Apple Grabs More Market Share
06/18/2008
I love Macs. Don't get me wrong, I like Windows because it appeals to the nerd in me, but I'd prefer people use Macs over Windows if I had my choice. There are so many reasons to switch and people have talked about them more and more over the last few years as Apple has grown and developed new product lines. The main reason I like Macs is because of how Apple integrates the hardware. As a developer, I don't have to worry about what hardware configuration a user has like I do with Windows operating systems.
Well, it appears (yet again) more and more people are choosing reliability, ease of use, and easier integration more than ever.
In recent browser and OS marketshare statistics from Net Applications, Apple has grabbed another .5% (in 1 month) and shows no signs of slowing. Along with the stunning popularity of the new iPhone, younger users are switching and using Macs more than ever.
In seminars I show people how using Macs can give them double the power of a Windows based machine. PC legal software providers have understood this which would explain why the PC makers of legal applications haven't developed any Mac alternatives to their applications - you can just run then natively on a Mac. Why waste the time and money. Unless you can generate the same application on a different OS using the same code, why waste the time. Apple does it for you. Just run your Windows app on a Mac.
Apple now has 6.25% of the market share and combine that with Firefox's growing userbase it will a matter of time before Microsoft starts to fret. In 1 year, Microsoft has lost 6.5% of the their browser base. Combine this will Google's dominance in the search Market, we are definately seeing a shift in how people think.
Below are links to the Browser numbers.
Microsoft Losing Browser Wars
Next, Apple and Linux are knocking away at Microsoft's Operating System dominance also. Apple has grabbed nearly 3% of the computer market worldwide and Linux will be at 1% of the worldwide market within a year. Combined, Microsoft has lost 2% of the market share in 1 year for computers worldwide. Apple could gain more market share if last months numbers continue. Apple gained .5% in 1 month from Apple, dropping Microsoft's numbers by .5%. If 1 years worth of numbers are any indication, then Apple and Linux should have 11-13% of the OS market within a year.
Below are links to the OS numbers.
Apple Makes Big Gains in OS Share
One thing to note, Windows Vista made remarkable strides in new adopters. Windows XP is dropping about 1% a month in Windows OS market share. Windows 2000 users are also dropping in numbers each month as it appears businesses are choosing Vista over XP or Windows 2000.
Below are links to the Windows Version numbers.
Windows Vista Makes Gains over XP, 2000
The numbers are interesting, I hope you find them interesting also.
Check back soon, Clarity LS is near to releasing major upgrades to all product lines. If you are an existing customer you can upgrade your software title for as little as $49 per license. In addition, we will also be releasing a couple of new new applications that we hope users will find easy to use and will benefit their practice.
John - Developer/CEO Clarity Legal Software LLC Alexandria, La
Rezko Found Guilty
06/07/2008
Political fund-raiser's conviction gives Illinois Governor Blagojevich plenty to worry about.In a crushing blow to Gov. Blagojevich and a potentially damaging one to presidential hopeful Barack Obama, Tony Rezko -- a fund-raiser for the two men and an ex-gubernatorial confidant -- was convicted of far-reaching corruption Wednesday.
The verdict quickly raised questions about whether the state's chief executive will be the next target of federal prosecutors.
Chicago Sun-Times
Bundler™ To Get Major Upgrade
04/14/2008
Bundler, Clarity Legal Software's software for court reporters, will be getting a major in the very soon, near future. The new release of Bundler™ will see the following new upgrades and features (partial list):Drag and Drop Exhibits
Ability to add Multiple exhibits to a transcript line
Streamline Bundle Process
Improved Printing
Improved Transcript Editor
Bolded Q and A pairs
RTF Text Import
Improved overall interface
New Full Release Versions for Mac OS X, and Linux
Improved help file and new video tutorials
...dozens of other features
Current users will get this upgrade for free by clicking "Upgrade Now" next time they launch the application. New users can purchase a license for $249. There are no signup fees when purchasing a license of Bundler.
Clarity Legal Software LLC
Law.com Article Discusses TrialSmart
04/07/2008
A user forwarded this to us on Sunday. On the main page of Law.com, there is an article by C.C.Holland titled, "Go Beyond PowerPoint to Make Your Case." TrialSmart is mentioned in the "Beyond the Basics" section of the article.
Law.Com Article
Clarity Legal Software LLC
Gates: New "Windows 7" may come 'in the next year'
04/04/2008
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates indicated on Friday that a new version of Window 7, could come in the next year, far ahead of the development schedule previously indicated.
The new operating system will ship in consumer and business versions, and in 32 and 64 bit varieties and could include a subscription model to compliment Windows. Gates did not provide specifics.
On Thursday, Microsoft declined to extend a lifeline to Windows XP, saying that only a limited number of machines sold in the future will be sold with the XP system. Vista has been marred by delays, yet Microsoft has stepped up efforts to push adoption of Vista by business, which has been slow to adopt the new OS, relying instead to use Windows XP.
You can read more about the Windows "7" release here, here, and here.
