This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

The Mac has long been considered the computing device that is more intuitive than the rest – but even then it can be tough to get the most out of it on a regular basis. Thanks to our latest VB Store offer, we’re going to make that challenge a little less daunting.

We’ve brought together 9 apps that can take your productivity on the Mac to new heights…and we’re offering it at a fraction of the regular price. You can get The Mac Essentials Bundle for only $49.99 – that’s 84% off the price you’d pay for all of these extraordinary apps on their own.

Here’s what you’ll get in The Mac Essentials Bundle (regular price is in parentheses):

• TechTool Pro 6 ($100.00): With TechTool Pro 6, everything is easily accessible from a single interface. One-click diagnostics will scan critical CPU, memory, video hardware and more to identify impending problems to help you prevent costly repairs. So while it’s easy-to-use, TechTool Pro provides comprehensive testing that also delivers for the Mac professional.
• Path Finder 6 ($40.00): Get the app that John Siracusa calls “It’s a file browsing tour de force.” With a multitude of features on both the basic and advanced end, ranging from tabbed browsing and a dual-pane interface, to an ACL and Hex editor, Path Finder 6 has limitless ways to increase your productivity! While making file management easy and refined, Path Finder 6 allows you to interact with your files on your own terms.
• TextExpander 4 ($35.00): This app is a must for anyone wanting to level up their productivity on the Mac. Whether it’s a simple email signature or several paragraphs of a standard response, you’ll love how easy it is to use TextExpander to avoid typing the same thing over and over. TextExpander saves your fingers and your keyboard, expanding custom keyboard shortcuts into frequently-used text and pictures.
• MacHider ($10.00): You can put your Mac on lockdown so when you’re not around to protect it MacHider will make sure all of your documents and files are safe and sound. Its main algorithm makes sure all your personal data will be hidden in password-protected folders and stored in a safe place. That means you’ll never worry intruders accessing your private files ever again – thanks to MacHider.
• Dropzone 2 ($10.00): Dropzone 2 has been called “The Swiss Army Knife of Productivity Apps” – and for good reason. Dropzone 2 lets you drag a file onto the menu item and your fully customizable grid of destinations flies smoothly out using core animation – simply place the file onto a destination and Dropzone 2 will take care of the rest, whether you’re installing an app, uploading a file to an FTP server or sharing your photos on Flickr. It’s a powerful app– and one worth having close at hand to keep you – and your Mac – moving.
• AirServer ($15.00): Ever wished you could stream content from your iPhone right to your Mac? Now you can…thanks to AirServer. It allows you to receive AirPlay feeds, similar to an Apple TV, so you can stream content or Mirror your display from your iOS devices or Mountain Lion. AirServer now delivers full 1080p HD mirroring and is faster and more powerful than ever.
• CameraBag 2 ($20.00): Redesigned from the ground up, CameraBag 2’s Analog Engine pairs a full suite of photographic tools with the high quality filters and vintage simulations Nevercenter is known for. Its key innovation is a stunningly straightforward approach to layering, rearranging, and endlessly tweaking all of these effects in realtime. The 100+ fully-adjustable filters and 25+ professional controls are only the beginning, forming the palette from which you can find, and create, your own styles.
• MacPilot 5 ($20.00): Scared of the terminal or can’t be bothered to remember those commands to customize your system the way you want? MacPilot 5 is your digital saviour. Now you can easily enable and disable hidden features in Mac OS X, optimize and repair your system, and perform numerous routine maintenance operations with the click of a button!
• IPNetMonitorX ($60.00): IPNetMonitorX combines an intuitive Macintosh user interface with deep Mac OS X knowledge to provide essential problem solving details from a single convenient application. If you’ve ever struggled with why some Internet feature isn’t working, or just want to explore and understand better, IPNetMonitorX is here to help. The built-in description for each tool clarifies underlying network concepts as it guides you to answer real world questions about how your internet is working.

We’ve got more information about all the apps in this bundle over at the VB Store page.

So what are you waiting for? For just $49.99 you can get this amazing deal from VentureBeat – so don’t delay. Time stops for no one – but the savings on these great apps will. Grab this deal before it is gone for good!

