News Archive for 01/02/20

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4D posts 6.5.8 updates

02/20, 8:45pm

4D posts 6.5.8 updates

4D Inc. has posted version 6.5.8 updates for its suite of 4D applications.

XGR: Giants Interview

02/20, 7:40pm

XGR: Giants Interview

XGR.com has published an interview with Planet Moon Studios' Shawn Jacoby, Producer on Giants: Citizen Kabuto. The game features three very different and unique characters including the monstrous giant, Kabuto. "Kabuto is completely unique in design," says Jacoby, "they needed a creature who's sheer size and power would keep the player in awe every time they saw him."

Napster offers $1 billion to labels

02/20, 7:30pm

Napster offers $1 billion to labels

In its bid to prevent being shut down, Napster this evening announced a $1 billion offer to record labels in return for allowing its users to continue swapping copyrighted music. The deal, which would offer the five major record labels $150 million each year and independent labels $50 million, comes after previous attempts to work out a percentage-based solution were rejected. Napster is presently working on other initiatives to appease the record labels, including a subscription-based service, which it plans to sell for $5 each month, as well as a restricted MP3 format that would prevent users from burning the audio files to CDs.

SiN Gold 1.1.2 Fixes Bugs

02/20, 6:45pm

SiN Gold 1.1.2 Fixes Bugs

MacPlay has released version 1.1.2 of SiN Gold, its first-person shooter for the Mac originally developed by Ritual Entertainment and 2015. The new version fixes over a dozen bugs in the game including one which caused keys not to work when using a non-English localized version of InputSprocket.

AppleInsider: Revamped iMac DV SE

02/20, 6:15pm

AppleInsider: Revamped iMac DV SE

AppleInsider has a special report on a revamped iMac Special Edition rumored to be introduced at this week's Macworld Expo in Tokyo, Japan.

VirtualPC 4 for OS X

02/20, 6:00pm

VirtualPC 4 for OS X

A representative of Connectix reiterated today that the company still plans to release an OS X version of VirtualPC 4.0 shortly following the release of Mac OS X in March. "We are committed to releasing a version for Mac OS X, and we plan to release it as close as possible to Apple's release of OS X," notes the rep.

FoldersSynchronizer 2.0 Beta adds speed

02/20, 5:45pm

FoldersSynchronizer 2.0 Beta adds speed

Softobe today released FoldersSynchronizer 2.0 Beta, a new version of its $40 utility for synchronizing backup folders and disks. Among the additions in the new version is improved speed, drag and drop support, reduced memory requirements and a background running mode.

Apple CD-RW high-speed flaw

02/20, 5:35pm

Apple CD-RW high-speed flaw

A recent article in Apple's Tech Info Library notes that the CD-RW shipping with some Macs can read, but not write, to high-speed CD-RW discs. Apple suggests that users "only use CD-RW discs that are rated from 1x to 4x speed."

Tech: Napster mediator, PGP shakeup

02/20, 5:30pm

Tech: Napster mediator, PGP shakeup

Evening tech news: A federal judge has appointed retired federal Judge Eugene Lynch to act as a mediator between Napster and the recording industry to try and work out a settlement; encryption guru Phil Zimmerman, creator of PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), is leaving Network Associates, citing differences between him and the company on the amount of source code to be openly published; and Intel hopes to save hundreds of millions of dollars by delaying raises, cutting back on hiring and slashing spending amid a slowing economy and slumping personal computer sales.

World War II Online Update

02/20, 5:15pm

World War II Online Update

Playnet's Chris "Mo" Sherland has posted a status update on the development of World War II Online for the Mac and PC. The update covers a number of different areas including a note that the company plans to continue work on the game "for years to come" after its release...

History of Opera, Technical Preview feature

02/20, 4:45pm

History of Opera, Technical Preview feature

We have posted a feature on Opera 5.0 Technical Preview documenting the browser's history and the performance of Technical Preview, which will be released publicly on Thursday.

DealNN: $3400 Cinema Display, $1200 Cube...

02/20, 4:15pm

DealNN: $3400 Cinema Display, $1200 Cube...

DealNN has information on ComputerTown's liquidation sale, which includes new Cinema displays for $3400, G4 Cubes for $1300, and more. Other deals include a Sony 19" monitor for $400, Sony 21" monitor $800, 50-pack 16x CD-R media for $10, and more. (DealNN's most popular deals are listed at the bottom of MacNN as well.)