Clarity Legal Software LLC
Sampling Shows Growing Linux Market Share
03/28/2008
According to W3Counter Web statistics, a web usage site, Linux web market share has grown over 76% in the last year. In a sampling of 20,873,774 million unique users to 8,018 websites Linux has grown to approximately 2.01% of the web market worldwide. Although a small percentage, the growing number of Linux users is great news. I understand the number doesn't look strong compared to the 76% of Windows users worldwide, however, it appears many of the barriers to Linux adoption are being removed and people are using free operating system. Market share has increased consecutively over the last 18 months.
Combine this with a growing share of other free applications such as FireFox (34%) and the slow adoption of Windows Vista and growing number of Mac OS X users, I believe the days are coming when we will have 3 solid operating systems to choose from for the business world.
If it comes down to cost, most businesses would choose Linux because it's free. There is already a strong movement to provide free case information.
To view the current web stats go here - W3 Web Counter Statistics
In an aside, Carl Malamud, who is a leading force in getting government data online, and creating public works for the Internet for the last 2 years has been publishing full text of legal opinions dating back to 1880. O'Reilly Radar discusses his efforts here. BTW - Notice the Mac keyboard in the image inset.
Carl, who has an excellent track record of success making government information freely accessible (EDGAR, Patents, Smithsonia, CSPAN, Congressional Hearings) has joined Cornell, and Hyperlaw to archive the data for public use. Make no mistake about it, free case law will happen and new avenues for digesting cases will come online sooner than later challenging Westlaw Publishing.
Carl, in 1998, forced the federal government to make the nation's patent and trademark database freely available. See the related articles here and here and also here.
Clarity Legal Software LLC
Karl Rove loves his iPhone
03/23/2008
According to Newsbusters.org, Karl Rove is the latest person to fall in love with the iPhone. The iPhone now supports Microsoft Exchange so you'll see it start to make inroads into the business community. CNN Money - Fortune
Way to Go Charlie!
03/19/2008
Charlie Rose, PBS late-night talk show, suffered a black eye this past week while carrying his new MacBook Air. Apparently, Charlie was walking along 59th Street in Manhattan when he tripped over a pothole. Charlie saved his MacBook Air but he has a nice shiner to show for it. Salon Article/Photo of Charlie's Nice Shiner
Ziff Davis Files for Bankruptcy
03/07/2008
Ziff Davis Media Inc., publisher of technology and video game magazines, filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday and cited a decrease in revenue from print advertising and subscriptions as contributing to its decline.
Associated Press Article
PC vs Mac - ABA Journal Article
02/28/2008
Nice question and answer article between Ben Stevens and Rick Georges discussing benefits of each system. Clarity Legal Software was discussed in the Trial Presentation section.
ABA Journal Article
TrialSmart Upgrade to Preview at MIT 2
02/25/2008
The newest version of TrialSmart, with dozens of new and powerful features, will be demonstrated at this years Macs in Trial 2 conference in Grapevine, Texas.
Several of the new features have been requested by users, others are upgrades to an already easy and elegant interface. Some of the new features include:
1. Ability to connect to and import Indata TimeCoder (*.mdb) and Sanction (*.mdb) files.
2. Add preset or custom annotation markers and animate and move the markers in real-time.
3. Add custom movement and animation to documents and markers for Keynote type presentations.
4. Movable transcript synching window.
5. Background presentation image is now customizable.
6. Simpler and more elegant presentation presentation window.
7. Set transparency and color of annotation layers in realtime.
8. Simplified grouping routines for easier layering of saved exhibits.
9. Faster pdf indexing.
10. Improved monitor refreshing, display capabilies to compensate for various projector resolutions.
11. Detachable annotation toolbox for use in annotating, highlighting, and marking.
12. Improved video playback and video group playback.
There are dozens of other time saving and ease-of-use features that will be featured during Clarity Legal Software's session on the afternoon of March 1st.
For more information about the conference you can preview hotel and registration information here
BlackBerry email service goes down
02/20/2008
A couple of days ago the RIM service, BlackBerry, went down for several hours. The outage was primarily in North America. The outage affected all carriers.
To date RIM's blackberry had about 12 million subscribers.
This is the third such major outage in a a year.
To read additional information about the outage from CNNMoney click here
Low Power and High Speed A Powerful Combination - CNET
02/14/2008
In the wake of a series of technical announcements from flash memory supplier SanDisk, larger-capacity solid-state drives are on the way.
Flash memory is gaining as a replacement for hard drives in ultra-thin, ultra-small notebooks such as the MacBook Air and Asus Eee PC. Why? Flash uses less power, generates less heat, and has faster access times than hard drives. The Air, for example, offers a 64GB flash-based SSD as an option while the Eee PC is sold standard with flash storage.
There is a big catch, though. High-capacity SSDs are expensive. Prohibitively so. The flash drive in the pricier $3,098 Air is the main culprit in the gaping $1,300 price difference with the lower-cost hard-drive model ($1,799).
