MacTech News

06:52

Adelantado Trilogy: Book Two available on the Mac

Realore (http://realore.com/) has introduced Adelantado Trilogy. Book Two 1.0 for Mac OS X, the second part in the series of games that take place in the Age of Discovery.

Led by Don Diego de Leon, the game tells a story of a group of explorers traveling through the dangerous South American jungle. Their mission is to save the expedition lost in the deep forest. Every level requires the player to build a safe camp that allows production of food and other resources for the expedition.

Adelantado was developed by the team behind the Roads of Rome trilogy.
Adelantado Trilogy: Book Two requires OS X 10.7 or later. It costs US$3.99 and is available worldwide through the Mac App Store in the Games category.

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06:46

Addonics announces Sapphire Combo storage products

Addonics Technologies (www.addonics.com) has announced the Sapphire Combo Blu-ray/HDD and Sapphire Combo DVD-RRW/HDD. These two new products will let users combine optical and hard drive storage into one small package.

The product is designed for anyone needing to add optical storage capability or external storage to their computing devices via a single eSATA or USB 3.0 connection. The Blu-ray model, which is equipped with a Blu-ray player/DVD burner adds Blu-ray movie playback capability to desktop, notebook and other computing products.

The DVD model is equipped with a DVD burner. Both models will allow you to play movies or access data stored on all popular optical media and allow you to burn video or data onto DVD or CD discs.

Both models have an integrated Snap-In Mobile Rack that allows any 3.5-inch SATA hard drive to be added or removed from the Sapphire drive, as you would a tape cassette....

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06:40

Morningstar: Descent to Deadrock coming to the Mac

Phoenix Online Publishing and Red Herring Labs, have announced that Morningstar: Descent to Deadrock, a sci-fi first-person point-and-click adventure, will make its debut for the Mac and PC on Feb. 17. It will be available for US$9.99 via Steam, the Humble Store, the Phoenix Online Store and other major online retailers.

Here's how the game is described: "Crash-landed on a desolate, alien planet, what should have been a routine work-for-hire job for Powell has become a deadly mission to save the merchant vessel Morningstar and her crew. With one man dead and the captain gravely injured, Powell is on his own to repair the ship and find a way to escape the strange gravity well of the empty planet they've landed on. If the situation weren't dire enough, the only signs of life on the planet are the remains of a much larger and better equipped ship and her crew, all dead, and not by natural means. What—or who—brought down these ships and is killing their crews? Why? And can...

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Feb 02

NewerTech expands line of MacBook batteries

NewerTech (www.newertech.com) has announced NewerTech NuPower high performance laptop batteries for the Apple MacBook Pro 17” Unibody and MacBook 13” Unibody, expanding its line-up of Apple laptop batteries of over 50 models.

NewerTech says that NuPower batteries last up to 50% longer than factory models. They're now available for models made from 2001 to 2014. NuPower batteries match the exact size and fit of the original factory batteries and offer full compatibility with sleep and power saving modes. NuPower batteries include all the necessary tools, installation guides, and full battery recycling info.

The NuPower replacement batteries for MacBook Pro 17” Unibody and MacBook 13” Unibody models are available immediately at the following prices:

° MacBook 13” Unibody for Late 2009-mid 2010 models: US$99;

° MacBook Pro 17” Unibody for 2011 models: $109.

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Feb 02

Apple plans $5 billion debt offering

Apple has filed (http://tinyurl.com/q3euqjw) to sell $5 billion worth of floating rate and fixed-rate notes. The floating-rate notes are due 2020, and the fixed-rate notes due 2020, 2022, 2025, and 2045.

Pricing hasn't been set yet. Goldman and Deutsche are underwriting. Given Apple's huge cash balance, and its history with such offerings, buybacks are a likely use of the proceeds, notes Seeking Alpha (www.seekingalpha.com). Apple's cash/marketable securities balance totaled $178 billion at the end of fiscal quarter one of 2015 (much of it offshore), and its debt balance stood at $36.4 billion.

The company spent $5 billion. on buybacks during the quarter. Apple has spent $73 billion on them over the history of its $130 billion capital return program.

