SuperSync today announced availability of SuperSync 4.0, the industry leading iTunes sync utility that enables users to visually compare, access, sync, and merge iTunes libraries including music, audio files, podcasts, and video, across multiple Macintosh and Windows PCs, iPhones, iPads, and iPods.

“Users now have an ALL ACCESS PASS to their iTunes content,” explained SuperSync president Brad Lowe. “SuperSync 4.0 is your music collection’s central hub to retrieve, organize, explore, and merge all your iTunes content.”

SuperSync 4.0 is available for purchase online for as little as $29 for a 2-Pak, $39 for a 5-Pak, and $49 for 10-Pak. SuperSync 4.0 is a free upgrade for all current SuperSync owners. SuperSync 4.0 can be purchased at http://supersync.com/purchase.php.

“SuperSync simplifies managing music libraries on multiple computers and mobile devices,” says Lowe. “With SuperSync, you can easily compare any two libraries and merge the content at will.”

With SuperSync’s built-in client/server software, users can instantly retrieve a song left on your laptop, play a song on your home computer while using your office PC, or copy your entire iTunes library on to a new computer.

SuperSync 4.0 updates include:

- A brand new GUI that features larger toolbar icons and graphics throughout the application that vastly improves navigation and ability to display two libraries at once.

- A complete rewrite of the SuperSync core to improve performance an extensibility

- Compare and import tracks from another user¹s iTunes Library on the same computer with read only privileges.

- Easy duplicate elimination

- One-key Internet search on any track to find out more about any artist, movie, or song on popular web sites including on iTunes Store, YouTube, Google, Amazon, last.fm, LyricsFly and other sites.

- Improved support for connecting Apple Mobile Devices for quicker access between Macs or PCs and iPods, iPhones, and iPads.

“We’ve rebuilt SuperSync 4.0 from the ground up to make it much faster and easier to use,” says Lowe. “SuperSync 4.0 now features even faster access to multiple iTunes libraries and devices.”

By placing a copy of SuperSync 4.0 on each Mac or PC, users can easily compare and merge two iTunes libraries to see what tracks are missing, select them, and click “Synchronize” to begin merging the two libraries. SuperSync 4.0 includes a basic audio player so you can organize, sync-up, and play all of your songs directly from SuperSync, with no external player required for MP3/M4A music files.

Additionally, SuperSync 4.0 now enables users to sync music libraries from other user accounts (with at least Read Only privileges) by connecting the music libraries to eliminate duplicates; perfect for families with multiple iTunes libraries.

SuperSync lets you transfer specific tracks or all of your iTunes/iPod content to any other Mac or PC running SuperSync. SuperSync helps families reduce the likelihood of purchasing the same music or videos from the Apple Store more than once. M4B files (protected by Apple’s DRM technology) can be transferred by SuperSync but need to be played on an authorized iTunes or iPod as SuperSync DOES NOT alter or remove any iTunes Music Store DRM copyright protection.)

SuperSync 4.0 includes a web browser interface that lets you browse and view your music collection over a web server‹within a local network, or from anywhere on the Internet. Now you can play your MP3 and MP4 files from any modern web browser‹including Safari on an iPhone.

SuperSync 4.0 offers complete back-up functionality that lets users quickly and easily create a ³master library² with other computers in the house or office having a subset or mirror image. SuperSync can also recover the contents from most Apple iPods, iPhones, and iPads that are paired with an unavailable computer.

SuperSync¹s lets you back up your playlists, ratings, played counts; Plus movies, TV shows, podcasts, other audio files, and other iTunes content.

NZXT, a company built on realizing the dreams of gamers worldwide, is proud to announce Bunker, an advanced USB locking device designed for USB expansion and protection of gaming accessories. Plug in gaming mice, keyboards, and headphones and lock it with a sophisticated 20 key lock system and durable door to prevent theft at LAN parties and schools. Bunker installs easily into any open 5.25” drive bay and provides 4 additional USB ports for expanded connectivity.

“We place a great deal of importance on portability and security,” said Johnny Hou, Founder and Chief Designer at NZXT. “Whether you’re transporting your rig to a LAN party or would like more peace of mind in the dorm, Bunker will ensure that your peripherals and media remain secure.”