To read the rest of the CNET article by Brooke Crothers click here
Web Outage Hits Indian Outsourcing Firms
01/31/2008
Companies in the legal business outsource to Indian companies. We all know it. Outsourcing US jobs and software development to India can be quite lucrative. However, India is still struggling with a recent Internet outage caused after two undersea cables in the Mediterranean Sea were cut, slicing the country's bandwidth in half. The outage will take weeks to fix and the recent outage is surely to disrupt service to many legal software providers in the industry.
India was not the only country trying to cope with the problem Thursday - users were hit across a wide swath of Asia and the Middle East, from Bangladesh in the east to Egypt in the west.
At Clarity Legal Software, we think it's important to always inquire about where services and support for products come from. Clarity Legal Software has always maintained a policy of not outsourcing any development, services, or support to India.
All support services and support stay in the United States.
To read a related CBS News article regarding the Indian internet outage click here
India was not the only country trying to cope with the problem Thursday - users were hit across a wide swath of Asia and the Middle East, from Bangladesh in the east to Egypt in the west.
At Clarity Legal Software, we think it's important to always inquire about where services and support for products come from. Clarity Legal Software has always maintained a policy of not outsourcing any development, services, or support to India.
All support services and support stay in the United States.
To read a related CBS News article regarding the Indian internet outage click here
IBM Accelerates Desktop Customer Choice With Support for Ubuntu
01/21/2008
LOTUSPHERE -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it will offer an integrated Open Collaboration Client Solution with support for Ubuntu, a Linux-based operating system from Canonical Ltd. that is especially popular for desktops, laptops and thin clients.
"The rapid uptake of the Open Collaboration Client Solution by business partners is a clear indicator of its value to the market," said Roger Levy, senior vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions for Novell. "These partners are seeking ways to help their customers increase productivity, strengthen desktop security and reduce total cost of ownership. Novell is excited to advance innovation in client computing and end-user collaboration by working with IBM."
"Today's announcements show the growing importance of openness and choice in the computing environments of our customers and partners," said Jeff Smith, vice president of open source and Linux in IBM Software Group. "IBM's market insight shows that collaboration is key to driving innovation in day-to-day business. These offerings combine IBM's strengths in collaboration, SOA, and Web 2.0 with our partners' strengths in open operating environments."
To read the full CNNMoney.com article click here
"Today's announcements show the growing importance of openness and choice in the computing environments of our customers and partners," said Jeff Smith, vice president of open source and Linux in IBM Software Group. "IBM's market insight shows that collaboration is key to driving innovation in day-to-day business. These offerings combine IBM's strengths in collaboration, SOA, and Web 2.0 with our partners' strengths in open operating environments."
To read the full CNNMoney.com article click here
Adobe and Clarity Legal Software to Present at MIT 2
01/17/2008
Adobe and Clarity Legal Software will be 2 of the growing number of vendors and attendees that will be presenting at "Using Macs in Trial 2", hosted by Foreman, Lewis & Hutchison. Clarity Legal Software will be showing hands-on tips for using DepoSmart™ and TrialSmart as well as showing upcoming applications and features to be released in 2008. Discounts will be given to those members that attend. Information regarding the conference are listed below:
Date:Friday February 29, 2008 (afternoon) and Saturday March 1, 2008 (all day)
Location: Embassy Suites Outdoor World At DFW Hotel, Grapevine, Texas.
Travel: Recommend that you fly into Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport if possible. Dallas Love field is approx twenty minutes away if you want to rent a car or pay for a cab.
Cost: $150 for the Seminar and Meals [covers a per person charge for use of meeting rooms at hotel, refreshment breaks, dinner Friday evening (speaker presentation during dinner), lunch Saturday (presentation during lunch), and high speed internet connection in the seminar meeting room.] The $150 seminar fee must be paid by February 8 so they can adjust the seminar facilities to larger space if needed. You should send a check to Foreman, Lewis & Hutchison, 611 S Main, Ste 700, Grapevine, Texas 76051 or call 817-336-5533 and ask for Kristy to pay by credit card.
Accommodations: Attendees are eligible for a discounted suite at the rate of $124 per night for Friday and Saturday night. Reservations can be made online or by calling 972-724-2600 and asking for the MacLaw rate. Accommodations include a breakfast buffet and a cocktail reception. In-room internet is an additional charge. The Hotel has a complementary airport shuttle. The discount rate for hotel rooms will remain available until February 8th, pending availability.
Continuing Legal Education Credits - The seminar has received approval for CLE credit from the State Bar of Texas (with reciprocity available in other states per their rules). Similar accreditation will be applied for this year.
Date:Friday February 29, 2008 (afternoon) and Saturday March 1, 2008 (all day)
Location: Embassy Suites Outdoor World At DFW Hotel, Grapevine, Texas.
Travel: Recommend that you fly into Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport if possible. Dallas Love field is approx twenty minutes away if you want to rent a car or pay for a cab.
Cost: $150 for the Seminar and Meals [covers a per person charge for use of meeting rooms at hotel, refreshment breaks, dinner Friday evening (speaker presentation during dinner), lunch Saturday (presentation during lunch), and high speed internet connection in the seminar meeting room.] The $150 seminar fee must be paid by February 8 so they can adjust the seminar facilities to larger space if needed. You should send a check to Foreman, Lewis & Hutchison, 611 S Main, Ste 700, Grapevine, Texas 76051 or call 817-336-5533 and ask for Kristy to pay by credit card.
