Even with a perfectly fine piece of software for reading Final Draft scripts on the iPad already available in the form of FDX Reader, some users were still waiting for an “official” solution from Final Draft themselves. Well, they need wait no longer — or at least won’t have to after February 16.

That’s right, the company is releasing its “official” app to read scripts written in Final Draft on your iPad. For some of you, this won’t seem like a big deal. For those of us who use Final Draft daily for work and have alwyas wanted a way to read scripts on our iPads with the same fonts, page numbering and formatting as on our computers, this is a great development.

Some of the apps features will include:

• Works with Final Draft version 8 FDX files – the Hollywood industry standard script file format
• Imports scripts using email, iTunes File Sharing, or Dropbox
• Perfectly paginates to US Letter and standard European (A4) page sizes
• Precisely displays production scripts, including colored production pages, locked pages, scene numbering, and more!
• Scripts accurately scale to actual draft size

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One of the biggest game releases this year is the upcoming Mass Effect 3, the sequel to the mega hit franchise that blends Sci-Fi action and RPG immersion. The game is already being penciled in for game of the century and fans are at a fever pitch in anticipation, so bringing the game to iOS devices seems a smart way to capitalize.

The just announced Mass Effect Datapad is still clouded in some mystery, but we do know it will be an iPad exclusive. Best estimation is that the app will work as sort of a strategy guide, or some sort of informational support for your missions.

Also, EA has announced Mass Effect Infiltrator for all iOS devices, a third person shooter that is meant to feed into the main game’s Galaxy At War system. The mobile game is set around freeing prisoners and gaining evidence against Cerberus, both of which will have a direct impact on your single player experience.

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Back in the early days of non-linear video editing Avid was the king. Their software was used in pretty much every situation and they dominated the post-production landscape for film and TV.

Then, Apple came out with Final Cut Pro and things changed. Plus, Avid ended up having some issues of its own which hindered it further.

Now, with Apple having issues with Final Cut Pro X, Avid has released its first application to compete with Apple’s iMovie mobile. The app is called Avid Studio for the iPad and is currently available in the App Store for an introductory price of $4.99. After 30 days it will increase to $8.

With this app just being released, its too early to tell if it will knock Apple’s iMovie off its perch as the iOS editing app du jour. However, it does have some nice features and a few iMovie doesn’t have, so chances are people will at least give it a chance — especially at that low price point.

You have to give Apple credit, they do release updates to their OS X and iOS operating systems pretty frequently. And when they do, the updates usually fix quite a few issues.

Case in point this week is the company’s most recent update to Mac OS X, the other operating system that doesn’t run the iPhone or iPad. This latest update brings the software to version 10.7.3 and sports a slew of enhancements and bug fixes.

Here’s a list of the major ones:

• Add Catalan, Croatian, Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Slovak, Thai, and Ukrainian language support
• Address issues when using smart cards to log into OS X
• Address compatibility issues with Microsoft Windows file sharing
• Address an issue printing Microsoft Word documents that use markup
• Address a graphics performance issue after sleep on some earlier iMacs that use ATI graphics
• Resolve a Wi-Fi connection issue when waking from sleep
• Address an issue that may prevent Safari from opening before joining a wireless network
• Fix a potential issue authenticating to an SMB DFS share
• Include RAW image compatibility for additional digital cameras

OS X 10.7.3 is available now via Software Update. However, we recommend downloading the larger, but usually far more stable, Combo Updater and using that. It usually works out better.

For those of you who were disappointed when Apple completely revamped its flagship video editing software Final Cut Pro and released the somewhat controversial and feature-poor Final Cut Pro X, it seems the company has listened to your complaints. Well, at least some of them.

This week Apple released an update to Final Cut Pro X, bringing the app to version 10.0.3. The latest update adds several features that will most likely please editors including new advanced chroma keying, support for XML 1.1 and beta broadcast monitoring for Thunderbolt devices and PCIe cards.

However, the most significant addition seems to be the software’s new multicam editing feature. This feature enables editors to sync up to 64 angles of video and photos in one timeline “automagically.” Or, if you want to get technical, the software uses time of day, timecode, markers, or audio waveforms to sync. Although, we think “automagically” sounds cooler.

The Final Cut Pro v10.0.3 update is available now and is free for all existing Final Cut Pro X users. New users can purchase the software from Apple’s Mac App Store for $299.99 after a 30-day free trial.

Check out the full press release from Apple after the jump.

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Big day for Apple and the education market today as our favorite fruit-flavored tech company revealed at an event in New York City that it will, as we discussed last week, be getting into the textbook publishing business in a big way. Apple’s VP of marketing Phil Schiller announced several new components of the initiative including iTunes U as a separate iOS app, which gives users of Apple’s new iBooks 2 iOS app access to textbooks from several top publishers to be read on the iPad.

The new textbooks are modern and interactive instead of plain old paper. They support multitouch gestures and also feature dictionary look-up integration and annotation. Students can even highlight text, take notes and create virtual note cards to reference later while studying. Wish this was around when I was in school.

At launch, high school-level textbooks are available in the iBookstore and priced at $14.99 or less. Expect more textbooks to come along in the near future. The first group of publishers with textbooks available for the iPad include Pearson, McGraw Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

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As most people know, many of the electronic components sold in the US are manufactured overseas because of cheaper labor costs. This has always been a mixed blessing as it provides more affordable products, but also prevents more jobs from coming to American shores. Though from the look of things, not many American laborers would be lining up for a job at Foxconn.

