FoxTrot Professional Search roots through data...

CTM has released FoxTrot Professional Search, a tool for running deeper searches into Mac file systems. The app extends past filenames to search for content within metadata, as well as the text inside of PDF, HTML, e-mail and word processing files. Search results are categorized and ranked on relevance, and users can maintain multiple indexed collections and timed updates, without having to launch the program.

Autodesk ships SketchBook Pro 2009...

Autodesk has released the 2009 edition of SketchBook Pro, its painting and illustration program, designed for users of tablets and tablet PCs. The new application is compatible with Mac OS X Leopard, and boasts new support for Adobe Photoshop, allowing users to import PSD files for detailed drawing. Appropriately, SketchBook layers now support general locking and transparency locking, and the active layer is highlighted with an orange outline, which also sports interface controls such as a thumbnail view.

Microsoft to appeal $1.4b European fine...

Microsoft today said it would appeal the nearly $1.4 billion fine levied against it by the European Commission earlier this year. The company has not explained its specific motivations behind the objection, but says the move is an effort to "seek clarity" from the Commission's court and that Microsoft's opposition with the appeal is to the fine itself rather than the ultimate verdict.

Jobs' world traveling low this winter...

In the past, Morgan Stanley analyst Kathryn Huberty asserted that Steve Jobs' plane travel filings with the SEC are indicative of Apple product releases, since Jobs tends to travel more when signing deals with new companies. Silicon Alley Insider notes that while this is usually the case, March quarter filings show that Jobs' travel reimbursement is only $30,000 – contrasted against $550,000 in the December quarter – despite Apple sealing major international deals with cell carriers Vodafone, America Movil, and Telecom Italia.

Google hunts Yahoo ties, dumps human rights motions...

Google is interested in pursuing closer ties with Yahoo, according to the former company's founders. Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt made the observation before Google's annual general meeting on Thursday, in response to questions on whether they would move beyond a two-week trial of Google advertising on Yahoo's network. "We have been talking to Yahoo and we are very excited to be working with them," says Brin. He calls the trial program "successful," and suggests that it is a "good basis to talk to Yahoo some more."

xVM VirtualBox supports Mac OS, Solaris, more...

Sun Microsystems on Friday introduced a new update for xVM VirtualBox, adding support for Mac OS X and Solaris, making it the first open sourcevirtual machine to support both operating systems. According to The Inquirer, Sun is offering both a free open source version which has no usage restrictions, as well as a free licensed version with more features for individual home users. Business customers are required to pay for licenses, should they want the full version.

Mailplane 2.0 enters public beta...

uncomplex has released a public beta of Mailplane 2.0, an upcoming revision of its Gmail client. The app is effectively a site-specfic web browser, and is intended to make Gmail more seamlessly integrated with Mac OS X. Users can for instance quickly browse and attach files from iPhoto and iTunes libraries, and convert or resize images as necessary. Multiple Gmail/Google Apps accounts can be switched to without signing in and out, and the app can bet set to launch directly from Address Book, Safari, or anything else with a "mailto:" URL.

Zune reaches 2m sales; flat versus iPod...

As part of its recent Zune update, Microsoft has revealed that it has sold two million of the music players since their launch in November 2006, revealing relatively flat growth for the device lineup. Although the company originally promised and slightly exceeded a target for its first million sales between the original launch date and June 2007, the company has largely remained silent on its data for its players in nearly a year.

Quay 1.1 extends Leopard Dock...

Coder Rainer Brockerhoff has released a fresh update to Quay, a Dock extender for Mac OS X Leopard. The app restores hierarchical menus to the OS -- last found in Tiger -- and also lets users sort Stacks in a variety of ways. Quay can be set to work only with specific Stacks, and can be toggled off completely by holding down the Option key.

Freeway 5.1 incorporates RSS feeds...

Softpress has released the first major update to Freeway 5, its WYSIWYG web design tool. The base application distinguishes itself with features such as CSS menus, and Google and script.aculo.us Actions; new in v5.1 is the ability to publish a feed from a page, using the RSS Feed Action. Designers can now also import SVG vector graphics, whether for conversion to JPEG, GIF or PNG, or simply as a pass-through to a finished page.

House passes Pro-IP copyright protection act...

