Macworld Expo: Photo gallery, part one...

Macworld Expo is in its final stages of preparation, with many users showing early to acquire badges for access to Apple's keynote. Doors to the show floors were sealed, with workers hurriedly carrying materials back and forth, finalizing booths and displays. In the south hall, the Macworld Expo store is selling Mac-centric clothing items, while a magazine stand on the floor upstairs offers free copies Macworld and Mac|Life, among others.

Sonnet debuts 640GB portable RAID storage...

Sonnet Technologies has launched its Fusion F2 portable RAID storage system, which provides storage for on-location video capture or remote use when grid power is unavailable. Fusion F2 features 640GB of storage using two 2.5-inch drives mounted side by side in a rugged enclosure. Offering a low-profile, compact design measuring (5.9 x 6.2 x 0.72 inches). The compact Fusion F2 delivers high performance with data transfer rates up to twice as fast as a pair of FireWire 800 drives. Using FireWire for power only, the Fusion F2 features two eSATA data connections and is designed for use with the Sonnet Tempo SATA ExpressCard/34 adapter (MacBook Pro). By connecting via SATA interface, Fusion F2 easily supports portable video capture in conjunction with an AJA Video Systems' Io HD, which requires dedicated use of FireWire bandwidth.

OWC ships ModBook, 320GB portable drive...

Other World Computing (OWC) today announced that it is the exclusive distributor of the Axiotron Modbook, which began shipping to customers January 11th and announced its 320GB Mercury On-The-Go drive. The Modbook is the only tablet Mac solution based on the latest, higher performance MacBook base platform and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. The new Axiotron Modbook Tablet also features built-in GPS. The after-market hardware modification brings true pen input, a new 13.3-inch wide screen LCD and Global Positioning System in a "tough," satin chrome-plated magnesium top shell, while keeping all the powerful features of the MacBook base system. Leveraging the built-in Inkwell handwriting recognition in Mac OS X, OWC is shipping configurations up to 2.2GHz (and other MacBook standard items, including an integrated iSight camera, Bluetooth, 802.11n/g/b Wireless, and the CD/DVD combo or Superdrive).

Hard covers for MacBook, iPhone, iPod touch...

Incase today introduced its first hard case covers for Apple's MacBook Pro, iPhone, and iPod touch (site not updated). The cases come in an array of colors with rubberized, soft-touch, matte, and high gloss finishes. The Hardshell Case for MacBook and MacBook Pro models comes in four translucent frosted soft-touch coat4ed colors which include black, white, 'plum,' and red. The new cases are due to ship in February, with the Hardshell Case for 15-inch and 17-inch MacBooks priced at $50 and iPhone/iPod touch Slider Cases available for $35 each.

UPEK launches Protector Suite for Mac...

UPEK today at Macworld Expo launched Protector Suite for Mac, an application that allows Mac users to increase security and convenience with the swipe of a finger. Protector Suite for Mac, in combination with Eikon Digital Privacy Manager -- a USB-based peripheral fingerprint reader -- enables Mac users to swipe their finger instead of typing passwords to log into as well access password-protected websites and secure preferences. The latest revision offers support for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, and is due to ship in several languages in the first half of 2008 (pricing was unavailable).

Apple revises home page, posts new TV ad...

Apple has changed its home page to reflect tomorrow's forthcoming keynote address at Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco. The title page now reads "There's something in the air," and declares that the Macworld 2008 Keynote by company CEO Steve Jobs will be available for download tomorrow afternoon. Apple will not stream live coverage of the keynote, although MacNN will provide live coverage as Jobs unveils new products and services.

Scosche debuts iPod cases, transmitters...

Scosche Industries has unveiled a slew of new iPod and iPhone related accessories ahead of the Macworld Expo in San Francisco. First up is a line of new cases for the iPhone, iPod touch, iPod nano and iPod classic. High impact polycarbonate, flexible silicone, lightweight neoprene, anodized aluminum and military grade camouflage are used in the cases, which all feature shock protection, all button/input access and screen protection, Scosche's IPC4 clear polycarbonate case for the iPhone and ITC4 clear polycarbonate case for iPod touch have integrated kickstands and feature co-molded rubber corners for shock protection. Additional cases include a black polycarbonate case with kickstand, white polycarbonate case with kickstand, clear polycarbonate case and silicone skin and clear silicone skin and 3.5mm cable.

