News Archive for 01/04/12

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ZDNet: 802.11 is good, but has flaws

04/12, 8:45pm

ZDNet: 802.11 is good, but has flaws

ZDNet has published an article that discusses 802.11b (AirPort) and the security flaws that are present in the technology.

ASM 1.0b1 brings Classic Apps menu to OS X

04/12, 8:30pm

ASM 1.0b1 brings Classic Apps menu to OS X

ASM 1.0b1 is a "small freeware utility that adds a global menu to the right side of the menu bar. This menu lists all of your open applications, so you can easily switch between them."

Darwin Developer posts PPP Kernel Panic fix

04/12, 8:30pm

Darwin Developer posts PPP Kernel Panic fix

Darwin Developer Louis Gerbarg has written a fix for the PPP kernel panic experienced by many on multiprocessor G4 systems. The patch for Apple's serial driver (AppleSCCSerial.kext) is linked along with a solicitation for feedback in our forums area.

AOL releases AOL 5 beta for OS X to testers

04/12, 8:20pm

AOL releases AOL 5 beta for OS X to testers

AOL today released the first beta of AOL 5 for MacOS X to internal beta testers, according to several readers.

Diablo II Modifiers, Diablo II: LoD box art

04/12, 5:35pm

Diablo II Modifiers, Diablo II: LoD box art

DiabloII.Net has updated its modifiers section, providing more in-depth Diablo II information on prefixes, suffixes and "lots of little-known info about how mods stack and interact and their weirder properties." Meanwhile, several sites have noted that EBgames.com has posted new box art for Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, the upcoming expansion pack which is expected for release this summer.

REAL Software posts new beta of REALbasic

04/12, 5:30pm

REAL Software posts new beta of REALbasic

REAL Software has posted REALbasic 3.1b8, which adds a few small features and bug fixes to the pre-release version of the programming environment. Geoff Perlman, President & CEO of REAL Software, has also written a detailed outline of company's plans for the future of REALbasic. [Carbon - Classic]

Console: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

04/12, 5:30pm

Console: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

Evening console news: Activision has announced that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, the next entry in the best-selling skateboarding franchise of all time, will release on six platforms: Playstation 2, Playstation, XBox, PC, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance; NewKidCo has announced its lineup of video games titles for 2001, which includes titles based on Tom and Jerry, Disney's Goofy, Dragon Tales, Sesame Street and E.T. for the Playstation, Playstation 2, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance; and THQ has announced that its combat-driven, action-adventure game "New Legends" will be among the first wave of games released for Microsoft's XBox this Fall.

Iomega reaches settlement in class action

04/12, 5:30pm

Iomega reaches settlement in class action

Iomega has reached a settlement in a class action lawsuit that was brought against the company that claimed Iomega sold defective Zip drives (click-of-death) and that its advertising was misleading. Lawyers that brought the case against the company will be the only ones who will see any money—up to $4.7 million—although customers who claim to have purchased a Zip drive from 1995 to March 21, 2001 will be eligible for rebates of up to $40 off Iomega products. Additionally, Iomega agreed to donate $1 million worth of its products and services to charity.

Tech: Handspring earnings, Microsoft bugs

04/12, 5:00pm

Tech: Handspring earnings, Microsoft bugs

Evening tech news: Handspring today reported a third-quarter loss of $6.7 million, compared to a loss of $4.5 million in the year ago quarter. The company's revenues rose from $34.3 million to $123.8 million. A bug has hit Microsoft's UltimateTV service, causing the hard drive storage on the device to mysteriously shrink; meanwhile, Microsoft says it plans to hire 5,000 to 6,000 workers this year, down from earlier estimates.

Freeware OTTool 1.2 compatible with OS X

04/12, 2:40pm

Freeware OTTool 1.2 compatible with OS X

Neon Software's OTTool 1.2 brings native OS X compatibility to its freeware utility that provides IP and AppleTalk configuration parameters. OTTool also allows users on IP networks to make Domain Name Server (DNS) queries, ping devices using ICMP Pings, trace IP routes (UNIX traceroute), scan through ranges of IP addresses asking for resolutions, and to query a DNS for Mail Exchange and System Info.

Email Cleaner 2.0 for email text

04/12, 2:35pm

Email Cleaner 2.0 for email text

Email Cleaner 2.0 is a $15 shareware text utility for customizing and manipulating email text. It includes settings for justification, html stripping, line width and turning idented lines to new paragraphs. A 25-day demo is available online.

Sonnet Extension for VPC 4.02 due 'soon'

04/12, 2:20pm

Sonnet Extension for VPC 4.02 due 'soon'

Following up on earlier Titanium PowerBook issues with Connectix VirtualPC 4.02 updater, Neil Mickelson writes about the required Sonnet Extension 1.4.6, which is required for complete compatibility with Sonnet NuBus products:

"I tried to find the software from Sonnet's web site. It wasn't available in the downloads area. A quick e-mail to Sonnet Tech Support revealed that Connectix had released VPC 4.0.2 without warning Sonnet, and Sonnet wasn't quite done with all the QA on version 1.4.6 of their driver. The release should be happening 'real soon now,' according to Sonnet--it's their top priority right now. Sonnet's been bombarded with questions on this."

