News Archive for 01/02/06

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Adobe PS 8.7.1 issue with PressReady

02/06, 10:05pm

Adobe PS 8.7.1 issue with PressReady

Edd Dicker forwarded a note from Adobe's newsgroup, which describes problems when using the recently released Adobe PS 8.7.1 printer driver with Adobe PressReady, noting that another revision will be needed to fix the incompatibility with Press Ready and recommending that users not install v8.7.1 on systems that run PressReady.

Adobe FrameMaker R.I.P.?

02/06, 9:05pm

Adobe FrameMaker R.I.P.?

Adobe has denied rumors in Robert Cringley latest "Notes from the field" column that claimed Adobe has laid off its FrameMaker team: "FrameMaker is the Adobe software designed for companies that publish content of a lengthy nature, such as books to multiple channels like print, CD, or the Web. Not only has the team been disbanded, but now sources close to the situation are saying that Adobe may not even support FrameMaker 6.0 with much enthusiasm." Adobe denies the rumor, saying that it is "completely committed to developing and supporting the FrameMaker product." We have the full Adobe response...

Macromedia Fireworks 4.02 updater available

02/06, 9:05pm

Macromedia Fireworks 4.02 updater available

Macromedia has posted a Fireworks 4.02 updater for its popular Web graphics utility, which includes a fix for batch processing errors as well other minor enhancements and bug fixes. The full release notes are available online as well as short list of Known Problems on the Mac.

GameSpot: WWII Online Interview

02/06, 8:16pm

GameSpot: WWII Online Interview

GameSpot has published an interview with Cornered Rat Software's Rodney "Hatch" Hodge to discuss the company's massively multiplayer online war combat game, World War II Online. "Right now we are shooting for 10,000 players in the Blitzkrieg theater of operations," says Hodge. "And we currently have 10 or more theaters of operations planned to make up a seamless World War II Online "world." That's where we want to start, and take it higher from there."

Gamecenter: Tropico, ESRB Ratings

02/06, 7:11pm

Gamecenter: Tropico, ESRB Ratings

C|Net's Gamecenter, which will close for good at the end of this week, has posted a few notes regarding a recent visit to PopTop Software to check out Tropico, the company's Caribbean dictatorship strategy game for the Mac and PC. While likely not a common scenario for every publisher, the article comments on the way in which the company will receive an ESRB rating for the game:

I thought...that the ratings board actually plays a game to give it a rating. Apparently not. PopTop had to fill out a questionnaire and make a five-minute video showing the worst parts of the game. That's what the ESRB looks at to determine the rating a game gets. To me this just reinforces what a joke the whole ratings system is.

Popular Power updated to 0.4.0a

02/06, 5:40pm

Popular Power updated to 0.4.0a

Popular Power has posted Popular Power 0.4.0a, a distributed computing client for the influenza virus project, similar to SETI@home. This version fixes a problem with upgrading 0.3.2 to 0.4.0, where the settings are now saved properly in the preference panel.

Tech: New Windows CE, Compaq Asia sales

02/06, 5:35pm

Tech: New Windows CE, Compaq Asia sales

Evening tech news: Microsoft's Steve Ballmer will introduce the next generation of Windows CE software during his keynote at the Windows Embedded Developers Conference this week; Compaq Asia/Pacific has reported that its Asian sales have jumped by 26 percent year over year; and Dell has closed its online marketplace, just four months after it launched the site.

Tropico Character: Female Engineer

02/06, 5:19pm

Tropico Character: Female Engineer

This week's Tropico Character Highlight is the Female Engineer, "the key in the efficient running of your electric power plants and airports" in PopTop Software's building/strategy game for the Mac and PC.

Diablo II: LoD FAQ Updated

02/06, 5:15pm

Diablo II: LoD FAQ Updated

Blizzard Entertainment has updated the official FAQ for Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, the expansion pack for the record-setting Diablo II. As the FAQ clearly notes, the information provided is subject to change and merely reflects the current state of the game at the time of the FAQ update. "We have some great new ideas to make the Hirelings much more useful. These changes are getting some of the best feedback from our teams here at Blizzard in the current build. For example, you can drop a potion on hirelings to heal them."