This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

Your Mac has a ton of useful capabilities – as well as hidden features. So don’t let those features go to waste. – especially when the ability to work faster on your Mac is there. The potential is right at your fingertips.

With this VB Store online course (featuring over 18 lectures and 1.5 hrs of content), you’ll be on the road to unparalleled Mac efficiency and effectiveness – and for just $29!

Here’s what you’ll learn in this course:

• Desktop-centric philosophy
• Window navigation training
• How to master Finder
• Ninja Chrome techniques
• Super Evernote shortcuts
• Key system-wide shortcuts
• Super booster programs
• …and much more!

With this course you’ll start to take advantage of your Mac’s hidden powers, and learn all of the instant OS X shortcuts to get more done in less time. And you’ve got one of the top trainers out there to help you on your way.

Your instructor is Tharyn Taylor. Taylor works at Mindvalley, the world’s most innovative digital media company. He’s worked in a special computer lab for his university where he trained hundreds of students how to use various desktop programs, like Word, Excel, Dreamweaver, iMovie, and much more – and he’s here to make sure you learn everything you need to know about your Mac.

So grab this VentureBeat offer for only $29 before it passes you by. Isn’t your time worth it?

This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

The Mac has long been considered the computing device that is more intuitive than the rest – but even then it can be tough to get the most out of it on a regular basis. Thanks to our latest VB Store offer, we’re going to make that challenge a little less daunting.

We’ve brought together 9 apps that can take your productivity on the Mac to new heights…and we’re offering it at a fraction of the regular price. You can get The Mac Essentials Bundle for only $49.99 for a limited time – that’s 84% off the price you’d pay for all of these extraordinary apps on their own.

Here’s what you’ll get in The Mac Essentials Bundle (regular price is in parentheses):

• TechTool Pro 6 ($100.00): With TechTool Pro 6, everything is easily accessible from a single interface. One-click diagnostics will scan critical CPU, memory, video hardware and more to identify impending problems to help you prevent costly repairs. So while it’s easy-to-use, TechTool Pro provides comprehensive testing that also delivers for the Mac professional.
• Path Finder 6 ($40.00): Get the app that John Siracusa calls “It’s a file browsing tour de force.” With a multitude of features on both the basic and advanced end, ranging from tabbed browsing and a dual-pane interface, to an ACL and Hex editor, Path Finder 6 has limitless ways to increase your productivity! While making file management easy and refined, Path Finder 6 allows you to interact with your files on your own terms.
• TextExpander 4 ($35.00): This app is a must for anyone wanting to level up their productivity on the Mac. Whether it’s a simple email signature or several paragraphs of a standard response, you’ll love how easy it is to use TextExpander to avoid typing the same thing over and over. TextExpander saves your fingers and your keyboard, expanding custom keyboard shortcuts into frequently-used text and pictures.
• MacHider ($10.00): You can put your Mac on lockdown so when you’re not around to protect it MacHider will make sure all of your documents and files are safe and sound. Its main algorithm makes sure all your personal data will be hidden in password-protected folders and stored in a safe place. That means you’ll never worry intruders accessing your private files ever again – thanks to MacHider.
• Dropzone 2 ($10.00): Dropzone 2 has been called “The Swiss Army Knife of Productivity Apps” – and for good reason. Dropzone 2 lets you drag a file onto the menu item and your fully customizable grid of destinations flies smoothly out using core animation – simply place the file onto a destination and Dropzone 2 will take care of the rest, whether you’re installing an app, uploading a file to an FTP server or sharing your photos on Flickr. It’s a powerful app– and one worth having close at hand to keep you – and your Mac – moving.
• AirServer ($15.00): Ever wished you could stream content from your iPhone right to your Mac? Now you can…thanks to AirServer. It allows you to receive AirPlay feeds, similar to an Apple TV, so you can stream content or Mirror your display from your iOS devices or Mountain Lion. AirServer now delivers full 1080p HD mirroring and is faster and more powerful than ever.
• CameraBag 2 ($20.00): Redesigned from the ground up, CameraBag 2’s Analog Engine pairs a full suite of photographic tools with the high quality filters and vintage simulations Nevercenter is known for. Its key innovation is a stunningly straightforward approach to layering, rearranging, and endlessly tweaking all of these effects in realtime. The 100+ fully-adjustable filters and 25+ professional controls are only the beginning, forming the palette from which you can find, and create, your own styles.
• MacPilot 5 ($20.00): Scared of the terminal or can’t be bothered to remember those commands to customize your system the way you want? MacPilot 5 is your digital saviour. Now you can easily enable and disable hidden features in Mac OS X, optimize and repair your system, and perform numerous routine maintenance operations with the click of a button!
• IPNetMonitorX ($60.00): IPNetMonitorX combines an intuitive Macintosh user interface with deep Mac OS X knowledge to provide essential problem solving details from a single convenient application. If you’ve ever struggled with why some Internet feature isn’t working, or just want to explore and understand better, IPNetMonitorX is here to help. The built-in description for each tool clarifies underlying network concepts as it guides you to answer real world questions about how your internet is working.