Bunker will be available in March for the MSRP of $24.99. For more information visit www.nzxt.com/new/products/case_accessories/bunker.

ZoomSafer announced today at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show that its innovative safe driving software is now available for Android phones, the fastest growing smart phone platform in the world.

³Governments throughout the world continue to pass new laws to combat distracted driving, but drivers still endanger themselves, their passengers, and their employers by texting, emailing and talking without using hands-free services,² said ZoomSafer CEO Matt Howard. ³Android-based smartphones are surging in popularity and we are excited to offer our patented software to Android users seeking to prevent distracted driving.²

ZoomSafer® client software installed on smartphones automatically launches when you begin to drive and automatically turns off when you are finished driving. ZoomSafer¹s patented on-device software can be configured to trigger using in-vehicle telematics or Bluetooth systems, as well as phone-based GPS services. Once triggered, the ZoomSafer software disables emailing and texting and manages other inbound and outbound communications based on client-controlled and administered policies. Popular policy options include the ability to make and receive hands-free phone calls and an auto-reply function, which sends messages to let others know that the user is driving.

Those interested in participating in the beta should click on the ³Android Beta² link on the ZoomSafer website.

ZoomSafer software is also currently available on BlackBerry devices. For more information or to participate in the Android beta, please visit ZoomSafer at CES in the Las Vegas Convention Center North Hall, Booth #2334 or at www.zoomsafer.com.

Other World Computing (OWC®) http://www.macsales.com, a leading zero emissions Mac® and PC technology company, announced today the OWC Do-It-Yourself (DIY) SSD Storage Upgrade Kit priced starting at $109.99 MSRP. Available in fourteen configurations with capacities up to 480GB, the OWC DIY SSD Kits let you upgrade your Mac or Windows laptop to the industry’s fastest solid state drives (SSDs) available on the market today.

The OWC DIY SSD Kits Feature:
Industry’s fastest SSD — OWC Mercury Extreme Pro Solid State Drive (up to 480GB) provides performance up to 47X faster than factory hard drive.
· OWC brand USB 3.0, FireWire and/or USB 2.0 bus powered 2.5” portable external enclosure to re-use the replaced internal hard disk drive.
· All supported interface cables for transferring data from the old internal drive to the new SSD, plus helpful data transfer instructions at: http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/tech_tips/sparedrive.cfm
Five piece installation tool kit with everything needed to complete the installation.
Free how-to online videos at www.macsales.com/installvideos.

Save up to 40% Versus Buying Separately – Save Money & Environment By Retasking ‘Old’ Drive as New Portable Drive

With the OWC DIY SSD Storage Upgrade Kit, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and PC laptop users can make their computers faster than new with incredible SSD performance by upgrading their computer’s internal hard drive with the industry’s fastest SSDs from OWC. They can then continue to use their ‘old’ drive by installing it into the provided OWC enclosure for a ‘new’ pocket-sized portable external drive, saving money and the environment by re-using their ‘old’ hard drive instead of throwing a perfectly good drive into a landfill or just letting the drive sit idle and unused. By purchasing the OWC DIY SSD Kit, customers will also save up to 40% versus buying all the included components separately.

Instantly Transforms Macs and PCs with Faster than New Performance
The OWC DIY SSD Storage Upgrade Kit instantly transforms Macs and PCs, allowing them to boot in seconds, load apps and files nearly instantaneously, and dramatically improve overall system responsiveness thanks to the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD included in each kit. The OWC SSD helps users supercharge their machine so older machines can perform faster than new models and new machines can achieve previously un-reached performance levels. To learn more about the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD, including performance benchmark testing results, visit: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/internal_storage/Mercury_Extreme_SSD_Sandforce/Solid_State_Pro

“OWC DIY SSD Kits are the most cost effective and comprehensive solutions available for getting the most performance from MacBooks, MacBook Pros, Mac minis, and PC notebooks,” said Larry O’Connor, Founder and CEO, Other World Computing. “With all of the included tools and helpful resources plus the external enclosure for reusing the existing internal drive, these kits have become extremely popular with consumers.”