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Feb 02

Tablet shipments experience year-over-year decline

Worldwide tablet shipments recorded a year-over-year decline for the first time since the market's inception in 2010. Overall shipments for tablets and 2-in-1 devices reached 76.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 (4Q14) for -3.2% growth, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation research group. Although the fourth quarter witnessed a decline in the global market, shipments for the full year 2014 increased 4.4%, totaling 229.6 million units.

"The tablet market is still very top heavy in the sense that it relies mostly on Apple and Samsung to carry the market forward each year," says Jitetesh Ubrani, senior research analyst, Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, IDC (www.idc.com). "Although Apple expanded its iPad lineup by keeping around older models and offering a lower entry price point of $249, it still wasn't enough to spur iPad sales given the excitement around the launch of the new...

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Jan 30

WidgeTunes 1.0 released for OS X

Georgios Trigonakis has introduced WidgeTunes 1.0 (http://tinyurl.com/pznjnax), a new Notification Center widget for Mac OS X.

WidgeTunes lets you view all your iTunes playlists, create a list with your favorite playlists and choose a playlist to play. With control buttons directly on the widget itself, users can navigate through songs of the current playlist. The widget can also work as a menu bar popup app; just press the WidgeTunes icon on OS X's menu bar to view WidgeTunes in a popup window.

WidgeTunes requires Mac OS X 10.10 or later and costs US$0.99. It's available worldwide through the Mac App Store in the Music category.

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Jan 30

Apple releases iTunes 12.1 for Mac OS X Yosemite

Apple has released iTunes 12.1 for Mac OS X Yosemite. It introduces a new iTunes widget for the Notification Center that lets you see what song is playing, skip ahead, and favorite.

Also, when listening to iTunes Radio, you can purchase the song that's being played within the widget. Additionally, iTunes 12.1 promises performance improvements when syncing an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

iTunes 12.1 can be downloaded via the Software Update Mechanism in the Mac App Store.

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Jan 30

Easy Markdown for Mac OS X revved to version 1.5

Tension Software (www.tensionsoftware.com) has released Easy Markdown 1.5, an update of the Mac OS X tool that lets you create web pages by writing plain text. It's optimized for Mac OS X Yosemite.

Version 1.5 let you copy HTML in a click of the body, full page or full page with CSS embedded. It also has improved internal functionalities and various bug fixes.

Easy Markdown costs US$4.99. It's available at the MacApp Store only.

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Jan 30

All editions of DEVONthink, DEVONnote for Mac OS X get upgrades

DEVONtechnologies has updated all editions of its intelligent information and document manager DEVONthink as well as the smart notebook DEVONnote.

DEVONthink and DEVONnote are designed to help users classify and organize documents effortlessly with unique artificial intelligence. Free and recommended for all users, version 2.8.3 now allows users to select and copy text from Quick-Look-based views, and brings even better artificial intelligence accuracy as well as further improvements and bug fixes.

DEVONthink 2.8.3 now allows users to select and copy text from Quick-Look-based views. This includes Microsoft Office or OpenOffice documents. OpenOffice documents also open no longer internally but in their default application when being double-clicked. The update adds support for images when converting Markdown to RTF, and improves Wiki-linking, e.g. for Japanese Katakana.

Finally, version 2.8.3 fixes synchronization bugs and other more minor issues. The updates...

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Jan 30

InfoLogic releases MathMagic Lite 9.0 for the Mac

InfoLogic has announces MathMagic Lite 9.0, an update to their free equation editor for Mac OS X.

MathMagic Lite was developed specifically to help both mobile, and desktop users write and share mathematical expressions and technical information more easily and quickly. Version 9.0 supports user configurable Vertical Fences, Horizontal Fences, Over and Under Bars, more Frame types, adjustable fence height and width, and more.

MathMagic Lite 9.0 requires Mac OS X 10.6. It's available for download from the MathMagic website (www.mathmagic.com).

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Jan 30

FoldersSynchronizer for Mac OS X kicked up to version 4.2.1

Softobe (http://www.softobe.com/) has released FoldersSynchronizer 4.2.1, an upgrade of their tool to sync and backup on Mac OS X.