IMG: Heroes III Complete Giveaway

02/20, 4:15pm

IMG: Heroes III Complete Giveaway

IMG is offering a giveaway for three copies of Heroes of Might & Magic III Complete for the Mac. Winners will be chosen next Monday, February 26.

G4/667 systems ship, iMovie update expected

02/20, 3:45pm

G4/667 systems ship, iMovie update expected

Following Apple's G4/733 shipping announcement yesterday, MacNN reader Wayne Parker confirms that G4/667 systems have begun shipping as well. "I just got off the phone with the Apple Store, my BTO 667MHz, ordered 9 January, just went out the door!" Meanwhile, Jeff K., who received his G4/733 today, notes that an iMovie update is in the works. "I just received my 733 MHz G4 from Apple and the Read Me file says 'get the updated version of iMovie 2.02 for better performance.'" iMovie is currently at version 2.01.

Console: Next-gen Lara Croft

02/20, 3:00pm

Console: Next-gen Lara Croft

Afternoon console news: UK-based Core Design has been talking openly about the next-generation game starring Lara Croft, which will likely not bear the 'Tomb Raider' name, that will appear on the Playstation 2; Bullfrog's Quake III: Revolution for the Playstation 2 will allow four players to compete for frags on a single screen; and Bioware has released a trailer for Baldur's Gate 2: Dark Alliance, a role-playing game exclusively for the Playstation 2.

AVault: House Party Q&A

02/20, 2:45pm

AVault: House Party Q&A

The Adrenaline Vault has published an interview with Maxis' Tim Le Tourneau, Co-Producer on The Sims: House Party, the second expansion pack for The Sims which will be coming to the PC later this year. A Mac version has yet to be announced, although Aspyr Media, which published both The Sims and The Sims: Livin' Large for the Mac, is actively considering bringing the second expansion pack to the Mac as well...

Freeverse giving away Canon scanner

02/20, 2:40pm

Freeverse giving away Canon scanner

Freeverse Software will be holding an event this Friday, February 23 at 9 p.m. EST (6 p.m. PST) on the company's online service, HMS Freeverse. Anyone who logs in to the HMS Freeverse using 3D Hearts, 3D Spades, 3D Setback/Pitch, 3D Bridge, 3D Euchre, Classic Cribbage or Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab during the event will be automatically entered in a giveaway to win a free Canon scanner.

Devine on Quake III 1.27 Final Release

02/20, 2:20pm

Devine on Quake III 1.27 Final Release

A post in the Quake3World forums offers quotes from id Software's Graeme Devine noting that the final Mac version of Quake III: Arena 1.27, which includes support for Altivec and other improvements, is in Apple's hands and is expected to be released later this week. Some sources are speculating on whether Apple is aiding in the optimization of the game or whether it might make an appearance during the keynote tomorrow at Macworld Expo Tokyo.

CD: Red Faction Interview

02/20, 1:50pm

CD: Red Faction Interview

Console Domain has published an interview with Volition's Anoop Shekar on the company's upcoming first-person shooter for the Mac, PC and Playstation 2, Red Faction. "One of the other things [we wanted to do] was to make gameplay that wasn't repetitive," says Shekar, "so a lot of the game is broken up with sections where you have to go undercover and actually sneak around and not kill everything as soon as you see it."

MonkeyByte.com redesigned

02/20, 1:45pm

MonkeyByte.com redesigned

MonkeyByte.com has announced a major facelife to its web site. In addition, the site has exposed its myMonkey community site to all users, which lets users download alphas and betas of the company's upcoming games, and has added several independent music albums for sale and distribution at the site.

GameFAQS: SiN Walkthrough updated

02/20, 1:40pm

GameFAQS: SiN Walkthrough updated

GameFAQS has posted an update to its walkthrough for Ritual Entertainment's first-person shooter, SiN, which is now 30% complete.

Latest IPNetRouter test release posted

02/20, 1:30pm

Latest IPNetRouter test release posted

IPNetRouter 1.6c6 is the latest test release of the software Internet router, bringing several minor fixes and improvements to the application.

Connectix ships VirtualPC 4 w/ Windows 2000

02/20, 1:15pm

Connectix ships VirtualPC 4 w/ Windows 2000

Connectix has begun shipping VirtualPC 4 with Windows 2000 for $250. VirtualPC 4 is also available with Windows 98 or Windows Me for $200, or DOS for $100.