The House of Representatives on Friday approved the controversial Pro-IP Act, a bill which is designed to protect intellectual property by imposing more rigid punishment in the case of copyright infringement. Ars Technica writes that the bill passed with a vote of 410 to 10, but has yet to be voted on by the Senate. Among the details of the bill, one segment states that law enforcement agents would be able to seize property from those charched with copyright infringement.

New Parallels Desktop build adds XP SP3, Vista SP1...

Parallels has released a new update to Desktop, its side-by-side OS virtualization app. The software is now at build 5600, and adds "full support" for the latest editions of Microsoft Windows; Vista is now handled up to Service Pack 1, while XP compatibility extends to Service Pack 3. Parallels has also improved compatibility with the MacBook Air.

Canadian iPod owners may gain $45 credit...

A select number of Canadian iPod owners may soon be eligible for a $45 credit from Apple, says a major regional newspaper. The Montreal Gazette writes that the credit would be applicable only to owners of first-, second- or third-generation iPods, and only those who purchased theirs prior to June 24th, 2004. It is part of Apple's proposed settlement for a pair of lawsuits filed in Montreal and Toronto, under which Apple stood accused of false advertising.

Apple worst among electronics peers in climate policy...

Apple has been ranked the worst among all major PC vendors and other large electronic firms in the fight against climate change. Climate Counts this week released its second annual Company Scorecard hoping to create a "simple, easy-to-understand ranking of companies would motivate both companies and consumers to step-up their efforts on climate change." Apple was ranked in last place among the list of 12 electronics companies, while companies such as IBM, Canon, Toshiba, Sony, and Hewlett-Packard were near the top of the electronics industry. Top honor went to Nike, which passed last year’s high scorer, Canon, to become the top scored company among the 56 companies evaluated. Apple was the only electronic company to receive a "Stuck" designation, with a recommendation as a choice to "avoid for the climate-conscious consumer," because the company has taken "meaningful action against climate change."

Microsoft completely withdraws proxy board...

Microsoft has put the final nail in the coffin in terms of the Yahoo merger, as the proposed proxy board received notice from the software giant Thursday morning, dismissing any responsibilities the board would have had in the event of a hostile takeover. The Wall Street Journal writes that Microsoft's law firm Sullivan & Cromwell sent out the notice, indicating that company is firmly rooted in its decision to not make a hostile bid for Yahoo.

Sonnet Fusion RAID Expander offers 7 PCIe slots...

Sonnet Technologies on Thursday debuted the Fusion RAID Expander, which provides a simple solution for connecting up to seven Sonnet Fusion SATA RAID desktop or rackmount storage systems to a single computer for faster performance as well as access to up to 56 terabytes (TB) of protected storage. The Fusion RAID Expander extends a computer's PCI Express (PCIe) bus outside of the box and provides seven slots for installing PCIe cards. The Sonnet expansion system delivers plug-and-play installation and is transparent to the computer's operating system for zero-configuration use.

Sonnet offers 3 Gigabit adapters for Macs...

Sonnet has released three new Gigabit networking products for both older and new Macs: Presto Gigabit Pro PCI network adapter card, the Presto Gigabit PCIe Pro PCI Express network adapter card, and the Presto Gigabit Ethernet Pro ExpressCard/34 network adapter card. These Sonnet Gigabit Ethernet cards expand or add Gigabit Ethernet connectivity in any compatible computer, and offer enhanced performance through support for link aggregation with onboard Ethernet ports, and jumbo packet data transfers. Sonnet says the Presto Gigabit Pro network adapter cards deliver enhanced networking support as well as offer gigabit speeds over common CAT-5 cabling; they also support 1000/100/10BaseT auto-negotiation and full/half duplex communication.

Comic Life Magiq 1.0: unique comic editing, layout...

plasq has released Comic Life Magiq 1.0 for Mac OS X, its photo-comic desktop publishing software designed for all ages and skill levels. Built from the ground up to leverage the power of Mac OS X 10.5 core technologies, the software utilizes Image and Core Animation for unique visual effects and elegant layouts. The included Image Editor offers tools for smart cut-out, warping and smudging, painting, skinning, green-screening and more, while the comic page layout engine can handle complex and creatively-curved comic panels, speech balloons and captions. Users can also easily drag pictures, captions, lettering text ('ka-blam!') and speech balloons to quickly develop stories.

RIAA: DRM likely revived by subscriptions...