Fujitsu debuts ScanSnap S300M scanner...

Fujitsu today introduced its ScanSnap S300M mobile scanner (site not updated, similar model shown at right), which it claims is the world's smallest color duplex automatic document feeding scanner for Mac users. The new device weighs less than 3.1-pounds, and boasts a compact footprint of 11.2 x 3.7 x 3.0-inches. Operating via a USB connection, the ScanSnap S300M operates without the need of an external power supply to scan documents on-the-go. The Fujitsu ScanSnap S300M scanner is slated for shipment after March 15th, 2008 for $300.

New laptop bags, charger from Contour...

Contour Design has launched a new line of laptop sleeves and accessories at Macworld 2008 in San Francisco. The new peices are made of a high tech anti-microbial neoprene that features advanced breathability, which allows for quick heat dissipation; notebook computers can be put in them and still cool off. Multiple types of sleeves offer different features; the range includes basic reversible sleeves, sleeves with single pockets, handles, and fashion inspired prints and patterns. Contour Design will be exhibiting their notebook sleeves, bags, and other mobility accessories at booth 2332 at Macwold 2008 in San Francisco. The Contour mobility notebook sleeves and bags will be available in early March. Prices will start at $29.95.

Hydra 1.0 ships, Morph Age 4.0 debuts...

Creaceed today began shipping its Hydra 1.0 HDR photography software for Mac, and unveiled a major upgrade to its Morph Age application for morphing as well as warping images and movies. Hydra aims to give the human eye perception to photographs by creating high dynamic range (HDR) images from a series of standard photographs, either from DSLRs or traditional point-and-shoot cameras. Hydra is priced at $60, but is available for an introductory price of $40 until the end of January. Hydra requires Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard to run.

Apple's holiday quarter hinges on Macs...

Apple is due to report its December quarter results after the market closes on January 22nd, and research firm Piper Jaffray expects an upside to Wall Street expectations based primarily on Mac sales. Piper Jaffray senior analyst Gene Munster says Mac sales could reach 2.3 million -- beating out average estimates of 2.2 million -- with iPod sales of 24-26 million over Wall Street predictions of 24.7 million. Munster also says Apple may well report 2.2 million iPhone sales, just shy of average investor expectations of 2.26 million.

Punch! ships ViaCAD Pro CAD application...

Punch! Software has released ViaCAD Pro for Mac and PC. The news CAD software expands the ViaCAD family and delivers highly functional, low-cost 2D/3D design product for sophisticated, precise, general-purpose design. Positioned as a step up from its $100 entry-level solution, the Pro version gives designers the power to push beyond the boundaries of traditional curve, surface, and solid modeling by including deformation and warping technology which can bend, stretch, twist, and deform NURB bodies independent of design history. Additionally, ViaCAD provides sophisticated modeling features such as: associative NURBS-based surface creation and editing; history & feature based solid modeling, and constant and variable radius blending and chamfering.

Softpress Freeway 5 Public Beta with CSS menu support...

Softpress on Monday announced its Freeway 5 Public Beta Program, to publicly share its next-generation web design product. Version 5 features the ability to create CSS menus, personalized blogger templates, the ability to easily add Google content, a range of dynamic effects (fade, blind, pulsate), and accessibility provisions such as reports and views to ensure your target audience gets exactly what they need. The company said that update includes other features and improvements, such as sliced background images, background effects, new graphic effects, nested HTML lists, Save Archive, iPhoto import, color labeling, etc. The Beta will be available from the Softpress website as a thirty-day fully-working Preview. A web form will be available for feedback and problem reporting. Customers who purchase Freeway 4 after January 1, 2008 will receive a free downloadable upgrade to the new version when it is finalized.

Freeverse shows Neon Tango, Lineform 1.5 updated [u]...