Accommodations: Attendees are eligible for a discounted suite at the rate of $124 per night for Friday and Saturday night. Reservations can be made online or by calling 972-724-2600 and asking for the MacLaw rate. Accommodations include a breakfast buffet and a cocktail reception. In-room internet is an additional charge. The Hotel has a complementary airport shuttle. The discount rate for hotel rooms will remain available until February 8th, pending availability.
Continuing Legal Education Credits - The seminar has received approval for CLE credit from the State Bar of Texas (with reciprocity available in other states per their rules). Similar accreditation will be applied for this year.
Clarity Legal Software Adds PDF Import as Transcript Option
01/12/2008
Clarity Legal Software is now offering a new PDF file import as a transcript option in all Clarity Legal Software titles - Bundler™ , DepoSmart™ , DepoSmart™ Viewer, and TrialSmart™ .
This new feature allows Clarity Legal Software users to import PDF files in the same manner as they would a normal legal transcript file. This new features also allows the pdf file to be indexed using Clarity Legal Software index and searching features.
Existing users can begin using this new feature by choosing the "Update Now" feature when opening any Clarity Legal Software title. Demo users can try this new feature by downloading a demonstration version of Bundler™ , DepoSmart™ , DepoSmart™ Viewer, or TrialSmart™ .
To download a demonstration version of Bundler™ , DepoSmart™ , DepoSmart™ Viewer, or TrialSmart™ visit our download page.
This new feature allows Clarity Legal Software users to import PDF files in the same manner as they would a normal legal transcript file. This new features also allows the pdf file to be indexed using Clarity Legal Software index and searching features.
Existing users can begin using this new feature by choosing the "Update Now" feature when opening any Clarity Legal Software title. Demo users can try this new feature by downloading a demonstration version of Bundler™ , DepoSmart™ , DepoSmart™ Viewer, or TrialSmart™ .
To download a demonstration version of Bundler™ , DepoSmart™ , DepoSmart™ Viewer, or TrialSmart™ visit our download page.
Word of Mouth Carries Clarity Legal Software in 2007
12/29/2007
Our first year is nearly complete, and what a year 2007 turned out to be at Clarity Legal Software. In 2007, Clarity debuted five new products spanning two operating systems - Bundler™ , DepoSmart™ , DepoSmart™ Viewer, TrialSmart™ , and Clarity SQL Server.
Each product had a wonderful first year, so we thought we'd share some interesting facts about 2007:
First, 20.2% of all users in the last quarter of 2007 visited Clarity Legal Software using keywords from a search engine. This means that just over 20% of users visiting Clarity Legal Software.com used either Bundler, DepoSmart, TrialSmart, or Clarity Legal as a search term to find us. This is amazing since all of the traffic was generated via word of mouth or through internet channels. We attribute this increased traffic to the need for new legal software that is easier to use, more cost friendly, and cross-platform.
US page views accounted for 82% of web traffic, with the remaining users coming from Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe.
Second, web logs show that the types of users visiting Clarity Legal Software.com are nearly 50/50, with Mac users having a slight edge over Windows users at 56%.
Third, the total number of page views this year at Clarity Legal Software was 784,209. Each user averaged approximately 6.7 page views. The most popular content was the free video tutorials we offered. We currently have 87 free video tutorials at our website. The amount of traffic we received for the tutorials caused us to expand our internet bandwidth twice because they had become so popular. We plan on expanding our free video tutorials in 2008.
As a side note...
In 2007 Clarity became the first company to offer true cross-platform legal software to both Windows and Apple Mac OS X environments. In 2008 we are expanding our software into a new platform, Linux (Ubuntu). DepoSmart, our flagship product for attorneys and law firms, will be the first to reach the Ubuntu (Linux) platform. In a recent article, "Three Fearless Predictions", the Economist.com predicts that Ubuntu Linux will grow remarkably over the next few years.
Thanks for the wonderful year, and we look forward to seeing you in 2008.
Clarity Legal Software.com
Each product had a wonderful first year, so we thought we'd share some interesting facts about 2007:
First, 20.2% of all users in the last quarter of 2007 visited Clarity Legal Software using keywords from a search engine. This means that just over 20% of users visiting Clarity Legal Software.com used either Bundler, DepoSmart, TrialSmart, or Clarity Legal as a search term to find us. This is amazing since all of the traffic was generated via word of mouth or through internet channels. We attribute this increased traffic to the need for new legal software that is easier to use, more cost friendly, and cross-platform.
US page views accounted for 82% of web traffic, with the remaining users coming from Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe.
Second, web logs show that the types of users visiting Clarity Legal Software.com are nearly 50/50, with Mac users having a slight edge over Windows users at 56%.
Third, the total number of page views this year at Clarity Legal Software was 784,209. Each user averaged approximately 6.7 page views. The most popular content was the free video tutorials we offered. We currently have 87 free video tutorials at our website. The amount of traffic we received for the tutorials caused us to expand our internet bandwidth twice because they had become so popular. We plan on expanding our free video tutorials in 2008.