Regardless of the movement towards permanent unprotected downloads in online music, digital rights management (DRM) is likely to persist and may also thrive in the near future, the Recording Industry Association of America said today at a Los Angeles media conference. The music organization's technology head David Hughes observes that nearly all strategies for offering paid music still require some form of copy protection to enforce the license agreements, which are often dependent on set times or play counts.

.Mac mail to to be push-ready on iPhone 2.0?...

Users of Apple's .Mac service will be able to get their e-mail pushed to their iPhone or iPod touch, an anonymous source claims. The person writes that in the latest version of the iPhone 2.0 firmware, the Settings page now has a "Fetch New Data" submenu, which lets users toggle the "fetch" or "push" status of various e-mail clients, including standard ones such as Gmail. Within this list is .Mac, giving subscribers the option of having their mail sent as soon as possible, or kept back so it appears as new when on a desktop or notebook Mac.

MySpace effort to port data to Twitter, more...

MySpace today introduced a new initiative that will see its users' data shared outside of the social network. The Data Availability framework will let any member of the MySpace service opt in to share profile info, friend networks, photos and videos to sites that will support the approach on their networks: MySpace users will have the option of posting their biography and latest blog updates to their Twitter profiles, for example, or bring images to Photobucket. eBay and Yahoo will also allow portability, with Yahoo's new Open Strategy allowing users to automatically fill in a profile that is viewable across much of the site's network.

iPhone to launch with Swisscom this summer?...

Reports are circulating that Apple would launch the iPhone in Switzerland this summer under the mobile provider Swisscom, presumably with the heavily-rumored 3G iPhone. French-language news site Le Matin Online reports that Swisscom nor Apple have confirmed any details, but the recent alliance with Vodafone – which is affiliated with Swisscom – could potentially indicate that it's just a matter of time until the device is officially unveiled.

Sonoro exports Cubo radios to US...

German audio maker Sonoro says that it has begun exporting its Cubo line of luxury clock radios to the US. Aside from receiving AM/FM radio, the Cubos have a built-in CD player, and an auxiliary input for sources such as iPods and notebooks; output can in turn be redirected through a stereo output. Special features include wooden casing, 20 programming presets, and a 10-seconds-per-track intro option.

EyeTV 3.0.2 supports H.264 TV, closed caption export...

Elgato has released the v3.0.2 update to EyeTV, its TV streaming and recording software. The patch makes significant changes, most crucially support for broadcasts with H.264 compression, which are said to be increasingly popular; in Europe, for example, a number of DVB-T channels offer only H.264 streaming. Elgato has also introduced the export of closed captions to QuickTime videos, in particular text broadcast over ATSC and NTSC. As a result, users can now toggle captions on and off in software ranging from iTunes to the iPhone OS.

Gear4 intros DUO convertible iPod dock...

British gear maker Gear4 today unveiled the DUO iPod speaker dock. Its design is built uniquely to double both as a portable system and as a higher-quality bookshelf stereo. While normally a full 2.1-channel system with a 20-watt subwoofer, the front satellite panel (18 watts) detaches completely from the bass unit to operate independently as a thinner, portable speaker unit with swivel-out stand. Gear4 also does away with the typical reliance on disposable batteries in favor of a lithium-ion pack that recharges whenever the front is reattached. The iPod cradle itself also folds into the center for carrying in a bag.

Microsoft offers phones as PCs for poor...

Microsoft today discussed some of the details of a project it estimates could help address a lack of computing in developing countries. A plan so far known as Fone+ would give users a basic or mid-range smartphone with a dock or similar connection to a TV, giving them a potentially higher-resolution screen and a more comfortable distance to use the device as a budget computer. Doing so not only provides a relatively low cost PC but also a cellphone at the same time; this gives even farmers a way to compute without taking away phones they often use, Microsoft says.

Movie studios join attack on Pirate Bay...

Movie studios are the latest group to launch a legal assault on Swedish BitTorrent site The Pirate Bay, filings indicate. The Motion Picture Association, an international extension of the MPAA, has filed a 93kr million ($15.4 million) lawsuit against Pirate Bay, which it accuses of hosting illegal torrent trackers for movies such as The Pink Panther and Syriana, as well as 13 episodes of the TV show Prison Break. Damages are said to amount to between 222 and 261kr ($37 and $43) per movie, and 415kr ($68) for each Prison Break episode.