Freeverse on Monday announced Neon Tango, a new original game for the Mac. The company said that a fully playable version of the game will be shown at Macworld Expo ((Booth #1243, South Hall) this week; the final version is expected to ship on February 5th. Neon Tango is described as "a psychedelic arcade shooter with thrilling action, eye-popping visuals, and a spoonful of retro sprinkled on top." According to the company, the title is "conceived with a gorgeous minimalism ... Neon Tango licks the shoot-em-up genre down to its chewy abstract center." Neon Tango will be available for $25 and will run as a Universal Binary on Mac OS X 10.4 or later. A G4-, G5-, or Intel-based Mac (800MHz or faster) is required.

Daylite 3.7 connects to FileMaker, MoneyWorks, more...

Marketcircle has released Daylite 3.7, bringing three new product extensions -- MoneyWorks, LightSpeed and FileMaker -- as well as a time-saving report distribution tool called Daylite Delivery to the productivity suite. Daylite performs a variety of business functions, including identifying and qualifying opportunities to the delivery of projects and tracking/managing business activities and outcomes. In addition, Daylite takes advantage of Apple's Sync Services to bring Daylite contacts, appointments, tasks, and reminders to iPhone, iPod, Blackberry, Palm, Windows Mobile devices and many popular cellphones.

Sneak peek at (covered) Apple booth...

Apple's booth at Macworld Expo in San Francisco's Moscone Center is already shrouded in black cloth, masking the entire area where the company will showcase new products and services introduced by CEO Steve Jobs tomorrow morning. Photos taken by setteB.IT depict the company's shrouded area beneath stage lighting, and include a security guard seated in a chair to ensure Apple's well-known secrecy. Banners hung atop the Expo entrance tout the catchphrase: "2008, There's something in the air." Photos of the event center and Apple's booth follow.

Bank of America boosts Apple target to $200...

An analyst with the Bank of America has raised his financial expectations for Apple based on sales figures, according to Thomson Financial. Scott Craig says that as a result of computer sales following the release of Mac OS X Leopard, he is raising his first-quarter earnings forecast from $1.52 per share to $1.60; revenue estimates, meanwhile, are being pushed from $9.3 billion to $9.6. For fiscal year 2008, Craig is predicting a growth of $5.04 per share instead of $4.87, and revenue of $31.7 billion versus $30.7 billion.

Insider ships Font Agent Pro 4, Server 2.5...

Insider Software has released FontAgent Pro 4 and FontAgent Pro Server 2.5, updates to its font management applications for the Mac. FontAgent Pro 4 adds "Smart Profiling" for automatic discovery of font metrics; easy font searching of font metrics, descriptors, categories and keywords; automatic assignment of fonts to categories for display and searching; dynamically updating font sets; a more intelligent install that copies and configures correct plug-ins for installed creative applications; a new window for viewing, comparing, activating and printing font outlines and metrics; built-in font integrity checking; and FontSavant auto-activation and MagicMatch relevancy ranking for activating the right fonts.

Iomega: 160GB, 250GB USB/FW portable drives...

Iomega this week introduced new higher capacity and dual interface models for its popular Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drive. The company, which will be showing its new eGo Portable Hard Drive models as well as the rest of its Apple-oriented products at this week's Expo (booth #4610, West Hall), expanded the lineup with new 160GB and 250GB models; both feature dual USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 interfaces and are available in Cherry Red, Jet Black and Alpine White. Iomega also announced today new 250GB USB 2.0-powered models in Cherry Red, Midnight Blue and Jet Black. Launched in June of 2007, the stylish 2.5-inch easily fits in a briefcase or purse; it features an elegantly curved chassis chrome endcaps, setting the eGo Drive apart from other portable hard drives.

Apple, China Mobile break off iPhone talks...

Apple and China Mobile have broken off all talks over the latter carrying the iPhone, Reuters reports. The iPhone is thus unlikely to ship to China in the foreseeable future, and unless the companies reconcile their differences, Apple will also be denied access to the 350 million subscribers China Mobile can provide. No reason for the split has been given; it has been suspected, though, that as hinted in earlier reports, China Mobile stood up to Apple demands for revenue sharing. Apple has traditionally insisted on collecting a portion of the income from each iPhone, as well as subscription fees.

IRIScan 2: portable USB scanner with OCR...

