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The elimination of the iPhone's exclusivity to Orange in France has resulted in "more than double" the sales of the device and dealt a blow to the BlackBerry, according to research notes issued recently. Estimates from Bernstein, Strategy Analytics and others report twice as many iPhones being shipped in the summer quarter as in the spring due specifically to Apple's handset being readily available at Bouygues Telecom as well as SFR. That added exposure is thought to have directly impacted RIM as customers at the new carriers had a new, major alternative to the Blac...

SubRosaSoft has upgraded its file recovery software, FileSalvage 7. The software recovers deleted files, as well as files lost in an accidental reformat or initialization. It works on multiple file systems, recovering files from Mac OS hard disks, iPods, flash cards, Linux and Windows disks or Boot Camp partitions. The software is also claimed to work with scratched CDs. The interface provides previews of recoverable files, with options to reconstruct file names of many formats such as JPG, MP3 and M4A....

Celmaro has released a new time-tracking application, Minco 1.0. It is designed as a minimalist tracker for time, tasks or earnings, and can fully integrate with iCal. The software runs in the system menu and offers visual representations of time spent on tasks, with options to produce time logs in multiple formats. The earnings capabilities include projecting or displaying the results of a task, day, week, month or year. The new software also has built in tagging options....

Microsoft should once again release its next mainstream version of Windows about three years after the last, a roadmap obtained this week reveals. The schedule has the major revision, tentatively titled "Windows 8," launching in 2012 or about three years after Windows 7. It will purportedly keep in step with a rhythm developed by Microsoft that has Microsoft launching major releases four years apart, as Windows Server 2008 is considered a major release where its R2 upgrade and even Windows 7 are both treated as "release updates."...

Herraiz Soto, an independent creative agency, has launched Ommwriter, a new word processor with a "Zen-like meditative focus." The software offers a choice of ambient music themes that play in the background, along with a variety of keyboard audio-feedback themes designed to make typing a pleasant experience. The software works within one window, with drag-over activated menus to the right of the workspace....

AKVIS has introduced a new version of one of its photo effects apps, Sketch 10. The software converts photos into simulated watercolors and pencil drawings. The upgrade provides a new effects tool called Stroke Direction, which offers control over hatch direction and enhances realism. Three new presets have also been added, along with support for Snow Leopard and Windows 7....

In Brief: Mozilla has already released a third beta of the upcoming Firefox 3.6 update, bringing a variety of bug fixes and security enhancements. Eye-Fi has updated its photo uploading utility with Selective Share, a new feature that allows users to selectively share only certain pictures on sites such as Flickr....

A new automatic screening technique Apple is using for the App Store appears to be backfiring, claims developer Rogue Sheep. The screening is believed to be aimed at catching unauthorized APIs, blocked under Apple's submission rules. A number of the apps trapped so far are allegedly ones using Three20, an Objective-C library. Rogue Sheep's Postage has in the past relied on some Three20 code, and so private API calls were removed from the software before submitting a recent update....

Microsoft in a response late Thursday rejected assertions that it has put in a security "backdoor" at the request of the National Security Agency. The denial comes after the NSA's information assurance lead, Richard Schaeffer, told a US Senate terrorism subcommittee that the agency had worked with Microsoft to improve Windows 7's "security guide" and sparked fears that the government had deliberately left a secret window the NSA could use to spy on users....

Aqua Connect and Ashbourne Technology Group have announced a new partnership designed to provide hosted services on the Mac platform. The Aqua Connect Terminal Server previously had been unavailable as a hosted service, however the new offering will allow customers to take advantage of the Mac terminal services without purchasing a dedicated server....

GPS maker TomTom has revealed a new car mount, one designed exclusively for the iPod touch. The accessory reflects a recent update to the company's GPS app, which now includes Touch support. The new kit is little different from its more broadly-compatible iPhone version, mainly being $20 cheaper at a price of $100....

Qualcomm has quietly shown an example receiver that would give the iPhone and iPod touch FLO TV reception. Despite assertions that the company would use iPhone OS 3.0 support for native hardware, the demonstrator mimics the strategy used for the Softbank 1Seg tuner in Japan and pipes video over Wi-Fi. The receiver itself is roughly as large as the iPhone, though it's unclear whether this is due to its prototype nature or to accommodate a larger battery....

YouTube drew controversy with word this week that it has begun limiting the use of its native video API on devices. Reflecting new terms of service, any device that connects to a TV must have a license from YouTube to get fully native video support. The move will ban smaller-scale devices like the Popcorn Hour C-200 from directly accessing YouTube videos, although it will still allow them access using Flash....

Barnes & Noble today signaled that new orders for the Nook reader now won't ship at all in 2009. Those placed today will ship no sooner than January 4th, or more than three weeks after the delay to December 11th. The bookseller hopes to console those missing the Christmas target by giving them a certificate that promises a Nook reader when it ships....