IMG: Escape from Monkey Island Preview

02/06, 4:53pm

IMG: Escape from Monkey Island Preview

IMG has published a preview of Escape from Monkey Island, the 3D adventure game starring Guybrush Threepwood and the other cast of characters from LucasArts' memorable series. (We published our own first look at Escape from Monkey Island earlier this year.)

PC growth for 2001 cut by Merrill Lynch

02/06, 4:15pm

PC growth for 2001 cut by Merrill Lynch

Merrill Lynch lowered 2001 PC unit growth to 12.5 percent from 15.4 percent and says it is sticking to its 12.8 percent growth forecast for 2002, following a trip to about a dozen PC hardware suppliers in Taiwan, including component manufacturers, motherboard makers, notebook manufacturers and foundries who supply companies such as Apple, Compaq, Dell and Gateway.

Freeway 3.1: free update to Web design tool

02/06, 3:30pm

Freeway 3.1: free update to Web design tool

SoftPress Systems today released Freeway 3.1, a free update to its WYSIWIG Web-design software, which offers Flash integration as well as improved text support and JavaScript support.

P-400 printer bundle from Olympus

02/06, 3:20pm

P-400 printer bundle from Olympus

Olympus has announced its P-400 Business Edition, which bundles a P-400 professional quality, high speed dye-sublimation printer with photo paper and ink cartridges to print 150 full-size (A4) sheets, and a One Year Priority Exchange Service for $1500. It prints photo-quality, 7.64"x10" images on an A4-size (8.25"x 11.7") photo paper in 90 seconds and offers SmartMedia, PCMCIA card, USB or Parallel Port connectivity.

New six-color, 1200 dpi printer from Canon

02/06, 3:15pm

New six-color, 1200 dpi printer from Canon

Canon U.S.A. today announced its HyperPhoto Bubble Jet printer that can be used as a stand-alone unit or as part of the HyperPhoto Digital Express 3000 solution for converting and delivering photos. The networkable printer provides six-color light and dark ink printing at resolutions of up to 1200x1200 dpi for production of digital quality prints--up to 8x10-inch image at full bleed in 25 seconds and 4x6-inch images at full bleed in 12 seconds. Drivers are expected to be available for both Mac OS X and Mac OS 9 as well as an optional FireWire interface. [princing not available; site not updated]

World War II Online for Mac OS X

02/06, 3:01pm

World War II Online for Mac OS X

World War II Online HQ has picked up bits and pieces of information on the massively multiplayer online war combat game from the development team, Cornered Rat Software. Among the tidbits is information on ground clutter, artillery shells, abandoned vehicles and a Mac OS X version of World War II Online. "An OSX version is in the plans, but a bit (just a bit) in the distance."

Escape from Monkey Island Enters Beta

02/06, 2:31pm

Escape from Monkey Island Enters Beta

The Mac version of Escape from Monkey Island, the highly anticipated 3D adventure game developed by LucasArts Entertainment and to be published by Aspyr Media, has entered beta testing and is expected to ship "very soon", according to Westlake Interactive.

Monopoly Casino goes GM

02/06, 2:30pm

Monopoly Casino goes GM

Westlake Interactive has also announced that Monopoly Casino has reached golden master status and has been sent off for duplication. "Soon you will be able to play all your favorite casino games with the Monopoly characters you know and love."

Games forum: Rogue Spear instability, more

02/06, 2:02pm

Games forum: Rogue Spear instability, more

Hot topics in our Mac Games forum include suggestions for good Mac racing games and flight sims, the games that Mac users are looking forward to and ways to reduce the instability of Rogue Spear for the Mac.

Review: Rune

02/06, 1:25pm

Review: Rune

We have published a review of Rune, the third-person 3D action game from Human Head Studios that features a Viking armed with large and deadly axes, swords and hammers.

