This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

Whether you’re looking to eliminate duplicate files, go paperless, or turn your Mac into a Windows machine, this VentureBeat offer will take care of what you need. And you’ll be able to donate a portion of your purchase to one of three great charities.

We’ve partnered with 10 of the world’s finest Mac App developers to bring you the second-ever Name Your Own Price Mac Bundle. You’ll pay what you want for 3 different Mac Apps that will make you faster and more efficient on your Mac including: HoudahSpot, Elmedia Player Pro, and PhotoBulk. But if you pay more than the average price, you’ll also receive Gemini, Mac Blu Ray, Musictube, Paperless, Snapz Pro X, CrossOver XI, and DiskTools Pro.

We’ve chosen three charities, Child’s Play, World Wildlife Fund, and Creative Commons, that we believe make a significant positive impact across the globe. 10% of your entire purchase will go to help whichever one of the charities you choose.

Now here’s everything you can get in this offer (Note: The regular price for each app is listed in parentheses):

1. DiskTools Pro ($80): DiskTools Pro is a total system utility for the Mac, and the only one that allows you to schedule when to perform important tasks such as file defragmentation, backup and bad sector repair. With DiskTools Pro there is also no need to boot from a DVD, CD or separate volume in order to find and repair bad sectors, defragment files and perform many other tasks on the startup volume.
2. CrossOver 12 ($60): Ever wished you could run your windows applications and PC games on your Mac? CrossOver has you covered and now you can easily install your windows software right onto your Mac without a Windows license, without rebooting, and without a virtual machine. Your Windows applications and games integrate seamlessly on your Mac OS X and run alongside your other Mac applications.
3. Snapz Pro X ($69): Snapz Pro X allows you to effortlessly record anything on your screen, saving it as a QuickTime movie or screenshot that can be e-mailed, put up on the web, or passed around however you want.
4. Paperless ($50): With Paperless you can simply scan your receipts, bills, statements, warranty cards, business cards – any paper document and the OCR function of Paperless recognizes the data and adds it to the Details Window. Create a neat and clean digital filing system all right in the application. And that’s just scratching the surface of what Paperless can do…
5. Mac Blu-ray Player ($60): This Mac Blu-ray Player is the first universal media player software for Mac and is acclaimed for being one of the best in its class. If you’ve ever experienced the clarity and vividness of blu-ray quality video you understand what a difference it can make with your video experiences. If you haven’t…you need to. The quality of the video is so amazingly crisp and clear it almost feels like your world is inside your TV.
6. Gemini ($10): Think of the thousands of files on your computer that are taking up all your personal space. Now think about how many of those files have duplicates? Pictures, music files, screenshots, word documents, etc. Now thanks to Gemini these duplicates can easily be detected and deleted to free up the space on your Mac.
7. Musictube ($11): There’s finally an application that allows you to turn YouTube in a Jukebox. Add, store, and replay any YouTube songs you come across and play them back with this wonderful application. Listen to millions of songs on YouTube in a convenient way, much like using a traditional player. Musictube plays album tracks in their original order and integrates album covers, artist pictures and lyrics.
8. HoudahSpot ($29): HoudahSpot is a powerful and efficient search mechanism eliminates the need for time-consuming filing and managing of documents. Can’t find an important file? Worry no more because HoudahSpot is here to save the day. Along with being able to instantly find your files you can also retrieve the files you didn’t know you still had, and you can save more of your precious time.
9. Elmedia Player Pro ($20): Elmedia Player is a convenient multifunctional media player for Mac OS X, which can play a great variety of formats. All Mac users will find its media library easy-to-use and already familiar to them from iTunes. You can create, manage and delete playlists. Also try out smart playlists: you can create them by choosing special parameters, and then Elmedia Player will organize files matching your criteria automatically.
10. PhotoBulk ($10): PhotoBulk helps you apply a text/image watermark, resize, and optimize batch of images or photos in just one click!

But this deal won’t last for long. Pick up The Name Your Own Bundle from the VB Store now and get 10 essential Mac apps at an incredibly low price – while helping a worthy cause – while you can!

This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

This VentureBeat offer offers the top voice recognition software out on the market – Dragon Dictate for Mac 3 — and for 50% off the regular price…just $100!

Now that Dictation is part of the latest Mac OS, you can do a lot more with voice-to-text. But you can’t exactly execute commands. At least not without an app like Dragon Dictate that can take dictation to a whole new level.