As a side note...
In 2007 Clarity became the first company to offer true cross-platform legal software to both Windows and Apple Mac OS X environments. In 2008 we are expanding our software into a new platform, Linux (Ubuntu). DepoSmart, our flagship product for attorneys and law firms, will be the first to reach the Ubuntu (Linux) platform. In a recent article, "Three Fearless Predictions", the Economist.com predicts that Ubuntu Linux will grow remarkably over the next few years.
When firms are used to buying $1,000 office PCs running Vista Business Edition and loading each with a $200 copy of Microsoft Office, the attractions of a sub-$500 computer using a free operating system like Linux and a free productivity suite like OpenOffice suddenly become very compelling.
And that’s not counting the $20,000 or more needed for Microsoft’s Exchange and SharePoint server software. Again, Linux provides such server software for free.
Pundits agree: neither Microsoft nor Apple can compete at the new price points being plumbed by companies looking to cut costs...
Our view is that we don't particulurly care which platform you use, but if you want an alternative, you have choices.
Fourth, those users that visited our site and used our new support ticketing system, rated their support experience at 4.7 out of 5. Clarity Legal Software implemented the new automated ticketing system in October, and we're proud of the response we've received. Any customer can post a question or support issue to our website. Using our Support Tracking system, they receive a ticket number that we can track until completion.Thanks for the wonderful year, and we look forward to seeing you in 2008.
Clarity Legal Software.com
Dell adds Ubuntu 7.10 to its lineup
12/22/2007
by Paula Rooney, ZDNET (12/19/2007)
Dell announced on Tuesday via its corporate blog that it has begun installing Ubuntu 7.10, aka Gutsy Gibbon, and LinDVD on its Dell consumer Linux PCs in the US and will also make it available on the Inspiron 530 in England, France and Germany later this week.
Dell began offering consumer systems running Ubuntu in May. Ubuntu’s Gutsy Gibson has been available since October.
The OEM has been testing the code for several weeks and is ready to launch.
Judd also one key request was the ability to watch DVD movies from the Dell Linux desktop. “We totally agree and that’s why we now include built-in DVD movie playback with all Ubuntu 7.10 systems.The experience we wanted is simple — when you put a movie in, it plays. It is easy enough for a child and an example of the steps we are taking to make Ubuntu as enjoyable as possible.
Dell also promotes on its blog site a discussion between a Dell engineer and Mark Shuttleworth, CEO and Founder of Ubuntu. As part of that, Shuttleworth discussed the next version of Ubuntu due in April 2008 that will provide client support for three years and server support for five years, as well as enhanced integration with Windows networks.
ZDnet e-mailed Dell to inquire about its progress with Ubuntu before the blog posted on Tuesday but the company offered no comment.
Dell announced on Tuesday via its corporate blog that it has begun installing Ubuntu 7.10, aka Gutsy Gibbon, and LinDVD on its Dell consumer Linux PCs in the US and will also make it available on the Inspiron 530 in England, France and Germany later this week.
Dell began offering consumer systems running Ubuntu in May. Ubuntu’s Gutsy Gibson has been available since October.
The OEM has been testing the code for several weeks and is ready to launch.
“We believe Ubuntu 7.10 is a solid step forward for both Linux enthusiasts as well as the mainstream consumer market,” wrote Daniel Judd, Product Group Strategist on the Dell2Dell blog on Tuesday. “The answer is simple. With any operating system, we take gold code and take the time to do extensive testing on our systems to make sure that customers have as few issues as possible.”
The Dell product manager cited “cool” 3-D visual effects, easier desktop search for applications and the “ability to quickly switch between users and easily share a system with family members” as key new features of Ubuntu’s 7.10 release. He also cited two Dell developed innovations — pre-installation of Flash and improved recovery options — as other significant enhancements for Gutsy Gibbon on Dell consumer PCs.Judd also one key request was the ability to watch DVD movies from the Dell Linux desktop. “We totally agree and that’s why we now include built-in DVD movie playback with all Ubuntu 7.10 systems.The experience we wanted is simple — when you put a movie in, it plays. It is easy enough for a child and an example of the steps we are taking to make Ubuntu as enjoyable as possible.
Dell also promotes on its blog site a discussion between a Dell engineer and Mark Shuttleworth, CEO and Founder of Ubuntu. As part of that, Shuttleworth discussed the next version of Ubuntu due in April 2008 that will provide client support for three years and server support for five years, as well as enhanced integration with Windows networks.
ZDnet e-mailed Dell to inquire about its progress with Ubuntu before the blog posted on Tuesday but the company offered no comment.
Changes and Updated Software Titles Coming January 2008
11/22/2007
Clarity Legal Software LLC will update all current
titles effective January 2008. In accordance with
our quarterly update policy, we release updated
software, which includes new features, each business
quarter. Some of the biggest changes will be coming to
Bundler™ and DepoSmart. New features will be disclosed
soon.