I.R.I.S. Group has announced the release of the IRIScan 2, a portable full document scanner. The compact, light sheet-fed scanner is USB-powered and fits any laptop suitcase, according to the company. Available in both Express and Executive versions, the IRIScan 2 comes with an extended suite of applications to manage paper documents, including Readiris Pro 11 PC and/or Mac, the latest versions of IRIS’ OCR software. The software will recognize documents text information and generate a PDF or an editable Office document. The scanner is designed to scan from small-sized paper documents (e.g. business cards) up to letter size documents at resolutions of up to 1200 dpi (color, grayscale or black/white). The scanner has two useful buttons, one allowing you to scan directly into Readiris, the other to launch Cardiris when you scan a business card.

Small Tree offers abcSAN iSCSI for Leopard...

Small Tree Communications has announced plans to launch its abcSAN iSCSI initiator for Macs running Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. The company said it will deliver its iSCSI initiator software with Adaptec Snap Server networked storage hardware as a complete backup solution for Mac customers. Backing up several Mac computers to a Snap Server eliminates the need to purchase several external hard drives and manage them individually, according to its partner Adaptec. Small Tree's abcSAN software allows Macs to utilize the iSCSI protocol to store their backups on Adaptec's Snap Server network attached storage systems, which can store and share files and provide dedicated storage for application servers or as part of a backup to disk solution. The appliances can securely communicate with each other to integrate distributed enterprise locations and come in a wide variety of sizes.

RadTech: restoration clinic, 7 new products...

RadTech on Monday announced its annual notebook restoration clinic alongside a fully stocked company store with special show pricing at this week's Macworld Expo. Once again, RadTech will host daily notebook restoration clinics, offering attendees the opportunity to bring their display and chassis damaged notebooks to RadTech's booth for demos of its preventive maintenance and restoration products and solutions (for a display or chassis). Conference attendees can also evaluate and test RadTech's full line of over 600 products, including seven new ones for iPhone and iPod, four new luggage and case offerings for notebooks, eight digital audio and high-definition video connectivity solutions and a new high-speed eSATA interface for the latest Apple's notebook computers.

YourView offers icon-based video tagging...

YourView this week said it will be demonstrating its video tagging application at Macworld Expo (booth W-4336 stand 21). The YourView software, based on patented technology, makes it easy to produce and share edited videos. According to the company, YourView is "the simplest and most user-friendly software for consumers to tag, edit and filter digital video." The icon-based interface allows users to tag and navigate footage in several different ways, and then share it to iMovie HD and 08. YourView also enables users to create video clips and share on YouTube, and export video to iPod touch, Apple TV and iPhone. YourView is available now for $30; a free 15-day trial is also available online.

BusyMac 2.0 syncs iCal and Google calendars...

BusyMac today announced BusySync 2.0, a free upgrade to the calendar sharing utility for iCal. In addition to its existing ability to sync iCal calendars over a LAN or the internet, BusySync 2.0 now enables users to synchronize iCal with Google Calendar, providing Web-based access to calendars from anywhere. BusySync is a Mac OS X System Preference Pane that adds peer-to-peer calendar sharing and synchronization capabilities to iCal. Designed for families and small workgroups, BusySync allows users to easily and cost-effectively share iCal calendars on a local area network and over the internet without the need for a dedicated server. Shared calendars can be viewed and edited by multiple users and changes are instantly synchronized between users. Version 2.0 also now offers bidirectional synchronization between iCal and Google Calendar.

Exibia: video scheduling for CCTV broadcast...

Plyxim today announced its video scheduling software for Mac OS X. The Exibia software allows clients in a multi-user, multi-platform environment to upload and schedule QuickTime-compatible videos to a centrally- located server. The Exibia Server, connected to a closed-circuit television system for broadcast, handles the scheduling and playback of the video content. Users of any platform can easily upload and schedule videos for playback using their web browser. Exibia Server is a Universal Binary that will work with any Mac running Mac OS X 10.4.2 or greater ands with an available video output. A G4-, G5- or Intel-processor is recommended. Pricing is $500 per Exibia Server License, which allows Exibia Server to run on a single Mac with unlimited Exibia Client and Exibia Web Client use. It is available beginning today.