Here are just some of the features of Dragon Dictate 3:

• Ignite Productivity with Fast, Accurate Dictation: Say words and watch them appear on your computer screen — three times faster than typing — with up to 99% recognition accuracy right out of the box. Correcting or revising your dictated text is simple with a new, more powerful correction interface that lets you quickly edit words or phrases.
• Ignite Convenience Using Your Favorite Mac Applications: Dragon Dictate for Mac 3 goes beyond simple speech-to-text, and gives you control in more applications so that you can simply speak to do more than ever before. You can use it with virtually any Mac application, including Microsoft Word and Excel, TextEdit, Notepad, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and even Mail.app. Want to post to Facebook or Twitter by voice? You can do that.
• Ignite Proficiency and Ease of Use Right Out of the Box: Thanks to the new interactive tutorial’s simulations, you can learn and practice good dictation, correction and editing habits so that you can create text efficiently within just a few minutes.
• Ignite Freedom and Comfort at Your Mac: Say goodbye to repetitive stress injuries. Use your Mac in a comfortable, ergonomic way without being tied to your keyboard and mouse. Open applications or folders, select menu items, click or move the mouse, press keys, switch from one application to another or create custom voice commands to execute multiple steps by voice. Use your Apple iPhone, iPad or iPod touch (4th gen) or your compatible Android device as a wireless microphone over Wi-Fi for optimal convenience. Wideband Bluetooth support delivers outstanding wireless performance with no training required.
• Ignite Mobility for Productivity On the Go: Dictate into a Nuance-approved digital voice recorder or use the free Dragon Recorder app to capture high-quality audio files using your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch (4th gen). Dragon Dictate will transcribe the recorded audio files when you connect to your Mac. These mobile recording capabilities enable you to capture thoughts from anywhere, at any time while they’re still fresh in your mind to produce detailed, high-quality reports, papers, proposals, meeting minutes, and more.

The digital version of Dragon Dictate allows you to use your Mac’s built-in mic or an external mic to help you deliver demands to your Mac. (Please note: The digital version doesn’t include an external USB headset but the boxed version does. Click here to buy the boxed version – shipping will cost $9.95.)

Tell your computer to open your email and write an email and that’s what it will do. Need to draft up an email for work or write a paper for school? Don’t bother typing it because Dragon Dictate will help you get it done in lightning speed. Just read your text aloud and watch the magic appear before your eyes right on your computer screen.

You’ll get all of this with this great offer for just $100 – but you won’t be able to get it for long! Head over to the VB Store now and take dictation on the Mac to new heights today!

This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

It’s not very often you can find a series of apps that has 16 utilities in one bundle, but this VentureBeat Store offer has 16 utilities all in one application! MacKeeper has got you covered in more ways than one. You can get it for just $29 – and use it for two of your Macs to boot!

The feature set that MacKeeper offers is almost limitless!

Security Features

Internet Security: Protect your Mac from all threats coming from online: phishing, identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, malware etc.
Anti-Theft: Use the most advanced technologies to locate a stolen computer and get it back.

Optimization Features

Update Tracker: Keep the latest versions of all apps in one place and makes the updating process much more convenient.
Login Items: Optimize and speeds up your Mac by setting up the applications to open upon login.
Default Apps: Define which application will open each file type.

Data Control Features

Data Encryptor: Prevent unwanted access to your files by using double password protection and AES encryption standards.
Files Recovery: Restore deleted and trashed files from your Mac’s hard drive. Supports a wide range of file formats both for HFS+ and NTFS systems. Is able to recover files from external storage devices.
Backup: Create and schedules backups of important files on your Mac’s hard drive as well as external devices and online storages.
Shredder: Delete files or folders without any chance to recover them.
ZeoDisk: Share, backup, and sync all your files online.

Cleaning Features

Fast Cleanup: A set of cleaning utilities that completely removes all kinds of junk from your Mac.
Smart Uninstaller: Completely removes unneeded applications leaving no junk behind.
Disk Usage: Scans data on your Mac and shows the largest files on the hard drive.
Duplicates Finder: Look for file copies that take up space on your Mac’s hard drive and delete them with the click of a button.
Files Finder: Scan your Mac to find any file you’re looking for.