Availability & Pricing
The OWC DIY SSD Storage Upgrade Kits are available immediately from OWC priced starting at $109.99 MSRP from: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/SATA/DIY and are compatible with Mac or PC laptop and Mac mini internal drives, Apple OS 8.6 to 9.2.2, all versions of Apple OS X, and Windows 98SE or later operating systems. Select kits include a $200 retail value disk utility software bundle. For bundle details, visit http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/solutions/software_bundle/

Ergonis Software today announced KeyCue 5.2, the company’s popular keyboard shortcut cheat sheet, now with support for iKey.

KeyCue is a handy tool for learning and remembering keyboard shortcuts. Whenever the command key is kept pressed for a while, KeyCue displays a table with all keyboard shortcuts available in the currently active application.

iKey is a popular macro program that lets you perform custom action sequences with hotkeys. As with menu shortcuts, when you have defined a lot of useful macros, remembering all the hotkeys for invoking them becomes a challenge.

Starting with version 5.2 of KeyCue and version 2.5 of iKey, the two applications work together allowing KeyCue to show the currently active iKey shortcuts. The new version of KeyCue comes with a number of enhancements and fixes, including improved compatibility with FileMaker Pro 11 and Keyboard Maestro.

“With KeyCue, it has always been possible to display and explore available shortcuts on your Mac. With iKey, you can automate repetitive actions by creating shortcuts. The cooperation with Plum Amazing allows us to make KeyCue’s functionality available also for iKey shortcuts,” said Günther Blaschek, CTO of Ergonis Software. “This combination will take the productivity of our joint customers to a new level.”

“On the Mac, there has always been a mystery what hotkeys are being used and for what purpose. KeyCue solves this mystery in a very elegant way, by showing all the available hotkeys in one place. iKey automates repetitive actions or series of actions and assigns them to hotkeys. The integration of KeyCue with iKey gives Mac users a boost in productivity. iKey owners get a way to see all their shortcut hotkeys in one place when they also use KeyCue. Together, KeyCue and iKey are a great team,” said Julian Miller, CEO of Plum Amazing.

The productivity paradox of keyboard shortcuts is that shortcuts were designed to increase productivity. However, productivity actually decreases when applications provide large numbers of shortcuts, in particular when the shortcuts are defined inconsistently across applications. KeyCue’s elegantly simple solution is to detect and display an instant overview of all shortcuts, i.e., the overall functionality of any application. Over time, KeyCue users will automatically remember frequently used shortcuts and start working more efficiently.

KeyCue has already received many awards, including a 4.5-Mice award from MacWorld magazine.

Availability and Ordering:

KeyCue 5.2 requires Mac OS X 10.4 or newer. Mac OS X 10.6 or newer is recommended. KeyCue 5.2 is a recommended update for everyone running on Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).

KeyCue can be purchased securely on the Ergonis Software website. The upgrade to KeyCue 5.2 is free for anyone who has purchased KeyCue in the last 2 years. For information about purchases, including enterprise licenses, volume discounts, and upgrade pricing offers, see http://www.ergonis.com/products/keycue.

iKey is available from Plum Amazing at http://plumamazing.com/mac/ikey.

Klipsch®, a leading global speaker manufacturer, is announcing today the second patent for the award-winning, first-of-its-kind Klipsch LightSpeaker™ audio-lighting product.

The United States Patent Office recently awarded Kadence Designs with a utility patent for a single unit bulb that combines low voltage LED lighting with sound and employs digital signal processing (DSP), which produces enhanced sound and compensates for the LightSpeaker’s size and location once installed (Patent No. US 7817016). The Klipsch LightSpeaker product received its first patent from the United States Patent Office in May of 2009 for its low voltage LED lighting and sound that can be recessed into a ceiling lighting fixture (Patent No. 7535341).

“The LightSpeaker product has been a very exciting venture for the entire Klipsch team,” said Paul Jacobs, president of Klipsch. “As the sole U.S. distributor for the product, we could not be happier with the many innovative components and technologies that are now responsible for wirelessly streaming high-quality audio throughout homes across the country.”

