Orange sells 90,000 iPhones, goal of 500K...

France's Orange wireless service provider will reach its goal of 100,000 iPhones a little late, past its earlier anticipated target of the end of last year. January saw the total count reach 90,000 units, as compared to 70,000 in the month prior. CNN Money reports that half of the purchased units were going to new Orange customers. For the rest of 2008, Orange hopes to sell between 400,000 and 500,000 units.

First Look: Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor...

Anyone who uses a computer should learn to type, but not everyone has the time to learn. To teach typing, Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor offers a self-paced program that guides users from learning proper finger placement to measuring typing speed and accuracy. While designed for beginners, the program can also help intermediate typists improve their skills as well. Multiple users can create their own accounts and the program tracks the progress of each person. Ten Thumbs Typing tutor can even adapt to different keyboard layouts (such as the Dvorak layout), as well as foreign language keyboards.

Vancouver, Montreal Apple store designs finalized...

Apple's Vancouver store has finally been sectioned off in the Pacific Center mall, and Montreal residents can expect Canada's first two-storey retail location. IfoAppleStore reports that the new 6700 square-foot location sits on the second level of the mall, on the Granville side south of Dunsmuir. The space, formerly rented by clothing retailer Holt-Renfrew, was divided up among several shops that will be opening their doors within the next year. Apple has not provided a date at which they expect construction to be finished.

QuickTime 7.4.1 improves security...

Apple today released QuickTime 7.4.1 for Mac OS X Panther, Tiger, and Leopard as well as Microsoft Windows. The update beefs up security while improving compatibility with third-party applications. Users who don't update to QuickTime 7.4.1 could visit a maliciously crafted website that could lead to unexpected application termination, or arbitrary code execution.

Briefly: ScanSnap S510M review...

In brief: We've posted a Fujitsu ScanSnap S510M review, Polk Audio products will soon show up in Apple stores, Northwestern students used iPhones to gauge Super Bowl ads, Nielsen has Yahoo!/Microsoft merger metrics, and Tessera has acquired Fotonation ... We have posted a review of the Fujitsu ScanSnap S510M, which seems to be the one exception to various negative assumptions about scanners. It is a small scanner, about the size of a loaf of bread (11.2 in. × 6.2 in. × 6.2 in.), and weighs only 5.9 lb. The paper feeder can hold 50 sheets and it can scan a variety of paper sizes, including 8.5 x 14.17-inches (216 x 360 mm) down to 2 x 2-inches (50.8 x 50.8 mm). At best, the ScanSnap can scan color documents at 600dpi, black and white at 1,200dpi, and Duplex at 0.6 pages per minute to 1.2 images per minute.

Apps: Yojimbo, Tidy Up!

• Yojimbo 1.5.1 ($40) a maintenance update that includes fixes for various reported issues to this popular, easy to use information organizer. Yojimbo 1.5.1 requires Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later, and is compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). Yojimbo stores different data types: text notes, passwords, Web bookmarks, product serial numbers, PDFs, images, and web archives. Data input into Yojimbo follows familiar Mac user interface gestures such as copy-and-paste, drag-and-drop, a Quick Input Panel, or PDF Services from the Print menu. [Download - 10.4MB]


• Tidy Up! 1.3.3 ($30) search for duplicate files and packages; by the owner application, content, type, creator, extension, date modified, date created, name, label, visibility and more. You can also search by the tag, duration and bit rate of MP3s and AACs audifiles, search the content of the iTunes, iPod and iPhotdatabases, search the messages of Mail and synchronize deletions with iTunes, iPhotand Mail. The new release adds compatibility with iTunes 7.6, adds three new filters for the creation of smart reports. It also has the ability to report items that do or do not end with numbers, and to report the smallest- or largest-sized files for each duplicate group. [Download - 8.4MB]


• File Stitcher 2.0 ($15) a utility that provides users an easy way to merge either MP3 files or text files together. To use File Stitcher, simply drag and drop files into the window and click the "Stitch the files" button to start the process.  A progress bar will show the process, and after MP3s are merged, the user has the option of editing the ID3 tags for the new file. The new release is a Universal Binary for Mac OS X and adds compatibility for Leopard. [Download - form]


• DX Toolbox 3.2.0 ($25) radio propagation / conditions analysis and forecasting tool for amateur radio operators, shortwave listeners, and other radio enthusiasts. This version adds: automated updating of the three propagation; forecasting displays as the cursor is moved around the world map.; Updates for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard; Improvements to the user interface and several bug fixes.[Download - 5MB]


• PDF Converter Professional 5 ($100) PDF desktop alternative to Adobe Acrobat. This release has a set of new capabilities and improvements, all designed to simplify and streamline the way people work with PDF. It also has support for the emerging XML Paper Specification (XPS) document format.
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Fusion DMC manages bio-pharma documents...

A company called Tourtellotte Solutions has released Fusion DMC, a multi-platform document management system. The technology is specifically aimed at the bio-pharmaceutical industry, and lets users author, review and approve documents in a collaborative process. Both regulated and non-regulated documents can be processed, and users interact with a single, unified graphical interface for all of the program's different components. The dashboard can be viewed locally and remotely.

JS8 ships ImageLobe effect tool...

Developer JS8 has released the first edition of ImageLobe, an image modification application. The software allows users to quickly add a variety of Leopard's Quartz Composition effects to photos and illustrations, such as "City Lights," "Color Pencil," "Posterize" and "X-Ray." There are over 40 in total, and JS8 notes that as Apple and third-party developers release more effects for Leopard, these will automatically become available in ImageLobe.

Internet Cleanup 5.0 adds 'Device Sentry'...

Smith Micro Software today released Internet Cleanup 5.0 for Mac (site not updated), the latest revision of its privacy protection software. The update features 'Device Sentry,' a new option designed to stop 'pod-slurping' and other forms of data theft by preventing malicious users from mounting iPods or other external devices without authorization. Internet Cleanup 5.0 also offers a revised user interface, and full compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. The software is priced at $30, requiring Mac OS X 10.4.1 or later.

iPhone upgraders encounter SIM problems...

Some shoppers who have decided to upgrade from their current 4 or 8GB iPhones to the 16GB model are experiencing problems, anecdotes indicate. Although users should be able to insert their old SIM card into the new phone, and resume calling after identifying themselves as an existing AT&T customer, confusion reigns over whether or not the new phone automatically adds another two years to a person's AT&T contract. While some people have claimed no extension whatsoever, others have been angered to discover an extra obligation.

Apple posts Facebook, KBB iPhone ads...

In the wake of yesterday's 16GB upgrade announcement, Apple has released two new TV commercials for the iPhone. Both concentrate not on the device itself, but rather on popular websites that have been given customized iPhone interfaces. The first is dedicated to Facebook, and shows a person browsing news, profiles and pictures; it claims that the iPhone is perfect for people who cannot stop checking Facebook at their computer, since they can now check it anywhere.