We’ve also got different coverage options for you to choose from. Click here to get MacKeeper Basic ($20 – license covers 1 Mac) or click here to get MacKeeper Premium ($35 – license covers 3 Macs).No matter which of the options you choose, there’s no denying that there is so much packed into this one application that it is really a bundle unto itself.

But this self-contained bundle called MacKeeper won’t be around for long – at least not at 51% off the regular price – so head over to the VB Store and get it while you can!

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 RT and Mac OS are getting a lot closer, thanks to a particularly enterprising feat of jailbreaking.

Programmer Steve Troughton-Smith found a way to get an early version of Mac OS running on Microsoft’s Surface tablet, reports the The Verge. The hack, which builds on a jailbreak tool released by hacker Netham45 earlier this week, allows the Apple operating system to run inside Windows RT.

While there don’t seem to be many immediately useful applications for the Mac OS hack, the entire project is an interesting proof of concept for what can be done with both Windows RT and the Surface. Vibrant hacking communities often develop around easily hackable devices, even if the devices themselves don’t sell particularly well. Just take a look at the HTC HD2, which hackers love because they can’t install just about anything on it.

One thing, however, stands in the way of  the Surface matching the status of the HD2: Secure Boot, which prevents Windows RT devices from sideloading custom operating systems (and limits the Surface homebrew scene to the relatively limited hacks like the one you’re reading about now).

Microsoft itself hasn’t been too concerned with the hack, and in fact seems to be somewhat fond of it. “We applaud the ingenuity of the folks who worked this out and the hard work they did to document it,” Microsoft said on Tuesday, slightly alleviating concerns that it will patch the exploit — at least for now.

This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

Stocking your Mac app up with apps that add value to your experience is something many of us – ot not all of us – do. But how many of us stock up on apps that maintain that level of experience? I’d wager to guess that the number is far, far lower.

The VB Store is giving those who are part of the few to become part of the many, as we unveil The Mac Utility Bundle, which will supercharge your Mac with 5 stellar Mac apps – including Parallels Desktop 8. And you’ll get it for 75% off the regular price…just $59.99!

Here’s what you’ll get in this power-packed bundle:

• Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac: This is the #1 rated utility to run Windows on your Mac, and with Parellels Desktop 8 you can run Windows on your Mac without rebooting. The easy-to-use interface allows for a seamless experience on both the Mac and Windows side of things, and this version sports over 90 new features. (You can even run Linux side-by-side with Mac OS X.) If you’ve wanted to run another OS on your Mac, then this application is the one for you.
• Snagit for Mac: With Snagit’s easy-to-use tools, you can quickly create images and videos to give feedback, solve a problem, or simply show off something cool. There are so many features built-in to Snagit, such as the ability to enhance images with stamps, text, and effects, the ability to organize your screen captures with easy auto-storing and tagging features, and much more. It really is the ultimate screen capture app!
• VirusBarrier X6: Want protection from viruses, Trojan Horses, and all other known Mac malware? ViruxBarrier X6 has got you covered. It’s also the only antivirus for Mac that provides solid protection against network threats, with a two-way firewall, network protection, anti-phishing, anti-spyware features, and more.
• MacOptimizer: MacOptimizer does a whole lot of optimizing. It gets your Mac back in shape by cleaning your system caches, optimizing your Mac’s speed, speeding up Mail client, freeing up inactive memory, and so much more!

But htere’s more to this VB Store offer. The first 3000 buyers will get a copy of Rubbernet, an app that keeps an eye on all network-enabled apps running on your Mac so you can take the necessary actions to resolve the problem. Rubbernet provides real-time monitoring so you can keep an eye on the exact state of your live network connections. It’s a $36 value…and if you get in on this deal early then you’ll get it for absolutely free.

But we’re not done yet…

Even if you decide to take ap ass on this bundle – although we have no idea why you’d do that – you can score yourself another free app: MacX iPad Video Converter. Thanks to our friends over at Digiarty we’re able to hook you up with a killer Mac app that allows you to convert all of your videos to play on your iPad at no cost to you. That’s a price anyone can get behind.

The Mac Utility Bundle is a rock-solid deal that won’t last for long. Save 75% off for a limited time and get this VB Store offer while you can!

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

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Apple announced this morning that it will be holding its next annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) June 6 – 10 in San Francisco, teasing that it will reveal the future of iOS and Mac OS at the event.

