Apple has updated iBooks to version 3.1, allowing customers in Japan to buy ebooks rather than just download free or public domain content. The upgrade can be downloaded at the Apple App Store. "The iBookstore in Japan now has hundreds of thousands of books available for purchase, including fiction, manga, light novels and more," Apple says in the iBooks 3.1 release notes. Also, the update says there are reading improvements for "a number of Asian languages."

Smith Micro Software Productivity and Graphics Group has released 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. 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 comics with panel creation, layout tools and the ability to add motion, according to Yatson. Web developers can export projects to HTML5 and deploy them on a website or save them as standard movie formats for sharing directly to Facebook or YouTube With MotionArtists, photographers can create animated "photo shows" by dropping in a folder of images. The app will automatically place the images on...

ExactCODE GmbH, releases the next update of OCRkit, a OCR solution for the Mac. The new version (1.1.3) features a new content aware page de-skew option, as well as improved PDF compression and performance. The update also features improved multi core performance and improved stability. OCRKit features optical character recognition technology, allowing you to convert scanned or printed PDF or graphic documents into searchable and editable PDF, RTF, HTML and TXT files. You can use the copy and paste tools on the document, instead of retyping everything to correct it. OCRKit is available at the product web site (www.OCRKit.com) and the Mac App Store. It costs US$49.90.

Moth Software has announced Mail Archiver X 3.0 for Mac OS X (10.7 or higher), an update to their app designed as an addition to the user's current email application, allowing consolidation, archiving, cleaning, formatting, and permanent storage of email. Email may be saved in its native, Filemaker, or PDF database format. Archiving email from a wide variety of email applications into a single database, the app prevents accidental deletions, facilitates quick searches, and eliminates storage size limits, according to the folks at Moth Software. In version 3.0, mail can be archived automatically using the built-in scheduler. Searching is purportedly more than 10 times faster. Suppport for Filemaker 12 has been added. There's now a setup wizard to help getting started with Mail Archiver X. Mail Archiver X 3.0 costs US$34.95 and is available directly from Moth Software (http://www.mothsoftware.com). A free, fully-functional, 12-day trial version can be downloaded.

Telerik -- an end-to-end provider of software development, lifecycle and content management tools and solutions -- has announced version 2.0 of its Test Studio for iOS. Telerik’s automated testing tool for mobile iOS apps introduces a cloud sync web portal for test automation and user feedback within a single offering and can be used for native, web and hybrid app testing. Test Studio for iOS is currently available for free download on the Apple App Store. With the latest release, Test Studio for iOS is the only solution available with both test automation and user feedback within a single solution, according to Christopher Eyhorn, executive vice president, Telerik Testing Division. This is done via the cloud sync portal, giving developers the opportunity to get real-time feedback from users while tracking automated tests and results. Also, customers can use the Test Studio for iOS API Framework to write automated UI tests of their iOS and mobile web applications. The app features...

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, today announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached US$24.05 billion for the month of January 2013, an increase of 3.8 percent from January 2012 when sales were $23.16 billion. Global sales from January 2013 were 2.8 percent lower than the December 2012 total of $24.74 billion, reflecting normal seasonal trends. Regionally, the Americas posted its highest sales total of any January in the last decade. All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average.   "Led by continuing strength in the Americas, the global semiconductor industry has built on its momentum from the end of 2012 with an encouraging start to 2013, but ongoing economic uncertainty is holding back more robust growth," says Brian Toohey, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association (www.sia-online.org). "The across-the-board spending cuts that hit last week and the threat...

Amped Wireless has announced the PLA2 Powerline Nano AV500 1-Port Network Adapter Kit (http://tinyurl.com/c2j4nte) to allow consumers to extend Internet and network access to any room using existing power outlets. The Powerline AV500 standard provides speeds of up to 500 Mbps and includes a pass-through power outlet on each adapter. The PLA2 kit includes two paired Powerline Network Adapters. Powerline turns any home or office electrical outlet into a network connection, according to Jason Owen, president and CEO at Amped Wireless. No electrical wiring is needed. Simply plug one adapter into an available power outlet and connect the adapter to a router. Plug the second adapter into another power outlet and connect the adapter to a network device. The PLA2 comes secured with 128-bit encryption to protect network traffic from outside intruders. The Powerline Network Adapter Kit features an extra "pass-through" power outlet on each adapter. The additional power outlet can be used to...

According to Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) TechNavio's analysts forecast the Global GNSS market to grow at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 20.98% over the period 2012-2016. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the growing popularity of location-based services (LBS). The Global GNSS market has also been witnessing the increased replacement of PNDs by smartphones. However, the reduced investments due to global recession could pose a challenge to the growth of this market. The key vendors dominating this market space are Apple, Garmin, Tomtom N.V., Broadcom Corp., STMicroelectronics, Navteq Corp., Google and Samsung Corp. Commenting on the report, an analyst from TechNavio's Telecom team said: ''One of the major trends being witnessed in the Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) market is the increase in the replacement of PNDs with smartphones. The demand for personal navigation devices (PNDs), which was high initially, is...