We’ve got more information about all the apps in this bundle over at the VB Store page.

So what are you waiting for? For just $49.99 you can get this amazing deal from VentureBeat – so don’t delay. Time stops for no one – but the savings on these great apps will. Grab this deal today!

Windows Blue should arrive sometime in mid 2013 … and take Microsoft away from massive, world-changing OS upgrades every three or four years to something much more Apple-ish: evolutionary updates every single year. Reporter Mary Jo Foley posted today about the news.

The new approach will inevitably include user interface updates and changes; every new release does. But it also means that whatever changes are present will be smaller and easier for users to adapt to — a problem Microsoft has encountered with Windows 8.

In addition, Microsoft will likely adopt Apple-style pricing: $20-30 per point release, rather than a big $100+ hit for each new system upgrade.

Massive new operating system updates are risky for Microsoft. Some fail — see ME or Vista — while some succeed. Windows 95 and 7 are probably the best examples of that, while Windows 8 is still up for debate. They’re also dangerous for enterprises, which have to upgrade thousands of PCs to new software if they want to stay current, incurring millions of dollars in cost and significant business risk as the inevitable challenges of software compatibility arise.

The point-release strategy has worked well for Apple, which is known for quick adoption curves of new operating systems … and which has not released a real clunker of an operating system since, perhaps, the very first version of Mac OS X.

Windows Blue will also focus on synchronizing the Windows Phone and Windows Desktop platforms, according to the Verge, which has already been partially achieved with Windows 8 and Windows Phone.

One persistent rumor I’m wondering whether we’ll see more of in Windows Blue: an ad-supported operating system. In other words: a free update if you consent to having ads on your computer. We’ve already seen some of that in Windows 8 apps — more of a trial balloon than a serious attempt.

But the rumors have been around since 2005 … so an ad-supported Windows may be the PC equivalent of an Apple flat-screen TV: always-rumored, never real.

Dota 2 is heading to Asia.

“Freemium” publishing guru Nexon (MapleStory) is partnering with Valve Corporation (Portal, Half-Life) to publish the Defense of the Ancients sequel in both Korea and Japan.

The original Defense of the Ancients, is a free-to-play mod for the real-time strategy game, Warcraft III. This birthed the “multiplayer online battle arena” genre of games such as League of Legends. Upon release, the original quickly established a presence in e-sports tournaments worldwide, including BlizzCon and the Cyberathlete Amateur and CyberEvolution leagues.

A 2008 Gamasutra feature, “Defense of the Ancients – An Underground Revolution,” noted that “DOTA is likely the most popular and most-discussed free, nonsupported game mod in the world, judging by the numbers.”

Considering that DOTA also was featured at the annual World Cyber Games (operated by the eponymous South Korean company and sponsored by South Korean stalwart, Samsung Electronics), it’s no wonder the sequel found its way to Asia.

Dota 2’s release date is TBA, but it’s already created a bit of a stir. Enigmatic designer “IceFrog“ will contribute to the game, which uses Valve’s proprietary Source engine.

Interested parties can sign up for a “Free Dota 2 Invite” on the official blog: http://www.dota2.com/survey/experience/

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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CD Projekt Red held a special event today in which it announced its plans to support Apple’s Mac OS X operating system.