While primarily an event for developers, Apple has also made major announcements at past WWDCs. Last year, Apple officially unveiled the iPhone 4 at the event, so many are expecting that we’ll catch a glimpse of the iPhone 5 this time around.

The event may also be a sign that Apple will indeed delay the release of the next version of the iPhone’s software, iOS 5.0, until the fall, as we reported yesterday. Apple typically holds an iOS preview event in early spring — last year it showed off multitasking in iOS 4.0 at the beginning of April. Today’s WWDC announcement is the first we’ve heard of Apple showing off new iOS features for this year — and if we have to wait until June to get our first glimpse at iOS 5.0, a fall release seems more likely.

In addition to iOS and iPhone announcements, the 2011 WWDC will also feature over 100 technical sessions to help developers get the most out of Apple’s platforms, as well as Apple’s annual Design Awards for iPhone, iPad, and Mac OSX apps.

Calling all mobile executives: This April 25-26, VentureBeat is hosting its inaugural VentureBeat Mobile Summit, where we’ll debate the five key business and policy challenges facing the mobile industry today. Participants will develop concrete, actionable solutions that will shape the future of the mobile industry. The invitation-only event, located at the scenic and relaxing Cavallo Point Resort in Sausalito, Calif., is limited to the top 180 mobile executives, investors and policymakers. Request an invitation.

That’s pretty progressive thinking for Apple, which has previously kept mum about cooperating with security researchers, also known as hackers, who have from time to time caused the company embarrassment by breaking the security of its systems and then telling the world about it. In this case, the company is seeking feedback from the hackers in advance so that it can patch any holes in the security of the operating system before it is released. If it’s true, that’s a big step because it means that Apple is willing to trust the hackers with its code.

“I wanted to let you know that I’ve requested that you be invited to the pre-release seed of Mac OS X Lion, and you should receive an invitation soon,” said a letter sent by Apple to an unknown number of security researchers. “As you have reported Mac OS X security issues in the past, I thought that you might be interested in taking a look at this. It contains several improvements in the area of security countermeasures.”

Dino Dai Zovi (pictured on left) and several other researchers tweeted about being invited to try out Lion. Charlie Miller (pictured on right), another security researcher, told Cnet that Apple has never reached out to security researchers in this way. If the researchers sign a non-disclosure agreement with Apple, they won’t be able to talk about what they find until the product is released. That muzzles any criticism until Apple has time to fix any flaws.

“At least security crosses their mind now,” Miller said.

Both Dai Zovi and Miller are authors of the book The Mac Hacker’s Handbook and have become famous over the years for breaking the security on Apple’s products.

You know that Apple wasn’t happy about that book. But it is very common for big companies to hire people like Miller and Dai Zovi to undertake “penetration testing,” where the company sanctions them to break the company’s security so that it can be improved. The Linux operating system is constantly improved through the open-source process. But Apple has operated more as a closed company when it comes to security matters. Apple could afford to put security as a lower priority for many years because hackers always went after Windows instead. But now that Apple’s products are more popular, it is becoming a target.

Google employees tell the Times that the company started promoting the idea of moving away from the Microsoft operating system in January, following the recent attacks on its Chinese operations. Since then, many workers have migrated from Windows, and new employees are being given the choice of Mac or Linux computers. “Getting a new Windows machine now requires CIO approval,” said one employee.

Windows has long been the bane of  IT workers, thanks to the fact that it’s vulnerable to many types of viruses and malware, and is often targeted by hackers due its large install base. The attack that originated from China used malware that targeted Windows PCs running Internet Explorer 6 — an old version of the web browser that’s particularly vulnerable to hacking. Apple’s Mac OS, and Linux operating systems, are far more secure in comparison to Windows.

When faced with an attack like this, most organizations would normally promote updating Windows computers away from older browsers, and remind employees about the importance of running Windows Update to keep their computer as secure as possible. Google has apparently taken that a step further by moving employees away from Windows altogether. I wouldn’t be surprised to see other organizations follow suit, particularly since most IT professionals would prefer not to deal with the daily headache of Windows problems.

In addition to being a security effort, the move away from Windows would also help the company to promote the use of its own products among employees. Its Chrome OS, for example, would be a worthy competitor to Windows on netbooks and ultra-portable laptops.

When asked for comment about the news, a Google representative told VentureBeat, “We’re always working to improve the efficiency of our business, but we do not comment on specific operational matters.”