FoldersSynchronizer lets you sync and backup files, folders, disks and boot disks. It provides options like Timers, Multiple Folders, Filters, Exclude Items, Auto-Mount local and remote volumes, the ability to launch your own AppleScripts, the ability to set how to resolve conflicts, the ability to execute an incremental or an exact copy, the ability to include locked files, a preview panel, log files, and more.

On the Exclude panel in FoldersSynchronizer 4.2.1 you can now click on a row of the list and choose an hidden file or an hidden folder. This will let you exclude folders.

FoldersSynchronizer 4.2.1 is compatible with OS X 10.9 or higher, including Yosemite. It costs US$40 for new users.

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Jan 29

Maintain has served up Cocktail 8.1.2 (Yosemite Edition)

Maintain has served up Cocktail 8.1.2 (http://cocktail.maintain.se) Yosemite Edition, a new version of its Mac OS X utility that's compatible with Yosemite. This version contains major improvements on the "Clear System caches" procedure, fixes compatibility issues with Safari Cookies cookie manager and adds OS X 10.10.2 Yosemite compatibility.

Cocktail is a general purpose utility for OS X that lets you clean, repair and optimize your Mac. Its features are arranged into five categories that help you manage various aspects of your computer.
Cocktail 8.1.2 (Yosemite Edition) requires OS X Yosemite to run. Cocktail (Mavericks Edition) for OS X 10.9, Cocktail (Mountain Lion Edition) for OS X 10.8 and Cocktail (Lion Edition) for OS X 10.7 are available for download from the Maintain website.

When unregistered, Cocktail runs in demo mode and will expire after the tenth launch. Registration...

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Jan 29

Graphic Inspector 2 for Mac OS X gets a revamped interface

Zevrix Solutions (www.zevrix.com) has launched Graphic Inspector 2, an upgrade to its quality control solution for images and vector graphic files for Mac OS X 10.7 or higher.

Graphic Inspector checks multiple files for potential problems according to user's workflow requirements. The software provides graphic professionals of any trade with the compete info on images and vector graphics, saving the time and hassle of checking them manually. Version 2 introduces revamped user interface, improved previews, faster processing and more.

Graphic Inspector 2 can be purchased from the Zevrix website for $39.95, as well as from authorized resellers. The upgrade is $20 for licensed users of version 1 (free if purchased after Sept. 1, 2014). Graphic Inspector 2 is free with purchase of PDF Checkpoint or InPreflight Pro for Adobe InDesign. A demo is available for download. Graphic Inspector requires Mac OS X 10.7-10.10...

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Jan 29

Apple refreshes Remote Desktop for Mac OS X

Apple has rolled out Remote Desktop 3.8, an upgrade of the remote Mac administration app. Available for US$79.99 for new users at the Mac App Store the upgrade boasts improved Mac OS X Yosemite compatiblity.

It also offers an enhanced user interface, better viewing for multiple clients, sending copies by a "Copy Items" feature, and fixed viewing remote clients in full screen mode. Remote Desktop lets system administrators manage multiple Macs over a network or the Internet, includes remote monitoring and screen viewing, handles activity auditing, and more. Version 3.8 is a free upgrade for registered users.

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Jan 29

DiRT 3 Complete Edition powers onto the Mac

Feral Interactive says DiRT 3 Complete Edition, a off-road and rally racing game, is out now on the Mac App Store. A Steam version for the Mac, which includes online multiplayer, will follow shortly.

Originally developed and published for PC and consoles, DiRT 3 Complete Edition is the latest of Codemasters’ racing games to be brought to the Mac by Feral.

Here's how the game is described: "DiRT 3 Complete Edition draws on the greatest cars from over 50 years of rallying to capture the intense thrill of off-road racing. Players can test their speed, skill and nerve in a globe-trotting series of electrifying events as they race to mud-spattered glory in the hazardous world of all-terrain motorsport.

"Featuring six high-octane disciplines including Rally, Rallycross and Gymkhana, a freestyle event hosted by rally star and YouTube phenomenon Ken Block, DiRT 3 Complete Edition comes with all the available add-on content, including 18 additional cars and 12 new...