Games: Tropico Q&A, ATI vs. NVIDIA Poll

02/20, 12:30pm

Games: Tropico Q&A, ATI vs. NVIDIA Poll

games.macnn.com has posted a brief Q&A with PopTop Software's Phil Steinmeyer on his company's upcoming building/strategy game for the Mac and PC, Tropico; the site has also started a new poll asking readers to choose between the ATI Radeon and NVIDIA GeForce2 MX graphics cards.

PopTop President Phil Steinmeyer on Tropico

02/20, 12:25pm

PopTop President Phil Steinmeyer on Tropico

PopTop Software President Phil Steinmeyer answered a few questions for us about Tropico, the company's upcoming building/strategy game of Caribbean dictatorship and political intrigue for the Mac and PC...

ATI vs. NVIDIA poll

02/20, 12:10pm

ATI vs. NVIDIA poll

Our poll last week asked, "How many hours per week do you spend playing games?" Over 38% of respondents said that they spend 1-5 hours per week, 26.58% spend 6-10 hours per week, 15.51% spend 10-20 hours per week, 11.71% spend 20+ hours per week and 7.91% spend less than an hour per week playing games. Our poll this week asks, "If you were buying a Power Mac G4 today, would you choose an ATI Radeon or NVIDIA GeForce2 MX?" Please vote in the left sidebar of any page.

Roundup: Alice preview and more

02/20, 12:00pm

Roundup: Alice preview and more

Yesterday we noted the release of Q3F Beta 1h, Mumbo Jumbo announced the addition of NASA veteran and programmer Duane Johnson to its Mac porting team and Ambrosia Software announced the departure of programmer Ben Spees, creator of Harry the Handsome Executive, Ferazel's Wand and the upcoming 3D title, Ragnarok. We published an in-depth preview of American McGee's Alice in addition to a new desktop picture at Custer's Corner, Eden.

OSP 0.99s1 Released

02/20, 11:55am

OSP 0.99s1 Released

OSP 0.99s1 is a maintenance release of Orange Smoothie Productions' popular mod for Quake III: Arena.

Eight new Summoner screenshots

02/20, 11:50am

Eight new Summoner screenshots

Summoner Watch has posted eight new screenshots from Volition's 3D role-playing game for the Mac and PC, Summoner. "...2 shots from the lower level of the Tower of Eleh, 2 more screenshots from Wolong at night, 2 new screenshots from Joseph and Flece traveling to Iona Monastery, and 2 of the actual Iona Monastery."

BZ Mac Diablo II Trainer 1.0b8 Released

02/20, 11:45am

BZ Mac Diablo II Trainer 1.0b8 Released

BahamutZERO has released BZ Mac Diablo II Trainer 1.0b8, a new version of his cheating device for Diablo II. The new version adds a new menu to select the startup town of the character and several bug fixes and boasts compatibility with versions 1.04 and 1.05 of Diablo II.

Mean Arena: Nilsson Interview

02/20, 11:40am

Mean Arena: Nilsson Interview

Mean Arena has published an interview with id Software character animator Fred Nilsson who talks about, among other things, the way he goes about creating an animation for a new character. "...I'll always try and get inside the characters head. I'll try and think about what they're thinking. And what they might do in that particular situation."

Show Desktop gives quick access to Finder

02/20, 11:30am

Show Desktop gives quick access to Finder

Show Desktop 1.0 is a small utility that resides in the dock and will hide all running applications and show the Finder in OS X, for quick access to files on the desktop.

Earthlink unveils high-speed wireless access

02/20, 11:00am

Earthlink unveils high-speed wireless access

Earthlink, Apple's exclusive ISP partner, today rolled out wireless high-speed Internet access in Atlanta, Phoenix, and San Diego using Metricom's Richochet's network. The service connects at up to 128Kbps both indoors or outdoors, as well as while traveling at up to 70 MPH. The service is currently available only for PCs, but a Mac version is expected in the future. A one-time $100 fee is charged for the modem, and a minimum three-month contract is required. Monthly service is $80 for new Earthlink customers, or $60 for current dial-up or DSL customers. Metricom recently posted a wider-than-expected loss and announced that it would need to shut down operations in the second half of the year if it does not receive additional funding. [updated]

Be Found 2.5: search engine submission tool

02/20, 9:25am

Be Found 2.5: search engine submission tool

VSE has released Be Found 2.5 an update to its shareware application for submitting Web sites to search engines. The new version analyzes the results of search engines to verify that a submission has been accepted and the information correct. The Lite version, for $20, can submit a site to ten search engines, while the Professional version, for $90, submits to more than 150 search engines and offers expanded functionality.

eMail Alert! 2.1, Carbon beta posted

02/20, 8:00am

eMail Alert! 2.1, Carbon beta posted

IntelliInnovations has posted eMail Alert! 2.1 [1.0 MB], an update to its $12 email notifier that allows users to check their email accounts with an email client. The update adds several user-requested features. Additionally, a Carbon beta version for OS X has been made available [1.5 MB].