Reggie Ashworth (www.reggieashworth.com) has announced AppDelete 4.0.6, a new version of his application deletion utility. The upgrade sports a new user interface and more. You can drag any item that can be uninstalled onto AppDelete: spplications, widgets, preference panes, plugins, screensavers, etc. You can also activate AppDelete in many ways: dragging items onto main window, onto dock icon, selecting in menu, right-clicking using AppDelete workflow, dragging from Launchpad, and throwing items in the trash. When the preview screen appears you can uncheck any items you would like to exclude. You also have several choices: delete the items, log only the items, or archive (copy) the items to a .zip file for safekeeping or reinstall at a later date. The items you delete will be moved to the trash and arranged in a folder so that you can see exactly what was deleted and you know exactly where it came from. The items will not be removed from your computer until you empty them from your...

Judge Lucy Koh has struck down more than 40% of the $1.05 billion in damages a jury awarded to Apple in its patent infringement case against Samsung. Vanessa Blum, federal courts reporter for The Recorder in San Francisco tweeted (https://twitter.com/vanessablum) today -- as noted by "AppleInsider" (www.appleinsider.com) -- that Koh had struck roughly $440 million off the damage award Apple won in its case against Samsung. Koh has reportedly ordered a new trial for the $440 million. 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, Apple alleges that Samsung copied the slide-to-unlock technology of its iPhone and iPad devices.

Smartphone sales in India may suffer from a higher tax on handsets costing more than US$37 just as Apple beefs up efforts to tap demand for data services in the world’s second-largest mobile-phone market, reports "Bloomberg" (http://tinyurl.com/c3fpoue). Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram says he will raise the excise tax on high-end phones to 6% from 1% to help finance welfare programs for the country’s poor and fund the widest budget deficit among the largest emerging economies. India’s government, after attempting to squeeze wireless operators including the Vodafone Group, Bharti Airtel with higher license fees and airwave tariffs, is now targeting handsets for revenue from an industry that has boomed since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh opened the economy more than two decades ago, notes "Bloomberg."

Binary Formations has announced Home Inventory 3, the latest version of its home inventory management application for the Mac. Used by homeowners, collectors, and inventory professionals, Home Inventory lets you create a catalog of your possessions. Version 3 has a new interface and sports new features such as support for some of the latest capabilities in OS X and Retina displays found on newer Mac laptops. Home Inventory requires Mac OS X 10.7.4 or later. It's available forUS $19.99 (USD) in the Mac App Store and from the Binary Formations website (http://machomeinventory.com/).

MediaFire, an online storage and collaboration provider, has announced a major design and features update. Designed to simplify online collaboration, the site-wide update features a new file management home-screen, simplified photo management, and an updated online document editor with full support for Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word, as well as a Text and Source Code editor. MediaFire’s source code editor supports a variety of code file types including txt, PHP, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and more.   MediaFire offers users 50GB of lifetime storage for free. For more info go to www.mediafire.com/software/ .

Digital Heaven has released DH_CounterX, a new FxPlug generator plug-in for Final Cut Pro X and Motion 5. It's designed to make it easy to add an animated counting display over your footage. DH_CounterX lets you create an animated counting display over video footage in Final Cut Pro X and Motion 5. Among other things, it can be used to create a countdown timer to the start of an event or for coverage of sporting events such as races and against-the-clock challenges. Due to current limitations between FxPlug plug-ins and Final Cut Pro X, DH_CounterX uses a fixed list of standard fonts which are installed by default with OS X 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8. Custom installed fonts will not be usable by DH_CounterX. DH_CounterX requires Final Cut Pro X (10.0.6 or later) or Motion 5. It costs US $29.99 and is available for purchase at www.digital-heaven.co.uk . For the first 30 hours after release, customers can get a 30% discount on the plug-in by using the coupon code shown on the Digital Heaven...

DEVONtechnologies (www.devontechnologies.com) has added teamwork functions to its document and information manager, DEVONthink, with version 2.5. Databases can be kept in sync via the local network or cloud services like Dropbox or WebDAV. Other users can also directly access DEVONthink Pro Office databases using a rewritten web sharing. DEVONnote, DEVONthink’s little brother, gets an update, too. The update to version 2.5 is free and recommended for all users. All the apps require OS X 10.6.8 or later and an Intel-based Mac, and can be downloaded from www.devontechnologies.com. DEVONthink and DEVONnote can be test-driven for free for 150 hours of non-continuous runtime until they need to be properly licensed.  DEVONnote and DEVONthink Personal are also available in the Mac App Store.

Apple has topped FORTUNE's list of the "World's Most Admired Companies." It's the 30th such list compiled by the magazine. Apple is followed by Google, Amazon.com, Coca-Cola and Starbucks. It's the sixth consecutive year that Apple has topped the list. Also in the top 10 (in spots 6-10) are IBM, Southwest Airlines, Berkshire Hathaway, Walt Disney and Fed Ex. You can see the full list of companies and sort by rank, industry or location, at http://cnnmon.ie/WihZmH .