The company’s Good Old Games digital-download service now offers 50 different games for download on Mac computers. You receive eight games for free just for signing up, including Beneath a Steel Sky, Ultima 4, and Tyrian 2000. GOG.com is also having a special promo for both PC and Mac users that will cut the price for six big games in half. The promotion includes SimCity 2000, Little Big Adventure, Crusader: No Remorse, Postal: Classic and Uncut, Theme Hospital, and The Witcher Enhanced Edition.

If you have both a Mac and a PC and don’t want to buy a game just for your Apple hardware, GOG has thought of that. All Mac games on the service contain both a PC and Mac version at no extra cost.

The GOG team produced a faux-commercial to celebrate the announcement:

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

It’s been 10 days since Russian hacker Alexey Borodin unleashed hell for Apple with his iOS in-app purchasing exploit. But after successfully countering some of Apple’s attempts to shut him down, Borodin is calling it quits on his iOS hack. Instead, he’s going to focus more on his Mac OS X exploit, unveiled over the weekend.

“By examining Apple’s last statement about in-app purchases in iOS 6, I can say that currently game is over,” Borodin wrote in a blog post, referring to Apple’s fix for developers against his exploit. “Currently we have no way to bypass updated APIs. It’s good news for everyone, we have updated security in iOS, developers have their air-money.”

Borodin went on to say that he will continue running his iOS exploit service until iOS 6 comes out. Apple has offered developers early access to some APIs to secure their in-app purchases, but it won’t be able to widely fix Borodin’s exploit until iOS 6 is released.

He hinted that he has something in store for Apple’s Mac OS X app store. That exploit is similar to the iOS in-app hack, but it also requires a separate app called “Grim Receiper” to function. Apple hasn’t yet responded to Borodin’s OS X hack, but I would imagine that it would be tougher to fix, since the desktop OS is more open than iOS.

As I’ve written previously, Borodin is taking advantage of Apple’s shortsightedness when it comes to in-app purchases. Instead of tying purchases directly to customer accounts or devices, Apple’s in-app purchase receipts can be easily reused with Borodin’s method, as ZDNet’s Emil Protalinski points out. On iOS, Apple also sent customers’ Apple IDs and passwords in plain text, which could allow the hacker to easily collect login credentials. It’s unclear if that’s the case for the Mac exploit.

Via The Next Web

While Apple was hard at work coming up with a fix for Russian hacker Alexey Borodin’s iOS in-app purchasing exploit, the wily hacker has unveiled a similar exploit for in-app purchases on Mac OS X.

The latest hack, which affects OS X 10.7 and above (earlier versions don’t support in-app purchases), also relies on tricking Apple’s very basic receipt system for in-app purchases.

Borodin’s latest exploit method doesn’t differ too much from his original iOS hack: You simply need to install two system certificates, change your DNS settings to point to his server, and use a new app call “Grim Receiper.” The app is the only unique element of the Mac OS X hack, and it serves to keep track of receipts for you to reuse, according to Borodin.

Basically, Borodin is taking advantage of Apple’s shortsightedness when it comes to in-app purchases. Instead of tying purchases directly to customer accounts or devices, Apple’s in-app purchase receipts can be easily reused with Borodin’s method, as ZDNet’s Emil Protalinski points out. On iOS, Apple also sent customers’ Apple IDs and passwords in plain text, which could allow the hacker to easily collect login credentials. It’s unclear if that’s the case for the Mac exploit.

Apple last night announced that iOS 6 will fix Borodin’s iOS hack, and earlier this week it started attaching unique device IDs (UDIDs) to in-app purchase receipts. For now, developers need to authenticate in-app purchase receipts before they get sent to Apple’s servers.

Apple initially tried to cut off Borodin from its servers using his IP address and urged his ISP to shut down his website. As VentureBeat’s security guru Meghan Kelly tells it, Borodin was eventually able to relaunch his website via an off-shore ISP and figured out another way to steal in-app purchases without using the App Store.

We’re interested in seeing where this game of cat and mouse goes. We’ve dropped a line to Apple for further comment on the news.

Borodin is now accepting donations via Bitcoin, after PayPal stopped accepting donations to him.

Apple has announced that its Worldwide Developers Conference has been set for June 11-15 and will take place at San Francisco’s Moscone West, the company said today.

Some speculation has suggested that Apple could move back to its original schedule of launching the iPhone in the summer at WWDC. But based on tempered expectations for the current quarter with earnings of $8.68 a share and revenue of $34 billion, it’s unlikely the company would plan for an iPhone release this summer and it will almost certainly shoot for a fall release.