Opera technology preview due Thursday

02/20, 7:30am

Opera technology preview due Thursday

Opera Software, creators of the alternative Web browser that bears the company's name, will release Mac Technology Preview 1 on Thursday, the first public alpha release of the browser that has been in development for nearly three years. A public beta will be posted at an unspecified date in the future, followed by the final release, which will be made available for PowerPC, 68K, and Mac OS X, in that order. Opera dubs its $39 browser as the world's fastest, and also offers a free ad-supported version. [updated]

MacSSH 2.1a8: regains former name, fixes bugs

02/20, 3:55am

MacSSH 2.1a8: regains former name, fixes bugs

Following some "community pressure," Jean-Pierre Stierlin's freeware MacSSH 2.1a8 reverts back to its former name, and adds better support for ssh-URLs that are passed with user name and password parameters via AppleEvents.

Sound Studio 1.5.4 fixes bugs, supports OS X

02/20, 3:50am

Sound Studio 1.5.4 fixes bugs, supports OS X

Felt Tip Software's Sound Studio 1.5.4, a maintenance update to its $35 digital audio recording and editing application is now also available for Mac OS X.

Photomover 1.5: upload images to Web sites

02/20, 3:35am

Photomover 1.5: upload images to Web sites

Script Software's PhotoMover 1.5 can upload images directly from your desktop to photo upload sites on the web, including Sony Imagestation, ClubPhoto, Photopoint and Zing. A Carbon version for Mac OS X is also available.

Hostal 1.0 for IP mapping, host blocking

02/20, 3:35am

Hostal 1.0 for IP mapping, host blocking

Hostal 1.0, a $10 shareware utility, allows local IP address mapping by creating a Hosts file for your computer and also allows content filtering by blocking designated hosts. It also "supports Time to Live to prevent stale host mappings. For users on a network, Hostal detects an existing Hosts file and incorporates those settings as well."

ClipDoubler 1.2: extend your Mac clipboard

02/20, 3:25am

ClipDoubler 1.2: extend your Mac clipboard

Lazy Mountain Software has released ClipDoubler 1.2, an update to the $10 shareware Mac OS clipboard extender utility that adds multiple clipboards as well as the ability to quickly view, edit, and manipulate the contents. Version 1.2 now includes an option to automatically save the contents of the clipboards and the ability to edit clipboards and clipping files.

Integrade Pro 7.5: gets Web functions

02/20, 3:10am

Integrade Pro 7.5: gets Web functions

The free upgrade InteGrade Pro 7.5 adds client/server and web functionality and fixes several problems in teacher gradebook application from NCS Pearson. (Grade Keeper 5.2.1 is also a minor update to the $20 application for teachers.)

vScan 1.8: anti-virus utility updated

02/20, 3:10am

vScan 1.8: anti-virus utility updated

MRD's vScan 1.8 updates the virus database, fixes a few bugs, and adds a new preference setting to its $30 anti-virus utility which scans Mac volumes for infected files, trojan horses and traditional viruses: "[it] will detect all strains of the AutoStart 9805 Worm plus all strains of the SevenDust virus as well as the most current trojan horse files circulating in the Mac community."

Info on QT Webcast of Tokyo keynote

02/20, 2:25am

Info on QT Webcast of Tokyo keynote

Apple has reposted information about the QuickTime Webcast of Steve Jobs' keynote at Macworld Tokyo, after making the info briefly available at the end of last week. The keynote will not be streamed, but will be available as video on-demand some time after the keynote. (The keynote will be broadcast live over satellite.) [updated]

Roundup: SuperDriver G4 ships, MWT coverage

02/20, 2:10am

Roundup: SuperDriver G4 ships, MWT coverage

Yesterday we noted shipment of Apple's G4/733 "SuperDrive" machines as well as BTO orders of Titanium PowerBooks. We also updated our Macworld Tokyo Coverage, posted a review of N2MP3 Pro, noted Apple Germany's new CEO, shipment of Fantom's 16x10x40x FireWire CD-RW, and Sonnet's quiet price drops. Other updates included ExtensionOverload 5.7.2, MT NewsWatcher 3.1, Traffic Report 1.0, and CrushFTP 2.0.