Also in January, Clarity will release a new cross-platform database application for beta testing by select users. We'll start with testing by Apple Mac OS X users, but Windows users will be invited to test. This new software title will have the following features:
- SQL database backend capable of holding millions of records
- Server component available (like all of our apps)
- Customizable database and fields
- Import Outlook .PST files
- Code database records and connect images to each record
- Batch print images
- Batch print bates labels on images
- Search imported .PDF documents for specific text
- Full integration with DepoSmart™ and TrialSmart™
- Record notification window that tracks changes to any record
- Clarity Legal Software
Also in January, Clarity will release a new cross-platform database application for beta testing by select users. We'll start with testing by Apple Mac OS X users, but Windows users will be invited to test. This new software title will have the following features:
- SQL database backend capable of holding millions of records
- Server component available (like all of our apps)
- Customizable database and fields
- Import Outlook .PST files
- Code database records and connect images to each record
- Batch print images
- Batch print bates labels on images
- Search imported .PDF documents for specific text
- Full integration with DepoSmart™ and TrialSmart™
- Record notification window that tracks changes to any record
- Clarity Legal Software
Streetcars Roll Again in New Orleans
11/12/2007
Streetcars began rolling again in New Orleans's Garden
District for the first time since Katrina. The
streetcars are an important symbol of progress in New
Orleans as the St.Charles Avenue line operated 170
years before Katrina shut the trains down.
Click here for the news link.
Click here for the news link.
25% of UK Firms Looking for Outside Capital
11/11/2007
In a tightly competitive market in the UK, firms are seeking
new ways and new capital in order to compete. Nearly a
quarter of the UK’s top law firms are considering
looking for outside investment over the next two to
five years, according to a new poll.
Click here for the news article.
Click here for the news article.
Two Million Copies of Leopard Sold in First Weekend
10/31/2007
Since releasing Mac OS X Leopard on Friday, Apple sold
(or delivered, in the case of maintenance agreements)
more than 2 million copies of the sixth major release
of Mac OS X, far outpacing the first weekend sales of
Mac OS X Tiger, which was previously the most
successful OS release in Apple’s history. “Early
indications are that Leopard will be a huge hit with
customers,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Leopard’s
innovative features are getting great reviews and
making more people than ever think about switching to
the Mac.” Click here to read more.
Apple Profits Soar 67%
10/22/2007
A "halo effect" caused by consumer love of the iPod and
the iPhone contributed to 2.2 million Mac computers
shipped over the last three months.
Read the Information Week article.
Read the Information Week article.
Apple Comes to Its Senses
10/18/2007
Apple has decided to open the development of the iPhone
to developers. This is wonderful news for us here at
Clarity Legal Software. We have several ideas for how
to make case materials available to users in a mobile
environment. Which we will soon start working on.
Sascha Seagan of PCMagazine, discusses that whether you're an iPhone user or not, this is good news for you and your handheld. Click here for the link.
Sascha Seagan of PCMagazine, discusses that whether you're an iPhone user or not, this is good news for you and your handheld. Click here for the link.
Windows Vista Continues to Lag
10/03/2007
As a cross-platform developer, I am constantly
comparing and working on several operating systems
primarily Apple and Windows XP. All of our products at
Clarity Legal are cross-platform and all of our Windows
applications are Windows Vista compatible. However,
everyone we talk to in the computing industry as well
as those in the legal industry have been slow to adopt
the new Windows operating system. In fact, only a small
fraction of our users are Windows Vista uers. Why?
Well, several reasons.
Vista is a resource-hungry operating system. Its minimum hardware requirements of an 800 MHz processor, 512 Mbytes of memory and a 20-Gbyte hard prove the point. If you want to upgrade your existing system with Vista, chances are it will not handle the minimum requirements. We own 2 Windows machines here at Clarity Legal and despite Microsoft claiming that both systems met the minimum requirements for upgrading, neither worked well at all with Vista and we had to revert back to Windows XP. Upgrading to Vista can lessen a system's performance by as much as 58 percent, depending on what's being processed.
Vista is a resource-hungry operating system. Its minimum hardware requirements of an 800 MHz processor, 512 Mbytes of memory and a 20-Gbyte hard prove the point. If you want to upgrade your existing system with Vista, chances are it will not handle the minimum requirements. We own 2 Windows machines here at Clarity Legal and despite Microsoft claiming that both systems met the minimum requirements for upgrading, neither worked well at all with Vista and we had to revert back to Windows XP. Upgrading to Vista can lessen a system's performance by as much as 58 percent, depending on what's being processed.
Second, most law firms are hesitant to spend money on new technology. Vista isn't cheap. Partners would rather take the profits than spend it on technology. Trust us, regardless of firm...most law firms are behind current advances in technology by at least 3 years. Court reporting firms are even further behind.
For more information about other issues with Windows Vista and whether you should upgrade, read Robert Vamosi's Article from CNET on the new path for Windows Vista.Data protection: Clarity for data laws
10/03/2007
In the UK, the Court of Appeal, in a majority decision,
in a decision which significantly restricts the scope
for complaints of unfair data processing, the majority
held that selection of material to be entered into the
computerised form was not the ‘processing’ of ‘data’,
because the selection of the material was an act of
human judgement.