Dell Inspirons leaked, promise slick design...

Dell's next design change for its Inspiron lineup will involve a radical overhaul meant to lure customers from fashion-conscious brands, according to a leak published today by Engadget. The 14-inch Inspiron 1435, 15.4-inch 1535, and 17-inch 1735 will all take their visual cues from the tapered, more upscale XPS line and will be the first to have a unique, edge-to-edge LCD that eliminates the thick side bezels that often surround notebooks. The computers will also be the mainstream notebooks from Dell to use slot-load optical drives.

Apple applies for 3D remote control patent...

An Apple patent application, just published by the US Patent and Trademark Office, depicts a new 3D remote technology. Similar in basic concept to the controller for Nintendo's Wii console, the remote would have a photosensor, accelerometer or gyroscope, and detect absolute and/or relative position to an image. Distinguishing it would be the ability to zoom in on part of an image at will by pushing a button.

T-Mobile US cracks 30m, mum on Sprint rumor...

T-Mobile's US division today reported a milestone first quarter of 2008. The communications company says that its first results of the new year added 981,000 wireless subscribers to its overall pool, giving the company more than 30 million subscribers for the first time. Churn, or the number of customers lost during the period, was flat year-over-year and dropped slightly for customers on contracts from 1.9 percent in early 2007 to 1.7 percent in the same time span this year.

O2, Carphone: More 2.5G iPhones inbound...

UK residents worried that they may no longer be able to get a 2.5G iPhone are safe, reports say. Although Carphone Warehouse sold out last week, and the O2 website presently states that neither the 8GB or 16GB iPhones are available, representatives from both retailers say that more stocks are inbound or already present for some of their sales venues. O2 notes that more 16GB iPhones have been ordered for web sales, while its high street retail stores should still have some in stock.

Vista sales "rapid" at 140m copies...

Microsoft chair Bill Gates today noted at a European news conference that sales of Windows Vista have reached 140 million copies worldwide. The update is the first since the company crossed the 100 million mark at the start of the new year, although Gates doesn't clarify when the company reached the newer threshold. This demonstrates that Vista continues to sell at a "very rapid" rate, according to the Microsoft co-founder.

NBC streams iPhone/Touch-ready TV shows...

Owners of an iPhone or iPod touch can now stream episodes of select NBC TV shows, observers note. By visiting nbc.com, users can gain access to complete episodes of 30 Rock or The Office, presented free of advertising and in an unprotected QuickTime format. The video quality is extremely rough, however, and at least one publication has reported iPhone lockups.

New iPhone 2.0 OS adds Safari YouTube support...

The latest version of the iPhone 2.0 firmware -- bundled with the beta 5 SDK -- adds limited support for YouTube within the Safari web browser, experimenting has revealed. Users of the current public iPhone firmware can only browse videos through the dedicated app; under v2.0 though, videos embedded in websites now present a link, which opens clips under the dedicated app, but then lets users quickly return to the page they were viewing.

Best Buy, Carphone Warehouse to join...

Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse on Thursday announced that they would create a new, jointly-run company to exploit each other's strengths. The total investment will equate to $4.2 billion and will see both the American electronics retailer and the British phone reseller take 50 percent stakes in the new venture, including both a financial stake as well as equal share in the 2,400 stores that make up the combined effort. Carphone Warehouse will continue to keep its landline businesses, while Best Buy will continue to own just under a three percent direct stake in its European counterpart.

Verizon takes new shot at iPhone with Glyde...

Verizon this morning unveiled its anticipated release of the Samsung Glyde. The carrier's CDMA adaptation of the European, GSM-based F700 scales the camera down to 2 megapixels (with autofocus and flash) but otherwise aims at providing an iPhone-like experience while also mending some perceived gaps from its US rival; like the LG Voyager, the Glyde includes 3G Internet over EVDO, a full HTML browser and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Samsung, however, drops the digital over-the-air TV tuner in favor of built-in GPS navigation.

O2 says iPhone "no longer available"...

British carrier O2 today issued a statement on its website (not available outside of the UK) that the company has stopped selling the current-generation iPhone. Both the 8GB and 16GB models are listed as "no longer available" and have not been given a restocking date by the provider. Apple itself continues to list both versions as shipping within 24 hours, though independent phone retailer Carphone Warehouse has also reported selling out all its supply without expectations of new shipments.