Video card results; Tony Hawk 2 poll

02/06, 1:20pm

Video card results; Tony Hawk 2 poll

Our poll last week asked, "Which video card do you use for gaming on your Mac?" The vast majority of respondents, 40.56%, are using a Rage 128 or Rage 128 Pro while 19.44% are using an ATI Radeon and 16.33% are using a Voodoo-branded card. 8.67% are still using an ATI Rage Pro and 5.33% have already purchased a new G4 with an NVIDIA GeForce2 MX installed. Voodoo 1/2, Other and Older ATI combined represented over 9%. This week's poll asks, "Are you planning to purchase Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 for the Mac once it's released this spring?" Please vote in the left sidebar of any page on the site.

X-Plane 5.60 Beta 5 Released

02/06, 1:19pm

X-Plane 5.60 Beta 5 Released

Laminar Research has released a new version of its realistic flight sim for the Mac, X-Plane 5.60 Beta 5. The "major tech advances" in this latest release include the addition of the Autogyro, multiple cloud layers, saveable movies and random planes.

GC: Tales of the Sword Coast

02/06, 1:17pm

GC: Tales of the Sword Coast

We have added expansion pack Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast to our Game Center. The resource is continually expanding and improving, and we encourage feedback on its usefulness and how we can improve it to better suit our readers' needs.

Roundup: Halo, NWN updates

02/06, 1:14pm

Roundup: Halo, NWN updates

Yesterday we reported the latest development update on Halo, Bioware's Scott Greig revealed the latest status of Neverwinter Nights and the official web site for Master of Orion III attributed the title's recent popularity partly to the announcement of a Mac version earlier this year. We published an editorial on Women in Gaming, which concludes our three-part series on the topic, and made several updates to our Game Center including the addition of StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War.

DR: Infogrames COO Interview

02/06, 1:09pm

DR: Infogrames COO Interview

Infogrames, Inc. U.S. Division COO Yves Legris is the subject of an interview at Daily Radar; Infogrames is the parent company of Mac entertainment publisher MacSoft. "Infogrames has always hedged its bets by carefully investing in all the viable platforms, which is why we have grown to be one of the largest videogame publishers," says Legris. "That's why our logo is the resilient armadillo -- we adapt to our surroundings and continue to thrive."

Apple/HP extend printer rebates until Feb 19

02/06, 12:55pm

Apple/HP extend printer rebates until Feb 19

Apple/HP have extended their rebate offer of $100 on any purchase any iBook or iMac computer and a HP DeskJet 648C, 840C or 842C color printer. The mail-in rebates ($50 from Apple and $50 from HP) are now good until February 19, 2001.

Audible.com to have Mac compatibility soon

02/06, 12:35pm

Audible.com to have Mac compatibility soon

Audible.com, a provider of Internet-delivered spoken audio for computer-based listening, has announced the first phase of Mac compatibility for streaming and download, beginning mid-February. Users will be able to access any of the 28,000 hours of digital audio content from Macs using RealPlayer. Audiobooks including short stories, fiction, nonfiction and exclusive e-audiobook titles will be available. [site not updated]

Games: Polls, Vampire release date, more

02/06, 12:33pm

Games: Polls, Vampire release date, more

games.macnn.com has posted the results of last week's poll on video cards and begins a new poll today on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 for the Mac; the site also posted the newly announced release date for the Mac version of Escape from Monkey Island and Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption. [updated]

iMac DV SE "temporarily unavailable"

02/06, 12:30pm

iMac DV SE "temporarily unavailable"

The Apple Store now lists iMac DV SE as "temporarily unavailable," after listing the iMac DV+ in a similar status last week. (Apple's Education store is running several promotions, in a what appears to be an attempt to clear out inventory in the wake of rumored announcements at Macworld Tokyo, which takes place in late February.)

Macs installed in a Nissan PathFinder

02/06, 12:30pm

Macs installed in a Nissan PathFinder

As noted in our forums, a Mac user has installed a PowerBook with a 6.4" touch-screen LCD in his Nissan Pathfinder, creating the "Pathintosh." The Mac is used to play MP3 files and uses AirPort connectivity to transfer songs to and from his house.

Q3 Switcharoo!

02/06, 12:30pm

Q3 Switcharoo!

Q3 Switcharoo! is a new server-side only mod for Quake III: Arena that allows players to browse other players in-game and, if they choose to, switch places with the player of their choice.