This is an interesting article that revolves around human vs. computerized capturing of data.
Read the Jake Hardy and Clive Freedman article.
This is an interesting article that revolves around human vs. computerized capturing of data.
Read the Jake Hardy and Clive Freedman article.
Apple offers $100 credit to iPhone owners
09/07/2007
In a nice PR move for Apple not only did they drop the
price of the iPhone to an affordable $399 but they also
offered those users that purchased an eariler iPhone
model a $100 discount.
Our prediction is that they will sell 10 million models in the first 12 months. At current pace the iPhone will have between 20-25% of the US phone market by the year 2009. Current models place the iPhone at 2% of the phone market after just 3 months since release.
Link
"If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you'll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon," Jobs said. "The good news is that if you buy products from companies that support them well, like Apple tries to do, you will receive years of useful and satisfying service from them even as newer models are introduced." - Steve Jobs
If you haven't bought an iPhone yet we recommend you to do so. They are wonderful devices and well worth the price. The difference between an Apple product and one from the competitors is that you can hand an iPod or an iPhone or even an iBook to your 75-year-old grandfather and in 15 minutes he's figured out how to use it. If you hand someone a Blackberry they would look at you as if you were asking them to pilot Apollo 12 to the moon. Features add complexity and without simplicity they are useless to all but those with Asperger's Syndrome.Our prediction is that they will sell 10 million models in the first 12 months. At current pace the iPhone will have between 20-25% of the US phone market by the year 2009. Current models place the iPhone at 2% of the phone market after just 3 months since release.
Link
Join Clarity Legal at CLVS in St.Louis
09/07/2007
The CLVS Seminar and Forum will be in St. Louis,
Missouri Frontenac Hotel at the September 7-9, 2007.
Clarity Legal Software will be showing off many
of the features of TrialSmart™ during the seminar as
well as other software products in the Clarity Legal
product family.
Hotel Link
Hotel Link
New Orleans' New Arrivals: Young, educated, and infused with hope
08/31/2007
A recent CNN article by Taylor Gandossy reveals that a
newer generation is moving to New Orleans to help
rebuild the city. The article focuses on a young
professional name Kate. Schneiderman who arrived in New
Orleans after Katrina. She and others that are moving
to the city are education, optimistic, and diverse.
Their main goal is the pull the city back together.
"I believe in the power of place," she said. "I think history incorporates itself not only in the architecture, but also the atmosphere of different cities, and in New Orleans you definitely feel that atmosphere and you can feel the history. And I think that's what drew me closer to New Orleans."
Click here to read more.Judicious Use of PowerPoint Urged
08/21/2007
CNN - "Make Your Next Computer an iMac" - 8.2 Rating
08/15/2007
We've been telling this to people for the last 3 years.
Apple makes great computers. They are cheap, run
Windows (with some help from Parallels) and their is
lots of great, easy to use software available. Of
course, we could care less what platform you use to run
our legal software but if you had a choice we would say
buy an Apple iMac 24 inch.
We recently presented and had a booth at the NCRA convention in Dallas, and people stopped by all day to look at our 24 inch iMacs running Apple and Windows software at the same time.
Check out this article by CNN - Link
We recently presented and had a booth at the NCRA convention in Dallas, and people stopped by all day to look at our 24 inch iMacs running Apple and Windows software at the same time.
Check out this article by CNN - Link
UK - In the eyes of the law, women are equal to men in the workplace. In reality, they still lag behind.
08/07/2007
Excellent article from TimesOnline, a UK newspaper,
regarding the treatment of women in the legal system in
the UK.
Link
Link
"Hello, I'm a Lawyer with a Mac"
07/24/2007
A Clarity user told us about this article. This author
generally missed the idea why lawyers and most people
use a Mac.
Link
Link
(UK) Legal Watchdogs for fairer insurance policies
07/18/2007
In the UK two Government legal reform watchdog firms
asked for tougher laws on insurance policies.
The proposed policies would make it harder for insurance companies to refuse to pay because someone failed to disclose information if the refusal was fair and reasonable.
Read the TimesOnline article.
The proposed policies would make it harder for insurance companies to refuse to pay because someone failed to disclose information if the refusal was fair and reasonable.
Read the TimesOnline article.
iPhone buyers have no regrets
07/14/2007
Early iPhone owners are overwhelmingly happy with their
devices, a survey out Friday says, and Apple (AAPL) and
AT&T (T) are luring customers from rivals as a
result.
In one of the first such studies, 90% of 200 owners said they were "extremely" or "very" satisfied with their phone. And 85% said they are "extremely" or "very" likely to recommend the device to others, says the online survey conducted and paid for by market researcher Interpret of Santa Monica, Calif. The firm surveyed 1,000 cellphone users July 6-10.
Clarity Legal Software will announce integration with the iPhone's Safari browser soon. Check back to our website periodically in the next few months.
See the USA today article here.
