Feral Interactive is once again letting it be known that when Mac gamers fight, there are no skirmishes or police actions. For us, it’s war—Total War—as evidenced by the announced that Empire: Total War Gold Edition will be launched for the Mac this spring.

Developed by The Creative Assembly, Empire: Total War Gold Edition sets the acclaimed series’ real-time tactics and turn-based strategy gameplay elements in the 18th century. The Industrial Revolution, America’s struggle for independence, the race to control Asian trade routes, and the globalization of war on land and sea all factor into the players’ fortunes as they build a nation into a dominant world power.

Players command entire fleets in real-time naval combat amid dynamic water and weather effects, where mastery of their vessels makes the difference between glorious victory and humiliating defeat. Ground warfare has also changed, with the arrival of gunpowder, muskets and accurate artillery. To triumph in this radically different environment, players must learn new formations and master new tactics.

The Mac version of Empire: Total War Gold Edition comprises the base game Empire: Total War and all the game updates, improvements and downloadable content, including The Warpath Campaign, where players take command of one of five new Native American factions, defending their lands from invaders. It also includes four unit packs, the Special Forces Units and the Elite Units of the East, West and America.

Pricing and system requirements for Empire: Total War Gold Edition have not yet been announced, but a mini-site dedicated to the game is now online.

Product [Empire: Total War Gold Edition]

AirPlay mirroring is a very cool iOS feature, although its major downside is its limitation to iDevices such as the iPad and Apple TV. Even though the app is merely a prototype for now, it will be a huge step forward for AirPlay mirroring once it’s released, either on the Mac App Store as Stanfill is hoping for or even elsewhere unofficially should Apple turn it down once it’s ready. As of now, only the iPhone 4S and iPad support its AirPlay mirroring technology. However, more iDevices are expected to be supported soon, and best of all, jailbreaking is not a requirement for use.

Look out for further details on Hacksugar from Napkin Studio as development progresses and a public release gets closer. Let’s hope Apple takes the high road and allows this into the Mac App Store once it’s ready, as Stanfill surely deserves it for his hard work in bringing us this amazing new AirPlay implementation.

Via [TUAW]

All of these great things come at quite the cost, however, starting at a steep $49.99/month fee. This is certainly justified, though, considering how much a license for Creative Suite apps such as Adobe’s Photoshop (or even the entire suite, which usually sold for approximately $2,000) have cost in the past. $600 for a year’s worth of use will definitely beat out the cost of buying licenses for these apps the old way, and with additional offerings such as the 20GB of cloud storage. Businesses will be paying more, as expected, for volume licensing which will be going for $69.99/month.

Aside from all of Creative Cloud’s great offerings and unbeatable price, it is also attractive for its software update delivery system and its allowance of up to two computers to run the CS6 apps on a single license.

Adobe’s Creative Cloud and Creative Suite 6 should be releasing side by side within the next few months.

Via [9to5 Mac]

There’s been a lot of gaming news today—big releases—but they’ve all been for iOS. If you’re a Mac gamer, how do feel about that? Angry? Does it make you mad? Maybe even fill you with rage? Good, because Aspyr is offering up an appropriate way to release it. The venerable Mac game publisher has announced that Rage: Campaign Edition is available now from GameAgent.com. And if you order it by February 8th, you can get Doom 3 for only $1.

From the makers of Doom and Quake, RAGE is a groundbreaking first-person shooter set in the not-too-distant future after an asteroid impacts Earth, leaving a ravaged world behind. You emerge into this vast wasteland to discover humanity working to rebuild itself against such forces as bandit gangs, mutants, and the Authority—an oppressive government regime that has a special interest in you in particular. Featuring intense first-person shooter action, breakneck vehicle combat, an expansive world to explore and jaw-dropping graphics powered by id’s revolutionary id Tech® 5 technology, RAGE promises an experience like no other.