Instead, we expect WWDC to be a lot like last year, where software is in the spotlight. Specifically, we expect Apple to announce iOS 6.0 and launch Mountain Lion OS for Mac.

“We have a great WWDC planned this year and can’t wait to share the latest news about iOS and OS X Mountain Lion with developers,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s SVP of Marketing, in a statement. “The iOS platform has created an entirely new industry with fantastic opportunities for developers across the country and around the world.”

Activities at WWDC 2012 will include:

-more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers on a wide range of technology-specific topics for developing, deploying and integrating the latest iOS and OS X technologies;

-100 hands-on labs staffed by more than 1,000 Apple engineers providing developers with code-level assistance, insight into optimal development techniques and guidance on how they can make the most of iOS and OS X technologies in their apps;

-the opportunity to connect with thousands of fellow iOS and OS X developers from around the world—last year more than 60 countries were represented;

-engaging and inspirational lunchtime sessions with leading minds and influencers from the worlds of technology, science and entertainment;

-Apple Design Awards which recognize iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps that demonstrate technical excellence, innovation and outstanding design.

Tickets for WWDC 2012 sold out just a few hours after the announcement this morning. Apple has barred the re-sale of tickets. Developers who are unable to attend will be able watch all of Apple’s technical sessions free on its developers video page.

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The apple of Apple’s eye, Twitter, will soon be the default social graph and social network for all iOS and Mac devices, as Facebook once again gets the shaft.

Apple has integrated Twitter into OS X Mountain Lion, the next-generation operating system for Macs announced Thursday and slated for summer release. The decision has profound implications for Twitter and will, should recent history repeat itself, help it dramatically increase signups and tweet volume across the world.

Twitter will be baked into the new Mac operating system in much the same way that is weaved into the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad experience today.

After signing into Twitter once, members can tweet links, photos, and content from the share button built into Apple’s Safari, Notes, Reminders, Photo Booth, and iPhone apps, and from third-party apps that update to support the integration. Twitterers will also receive notifications for Twitter mentions and direct messages on the desktop, and notifications will appear in the new Mountain Lion Notification Center.

If this all sounds trivial, consider that Twitter is attributing an enormous amount of its recent new user and tweet volume growth to iOS integration.

“iOS 5 makes Tweeting easier than ever,” a Twitter spokesperson told VenterBeat Thursday. “Since the launch we’ve seen signups more than double and the number of Tweets sent increase over 90 percent.”

Apple released iOS 5 with Twitter integration in October 2011. Four months in, Twitter is clearly reaping the benefits of being the favored social network. As I said at the time, “It’s as if Apple reached down in a God-like fashion, grabbed Twitter with its almighty hand, and lifted it up to the social networking heavens.”

Flickr and Vimeo may also soon experience the advantages of having a friend in a high places. The photo and video sites are also integrated into the Mac OS X Mountain Lion sharing experience.

Noticeably absent, however, is Facebook. Apple and Facebook, we hear, are actively attempting to mend their complicated relationship, but neither is talking openly about Mountain Lion integration.

“iOS is an important platform for Facebook and we have a good relationship with Apple, working closely with their developer relations team on our Facebook and Messenger apps,” a Facebook spokesperson told VentureBeat. “As you know, we don’t comment on what we might or might not do in the future.”

This post was updated at 5:03 p.m. Pacific with a comment from Facebook.

Photo credits: Mara earthlight/Flickr and Apple

Some interesting evidence that such work is taking place emerged today in an academic paper written by a former Apple intern.

Apple Insider reports that Tristan Schaap, who is now an Apple engineer, wrote a thesis in 2010 on his 12-week job as an intern with Apple’s Platform Technologies Group, a division of the Core OS department.

The thesis was held secret because it contained sensitive information but was published by the Netherlands Delft University of Technology, according to iMore.

The paper said that Schaap worked with the group to get Darwin, described as the “lower half” of Apple’s Mac OS X operating system, to boot on an ARM processor from Marvell. The paper reported some partial success on the project.