Announced in January 2010 to much fanfare at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the Klipsch LightSpeaker is the first product of its kind to combine efficient LED lighting and wireless ambient sound into a single unit that installs like a light bulb. The LightSpeaker system is able to deliver music wirelessly via a standalone controller. Once a music source, such as a laptop, iPod® or CD player, is connected to the controller, it wirelessly sends the sound to the LightSpeaker. The controller’s 2.4GHz wireless technology accommodates up to eight LightSpeaker products, equaling stereo sound in multiple rooms. Two music sources can be connected to the controller to establish two separate listening zones. The controller or remote controls the sources, zones, lighting levels and volume.

Not only was the LightSpeaker engineered to provide a unique, wireless audio solution, but it also presents energy savings upon implementation. Its dimmable LED bulb is rated for 40,000 hours of use and can last over 15 years. It also reduces daily lighting expenses by 80 percent, using 10 watts to produce light that’s bright enough to replace up to a 65 watt bulb. Unlike incandescent bulbs, the LightSpeaker LED bulb contains no mercury or halogen gases and produces almost no heat.

This new patent follows previous accolades the Klipsch LightSpeaker has received for its innovative approach to home audio. The product has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a CES Innovations Award, Popular Mechanics Editor’s Choice Award, CE Pro BEST Award and an Electronic House TOPS Award. Five other patents are currently pending.

MailTones, by Electric Pocket, enables iPhone users to change the email alert tone and set different tones for email messages, based on information about the sender or message subject. The company has just released an update to MailTones with even more tones to choose from and a polished, more professional look with full support for retina screen displays.

MailTones on iPhone has been a big hit, especially among professionals who now have a way of using rule-based email filters popular on more messaging-centric smartphone platforms. This enable users to distinguish high priority emails from their boss or spouse or receive custom “pager style” alerts to messages which require immediate attention. The app enables users to set a tone for a specific contact, or one for all incoming emails from a specific domain – making it easy to recognize incoming emails from work colleagues or customers. MailTones can also filter and provide custom tones for messages which include specific words in the Subject line.

MailTones now comes with a collection of 60 tones ranging from discrete bells to more audacious horns and buzzers. Many users find it useful to set their default mail tone to silent, or ignore, and use MailTones to set specific tones for higher priority people and subjects. MailTones can optionally pop up on the screen and display the sender and subject of an incoming email so users can know instantly whether or not they need to launch the Mail app to read the message.

MailTones uses Apple’s Push Notification Service, and offers simple set-up from Gmail, MobileMe and any server which supports “forward a copy” forwarding of email. It is available in the iTunes App Store for US$3.99. More information is on the MailTones website at http://mailtones.com.

Elements 9 offers much of Photoshop’s power without the huge price tag. It’s an ideal tool for most image-editing buffs—including scrapbookers, photographers, and aspiring graphic artists. But Elements still doesn’t come with a decent manual. Photoshop Elements 9: The Missing Manual (O’Reilly Media, $44.99 USD), will help you get the most out of the program, from the basics to advanced tips for both Windows and Mac.

“Elements 9 has some major new features, like Layer Masks, and the??Organizer for Mac, that are very powerful but not easy to figure out, as well as some fun new features that you may well overlook if you don’t know where to find them,” says expert author Barbara Brundage. “I hope that the book will help my readers understand how to get the most from all of them.”

• Quickly learn your way around. Customize Elements to suit your working style.
• Get to work right away. Import, organize, and make quick image fixes with ease.
• Retouch any image. Learn how to repair and restore your old and damaged photos.
• Add some pizzazz. Give images more zip with dozens of filters, frames, and special effects.
• Find your creative flair. Create scrapbooks, greeting cards, photo books, and more.
• Use advanced techniques. Work with layers, blend modes, and other tools.
• Try out your new skills. Download practice images and try new tricks as you learn.

About the Author
Barbara Brundage is the author of Photoshop Elements 6: The Missing Manual, an Adobe Community Expert, and a member of Adobe’s prerelease groups for Elements 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. She’s been teaching people how to use Photoshop Elements since it first came out in 2001. Barbara first started using Elements to create graphics for use in her day job as a harpist, music publisher, and arranger. Along the way, she joined the large group of people finding a renewed interest in photography thanks to digital cameras. If she can learn to use Elements, you can, too!