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Jan 29

Brooklyn Effects releases six new lighting effects for Final Cut Pro X

Brooklyn Effects has released six new lighting plug-ins exclusively for Apple's Final Cut Pro X users. Each product is designed to help users create a distinct lighting effect in their project.

These effects include: lens flares, light leaks, stage lights, volumetric lighting, shutter streaks, and anamorphic streaks. You can create a custom lens flare for any scene in Final Cut Pro X with the Skyline Lights plugin. Users can drag and drop the lens flare layer above their footage and use the control point to match the position and angle of the light source in the scene.

Editors can create beams of light in their scene with the Times Lights plugin. Users can drag and drop the filter onto their footage in FCPX. Then, use the control points to customize the source and direction of the beams.

FCPX editors can also create contemporary-looking flashback scenes that don't rely on aged footage. The Flashback Effect gives film the shutter streaks, color, and glow of...

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Jan 29

Apple has highest growth of laptop makers

The TrendForce research group (www.trendforce.com) says laptop shipments totaled 175.5 million in 2014, representing a year-on-year growth of 3.6%. HP was the top vendor, but Apple saw the most growth.

Apple had the biggest gain in 2014 owing to its price-lowering strategy that made its takeover of the midrange and premium market complete. Apple posted a spectacular year-on-year growth of 46.4% and increased its market share to 9.3%. It shot past Toshiba to become number six worldwide and closing in on Acer in terms of shipments.

HP experienced an improvement in its first quarter notebook shipments, and in the subsequent quarters it posted positive growth, according to TrendForce. Overall, the company increased its shipments by 19.5% compared with 2013 and put itself in the first place with 20.1% of the market share.

Lenovo (excluding its acquired brands) occupied the second place in the 2014...

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Jan 29

Apple tied with Samsung as world's largest smartphone vendor

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com), global smartphone shipments grew 31% annually to reach a record 380 million units in the fourth quarter of 2014 [Q4 2014].

Apple tied with Samsung to become the world’s largest smartphone vendor.
Global smartphone shipments grew 31% annually from 290.2 million units in Q4 2013 to a record 380.1 million in Q4 2014. An impressive 1.3 billion smartphones were shipped worldwide in 2014, with very strong growth seen last year in emerging markets such as China, India and Africa, says ABI Research.

Apple shipped 74.5 million smartphones worldwide and captured a record 20% marketshare in Q4 2014, increasing from 18% a year earlier, notes the research group. Apple’s new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models are proving wildly popular in China, United States and Europe. Apple tied with Samsung to become the world’s...

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Jan 29

AKVIS Draw for Mac OS X revved to version 2.0

AKVIS (www.akvis.com) has unveiled AKVIS Draw 2.0, the latest version of its standalone application and Photoshop plugin for Mac OS X (10.6 and higher) and Windows.

The software creates hand drawn pencil sketches and line art pictures from photos. The program makes both B&W and color drawings. The new version adds the presets quick preview and other features.

A demo is available at the AKVIS website. Registered users of AKVIS Draw can upgrade to the new version for free. A home license costs US$49.

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MacTech Blog

Feb 03

Yahoo, Bing fight to gain share from Google

Merkle | RKG (www.merkleinc.com), a customer relationship marketing firm, has released its Q4 Digital Marketing Report, which covers trends in paid search, SEO, product ads, social media, display advertising, comparison shopping engines, holiday trends and more.
Overall, paid search spending was up 21% in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2014, as click traffic increased by 14% and cost-per-click (CPC) rose by 6%. Google Product Listing Ads (PLAs) continue to show impressive growth and accounted for nearly 30% of retailer Google search ad clicks in Q4 2014. Advertisers also saw strong holiday growth overall, with retailer paid search revenues up 20% over last year.

In December, Yahoo became the default search option for Firefox in the US, supplanting Google after its ten-year run. Accounting for the percentage of search traffic coming through Firefox along with the switchback rates of users opting to go back to...

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Feb 02

Digital business requires organizations to rethink how...

