Readdle developing native iPhone, Touch app...

Readdle on Tuesday announced plans to unveil an iPhone 2.0 application of its as-of-now web service, allowing users to read documents on their iPod touch or iPhone when offline. The company also claims the native application will enhance the service's functionality, citing seamless storage, page-by-page reading, bookmarks, and optimized PDF rendering, among other options. Readdle has not announced whether it will charge for the application when the iPhone application store launches.

Smith Micro releases Poser Pro for 2D, 3D design...

Smith Micro on Tuesday announced Poser Pro, which it says is designed for professional content creators within studio and production environments. The software offers advanced features that include scene-hosting plug-ins for popular 3D environments, as well as a 64-bit render engine, COLLADA support and advanced network rendering. Poser Pro offers 3D character design and animation tools that help artists integrate custom and pre-built characters into professional projects and production pipelines; it lets artists fine-tune light, shadow, color and detail on figures, and ships with distributable 3D characters that are specially designed to provide a starting point for scene development, thereby saving production time.

Divine Fiat unveils "Grunge" Keynote theme...

Divine Fiat on Monday announced Grunge, a new alternative Keynote presentation theme for Apple's presentation software. The theme includes the font "Base 02" for an edgy feel to written text, while pictures sit in an oval cutout. Dark lines radiate from the center of almost every slide, and the set includes 40 master slides, providing a wide array of options. Divine Fiat is currently selling Grunge for $30, and it is available from the company's website.

AOL Desktop for Mac, new browser, AIM client...

AOL on Tuesday unveiled AOL Desktop for Mac, a brand new portal software for the company's internet services, representing the first such major release in five years. The client offers email, messaging, and web browsing services, as well as access to the company's various content channels. AOL includes easy transition tools, which allow users to quickly import AOL favourites and mail from the former Mac OS X client. AOL Desktop for Mac is available from the company's website.

Microsoft resumes Windows XP SP3 distribution...

Microsoft on Tuesday resumed the availability of Windows XP SP3 at its website. Last week, the company pulled the update from its public servers due to some compatibility issues; it delayed the general release of Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), due to a last-minute discovered incompatibility. The update, released to manufacturing two weeks ago, was expected to be generally available on April 29th and later in early Summer as an automatic update. Microsoft said it is now offering "hotfix" for the compatibility issues with its Dynamics Retail Management System, which it says should be installed first.

First Look: LaCie Hard Disk by Neil Poulton...

You should always backup your data so you never lose any of your files. While you can always backup your files to a USB flash drive or a DVD, those solutions may not be able to store enough data, forcing you to copy your data to multiple devices or discs. For most people the simplest solution is to backup data using an external hard disk, plugged into a Mac through a USB or FireWire cable. You can buy dedicated external hard disks, or connect an old external hard disk using a drive enclosure. If you want an external hard disk with a stylish exterior, however, you might want to consider LaCie’s Hard Disk by Neil Poulton.

Another Mac-clone maker surfaces on eBay...

Psystar's flagrant disregard of Apple's licensing agreement has opened the proverbial floodgates for individuals selling non-Apple Mac OS X systems, with a seller by the name of "chris555" offering $550 clones of his own design. AppleInsider reveals that the individual has configured a similar setup to that of Psystar, with a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of DDR2 667MHz RAM, 250GB hard drive, a 20X DVD burner, and an Intel GMA 950 graphics card.

CS Odessa announces ConceptDraw Office...

Ukraine's CS Odessa has announced the development of ConceptDraw Office, a forthcoming project management suite. The suite collects the company's PRO, PROJECT and MINDMAP applications, and integrates them into a single platform; together the apps are claimed to handle "all aspects" of project management, from brainstorming and team creation through to planning, resources and results.

Sprint targets iPhone in new Instinct ad...