In one of the first such studies, 90% of 200 owners said they were "extremely" or "very" satisfied with their phone. And 85% said they are "extremely" or "very" likely to recommend the device to others, says the online survey conducted and paid for by market researcher Interpret of Santa Monica, Calif. The firm surveyed 1,000 cellphone users July 6-10.
Clarity Legal Software will announce integration with the iPhone's Safari browser soon. Check back to our website periodically in the next few months.
See the USA today article here.
Free Legal Aid Helps Texas Flood Victims
07/11/2007
In Texas we have been hit with record rain falls this
spring and summer. One of the areas hardest hit was
Wichita Falls, Texas an area northwest of Dallas. A
group called Legal Aid of Northwest came to the aid of
flood victims to assist with legal issues regarding
federal assistance.
TimesRecordNews.com article "Legal aid can help"
TimesRecordNews.com article "Legal aid can help"
Clarity Legal Releases Synch Service, Server Applications
07/02/2007
Clarity Legal Software is pleased to announce a new
synching service that is available to all customers.
The Clarity Synch Service is an online service bureau
that allows our users to send Clarity Legal video files
to be synchronized with transcript testimony.
This unique process takes an ascii text file and
combines it with the video from the deposition.
For more information regarding this new service click here.
Sending a transcript and the audio can be done directly from any software title.
The sending of the transcript is free and the files are sent securely to a registered user's online account at Clarity Legal. Once your files are synched you can then download them securely from our website and load them into Bundler™, DepoSmart™, or TrialSmart™.For more information regarding this new service click here.
Paper Prototyping
05/14/2007
This past week, John Geleynse from Apple™ spoke about
application design and interfaces during a developer
conference in Austin, Tx. It was very
enlightening. John talked about a book called
“Paper Prototyping” written by Carolyn Snyder which
teaches users to organize friendly easy-to-use
interfaces for not only software but other industries
as well. To read more about the book visit the
link below:
“Paper Prototyping”
http://www.paperprototyping.com/
The speech by John was excellent and helpful to most that attended. Apple has always developed great looking interfaces that were easy to use.
“Paper Prototyping”
http://www.paperprototyping.com/
The speech by John was excellent and helpful to most that attended. Apple has always developed great looking interfaces that were easy to use.
Supreme Court Adopts New Standard on Patent Litigation
05/01/2007
Tony Mauro, writer for the Legal Times, discusses the
latest Supreme Court ruling regarding Patent
Litigation. Click here for link.
TrialSmart™ (Universal Binary) Released
04/30/2007
Clarity Legal Software LLC is pleased to announce that
TrialSmart™ has been upgraded and has been released to
the public. Released in 2005,
TrialSmart is listed as one of the top specialized
legal applications for the Mac, according to
Apple.com. Nothing compares to the look and feel
of this program. It's compatible with numerous
video and image formats, including *.mpg and
*.pdf. And because it's easy enough for attorneys
without much technical expertise to use, the
software is helping counsel win trials. The Universal
Binary version of TrialSmart™ now imports existing
DepoSmart™ cases (PC or Apple based). In addition
there are hundreds of new features:
(Partial List)
- PDF Text Searching
- Saved Annotation Layers
- Resizable Video Player
- Expanded Video Clip and Group Reports
- Easier to Use Interface
- Fast PDF Exhibit Import
- Exclusive Dual Monitor Support
- Elegant Presentation Window Interface
- Saved Annotation Layers for Easy Retrieval
- Online Help System
- Mac-Intel Optimization for Faster Importing, Video Clip Creation, and Exhibit Display
TrialSmart is priced at $299 per single user license.
(Partial List)
- PDF Text Searching
- Saved Annotation Layers
- Resizable Video Player
- Expanded Video Clip and Group Reports
- Easier to Use Interface
- Fast PDF Exhibit Import
- Exclusive Dual Monitor Support
- Elegant Presentation Window Interface
- Saved Annotation Layers for Easy Retrieval
- Online Help System
- Mac-Intel Optimization for Faster Importing, Video Clip Creation, and Exhibit Display
TrialSmart is priced at $299 per single user license.
Blog is Open...
04/28/2007
Welcome to our blog.
We are primarily using this blog to post tutorials, as well as industry news and topics related to the legal field. However, we will occasionally post topics related to other subjects. All information is kept in chronological order, and the content is generally unfiltered. Basically, a blog is a hierarchy of text, images, media objects, and data that can be viewed in an HTML browser. The topics are posted by Clarity Legal, and then others respond to the topic of their choice. Usually, a blog is not treated as a monologue, but as a conversation.
We also welcome the submission of posts requests.
We are primarily using this blog to post tutorials, as well as industry news and topics related to the legal field. However, we will occasionally post topics related to other subjects. All information is kept in chronological order, and the content is generally unfiltered. Basically, a blog is a hierarchy of text, images, media objects, and data that can be viewed in an HTML browser. The topics are posted by Clarity Legal, and then others respond to the topic of their choice. Usually, a blog is not treated as a monologue, but as a conversation.
The overall purpose of this blog is to provide instructive ways to help current and potential customers learn our products in an open environment.
We also welcome the submission of posts requests.