system

iStat Menus is a comprehensive set of system monitoring tools, providing a quick-access view of system activity in your menu bar.

Formerly a free preference pane, iStat Menus is now a paid, standalone app--but it offers a lot of functionality to justify its price, along with a clean interface and very low system overhead. You need to open iStat Menus when you're configuring it, but most of the time you'll only see the app in an array of highly configurable menu-bar icons. iStat Menus can help you track CPU activity, memory usage, disk usage, disk activity, network activity, … Read more

Haptic technology allows users to "feel" buttons on a touch-screen device by providing localized feedback when users' fingers touch button or control areas. A patent application filed in late March showed Apple's version of haptic technology, a process that would use piezoelectric actuators under the display to provide feedback.

A new patent application, uncovered by Patently Apple, shows that Apple is taking its haptic inquiry a step further. Apple's new displays for touch-screen devices would be flexible, allowing for a layer of the screen to actually raise itself when a button or control area is available … Read more

Tidy Up is tool that can help you reduce hard-drive clutter by identifying duplicate files on any mounted disk. This utility's multipane interface has a bit of a learning curve, despite its new "Basic Mode," and the app's comprehensive search criteria and system of smart and manual "baskets" may not be immediately intuitive to casual users.

Anyone who spends time getting familiar with Tidy Up and its three- step approach, however, will find that it's a powerful tool for identifying and dealing with duplicate files, whether you want to delete them, move them, … Read more

With patent litigation becoming an increasingly common part of the technology space, the last thing many folks want to see is another company have the sole goal of defending patents. If you're one of those folks, close your eyes.

Unwired Planet, formerly known as Openwave Systems, has completed the sale of its Mediation and Messaging product businesses to Marlin Equity Partners, the company announced today. Now that it has gotten those products out of the way, it plans to focus solely on its patent portfolio.

"Unwired Planet will now be focused exclusively on a multipronged Intellectual Property (IP) … Read more

As Tech.li reports this morning, 3D Systems is now accepting payment for its Cube 3D printer we first learned about in January. For $1,299, you will receive the printer, as well as a spool of neon green plastic filament, and 25 free "Creation" downloads (aka object design files) from 3D Systems' Cubify Web site.

Engadget reports May 25 for the official Cube launch date, which aligns with the "in a few weeks" timing 3D Systems CEO Abe Reichental told me last week.… Read more

Why now? Because I finally got approval from CBS corporate to buy a MakerBot Replicator. Then it took a few weeks for MakerBot to build the unit.

MakerBot isn't loaning out Replicators for review. The company says it can't produce them in enough volume yet, citing an eight-week lead time because of current demand. (MakerBot did expedite my order.)

I picked up our unit yesterday from the company's office in Brooklyn, sparing us shipping costs and the risk of damage in-transit (you can check here for Daniel Terdiman's report on his own visit to MakerBot HQ). Total cost with the dual-extruder head was $1,999.

How do I justify spending $2,000 of CBS money on a niche product like a 3D printer? If you believe the hype, these devices have the same consumer/professional cross-over potential as Adobe's Photoshop. And through its enthusiastic, infectious marketing of both itself and 3D printing in general, MakerBot has become the industry's flagship company.… Read more

Smartphone users now face another way of being located.

Navizon I.T.S. (Indoor Triangulation System) is a new system from the location services company that can track the whereabouts of people in public places through their phones and other Wi-Fi devices. Geared toward retail stores, shopping malls, museums, office buildings, and similar spots, the technology can be used for security and surveillance or just to measure the traffic patterns in a certain area.

The company poses a few specific ways in which the system can come into play, including monitoring approved Wi-Fi devices in a secure area, locating Wi-Fi … Read more

First off, congrats to Craig S. of Yuba City, Calif., for winning a Zero1.tv VooMote One in last week's giveaway. Looking to turn the volume up to 11? Then you'll want to tune in to this week's giveaway.

We're giving away an Aperion Audio Zona Wireless Surround Speaker System, which consists of two powered speakers and a wireless transmitter for broadcasting audiophile-quality sound throughout your home.

It's a versatile little system. You can use the Zona speakers to blast audio from your computer or mobile music player. Or you can use them as wireless surrounds for your home theater or as a stand-alone stereo system for your office, bedroom, den, or secret hideout. … Read more

Available only to registered Mac developers, build 12A178q of Mountain Lion comes with a laundry list of fixes and minor tweaks. The release notes also list the known issues that are still being worked on by Apple (including issues with both Quicktime and Game Center) and directions for developers to submit bug reports as they explore the new build.

Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion (read our first take from February) is expected to be launched to the public sometime this summer, only one year after the release of OS X Lion, making it Apple's fastest major OS … Read more