The iPhone is the target of a new Sprint commercial promoting Samsung's Instinct phone, due to ship in June. The ad pits the two devices in side-by-side competition, as each attempts to find a caller's location. Both are able to reach their end result in roughly the same amount of time, but the Instinct is able to deliver a more precise location, while the iPhone can only narrow positioning down to a few city blocks. The Instinct is also able to present a 3D view of its results.

Piper: Vodafone will bost iPhone sales, skew revenue...

Vodafone's announcement of iPhone sales in 10 different countries carries with it both positive and negative aspects, say analysts with the research group Piper Jaffray. The most dramatic change is in the number of potential subscribers, which should jump from 152.7 million to 292.5 million. This offers the possibility of a major boon to device sales, even though like the rest of the world, most Vodafone subscribers will not be rich enough to afford an iPhone and an accompanying plan.

AT&T to hold 'Special Promo' in June/July?...

AT&T has sectioned off nearly a month between June and July in order to coordinate employees for an "exciting Special Promotional Launch," says an internal memo reportedly leaked to Engadget. The message notes that staff will be unable to book vacations between June 15th and July 12th due to the resource demands of the unnamed event, which is already believed to relate to the launch of an updated iPhone in the same timeframe. AT&T employees were allegedly asked to stay available for work during the same period last year, during the iPhone's official debut.

Apple gains patents for iPod nano, more...

The US Patent and Trademark Office today granted several patents to Apple, among them a collection of iPod technologies. Predominant among these is the design of the iPod nano, despite it being on sale in the US since September of 2005. More than a dozen people are credited with the invention, including key designer Jonathan Ive and Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The patent may however apply specifically to the second-generation Nano, as it was originally applied for in September of 2006.

Acer intros Business, Value LCD series...

Acer today made sweeping changes to its LCD lineup with two whole new display lines. The Business line is tailored to both workers and home users who want an essentialist design with flexibility: the built-in arm tilts up 15 degres or down by 5 and also allows 35 degree pivoting in either direction without adjusting the stand. Despite the name, contrast ratios are also vivid enough at 2,000:1 or 3,000:1 for most models, with a 5ms average pixel response time eliminating most ghosting.

iTunes UK adds NBC/Universal, despite US boycott...

The UK iTunes Store has added a variety of TV shows from NBC/Universal (iTunes link) in spite of their absence from iTunes in the US. Selection is currently limited, but incorporates seasons of Heroes, House, Eureka, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and The Incredible Hulk. Unlike the standard iTunes pricing model, notably, which is consistent across all shows, active shows at the UK store (such as Heroes) are being priced at £1.89 per episode, while defunct ones have a separate rate of only £1.19.

Super Talent rolls 120GB SSD for $699...

Super Talent on Tuesday introduced its MasterDrive MX series, a new set of solid-state drives that it hopes will make notebook flash storage more affordable without sacrificing speed. The new 2.5-inch line is built on less expensive multi-level cell (MLC) technology that packs more storage into a given space, reducing the cost; unlike most MLC storage, the company uses new technology that should be both longer-lasting and faster and compare more closely with single-level cell drives. Every model can read sequential data at the same 120MB per second as SLC storage and write at 40MB per second, outpacing many conventional hard drives.

NY Times: 3G iPhone in Europe before August...

The 3G broadband version of the iPhone should be on sale in at least some European countries before August, according to the New York Times. The newspaper cites an unidentified source "close to the situation," who says that the timing is connected to plans by Vodafone and Telecom Italia to release the phone across the continent. Specifically, Apple is said to want the 3G version on sale in new countries before the peak of the European vacation season, a time when many people might like to make use of functions such as the phone's mobile web browser.

Italy to have two iPhone carriers...

Italy will be one of the first countries in the world to support the iPhone on multiple carriers, an announcement reveals. Local carrier Telecom Italia, also known as TIM, has declared that it will also sell the device alongside Vodafone, which today uncovered its plans to sell the device in 10 countries around the world. Responding to further inquiries, TIM will only elaborate that it has "signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone in Italy within the year."

