May 14 - 10:40am EDT   A new version of the Cheetah3D animation suite has been released, bringing the software up to v4.6. The program handles a majority of the tasks in creating 3D animations, including modeling, pose managing and rendering. The update primarily introduces an auto-saving option, to protect against losing a project; when turned on, it will save work in Cheetah every few minutes, minimizing the amount of data lost in case of a system or application crash. [full story]

May 07 - 04:10pm EDT   Sunburst has released Type to Learn 4, a collection of educational typing activities meant mainly for schools. It is claimed to be suitable for students in kindergarten through grade 12, and compliant with the standards of all 50 US states, as well as the International Society for Technology in Education's NETS-S. After a diagnostic test, students start working on a total of 36 lessons, highlighting both speed and accuracy; skill concentrations include aspects like shortcuts, the numeric keypad, and symbols. [full story]

May 01 - 04:20pm EDT   Developer OakTree has released two new add-on packages for its flagship Bible research software, Accordance. The app lets users compare multiple translations of the Bible, as well as the original Greek and Hebrew texts; maps and timelines let users compare stories with a historical context. The first add-on is the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, which contains over 6,000 entries by "hundreds" of scholars, and was first published in print in 1999. The digital Accordance version is currently being sold for $249. [full story]

April 15 - 04:00pm EDT   Sanyo on Tuesday announced the addition of two new portable multimedia projectors to its T-series line-up, the PLC-ET30L and PLC-XT21/L. With 1400x1050-pixel (SXGA+) resolution and 4200 lumens brightness, the ET30L offers consumers a less costly alternative to pricey 1080p projectors. The XT32/L, meantime, is a value-priced 1024x768 (XGA), 4,000 lumens unit that replaces the company's volume XT20. Both are meant for use in classroom, boardroom or other areas where significant ambient light might be necessary. [full story]

March 20 - 10:30am EDT   Apple ownership is up among students at the University of Virginia, with 25-percent of freshmen owning a Mac, up from 20-percent in the year prior, according to a computer ownership study performed last fall. These figures show a steep acceptance curve, as ownership was around 4-percent only five years ago, according to The Chronicle. The research indicates that, out of all students polled, 99-percent said they own a laptop, and 0.1-percent admit to not owning a computer at all. [full story]

March 18 - 04:40pm EDT   A secret in spite of the sibling NetTop platform's unveiling, photos and specifications have allegedly leaked for Intel's forthcoming NetBook. An employee with a US OEM claims to have obtained a sample system, intended for educational purposes; the computer runs Windows XP Pro, and operates on a 900MHz Celeron processor with 512MB of RAM, a 40GB hard drive and an Ethernet connection. The screen measures nine inches, and a conspicuous handle allows quick transport. [full story]

March 05 - 08:35pm EST   AVerMedia Technologies today began shipping its new AVerVision CP300 Interactive Portable Document Camera. The CP300 offers new network sharing capability, where users can access live images and control a document camera in any classroom or location on a school campus. "The ability to connect all document cameras in one campus together through the existing Local Area Network now provides the ability for multiple classrooms, or even the entire school to view and share live document camera lessons and demonstrations," the company said. Users can control annotation, image capture, video recording, zoom, and more by each classroom accessing the demonstration on the network. ... [full story]

February 29 - 07:20pm EST  In brief: Apple ranks 15th in Web traffic in Japan, RAM for new MacBooks, MacBook Pros is available, Freeway 5 beta 3 has been released and Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition debuts ... Apple ranks 15th in Web traffic in Japan according to new statistics release by comScore. Apple garnered 15,633,000 unique visitors in Japan in January. comScore reports "January saw increased visitation to education, career, automotive and real estate sites as many people in Japan focused their Internet activity on planning for the New Year. Several news sites, including J-Cast.com, Sponichi.com, and Jiji.com, saw significant gains in January, with elections in Osaka, the Sumo wrestling ... [full story]

February 27 - 03:15pm EST   Brittannica engineers have released an application for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch that brings thousands of articles covering all subjects at i.eb.com to the portable devices. The application boasts a look and feel tailored to the iPhone with full-text searching, thousands of high-resolution thumbnails that expand to full-size images, and page layouts optimized for cellphone bandwidth. "It's fully searchable and hot-linked, similar to Britannica's Web editions," Britannica said. [full story]

February 26 - 09:25pm EST   A growing number of professors at Oregon State University are relying on Macs, according to one report. Reasons for the increased Mac usage include PC compatibility, an improved operating system, 'Get a Mac' ads, and better technical support. While Macs don't comprise a majority of the computers at Oregon State -- roughly 150 out of 3,000, or 5 percent -- the number of Macs is rising, according to CIO. "Macs are more friendly to PC users than they used to be," said Tammy Barr, the director of technology services at the school. Apple's Boot Camp software and applications like Parallels Desktop enable PC users to work in their own environment on newer Macs, easing the ... [full story]