import

Canvas 14 from ACD Systems is an enterprise-class technical illustration program. With it, you can create, refine, and publish sophisticated illustrations, animations, and documents.

It combines the drawing and illustrating features of a premium graphics app, the 3D modeling and drafting capabilities of CAD, and the collaborative capabilities of a productivity suite in one surprisingly intuitive package. A quick-start guide, copious documentation, and a helpful sidebar called the Canvas Assistant made getting to know this capable but complex software easier than we expected.

To try Canvas 14 for free, you must select that option during installation and complete the process … Read more

HTC believes it's free and clear of infringing on a key Apple patent despite allegations to the contrary by the iPhone maker.

This week, Apple filed its third complaint against HTC in the past three years with the U.S. International Trade Commission. The company is alleging that HTC is still violating the same Apple patents that triggered a recent ban on imports of the HTC One X and Evo 4G LTE.

Following the initial complaint, HTC said that it took steps to work past Apple's U.S. Patent No. 5,946,647, also known as the data … Read more

Google's efforts to block imports of Microsoft's Xbox and Apple's iPhone could cause "substantial harm" to consumers, competition, and innovation, the Federal Trade Commission said in a letter today.

The letter -- addressed to the U.S. International Trade Commission, a federal agency with the power to enforce bans on products shipping to the U.S. -- suggested companies should be limited in their ability to block competitors' imports based on patents that are built into industry standards.

"Simply put, we are concerned that a patentee can make a RAND [reasonable and nondiscriminatory] commitment … Read more

After a two-week-long Customs delay, shipments of HTC's One X and Evo 4G LTE are flowing unfettered into the U.S., the company announced today.

"HTC has completed the review process with U.S. Customs and HTC devices have been released, as they are in compliance with the ITC's ruling," the company said in a statement. "Future shipments should continue to enter the U.S. and we are confident that we will soon be able to meet the demand for our products."

The two smartphones were put in limbo earlier this month over unresolved … Read more

Few business resources are as valuable as your list of contacts. It's no wonder companies such as Twitter and iPad app vendor Path are trying to get their hands on their customers' contacts--with or without their express permission.

Contacts are like rabbits: they tend to multiply whenever they get together.

In the past year my Gmail contact list has grown by 50 percent, not to mention the many updates and changes to existing entries. Contact-sync programs promise to keep the information in multiple address books up-to-date, but the programs I've tried create so many duplicate records they'… Read more

With all of the brouhaha over tablets, smartphones, and thin PCs, it's easy to overlook the fact that quite a few noteworthy things happened in the venerable TV category this year.

It's my job to keep track of such things, so, yeah, I'm biased, but when considering a year-end article to write, it really wasn't difficult to come up with 10 TVs that actually deserve the title "important." The models below, arranged in no particular order, might qualify because of picture quality, bang for the buck, 3D technology, slick design, or even sheer size, but each one interests me in its own way and potentially sets a trend for 2012 and beyond.

Disagree with any of my picks or want to nominate a more-important-to-you model? Let me know in comments.

… Read more

The 2011 SEMA Show has come to a close, but I've still got an SD card full of photos of the hundreds of wild rides displayed there.

With that in mind, I've rounded up 130 photos of some of the hottest rides found on the floor of the SEMA Show. The cars have been split into four bite-size categories for quick navigation.

There were plenty of Asian imports to be found, with styles ranging from VIP to street tuner to race ready. This was the first year that I was able to check out the anime-inspired Itasha style … Read more

If you like to keep a copy of images, PDFs, or other documents that you find on the Web, this trick is for you. Rather than having these files clutter up your desktop or other folders, you can import them directly into your Google Docs account to view at a later time. First, though, make sure the file type is supported by Google Docs. If you're not sure about a file type, check this list, and then follow these steps:

Step 1: Go to the page that has a link for the file you want to save in Google … Read more

Duck Software's Organizer series of personal database applications share a common core that is then optimized for a specific use, such as keeping track of your movie collection. That's the job of Film Tracker v5.0, a free movie database. It can help you keep track of your far-flung video collection with more than 19 customizable data fields. Like all such databases, you must enter the information bit by bit, but Film Tracker's efficient entry form makes that job easy, and it can also import and export data in CSV files.

Like its stablemates, Film Tracker shares … Read more