The OS X release of Rage: Campaign Edition comes with the Wasteland Sewer Missions and Anarchy Edition content (Double Barrel Shotgun, Rat Rod Buggy, Fist of RAGE and Crimson Elite Armor)…the usual benefit of getting a release behind its PC counterpart.

Additional features include:

• Visceral 1st-person gunplay and exploration: Take on bandit gangs and hordes of mutants using an arsenal of exotic weapons and special items, such as Wingsticks, personal turrets, sentry bots, and remote-controlled bomb cars.
• Frenetic 3rd-person vehicular mayhem: Burn rubber across the wasteland in your very own super buggy! Upgrade and customize your car with special parts, paint jobs and weapons, then test your skills as you battle four-wheeling bandit clans and participate in deadly races.
• An expansive experience: Beyond the first-person action and vehicle combat, RAGE offers a world open to explore, with unique characters, side quests, and a compelling storyline.
• Graphics that have to be seen to be believed: Powered by id’s cutting-edge new id Tech® 5 engine, new Megatexture technology brings the vast wasteland to life in never-before- possible detail.

The minimum requirements are OS X v10.7.2 (Lion), a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (Dual-Core) processor, 4 GB RAM, 25 GB hard disc space, mouse and keyboard, and a 256MB Radeon HD 3870 or Geforce 8800 graphics card.

Rage: Campaign Edition is rated M for blood and gore, intense violence and strong language. It’s available now from GameAgent and the Mac App Store for $39.99

Product [Rage: Campaign Edition]

February is upon is, and I can think of no better time to check out G5′s February gaming releases. You? Casual gamers will have plenty from which to choose, including strategy and adventure games, the sequel to a fan-favorite, and a Valentine’s update to a hit city-builder.

Treasure Seekers 4: The Time Has Come (iOS)

In this fourth installment of the game, Tom, Nelly and Totenkraft are in a race for the Holy Grail itself—with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Fortunately, our heroes are terrific at what they do, so the game serves up a healthy dose of hidden object adventuring fun.

The Island: Castaway (iOS)

In The Island: Castaway, an extremely addictive simulation game, play as Tom, the leader of the lucky few to escape a sinking ocean liner. Intense challenges await you in this adventure quest game as the castaways try to survive on the island and uncover its secrets.

Virtual City 2: Paradise Resort (iOS)

In Virtual City 2: Paradise Resort, you’ll get to expand your activities to the shining coast of Florida, the snowy lands of Alaska, the rocky mountains of Utah and the arid tundra of Nevada. Offices and hotels, restaurants and clubs, museums and fitness centers—access the widest selection of buildings to make your very own Virtual City unique and prosperous.

Virtual City Playground update 1.3.5 (iOS, Mac)

This update—with new quests, Valentine’s Day-related content and decorations—will appear on the App Store, Mac App Store and Android Market just in time to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Build the city of your dreams, romantically decorate it…and then run it.

Royal Trouble: Hidden Adventures (iOS)

Travel with a pair of Royals and help the hilarious, bickering twosome escape from a secluded island. Solve the mystery of their captivity, and watch love blossom in this charming, critically acclaimed adventure game with fun twists and turns.

To learn more about these and other G5 games for iOS and OS X, visit the G5 Entertainment website.

Apple has released Mac OS X 10.7.3, making it the third software update to OS X Lion. This update brings several bug fixes for improved performance and compatibility across all Mac computers, and fixes a critical bug within OS X Lion which causes WiFi connection issues when Macs try to wake-up from sleep. Apple also address the software bug that was happening with the compatibility with Microsoft Windows file sharing and printing Microsoft Word documents.

The Mac OS X 10.7.3 is available via Software Update or by visiting Apple’s support site for the complete download.

• OS X Lion Update 10.7.3 (997.01 MB)

• OS X Lion Update 10.7.3 (Combo) (1.2 GB)

According to Apple’s release notes, the update will:

• 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.

Apple has also released software updates for the Lion Server, Safari 5.1.3, new version of Sever Admin Tools, some bug fixes for the Apple Remote Desktop, and security updates for users still running the Snow Leopard. Below, we’ve included direct links in case you wish to acquire them directly from Apple’s servers.