Normally, the Mac OS X runs on a beefy Intel x86 architecture processor. ARM processors are more power efficient and are used in mobile phones and tablets; but they’re moving up in the world. If Apple moves the Mac OS X to ARM, it would likely have a more versatile and cheaper platform.

Nvidia, Texas Instruments, Marvell, Broadcom and Qualcomm are all working on ARM-based chips that are powerful enough to run Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system. So it wouldn’t be a stretch for Apple to try to port its software to run on those chips as well.

But there is no indication that Apple’s explorations into ARM were ever meant to be used in an actual product. Schaap is now employed as a CoreOS engineer, according to his LinkedIn profile.

[Image credit: ZDNet]

When Apple released Lion back in July, the decision to only offer Lion as a 4GB download was seen as groundbreaking and a new standard for future software releases. But it peeved some customers who don’t have fast Internet or use an ISP with bandwidth limitations. Apple’s only solution to that problem was to let customers download it using a Wi-Fi connection at the Apple Store. Of course, not everyone lives near an Apple Store.

The thumb drive ships in between one and three business days and you must have at least 7GB of free hard drive space to install it. Users that install with the thumb drive will not have access to the Lion Recovery option and will need to re-install the OS with thumb drive if they run into problems.

While I appreciate Apple trying to provide its customers with an alternate option for installing Lion, the $69 price tag for the drive seems a little high. The OS costs $29.99 to download directly from the Mac App Store. Because it’s a direct software download, there’s no materials cost and no chance you’ll be re-installing the OS. But making customers who can’t download it pay more than double for the OS is a tad unfair.

Still, OS X Lion adds in more than 250 new features including native full-screen applications, multi-touch gestures, an improved mail client, Mission Control, Launchpad and a resume function. For more info and some impressions of Mac OS X Lion, check out our Top 10 reasons to upgrade to Lion and Hands On with Lion.

Have you upgraded to Lion yet? What are your impressions of the OS?

Plex

LG’s NetCast Entertainment Access System gives direct access to online video and audio content. Many of Plex’s current users attach a Mac Mini to their TV, but this is an expensive solution in comparison to having Plex built into the TV.

Using the same media software across multiple devices means users will be able to starting to watch a show on their iPhone and then picking up where they left off on their TV set. Plex also does some clever things like converting content from different codecs into the correct format for iOS when users try to access the content on, say an iPad. Plex’s iOS version launched a couple of days ago to a hyperbolic review on CrunchGear and a more measured one on PCWorld.

Plex started out as a hobby project for the company’s founders, who wanted to design the perfect video system for their own use, and it shares some history with Boxee, since both products were originally based on the same open source project, XBMC. Plex’s strategy differs from Boxee in that the company aims to get its software embedded into third-party entertainment products like TVs rather than making its own branded boxes.

Developers can create plugins using the Plex software development kit to add new content sources. The Plex user experience remains the same across all devices, regardless of the number or variety of plug-ins being used. It’s quite a lot of work for a company like LG to add support for a single content source like NetFlix to its web-connected TVs. Plex enables TV-makers to give viewers access to multiple (and extensible) content sources.

One of the problems with online video content is that many of the big content owners like HBO or NBC have their own PC and/or mobile applications, whereas most consumers would prefer a one-stop-shop where they can access all their favorite shows regardless of the source. There is also a big divide internationally. Services like Hulu and Netflix are only available in the US and have European equivalents like LoveFilm and SeeSaw so TV-makers have to integrate different content sources for different markets. Software like Plex might help with both of those issues.

Plex CEO Cayce Ullman declined to give me exact figures on user numbers but said that users are in the six figures. He did give me some data from a user survey of 3,000 Plex users (admittedly a year old) which shows that 54% used Plex daily and for more than 6 hours a week. 20% cut off or reduced their use of cable or satellite services because of Plex. Ullman also told me that Plex expects to announce partnerships with a couple of set-top vendors in the next few months. Plex was founded about 6 months ago in San Francisco, is privately funded and has 10 employees.

Getting noticed is a challenge for everyone building apps. Join us at DiscoveryBeat 2010, and hear secrets from top industry executives about how to profit in the new cross-platform app ecosystem. The conference takes place on October 18th at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. Go here for conference details, or to apply to the “Needle in the Haystack” business contest. Early-bird tickets are available until September 15.