Digital business success will require organizations to take bold actions, including inventing new business models and changing the way they function, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). The research group predicts that, by 2017, 70 percent of successful digital business models will rely on deliberately unstable processes designed to shift with customers' needs.

"Many organizations are either beginning, or in the midst of, digital business transformation initiatives," says Julie Short, research director at Gartner. "We expect that only 30% of these efforts will succeed. To be part of that 30 percent, business and IT leaders must be ready and willing to innovate rapidly from a business model, business process and technology perspective."

As a result of business model innovation, some business processes must become deliberately unstable. Deliberately unstable processes are designed for change and can...

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Jan 30

Vehicle-to-vehicle communication tech driven by...

While early implementations of V2V-equipped vehicles will start appearing in the next years—partially driven by Europe’s C2C-CC consortium—wide-scale deployments should not be expected before 2020, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

"Industry awareness about the importance of V2V and V2I is clearly gaining momentum, largely driven by its expected key role in enabling driverless vehicles, as stated by NHTSA in its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Begin Implementation of Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications Technology. It has prompted car OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] such as GM announcing a 2017 Cadillac CTS model to be equipped with V2V technology from Delphi, in conjunction with the Super Cruise ADAS solution. Other OEMs such as Toyota and Audi are also committed to V2V," says ABI Research Vice President and Practice Director Dominique Bonte.

The supplier ecosystem is...

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Jan 29

E-waste management market to reach $49.4 billion by...

A new report from Allied Market Research (www.alliedmarketresearch.com) says that the global E-waste management market will reach an amount of US$49.4 billion by 2020, registering a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 23.5% during 2014-2020.

The ever-growing need for adapting the latest technology is the prime factor for a large volume of E-waste generated across the globe, says the research group. The Asia Pacific region contributes to the largest revenue share in the global E-waste management market, followed by European countries. Analysis of the market indicates that the global volume of E-waste accounted for 57.7 million tons in 2013.

StEP (Solving the E-waste problem) is a German based establishment that manages the processing of E-Waste in developed countries. Ruediger Kuehr, executive secretary of StEP, states that Rapid product innovations and replacements for electronic...

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Jan 28

One-in-four to buy new TVs in 2015 (and spend more...

Year-over-year survey results from FatWallet.com show consumers flip flop on when to find best TV deals, ranking Black Friday just ahead of Super Bowl sales this year, while 1 in 4 now choose to stream TV programming.

The survey reports 26% said they will purchase a new TV this year (38% under age 30) and only Black Friday ranks higher than Super Bowl sales when asked when they’re most likely to make a TV purchase. The survey also reveals that their purchasing decisions are influenced most by price (45%), and one-in-four now stream the majority of their TV programming.  Key survey results for those that said they will purchase a new TV this year:
° 25% will buy during Black Friday; 17% will buy during Super Bowl sales (32% in 2014); 4% during Cyber Monday.

° 53% will spend $500+ (up 18% over 2014); 28% will spend $700+ (up 17% over 2014), 43% with annual income +$75k; 19% will spend less than $300 (up 26% over 2014), 33% with annual income under $30k....

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Jan 26

Annual IT spending by Western European healthcare...

According to a new IT spending forecast report published by IDC Health Insights (www.idc.com), IT investment by the Western European healthcare sector is forecast to grow from US$13.2 billion in 2013 to $14.6 billion in 2018.

Growth will be driven especially by software (4.6%), while investments in IT services will grow more slowly (1.6%). Hardware spending is expected to decrease over the 2017 horizon (-1.0%), according to the IDC research group. The Western European healthcare provider market continues to show moderate IT spending growth.

"Financial constraints in the market are still a major barrier to sustainable growth, but health authorities and decision makers are turning to digital transformation to reform healthcare systems, with the objective of achieving a balance between ensuring access and quality of healthcare services and ensuring long-term financial sustainability. Integrated care initiatives and...

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Jan 26

Global embedded telematics increasingly appearing in...

Market intelligence firm ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) finds the penetration of embedded telematics in new vehicles will increase from 13.4% in 2014 to 52% in 2020.