• OS X Lion Update 10.7.3 (Server) (1 GB)

• OS X Lion Update 10.7.3 (Server) Combo (1.34 GB)

• Server Admin Tools 10.7.3 (202.59 MB)

• Security Update 2012-001 (Snow Leopard) (192.73 MB)

• Security Update 2012-001 Server (Snow Leopard) (212.09 MB)

• Apple Remote Desktop 3.5.2 Client (3.75 MB)

Via [Apple's Support Page]

Desktop:

• Windows – 92.05% (92.23%)
• Mac – 6.39% (6.36%)
• Linux – 1.56 (1.41%)

In the Mobile/Tablet category, iOS was still well out in first place, recovering some of the ground it gave up in December. JavaME slipped more than two points, most of which seems to have accrued to Android, now in a very close third place. Symbian lost about half a point, while RIM’s snake-bit Blackberry shed nearly a full point—significant when you are in the low single digits. Newcomer Kindle jumps into sixth place already, while Windows Mobile was up a hairsbreadth but fading fast, with Samsung still ahead but losing a fifth of the tiny share it had  in December.

Mobile/Tablet:

• iOS - 53.65% (52.10%)
• JavaME - 19.19% (21.27%)
• Android - 18.12% (16.29%)
• Symbian - 5.20% (5.76%)
• BlackBerry - 2.59% (3.51%)
• Kindle - 0.34%
• Windows Phone - 0.29% (0.27%)
• Samsung - 0.20% (0.25%)
• Windows Mobile – 0.12% (0.17%)

Desktop Operating System Versions

In terms of OS specific versions, Windows stays  in front by a wide margin, with ancient XP gaining agaon on the month, while Windows 7 slipped a bit although remaining solidly over 35 percent, and sad sack Windows Vista faling back a bit more. Apple’s OS 10.6 Snow Leopard at 29 months since its release in August, 2009 remains the most popular Mac OS version, but OS X 10.7 Lion is closing in and OS 10.5 Leopard is well back in third place in the Apple OS spectrum, but grew its share by remarkably little in November. OS X 10.4 Tiger held on to a O.24 share. As noted, Linux gained ground again, moving above a  1.5 percent share.

Windows:

• Windows XP - 47.19%  (46.52%)
• Windows 7 - 36.40%  (36.99%)
• Windows Vista - 8.22%  (8.44%)
• Windows 2000 - 0.13%  (0.14%)

Macintosh:

• MacOS X 10.6 - 2.95% (3.05%)
• Mac OS X 10.7 - 2.18% (2.02%)
• Mac OS X 10.5 - 0.97%  (1.00%)
• Mac OS X 10.4 - 0.24% (0.25)

Linux - 1.56% (1.41%)

Mobile/Tablet Operating System Versions

In the mobile/tablet category, Apple’s iOS remains on top, gaining more than a point of share—all iPhone. Jave ME slipped, and the recent Androids were all up in January.

iOS - 53.65% (52.10%)

• iPhone - 27.37%  (24.53%)
• iPad - 23.97%  (24.91%)
• iPod - 2.32%  (2.32%)

JavaME - 19.19%  (21.27%)

Android – 18.12% (16.29%)

• Android 2.3  10.31%  (8.92%)
• Android 2.2  4.35%  (4.10%)
• Android 2.1 1.16%  (1.20%)
• Android 3.2  0.77  (0.60%)
• Android 3.1 0.56% (0.50%)

Symbian - 5.20%  (5.76%)

BlackBerry - 2.59%  (3.51%)

Windows

• Windows Phone OS 7.5 - 0.21% (0.18%)
• Windows Phone OS 7 - 0.07% (0.09%)
• Windows CE - 0.09%  (0.14%)

For more information, visit netmarketshare.com.

