Popular “image editor for humans” Acorn for Mac was updated to version 3.0 a few hours ago, and after trying the app with some images I had on my desktop I can say it’s one the best updates I’ve seen on the Mac platform recently. Acorn 3.0 not only brings a series of refinements and optimizations that make the app faster, more reliable and overall more stable – it also introduces a whopping 50 new features that aim at enhancing your experience with Acorn without overwhelming you with functionalities unlike some other pricey image editor for OS X and Windows we know very well. Plus, if you’ve been an Acorn user for a while you know you can expect elegance and minimalism from the app’s interface that’s always readable and accessible. I am a big fan of Acorn so maybe I’m a little biased in judging the app, but I think we can all agree version 3.0 brings a terrific new feature set that turns Acorn into an easy to use & powerful image editor.

Among the new features, layer styles: with drop shadow, inner shadow, bevel and more Acorn allows you to apply effects to layers and revert back at any time with a simple CMD+Z. PSD import and export have been improved, there are new filters to play with, and a cool “Multistop Live Gradients” technology that enables you to apply more than 2 color gradients to your text or images. Text support, indeed, was improved in version 3.0: you can apply gradients on text and shapes, rotate text upside down to get to the layout you want, and you can convert text into Bezier shapes, too. Other new features in this 3.0 update include “Instant Alpha” to automatically remove unwanted pixels from an image, and a Quickmask functionality to select and move layers around by just hovering over them with your cursor. The Quickmask works really well, and combined with the layered screenshot capabilities of Acorn it makes for a great tool for Mac bloggers (see screenshot after the break). Last, Acorn 3.0 can export layered documents to PSD and PDF.

You can check out the full release notes here. Acorn 3.0 is a huge update that’s temporarily available at the discounted price of $29.99, but users who bought the app from the Mac App Store when it was released a few months ago will get the update to 3.0 for free. Once again, Acorn is the image editor for humans, and an excellent alternative to Photoshop or Pixelmator for OS X users. Read more

Following last week’s report about Angry Birds Seasons getting an “amazing update” before Easter, the Rovio developers have posted the first screenshots of the update – which unsurprisingly will feature lots of eggs, bunnies and, overall, 15 new levels for iPhone and iPad users. Rovio will also release 3 new levels on the Facebook version of the app – you should have lots to play this Easter if you’re a die-hard Angry Birds fan.

Meanwhile, Rovio keeps giving out interesting details about future developments of the Angry Birds franchise through a series of replies to their customers on Twitter. The latest tidbit comes in the form of a tweet that confirms the company is still working hard on a cross-platform sync solution (Angry Birds Sync, perhaps) that should allow users to easily switch devices without losing their Angry Birds progress and records. This was possible before with a bit of manual hacking on iOS devices, but real iOS - Android - Facebook sync would be perfect for Angry Birds. Rovio says sync should come before summer.

[via TouchArcade]

As reported last week, Microsoft today released the first Service Pack update for Office for Mac 2011, which brings improved security and a number of fixes to patch “vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code”. The update is available now on Microsoft’s website.

The SP1 also brings integration with Apple’s Sync Services for calendars, contacts, tasks and mail notes through Outlook. These sync features will work with any iPhone or iPad plugged in a computer and synced with iTunes, but unfortunately Microsoft couldn’t implement MobileMe support for Outlook Calendars as MobileMe will stop using Sync Services in May. However, it should be possible to sync a Google Calendar back to iCal, and then from iCal to Outlook to achieve some sort of online synchronization.

You can find the Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 1 here.

During a meeting in Beijing between Brazialian’s President Dilma Roussef and Hon Hai Precision’s founder Terry Gou, the company has announced subsidiary Foxconn is planning to invest $12 billion to start producing monitors and displays for mobile devices in Brazil. The news has been reported by several Brazilian publications (Globo Economia, Folha) as well as Reuters Africa. Foxconn assembles a variety of electronic products for Apple in its Chinese facilities, including iPhones and iPads.

According to the reports, the formal announcement was made by Roussef, whilst Brazilian minister of Science and Technology Mercadante has been negotiating with Foxconn for more than three months to convince the company to invest $12 billion throughout the next 5 years. The project would involve the recruitment of 100,000 new employees (including 20,000 engineers) as Foxconn already has three factories in Brazil to assemble products for Sony, Dell, and HP. Both articles from Globo Economia and Folha.com report minister Mercadante said during the meeting that Foxconn will begin assembling iPads for Apple in Brazil starting November 2011. This follows speculation from the past few days where we reported Apple was considering opening its own facility in Brazil to assemble iOS devices – but at this point it appears that the rumors were actually pointing at Foxconn planning an investment in the country to include – among others – production of iPads. Read more

The popularity of iOS devices and the explosion of the App Store as a distribution platform for indie devs have opened the door to clever (and unexpected) uses for iPhones and iPads Apple didn’t think of in the design stages inside their labs at Cupertino, or perhaps simply put on the shelf waiting for third-party developers to come up with their own alternative solutions.

We’ve seen iPads being used as cash registers and medical tools, let alone iPhones paired with the Square credit card reader for quick secure payments or apps to create music. And just like Square launched on the market a device that goes straight into an iPhone’s or iPad’s headphone jack to accept payments on the go, Apptwee believes an iOS device can become an infrared remote compatible with hundreds of televisions thanks to a small dongle that, once configured with an app, will allow you to control your TV using multitouch. Once inserted in your device’s headphone jack, Apptwee’s Ri infrared communicator will take care of all the settings behind pairing and IR codes thanks to an app (available in the App Store) that supports “225 most popular brands, over 72 Different device types, and over 845 devices”. Apptwee says new ones are being added every day, and your current television should work out of the box with the Ri. The device is not a “learning remote” – meaning that you can’t “teach it” to work with your TV like you can do with many universal remotes sold at electronic stores. However, the Ri app has a colorful interface and lots of functionalities – you can easily switch between TV sets and even create a list of “favorites” to access at any time.

The Ri dongle is available at $29.99 on Amazon, and it currently ships only in North America. The app is available in App Store for free, and it’s universal. Check out a demo video below. [via TUAW]
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