"While penetration levels of embedded connectivity in vehicles continue to grow steadily, it remains challenging for car OEMs to convince users to pay for built-in connected car services," says says vice president and practice director, Dominique Bonte. "While initiatives such as allowing adding connected car systems to shared data plans by GM in the United States are definitely going to boost uptake, full penetration is unlikely to be achieved solely through consumer-led drivers."

Perceived value of safety services or in-car Wi-Fi hotspots simply aren't big enough (yet), especially with free smartphone integration "tethering" standards such as CarPlay and Android Auto expected to become widespread in the next years, he adds. ABI...

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Jan 23

SIM card market reached 5.2 billion units in 2014

ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) forecasts that global SIM card shipments will reach 5.2 billion units in 2014, marking a revitalizing 5.32% increase from 2013. LTE, NFC, and M2M have successfully paved their way into the industry and are considered the trends for the next few years.

The research group says that large markets like India, China, and Saudi Arabia are currently among the last countries to undergo ID registration regulations. Among them only India saw a massive decline in shipments during 2013 but data from 2014 show that the market has successfully stabilized and steady growth is expected from 2015 onwards.

The era of technological advances brings forth renewed competition while the market share battle rages on. In one of the major highlights of 2014, European Union (E.U.) vendors are pushing forward with new product developments in an effort to claim a bigger portion of the market...

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Jan 22

Ease of use is vital for companies to communicate with...

A new survey from the IDC research group (www.idc.com) revealed that the most important characteristic to ensure satisfaction in communicating with a company is the ease of use/simplicity of process.

According to the survey, on average, 65% of respondents said they were satisfied with the communication options available. The 18-24 and 25-34 year age groups were the least satisfied, both with 62% satisfaction with the breadth of channel options compared to 65% overall. Seventy-one percent of respondents said that communicating with a company using their preferred channel is very important.

"Companies need to support the communication needs for all of their customers as they have a wide range of preferences. This means ensuring customers are supported on 'newer' channels, such as social media, as well as on 'traditional' channels, even as newer channels grow and evolve," says Melissa O'Brien, research analyst,...

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Jan 20

Business needs to reset its purpose to attract...

Business should focus on people and purpose, not just products and profits in the 21st century according to Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited's (Deloitte Global) fourth annual Millennial Survey. This and other findings from the survey suggest businesses, particularly in developed markets, will need to make significant changes to attract and retain the future workforce.

Deloitte Global surveyed tomorrow's leaders, from 29 countries, on effective leadership, how business operates and impacts society. Millennials overwhelmingly believe (75%) that businesses are focused on their own agenda rather than helping to improve society.

"The message is clear: when looking at their career goals, today's Millennials are just as interested in how a business develops its people and how it contributes to society as they are in its products and profits," says Barry Salzberg, CEO of Deloitte Global. "These findings should be viewed as a wake-up call to the business community,...

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Reviews and Kool Tools

Kool Tools: ZeroLemon iPhone battery/case

Shortly after the initial release of the iPhone 6 back in September 2014, Apple announced that their newest phone accounted for 68% of all iPhone sales. The general consensus from iPhone 6 users was that they were happy... Read more »

Kool Tools: CADintosh 8.1 for Mac OS X

Lemke Software's CADintosh, a 2D CAD program for Mac OS X (10.6.8 or higher), has been updated to version 8.1, adding several new and updated features. CADintosh provides a selection of tools to develop technical,... Read more »

Kool Tools: The Grange for the Kontakt Player platform

Spitfire Audio's The Grange is a sample-based virtual instrument for Native Instruments’ Kontakt Player platform, that captures three legendary drummers: Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith; Queen’s Roger Taylor; and... Read more »

Kool Tool: iRig Mic Studio

IK Multimedia's iRig Mic Studio is an ultra-portable large-diaphragm digital condenser microphone for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC and Android devices. With it, musicians, vocalists, home producers, podcasters,... Read more »

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Tuesday February 3

05:01

How to make your iPhone dimmer than its dimmest...

The Loop

Here’s a little trick to dim your iOS device even dimmer than the normal Settings allow.

∞ Read this on The Loop

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05:00

Think Different: Apple's 10 Biggest, Riskiest...