Browser Share

In browsers, Safari’s usage share on the desktop slipped marginally again. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer still has a commanding lead in desktop Web browsers, and even gained nearly a point on the month. Second-place Firefox was down again, but interestingly, so was Google’s Chrome. Fifth-place Opera gained back a little ground over the month.

In the Mobile/Tablet browser category, Safari for iOS is still way out in front, increasng its overall share by more than a point in January. The many versions of Opera  Mini cumulatively remain in second place, but are sharply dropping, while Android in third-place is the big story for January, gaining more than two points of mobile browser share.

Desktop Browser Share:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer – 52.96%  (51.87%)
• Firefox - 20.88%   (21.83%)
• Chrome - 18.94%  (19.11% )
• Safari - 4.90%  (4.97%)
• Opera - 1.67% (1.66%)

Mobile/Tablet Browser Share:

• Safari - 54.85% (53.30%)
• Opera Mini - 19.58% (21.66%)
• Android Browser - 17.78%  (15.87%)
• Symbian - 2.83%  (3.33% )
• BlackBerry - 2.11%  (3.05%)
• Proprietary or Undetectable - 1.15%
• Opera Mobile - 0.38%  (0.41%)
• Microsoft Internet Explorer - 0.37%  (0.41%)

You can check it out at netmarketshare.com.

MokaFive announced the addition of Mac in Minutes to their MokaFive Suite of virtual desktop management software at MacWorld | iWorld 2012, and this addition is designed to increase the simplicity and speed up deployment of virtualized corporate-standard Windows desktops to Macs. MokaFive provides IT shops the ability to centrally and securely support Macs or PCs more easily than past methods of supporting individual hardware+software combinations for each employee.

The Problem

IT departments are facing increased pressure from users and C-level execs to allow access to corporate resources from personal devices. Smartphone users want to be always-on, always-connected, but that reality was not factored into the planning of most companies building out their IT infrastructure. Rather than controlling the entire experience from backend servers to end-user workstations, IT departments are undergoing a transformation similar to one the software development world experienced with the move to Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).  Resources that were formerly tightly controlled are now being decoupled and made available to an unknown variety of users as a service.

Rather than set up an Exchange server and secure it so email is accessible via Outlook on a Windows desktop plugged directly into the corporate network, IT is now faced with the task of providing email services on desktops, laptops, and smartphones connecting via in-house networks, VPNs, cellular networks, and over the Internet (WiFi in hotels/restaurants). This is a radical rethinking for most IT departments, and requires new tools to adequately secure and manage the infrastructure employees need to do their work.

MokaFive’s Solution

Appletell had the opportunity to get a firsthand look at the MokaFive Suite and chat with COO Purnima Padmanabhan. She described the central console, innovative virtual machine management capabilities, and simple provisioning tools which are responsible for the efficiency and simplicity that make up the Mac in Minutes solution. The product promises an initial setup time of just 90 minutes (less time than it takes to watch a movie!), after which employee provisioning takes mere seconds—simply target a LivePC to a new user and you are finished.

The overall MokaFive product is composed of two pieces: a centralized management server, which allows IT departments to create Golden Images (a baseline, standardized Windows virtual machine), and client software for end users, which lets the corporate Windows desktop look like just another Mac app. Users double-click the MokaFive player app and their Windows desktop launches inside VMWare Fusion. Corporate data and Windows-only applications coexist seamlessly with Mac apps, and since Windows is provided as a full, local virtual machine, the traditional headaches of VDI like lost connectivity or massive bandwidth requirements are wonderfully absent.

The centralized MokaFive Management server provides a number of key features that reduce the burden of supporting virtual desktops. Updates to the Golden Image are made on the management server and then pushed out to end users’ LivePCs automatically, ensuring the latest patches or corporate policy changes are implemented on a timely basis.  This provides a better testing capability to ensure routine patches do not interfere with corporate apps; should an update break a VM, users have the ability to rejuvenate their own machines—refreshing the OS to its original state while preserving user data and settings.