OS X: latest Mac OS X seed, Nisus on Cocoa

02/06, 12:25pm

OS X: latest Mac OS X seed, Nisus on Cocoa

osx.macnn.com has news on the latest seed of Mac OS X (4K33) and the possibility of Nisus developing a Cocoa-version of its popular word processor.

Blizzard 10th Anniversary Feature

02/06, 12:20pm

Blizzard 10th Anniversary Feature

Blizzard Entertainment has posted a full feature celebrating its 10th Anniversary, which is officially this Thursday, February 8. The feature chats with ten of the company's long-time employees including the three co-founders, those who initially conceived successful franchises Diablo and StarCraft, the team behind the company's breathtaking cutscenes and the art director that gives the company's games a unique "magic quality".

Taiwan officially gets new Mac introduction

02/06, 12:15pm

Taiwan officially gets new Mac introduction

Apple Taiwan yesterday officially introduced its new line of PowerMacs and notebook computers, echoing Steve Jobs' digital hub vision for the PC: "'This is not the end of the PC, Apple feels this to be just a stage in its evolution.'...the next stage in the life of the PC will be as computers become a focus for all digital devices such as music players, video production equipment, and cameras."

Roundup: USB 2.0 PC card, FireWire SuperDrive

02/06, 12:10pm

Roundup: USB 2.0 PC card, FireWire SuperDrive

Yesterday we posted a review of Eye Candy 4000, noted security vulnerabilities in WEP (found in Apple's AirPort and other wireless protocols), upcoming Toshiba digital cameras, IOGEAR's dual-port USB 2.0 PC card, a new external FireWire-based DVD-R/RW solution and rebates from Wacom/Corel and Aestiva. Other updates included ExtensionOverload 5.7.1, Umax VistaScan 3.7.5, and ALAP's ImagePort 1.1.

Oni prequel for WAP-enabled devices

02/06, 12:09pm

Oni prequel for WAP-enabled devices

Take Two Interactive has announced a prequel for Oni, Bungie's third-person 3D action game, that is playable on WAP-enabled devices including cell phones, according to FGN Online. Designed by Quantum Sheep, the game sees protagonist Konoko competing against an original training simulator and features manga animation.

Cro-Mag Rally Strategy Guide

02/06, 12:03pm

Cro-Mag Rally Strategy Guide

Pangea Software has published an official strategy guide for its pre-historic 3D kart racer for the Mac, Cro-Mag Rally. The guide offers an explanation of the difference between the difficulty modes, driving tips, a list of the game's ten vehicles and their attributes, strategies for using each powerup effectively, a map and specific tips for each track (complete with the location of every arrowhead) and tips for battle mode.

Shadowbane enters first beta

02/06, 11:38am

Shadowbane enters first beta

Wolfpack Studios and Gathering of Developers has announced that Shadowbane, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game for the Mac and PC, has entered its first beta testing stage. The companies have yet to reveal their strategy for a public test of the Mac version of the game.

Vampire set for May release

02/06, 11:34am

Vampire set for May release

MacSoft has updated its web site with word that the Mac version of Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption, a unique role-playing game originally developed by Nihilistic Software, is expected to be released in May. Thanks IMG.

Forums: Pro speakers, SuperDrive, cleaning PB

02/06, 11:00am

Forums: Pro speakers, SuperDrive, cleaning PB

Interesting threads in our forums include: audio dropping from Pro Speakers · experiences with USB PCI cards · SuperDrive DVD-R (data) support · poor iTunes visual performance on a G4 · using two ADC monitors · cleaning PowerBook G3 cases · ICQ gripes.

New Freddi Fish title available in June

02/06, 9:55am

New Freddi Fish title available in June

Humongous Entertainment has introduced "Freddi Fish and the Case of the Creature of Coral Cove," a game for kids ages 3 to 8. Available in June on Mac/Windows hybrid CD, the price will be $20. [site not updated]

DC&R offers ZipBurst CGI Pro for $325

02/06, 9:05am

DC&R offers ZipBurst CGI Pro for $325

Dantowitz Consulting & Research is now offering a half-price sale on its ZipBurst CGI Pro licenses, regularly $650, and $100 or more off on other products. ZipBurst allows users to run databases on the same CPU as their Web server and other software. It searches by ZIPcode, city, state or area code.