Foxconn, one of the world’s largest electronic component manufacturers for companies such as Apple, Dell, HP, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, reportedly dealt with the threat of a mass suicide from some 300 workers from the Foxconn Technology Park in Wuhan, China from the WantChina Times. Gameplanet also reports that these workers were specific to the XBox 360 line.

The dispute reportedly began after workers went to company officials looking for wage increases. Foxconn denied the request and offered employees the option to either continue working at the current wage or be given a dismissal package. Many opted for the latter. Upon this, Foxconn reneged on the offer.

Microsoft’s Phil Spencer, in response to the situation was quoted, “Foxconn has been an important partner of ours and remains an important partner. I trust them as a responsible company to continue to evolve their process and work relationships… That is something we remain committed to – the safe and ethical treatment of people who build our products. That’s a core value of our company.”

Later, Microsoft released a general statement regarding the incident stating, “Microsoft takes working conditions in the factories that manufacture its products very seriously, and we are currently investigating this issue… We have a stringent Vendor Code of Conduct that spells out our expectations, and we monitor working conditions closely on an ongoing basis and address issues as they emerge. Microsoft is committed to the fair treatment and safety of workers employed by our vendors, and to ensuring conformance with Microsoft policy.”

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I find it funny that even with everything happening at CES in Las Vegas this week one announcement from Apple about an event next week and the entire tech news world shifts forces to them. Sorry CES, nobody seems to care all that much about you.

To what event am I referring? Well, as I mentioned last week, Apple was rumored to be planning an education-related event for sometime in January. As you can see from the pic above, they’ve now sent out invitations to said event and it’s definitely scheduled for the 19th of this month.

Now that we know the event is education-related does that mean Apple is announcing a new textbook initiative with major publishers to bring school books to the iPad? I think it might. I also think we might see a bit more during this event such as new publishers added to the magazines available in the Newsstand app as well as some new publishers added to iBooks.

Sadly, I would doubt Apple will also announces a new iPad next week. I think they will wait on that one for another month or two. Of course, whatever happens we will find it all out come January 19. Should be interesting.

Call of Duty Elite is a service that allows the most hardcore Call of Duty players to lose themselves in some pretty advance stat tracking and multiplayer progression. Now those gamers have even less of a reason to spend any time away from their account with the launch of the iOS app for the service.

The new app will be free for all registered users, and is available on all iOS platforms today. An android version is going to be hitting soon as well.

Immerse yourself in Call of Duty® wherever you go with the Call of Duty® ELITE mobile app. Evaluate your multiplayer progress with in-depth stat analysis. Formulate new strategies based on your recent performance and remotely incorporate edits to your loadouts. Push your changes directly into Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3 so you’re always ready to play.

Check out a list of features and some screen shots after the jump.

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It’s only the first real work day back from the New Year’s holiday (aka January 3rd) and already speculation about Apple and its upcoming products is well underway. This time around that speculation is directed at a media event insider sources are saying will take place in New York at the end of this month.

According to AllThingsD, the event won’t be centered around an iPad 3 announcement or have anything to do with a the television Apple is supposedly developing. In fact, as the event will reportedly be hosted by Apple’s Senior VP of Internet Software Eddy Cue, it’s much more likely it will concern publishing or advertising.

That’s probably a pretty good bet considering New York is still regarded as the advertising and publishing capital of these United States. Let’s assume, based on this info, the event will center on publishing and advertising.

That means we might expect an announcement about new magazines joining Apple’s Newsstand initiative or maybe we can look forward to an updated app that combines iBooks and Newsstand into one, much like Amazon does with its Kindle app for iOS. That would be nice.

Whatever ends up being announced, you can be sure some people will be happy and others will lament that the event wasn’t all about a brand new iPad 3. Rest assured people, Apple will release an iPad 3. It’s just a matter of time.

Until then, try to enjoy your iPad 2 and remember there are people much less fortunate than you are out there. I’m talking about, of couse, those people still using the original iPad.

Poor bastards.

Telltale games is a classy organization. They produce character driven adventure games that capture the spirit of classic point and click gameplay while still feeling modern and relevant today. Telltale also has a great ability to nail licensed franchises, really getting the tone right in a wide variety of genres.

Law and Order fans should be thrilled to know that the guys at Telltale are bringing their brand of puzzle based adventure gameplay to the mean streets of New York. Telltale announced details on their blog about the upcoming iOS game:

“Law & Order, one of television’s longest running franchises, is coming to iOS on December 22 in the form of Law & Order: Legacies! Incorporating fan-favorite characters from throughout the entire span of Law & Order, including Olivia Benson, Lennie Briscoe, Rey Curtis, and Jack McCoy, Law & Order: Legacies allows players to effectively play the legendary TV show!”

More details after the jump.

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It didn’t do it as fast as the iTunes store did for IOS apps but still, this milestone is pretty impressive. What am I talking about? Well, according to Apple, its Mac App Store has has now served more than 100 million downloads to eager customers who appreciate not having to buy a boxed product.

”In just three years the App Store changed how people get mobile apps, and now the Mac App Store is changing the traditional PC software industry,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, in a statement. “With more than 100 million downloads in less than a year, the Mac App Store is the largest and fastest growing PC software store in the world.”

See, pretty impressive. With numbers like these you have to wonder what exactly Apple has made from this? Like the iOS store, you can bet the company gets a percentage and, if rumors are to be believed, a pretty decent one.

Not bad Apple, not bad. At least we don’t have to worry about you going out of business like we used to back in the 90s. Let’s keep it that way, okay?

Click through for the full press release from Apple about this milestone.

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