The central console also provides management options for users and groups, security and use policies, reporting, and audit logging for events such as log-in, LivePC subscription, and other user actions. LivePCs can be remotely revoked or killed, preventing data loss if a machine is lost or stolen, and to ensure corporate data does not walk out the door with an outgoing employee (a problem greatly exacerbated when companies do not own the hardware their employees use, as in a BYO program).

Golden Ticket

MokaFive’s promise to streamline the process of corporate Windows management and deployment in a BYO environment is backed by a host of features. These are designed to provide the tools IT shops deem necessary to handle the security of corporate data and apps, manage support burden (number of help desk calls and time to resolve issues), and meet regulatory requirements. These features include:

• Data security supported via full virtual-disk encryption, network communication encryption for all data traffic, and with anti-virus scanning of the host machine.
• Self-service provisioning allows IT departments to provide new employees with a link to download their MokaFive image—no installation needed, which frees IT staff time. This solution is also great for companies allowing telework because telecommuters can download their LivePC at home, ensuring the resources used for accessing corporate networks are properly secured.
• The MokaFive model breaks the VM into three parts for corporate data, OS, and user data/settings, meaning security policy changes and updates can be made on a more granular level than with a traditional PC. This also supports the Rejuvenation feature, which restores a broken VM without destroying user data or settings.
• The MokaFive client encapsulates the VM, providing granular control over abilities such as sharing data between the host OS and VM, connecting USB devices, or installing unapproved software.
• Secure configuration options include the ability to completely wipe an entire VM after each session, ensuring a truly secure logout and preventing security headaches from data remnants on high-impact secured systems.
• Centralized management capability of VDI without the investment to deploy network infrastructure and no loss of productivity when the network is down.

The President and CEO of MokaFive, Dale Fuller, is the former VP of the PowerBook division at Apple, where he saw first-hand the difficulty in convincing IT departments to loosen their control and support the Mac. MokaFive seems custom made to break down the barriers IT departments use to justify a “No Mac for You!” policy. With Apple’s products growing in popularity and the increasing expectation that work resources be available in an always-on manner, MokaFive’s suite of virtual desktop management tools are key to Apple’s advance into businesses.

The most significant of these new features are a self-hiding forward button that only appears when it has the ability to function, inclusion of APIs for full-screen web applications, OpenGL Anti-Aliasing support, CSS3 3D transformation support, a bug fix for crashing caused by moving bookmarks, and functional Firefox notifications in Growl 1.3.

Other new features in Firefox 10 are more geared towards developers, so if you happen to be one and would like to read about them, they are fully detailed in Mozilla’s release notes for Firefox 10. Unfortunately, support for OS X Lion’s full-screen feature, which has recently been added in a Firefox 12 beta release, is not present in Firefox 10, although we can expect to see it added when Firefox 12 goes public at the latest.

OS X users can update to Firefox 10 via mozilla.org or by going to “About Firefox” in the browser’s menu, causing the update to begin automatically. Windows users can also update via mozilla.org or by going to Help > About Firefox.

Product [Firefox 10]

If you use multiple cameras in your projects, you’ll be overjoyed at multicam editing making a return. This was one of the most important missing features from the initial release of Final Cut Pro X, and it automatically syncs clips from your shoot using audio waveforms, time and date, or timecode to create a Multicam Clip with up to 64 angles of video, which can include mixed formats, frame sizes and frame rates. With the Angle Editor you can change, add, or delete camera angles at any time and work with different codecs, frame sizes, and frame rates without conversion.

With broadcast monitoring you can use third-party PCIe cards or Thunderbolt I/O devices to connect to waveform displays, vectorscopes, and calibrated, high-quality broadcast monitors to ensure that your final project meets broadcast specifications. This is currently in beta, and Apple is working with third-party developers to improve it over time.

Current owners of Final Cut Pro X can get the update for free from the Mac App Store. For those interested in giving it a try before you buy, there’s a 30-day free trial available, and you can purchase it for $299.99 from the Mac App Store.