Mac OS X build 4K29 vs. 4K33

02/06, 9:04am

Mac OS X build 4K29 vs. 4K33

Mac OS X build 4K33 has been released to select developers. Wincent Colaiuta has posted an article that details the differences between 4K29 and 4K33. "There are no visual differences between 4K33 and 4K29. The spinning cd still pops up frequently in Explorer - which we suspect is a side-effect of a quick Carbon port. Music Player app is still nowhere to be found. Apple System Profiler now works. In previous builds it would quit on launch giving an error."

Web Devil 5.3 fixes bugs, adds features

02/06, 8:45am

Web Devil 5.3 fixes bugs, adds features

Chaotic Software has released Web Devil 5.3, a $35 tool for downloading Web sites for offline browsing. This version fixes bugs where some users were getting "Not connected" results and adds minor feature enhancements.

Peninsula posts aPos Printer Driver

02/06, 8:45am

Peninsula posts aPos Printer Driver

Peninsula has posted aPos Printer Driver, a print driver for printing to and opening the cash drawer of a cash register from within any application. The $50 driver features easy column control, fast print speeds and no scripts for installation.

Tech: chip power, Sun Open Net, Honor system

02/06, 8:30am

Tech: chip power, Sun Open Net, Honor system

Morning tech news: Former Apple Chairman/CEO Gil Amelio has joined the board of directors of Advanced Communications Technologies Inc.; American Greetings will acquire rival eGreetings for $33 million; Sun has launched Sun Open Net Environment, Sun ONE, which is comprised of the Java 3 platform, Forte development tools and iPlanet software; and Amazon has launched its Honor System, a system that will allow Net surfers to donate cash to their favorite Web sites.

Script Software posts CopyPaste 4.4.2

02/06, 8:15am

Script Software posts CopyPaste 4.4.2

Script Software has posted CopyPaste 4.4.2, a $20 shareware utility for copying and pasting multiple items at one time. This version immediately saves clips in the Clip Extender on changes, saves clips in the Clip Recorder through restart and does not save the preferences at shutdown.

Arcsoft to preview PhotoStudio for OS X

02/06, 8:15am

Arcsoft to preview PhotoStudio for OS X

At Macworld Tokyo later this month, Arcsoft will demonstrate a Mac OS X version of PhotoStudio, its image-editing application. The product is expected to ship in the summer of 2001; pricing has not yet been set. (more OS X news at osx.macnn.com)

Nisus looking to Cocoa for OS X development

02/06, 12:20am

Nisus looking to Cocoa for OS X development

Nisus Software says it has plans for developing a fully native version of Nisus Writer for Mac OS X, according to a note forwarded from Nisus to the Omnigroup mailing list: "At this point, I can tell you that we are going to re-write Nisus Writer or OS X, and it will most likely be Cocoa, but that is not final yet. We will announce more when we get closer to actually doing it.

PO ToolBox 1.1: USPS management tool for Mac

02/06, 12:15am

PO ToolBox 1.1: USPS management tool for Mac

Intelli Innovations' P.O. Toolbox 1.1, a U.S. Postal Service package management tool, adds a 'Delivery Times' button to the domestic rate calculator and has other enhancements to the International Rate Calculator. Limited trials of both the Classic and Carbon versions are available online.

Alpha 7.4: shareware text editor updated

02/06, 12:15am

Alpha 7.4: shareware text editor updated

Pete Keleher's $30 shareware text editor, Alpha 7.4, includes macros for LaTeX and syntax colors TeX code as well as modes for Fortran, C, Perl, HTML, and much more. A lite version is available as well.

Tech: Mobility Radeon, Kawaski touring...

02/06, 12:00am

Tech: Mobility Radeon, Kawaski touring...

Early morning tech news: Anandtech's preview of the Mobility Radeon reveals that ATI seems to "have cut the the charisma engine so there's no T&L support on the chip," according to one reader; Former Apple Exec Guy Kawasaki is touring the country giving tutorials on the how-to's of starting a technology company; and a two-and-a-half-year-old JavaScript exploit that can be used to "wire-tap" e-mails began raising the hackles of privacy advocates yesterday.