MacNewsWorld

Even the most vociferous Apple haters can surely admit that Apple -- judged upon the evidence of its record-breaking quarterly profit of $18 billion, the most of any public held company ever -- is not only firing on all cylinders but also creating products that consumers around the world are willing to pay a premium for. Apple sold an astounding 74.5 million iPhones last quarter. It sold 5.5 million Macs -- a number that is on the rise, while other PCs have fallen. Plus, the company sold 21.4 million iPads.

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04:49

Apple commemorates New Year in its first TV spot...

The Loop

Re/code:

The ad — which is strongly evocative of Apple’s holiday campaign in the United States — celebrates the importance of family, even as it underscores the growing importance of China as a market for Apple.

∞ Read this on The Loop

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03:30

Train like an Ironman with these apps for triathletes

Macworld

If you’re about to run your first triathlon, or if you’re a seasoned vet working towards a better time, than you already know that this three-legged race is famed for its demands on the body and the mind, making training for the event uniquely rigorous. But don’t let that discourage you—even beginning athletes have to start somewhere. Whether you’re moving from couch to bike or have several Ironman events under your belt, these apps will help you perfect your training regime, monitor your progress, and become part of the larger triathlete community.

Best app to plan your training from Day 1

Tri Trainer may not be the prettiest app, but it's a fantastic training resource. Use this from the very start.

To read this...

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03:19

Think Retro: Bring back the Flying Toasters

Macworld

Sometimes, things don’t strike you as unusual until you come to explain them to someone else. I have a young cousin, for example—young enough that she uses #yolo apparently without irony—and I suspect if I tried to explain to her that, for a period in the mid–90, pretty much any unattended Mac would eventually display a handful of winged toasters jerkily making their way across the screen, she would give me One Of Those Looks.

Actually, fair enough; it sounds a little surreal. But this was, of course, Flying Toasters, the most famous module in the screensaver app After Dark.

In explaining this to my young cousin, I’d probably first have to explain why screensavers were invented in the first place. Sure, today’s computers still have screensavers, but they’re usually merely decorative (one notable exception being the screensaver I use, BOINC), and no longer required to do the job of “saving screens”. Before flat screens became...

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Monday February 2

22:16

Tv Shows Directory

Xsanity

Forums: General Xsan Talk

Watch your favorite Tv shows is now on few clicks and enjoy your life with fully entertaining moments.You can easily find source for your favorite Tv shows- each and every episodes of the show, wallpapers, ringtones, videos and information’s. In Tv Shows Directory you can have your most recent and popular TV shows which are specially categorized to view and search on.

Getting your favorite TV shows within few minutes is a wonderful thing. It facilitates you in watching your favorite programs on your free time Tv Shows Directory gives you a chance to find all your Tv shows without losing its quality and size.

You can have your most searched Tv programs in a second. Categorization of the programs helps you to search and update your...

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21:29

The selling of the avocado

The Loop

The Atlantic:

The story of how avocados went from being an obscure West-Coast cash crop to the juggernaut of the Midwestern produce section is one of extreme feats of marketing and major shifts in ideas about nutrition. It is a story of a desperate renaming, a PR Hail-Mary, and of the changing nature of the Super Bowl. It is a tale best enjoyed with a squeeze of lime and generous sprinkling of cilantro.

Growing up in Nova Scotia, I never even saw an avocado. This story of its rise to become “America’s favorite fruit” is

∞ Read this on The Loop

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20:30

A double-edged sword: did the iPhone preserve...

9 to 5 Mac

The day has finally come. It seems struggling electronics retailer RadioShack is finally dead. This doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has paid attention to the company at all in the past few years. The chain hasn’t turned a profit since 2011, and several attempts to reboot its image have failed miserably.

How RadioShack reached this point is also no surprise: it failed to keep up with the ever-evolving technology market, choosing instead to attempt to walk the line between DIY hobbyist and mainstream electronics.

While no one would argue that RadioShack’s insistence on keeping one foot in each world eventually led to its demise, it could also be argued that it’s exactly what kept the company around for so long.

...

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