12. The carrier says that qualifying customers can get an iPhone 5 for US$99.99 down, plus monthly payments. T-Mobile is the only major U.S. wireless company to offer iPhone 5 with no annual service contract plus unlimited talk, text and Web on a nationwide 4G network, according to President and CEO John Legere. Because there are no annual contracts, customers make the decision when to upgrade their devices, not the carrier, he adds. With compatibility on T-Mobile’s 4G network, iPhone 5 customers will enjoy a consistently outstanding wireless experience, seamlessly connecting to both T-Mobile’s existing nationwide 4G and growing 4G LTE networks, Legere says. Today, the company launched 4G LTE service in seven major metropolitan areas, including Baltimore; Houston; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Phoenix; San Jose, Calif.; and Washington, D.C. T-Mobile’s 4G LTE network is expected to reach 100 million people by mid-year and 200...

Avenza Systems -- producers of the PDF Maps app for iOS and geospatial plugins for Adobe Creative Suite, including Geographic Imager for Adobe Photoshop -- has released MAPublisher 9.2 for Adobe Illustrator. The new version includes a number of product enhancements. Export has been improved and streamlined to make it easier to quickly export MAP Views and MAP layers. Also included in this release are several new tools including Automation and Path Utilities. MAPublisher 9.2 for Adobe Illustrator is available free to all MAPublisher users with an active maintenance subscription and as an upgrade for non-maintenance users at US$599. New licenses are $1,399. MAPublisher FME Auto and MAPublisher LabelPro are also available as add-ons to MAPublisher 9.2 at prices starting at $399 per license. Academic, floating and volume pricing are also available. Prices include one year of full maintenance. Visit www.avenza.com/mapublisher for more details.

According to the International Data Corp. (IDC), worldwide shipments of smart connected devices grew 29.1% year over year in 2012, crossing one billion units shipped with a value of US$576.9 billion. The market expansion was largely driven by 78.4% year-over-year growth in tablet shipments, which surpassed 128 million in 2012. Looking specifically at the results for the fourth quarter of 2012 (4Q12), combined shipments of desktop PCs, notebook PCs, tablets, and smartphones was nearly 378 million and revenues were more than $168 billion. In terms of market share, Apple significantly closed the gap with market leader Samsung in the quarter, as the combination of Apple's iPhone 5 and iPad Mini brought Apple up to 20.3% unit shipment share versus 21.2% for Samsung. On a revenue basis for the fourth quarter, Apple continued to dominate with 30.7% share versus 20.4% share for Samsung. Going forward, IDC expects that tablet shipments will surpass desktop PCs in 2013 and portable PCs in...