A report from a Hong-Kong watchdog group accuses suppliers of "military-style management of workers," despite Apple's code of conduct, reports "CNET" (http://tinyurl.com/crxga6k). The Student & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) accused three of Apple's Chinese suppliers -- Foxlink, Pegatron, and Wintek -- of inhumane worker conditions. The three suppliers have failed to provide for basic human needs and continue to use student workers, according to the watchdog group. In recent yearsApple has increased its audits of Chinese factories and taken action against those that violate its supplier code of conduct. Regardless, SACOM's report asserts that some conditions have worsened due in part to heavier demand for Apple products.

An U.S. District Court judge has upheld an US$368.2 million prior judgment against Apple in a suit with VirnetX, finding that Apple infringed networking patents with its FaceTime video chat feature, reports "AppleInsider" (www.appleinsider.com). Last November VirnetX was awarded the judgement in its patent lawsuit against Apple. In November 2011 VirnetX (www.virnetx.com) filed a lawsuit against Apple in the US District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, alleging that Apple violated its US patent (number 7188180) for "method for establishing secure communication link between computers for virtual private network." The invention describes a technique "for establishing a secure communication link between a first computer and a second computer over a computer network." This is accomplished by establishing a "secure communication mode of communication" at a first computer without the need for the user to enter any cryptographic information." VirnetX's claims the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4,...

KnowledgeMiner Software has announces KnowledgeMiner 1.4 for Mac OS X, an update to its data mining application. With Knowledge Miner, users in nearly any field can analyze noisy data sets and build models, which help to gain new insights into complex phenomena, predict future behavior, simulate "what if" questions, and identify methods of controlling processes. KnowledgeMiner is currently used by NASA, Boeing, Mobil, Pfizer, and Apple. KnowledgeMiner requires Mac OS X 10.7 or higher. Pricing starts at approximately US$119. The software is available worldwide exclusively through the KnowledgeMiner Software website (http://www.knowledgeminer.eu/store.html). A free demo version is available for download.

Booq has announced the Boa courier messenger bag. It's available at www.booqbags.com for US$99.95 (for 10-inch devices), $109.95 (for 13-inch laptops), or $129.95 (for 15-inch laptops). The Boa courier is encased in a sleek exterior featuring booq’s water-repellent ballistic nylon and night-time reflective binding. The split-opening design made from nylon herringbone includes numerous pockets for quick access to frequently used items such as your laptop, iPhone and other essentials. The Boa courier messenger bag incorporates a densely padded protective fit and soft nylon lining. It comes in a graphite color, with an adjustable, seatbelt nylon shoulder strap and non-slip silicon that can be carried across the chest or over the shoulder for ultimate comfort. All Boa courier messenger bags are tagged with a Terralinq serial number. Once registered the booq Terralinq service may help reunite you with your lost & found bag.

Open-E, a developer of data storage software used for building and managing centralized storage servers, has announced its next generation strategy to bring Enterprise class storage management to the SMB and SME markets. At CeBIT 2013, Open-E will introduce Open-E Data Storage Software (DSS) V7 with Hyper-V Cluster Support and the new product Open-E Multiple Storage Server Manager (MSSM) for simplified central management of all storage resources, enabling virtualized storage management for Big Data and Cloud Computing. Open-E can be found at CeBIT in Hall 2, Stand A43 from March 5-9. Open-E is providing optimization of virtual storage environments by releasing full Hyper-V Cluster Support for Windows Server 2008 R2 and 2012 soon. In addition, Open-E is presenting MSSM to provide a centralized management tool. The MSSM dashboard creates a single view of all storage servers and resources saving time and operating expense by simplifying the process of managing tasks on selected servers...

HELIOS Software (www.helios.com) has released its Virtual Server Appliance, a turnkey file server solution for Mac, Windows and Web clients. The VM server images run within the major VM environments: VMWare ESX Server, Citrix XenServer, and Microsoft Hyper-V. Incorporating an optimized Linux runtime, the HELIOS Virtual Server Appliance file server solution includes HELIOS EtherShare UB2, PCShare UB2, and WebShare UB2, which are ready to use within minutes. The included Linux runtime is highly optimized for the HELIOS file server products. A special configuration assistant enables integration with any existing network environment within minutes, with no need to install software on the clients.

The new Fishbone Diagram solution is a no-charge download for users of ConceptDraw PRO 9 and can be downloaded from the ConceptDraw Solution Park. It extends ConceptDraw PRO 9 giving users the ability to draw fishbone diagrams. Fishbone diagrams are often used for cause and effect analysis. The diagrams can display the identified causes of a particular event. For more info go to www.conceptdraw.com/solution-park/business-fishbone-diagram .

The Pick a Bundle for Mac launched this week. It's a three-week bundle sale on 30 premium Mac applications and games. You can visit the Pick a Bundle site and browse a selection of the titles. You ocna curate a personalized bundle of 10 products that take your fancy. The Pick a Bundle promotion ends on March 18. for more info go to http://www.pickabundle.com/ .