Jumsoft has launched a new set of themes for Apple's Keynote presentation software, Keynote Themes FX 5.0. The update introduces five new themes, all with coordinating fonts, frames, bullets and motion backgrounds. Ten more designs are carried over from the previous version. The five new ones are Air Blobs, Crystal Clear, DNA Chain, Glass Beads and Neuro Threads.
Mimo introduced what it touts as the industry's lowest priced auxiliary monitor on Monday, the 7-inch iMo Pivot Touch. It has a display with 800x480 resolution, 350cd/m2 brightness and a 400:1 contrast ratio. It can act as a secondary display for desktop computers, or as a standalone device, displaying digital photos and videos.
Rogue Amoeba says it has released v1.0.2 of Airfoil Speakers Touch, a companion app for the company's Airfoil desktop client. The former streams various forms of Mac audio to handhelds. The update makes only one change, which is to restore images of Apple hardware and software to in-app displays.
Quickly turning around its pocket camcorders, Creative today added a third-generation Vado HD to its range. The new model carries a slicker design but more importantly addresses the image and audio quality that's sometimes been an issue for these cameras: it has a new sensor with better light sensitivity and manual exposure. A stereo microphone output gives it much cleaner input.
Samsung has announced it will soon replace the existing STORY Station range with a a new STORY Station Plus external hard drive line, add a new 2TB model and update the entire range with the inclusion of an eSATA interface. Compared to the original STORY drives which only have a USB 2.0 connection, the new 3.5-inch STORY Station Plus drives have the ability to transfer data at a 3-gigabit per second speed, or about six times faster than the outgoing models. A USB 2.0 port remains for wider compatibility.
Apple is set to launch two new TV ads in response to Verizon's criticism of the company's 3G network. Both ads focus on the iPhone's ability to maintain a voice call while simultaneously using features that require a data connection. The first sequence shows the iPhone interface as the user checks an e-mail, changes reservations and orders flowers without ending each call. The second spot features an iPhone user talking to a friend while checking movie times, sending the theater location and checking out a restaurant.
Google today gave Android a further edge by porting Google Maps Navigation to Android 1.6 phones. The update gives the T-Mobile G1, myTouch 3G and some international devices support for the turn-by-turn navigation system that was previously limited to the only Android 2.0 device, the Motorola Droid.
Ableton and Cycling '74 have launched Max for Live, a development tool for Ableton's Live 8 production suite. Users can build original audio components, which help to produce more distinct sounds during performances and recordings. Once finished, components are integrated back into the Live interface.
AT&T today countered efforts by Sprint, Verizon and Virgin Mobile in mobile data by adding the Data Connect Pass as an alternative to its subscriptions. The packages give occasional travelers the option of using 3G through a USB stick or similar device without having to commit beyond what they need. It also avoids unnecessary overage fees and lets users top up for the amount of necessary time if they run out of bandwidth before the usage period expires.
Intouch has released what it calls the first Internet-capable digital photo frame, the 7-inch IT7150. Apart from its ability to playback photos and videos, the frame can connect to Internet radio stations, weather information and social networking sites thanks to its Wi-Fi connection. It also carries an 800x480 resolution and a touchscreen that brings a virtual QWERTY keyboard.
A new worm has begun targeting iPhones and iPod touches, however it only appears to attack jailbroken devices, according to the security company Sophos. The worm, which works in a similar way to the recent 5 Euro scam, was reportedly discovered after a Dutch ISP noticed unusually high volumes of data traffic.
Speaking in an interview, Phil Schiller -- Apple's senior VP of worldwide product marketing -- has responded to ongoing criticisms of the App Store approval process. A number of developers have complained that it may take weeks or months for an app to be approved. Even after such delays an app can still be rejected, sometimes for what may be considered arbitrary criteria.
Despite being more than a month away from the public, Intel's Core i9 (Gulftown) platform has already been tested and is shown to be potentially as fast as its design implies. The move from four to six cores has translated into an almost perfectly linear increase in speed for those apps that can use multiple processors. In tasks such as 3D modeling and video encoding, a 2.8GHz Core i9 is found by PCLab to be roughly 50 percent faster than a Core i7 at the same clock speed.
The economy has bounced back quickly enough that the computer business will have seen a slight boost this year, Gartner said in a study published on Monday. The analyst group estimates that shipments will have overall climbed 2.8 percent in 2009 to about 298.9 million computers. It marks a sharp reversal from a forecast as late as September that had computers sinking 2 percent. A recovery of the sort is credited mostly to strong sales in the summer and "modest" anticipated growth in the summer.
With teasing having only just begun for the event, a brochure has already leaked for Apple's Black Friday sales. The document reveals conservative discounts for various products, for instance dropping the prices of iMacs to between $1,098 and $1,898. MacBook Pros are slated to cost between $1,098 and $2,448.