View Barbara Brundage’s full profile page.

United Efficiency, Inc. makers of tXtBlocker, a comprehensive cell phone safety service that stops texting while driving and allows customers to control when, where and how their phones are used, today announced that the service will be available at Best Buy this October.

“Partnering with Best Buy is a great opportunity to spread the message about the dangers of distracted driving, while at the same time offering a powerful, cutting-edge solution. tXtBlocker provides parents and employers peace of mind that drivers are staying focused on the road. Our goal is to help save lives by providing customers with integrated safety features for their mobile phones,” said Stan Van Meter, president of United Efficiency, Inc., the developer of tXtBlocker.

tXtBlocker limits phone functions above 15 mph and disables texting and web browsing. While you’re driving, tXtBlocker limits phone calls to SafeList contacts and 911. It also sends an automatic message to incoming texts and calls, letting others know that it is not safe to send a text or return a call because you are driving and you will reply when able.

tXtBlocker offers many extraordinary features that parents will love. Alerts can be set for exceeding preset speeds and arriving or departing from mapped locations. The service allows account administrators to set up No-Cell Zones around schools or offices to manage phone use by location and on a schedule. In addition, administrators can use tXtBlocker to view a phone’s location on an interactive map to see where their phones are at any given time.

Alibre Inc. www.alibre.com, the developer of the world’s most affordable professional 3D design solutions, today announced that they will be showing the next generation of their award-winning 3D software, Alibre Design 2011, at the 1st Annual World Maker Faire NY, held at The New York Hall of Science in Queens, NY on Sat., Sept. 25-Sun, Sept. 26. Maker Faire NY is a unique experience where thousands of “Makers,” DIY enthusiasts, and spectators come together to learn, share and create.

Sneak Peek of Alibre Design 2011

The winner of Maker Faire Detroit’s “Editor’s Choice” 2010 Award, Alibre is providing exciting new ways for people to create and design in 3D. “Alibre Design lets ‘Makers’ take their vision and turn it into a reality in record time by digitally prototyping or printing their 3D models, enabling ordinary people to become entrepreneurs and set-up their own businesses in their homes and garages,” said J. Paul Grayson, Chairman and CEO, Alibre Inc.

Being sneak-peeked at the World Maker Faire in NY, Alibre Design 2011’s new core technology improvements and features include a full port of their code to C#, making it the first native 64-bit version — important for demanding users that want to create designs of enormous size and complexity. Other new features include the ability to convert a solid part into sheet metal, virtual intersection dimensioning, an on-demand framework for detailing drawings, automatic part re-orientation improvements, new hole presets, multi-plane creation, and keyboard shortcuts.

Dustyn Robots to Appear at Alibre Booth – Co-Creator of SADbot

Alibre user, Dustyn Roberts, Founder of Dustyn Robots, will be appearing at the Alibre booth at Maker Faire NY to discuss how she uses Alibre Design to create robots, including the SADbot (Seasonally Affected Drawing Robot), a solar powered, interactive drawing machine created in partnership with Ben Leduc-Mills for the Eyebeam window gallery in New York City. SADbot uses two 18.5” x 13′” solar panels to power two stepper motors which allow the control of a pen in two dimensions. SADbot takes input from people walking outside by using a set of sensors which can tell how much light they’re getting (photocells). SADbot knows if someone is covering up one of the sensors, and can change its drawing behavior accordingly. Info at: http://eyebeam.org/projects/sadbot. Roberts’ new book “Making Things Move: DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists,” talks about how Alibre allows anyone to make real-world engineering products.

Visitors to the Alibre Booth, Fabrication Tent at Maker Faire NY, can also register for a free copy of Alibre Design 2011 Personal Edition (a $99 value). Alibre Design products are priced from $99-$1199. For more information on Alibre or to download and install a free trial of Alibre Design, see www.alibre.com. For more information on Maker Fair NY, see: http://makerfaire.com/newyork/2010/.