HTC intros Touch Diamond ahead of 3G iPhone...

HTC this morning at a London press event unveiled its anticipated Touch Diamond, the company's first major update to the core Touch model since its unveiling a year ago. The phone is the first to incorporate HTC's new TouchFLO 3D interface and uses it to access messaging, media, and other features without reverting to a stylus or the directional pad; common operations such as calling should be usable with just one finger, the company claims. To support the new interface, the Diamond uses Windows Mobile 6.1 and includes a 640x480, 2.8-inch touchscreen that offers four times the crispness of the original, 320x240 Touch.

Zune gets TV shows, Zune Card sharing, more...

Microsoft this morning gave the Zune its first true video service. The version 2.5 update to the Zune software now lets users buy TV shows from the Zune Marketplace and allows them to choose from over 800 episodes from various shows and TV networks, including former iTunes supporter NBC Universal. Shows are sorted not only by network but also by genre, allowing users to browse animation or dramas regardless of the provider. Each show is priced equally to shows from its Apple rival at 160 Microsoft points ($1.99 in the US) but doesn't qualify for the unlimited-access Zune Pass.

Vodafone to carry iPhone in ten countries...

Vodafone today made the revelation that it will be an official carrier for the iPhone in ten countries around the world. The telecoms firm will offer the handset to Europeans in the Czech Republic, Italy, and Portugal; Greece, India, and Turkey will be covered by Vodafone in Asia, while Australia, Egypt, New Zealand, and South Africa will also be served by the company. Vodafone doesn't say when it will offer the iPhone other than later this year and avoids other details, including pricing.

HighPoint debuts 4-channel SAS RAID card...

HighPoint has released the RocketRAID 2640X4, a four-channel PCI-Express x4 SAS RAID controller that supports RAID levels (0, 1, 5, 10 and JBOD). The company claims the new SAS RAID controller offers a new level of flexibility, performance and reliability at an affordable price. The RocketRAID 2640X4 PCI-Express x4 bus speed delivers "true SAS performance" that is 2X the throughput speed of SATA bypassing performance bottlenecks that occur with PCI-Express x1 bus speeds limiting SAS performance throughput to SATA speeds, Highpoint claims.

Script Software offers CopyPaste Pro beta...

Script Software on Monday debuted CopyPaste Pro 1.0b, a beta update to the original multiple clipboard utility for the Mac. It offers a new instantly available window (like Apple's Application Switcher) that lets users navigate through the Clip History and Clip Archive as well as offers an editor called "Bean," which enables the users to edit clipboards. Rewritten in Cocoa and Objective C, the update also offers a new easier and simpler interface that follows the look and feel of Apple's Dock and Application Switcher and offers significant performance improvements, especially on Intel-based Macs and in Leopard. CopyPaste Pro is a Universal Binary for native operation on Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs and runs on both Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.

VMware Fusion 2 beta adds multi displays, more...

VMware today unveiled VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 1, a free beta preview of the next major update to its OS virtualization software, which introduces many new features, including true multi-display support for virtual machines. In addition to using multiple displays, the beta also introduces experimental support for DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 2, allowing users to run complex 3D software in a virtualized environment. When it ships, VMware Fusion 2.0 will be a free upgrade for all existing v1.x users, while new users can purchase Fusion for $80.

EarthBrowser 3.0: Doppler, browser, Northern Lights...

Lunar Software has released EarthBrowser 3.0, an update to the real-time three dimensional model of the earth that offers continuously updated global information. The software renders a virtual representation of the earth along with a large variety of current data, including new Doppler Radar and Northern Lights overlays, animated weather model forecasts from NOAA, and more. Animated weather model forecasts from the NOAA are continuously updated for the entire world, and include datasets for Precipitation, Snowfall, Temperature, Pressure, Humidity, Wind Speed/Direction and more.