Ti-MP3 1.0: new shareware MP3 player

04/12, 2:15pm

Ti-MP3 1.0: new shareware MP3 player

Alex Cannon has released a new MP3 player, Ti-MP3 1.0, which he describes as a "lightweight,functional, and efficent program that makes playing MP3's a snap." A 5-day demo is available on the site.

Games: Tribes 2 OS X?, NWN report

04/12, 2:00pm

Games: Tribes 2 OS X?, NWN report

games.macnn.com has information on a possible port of action game Tribes 2 for Mac OS X. Earlier today, the site reported on last evening's chat with the Neverwinter Nights development team at Bioware, which covers progress on carbonizing the role-playing game for Mac OS X, a planned beta release and references made to a Neverwinter Nights expansion set. [updated]

URL Box 1.0: store URLs under OS X

04/12, 1:55pm

URL Box 1.0: store URLs under OS X

URL Box 1.0 is a simple utility for quickly storing and accessing URLs under OS X.

Loki considers Tribes 2 for Mac OS X

04/12, 1:55pm

Loki considers Tribes 2 for Mac OS X

Ben Hines notes that Loki Software, who is best known in gaming circles for porting many popular games to the Linux platform, is considering expanding its Linux port of Tribes 2 to include a Mac OS X port. "We certainly understand the value of opening this potential market, and are considering adding support for this operating system," said Loki's Kayt Sorhaindo. "Should this occur, we will issue announcements on our website and to the press." Dynamix Software's Tribes 2 is a first-person shooter that features squad-based combat, vehicles and a seamless transition between indoor environments and wide-open, outdoor terrain. Garagegames.com, which was founded by former members of Dynamix Software, is licensing the Tribes 2 engine to developers for a small fee and has also expressed interest in porting the game to the Mac.

X-Launch 2.1.1: freeware desktop launcher

04/12, 1:45pm

X-Launch 2.1.1: freeware desktop launcher

X-Launch 2.1.1 is a freeware desktop application launcher, adding category Tooltips, a hot key for bringing the application to the front, and several other improvements and bug fixes.

Neverwinter Nights release could slip to 2002

04/12, 12:05pm

Neverwinter Nights release could slip to 2002

We have published a report on last evening's chat with the Neverwinter Nights development team at Canada-based game developer Bioware, which covers progress on carbonizing the role-playing game for Mac OS X, a planned beta release and references made to a Neverwinter Nights expansion set.

Ares 1.2.0 adds Hera, scenario editor

04/12, 11:55am

Ares 1.2.0 adds Hera, scenario editor

Ambrosia Software has released Ares 1.2.0, a new version of its "tactical inter-networkable space battle game." Ares 1.2.0 now includes Hera, a full-fledged scenario editor for Ares, which allows registered users to modify Ares' built in scenarios, play scenarios made by other Ares fans, or create their own custom scenarios for the game.

Public Space updates Better Finder Rename

04/12, 11:45am

Public Space updates Better Finder Rename

A Better Finder Rename 3.8 introduces Apple Event awareness to the utility, allowing files to be dropped directly onto the application. The $15 software allows users to quickly batch rename files in the Finder.

Outpost.com reports $10.1 million Q4 loss

04/12, 11:30am

Outpost.com reports $10.1 million Q4 loss

Popular electronics reseller Outpost.com today reported a Q4 loss of $10.1 million, compared with a loss of $9.8 million in the year-ago quarter. The company stated it is considering a number of strategic options given the state of the economy. Outpost, which was best known for its free overnight shipping, recently axed that policy and now offers free 2-day shipping on orders of $500 or more.

Roundup: Black & White for Mac

04/12, 11:00am

Roundup: Black & White for Mac

Yesterday we reported on the expected Mac port of Lionhead Studios' Black & White; PopTop Software's building-oriented strate/simulation game, Tropico, was announced as golden master; and Presto Studios' Myst III: Exile was declared golden master and will be hitting store shelves on May 7.

Mac3D previews Bryce 5

04/12, 11:00am

Mac3D previews Bryce 5

Mac3D has posted a brief preview of Bryce 5, the next version of the popular 3D terrain modeling application due to ship this summer.

NY Times takes a look at DVD burning

04/12, 11:00am

NY Times takes a look at DVD burning

The New York Times has published an article discussing and comparing the DVD burning solutions from Apple and Compaq. "The biggest heartbreak comes when you play back a Compaq- burned DVD. That's when you discover the strange torn-edges effect that appears in any scene where there's more camera or subject movement than you'd find in, say, "My Dinner With Andre." This unfortunate jitter is the result of a quality-length trade-off: you can fit two hours of video on a Compaq DVD, instead of just one on an Apple DVD." The Wall Street Journal recently published a similar article.

Elegant Chaos on Sim Theme Park bugs

04/12, 10:30am

Elegant Chaos on Sim Theme Park bugs

Sam Deane of Elegant Chaos has responded to our story yesterday on the company's expected work on Black & White for the Mac after seeing complaints from MacNN users on the buggy state of Sim Theme Park for the Mac.

I can't officially comment on the B&W story, but I can say two things about Sim Theme Park / Theme Park World.

The first is that development on STP/TPW is not at an end. A patch will be released that addresses outstanding stability issues and improves general performance. As a previous poster mentioned, an important part of this process is that we get the feedback that we need, so send it in!

The second, more general, point is that it would be fair to say that a number of lessons have been learnt from the STP/TPW port, both by Elegant Chaos and by Feral. I can't say everything I'd like to on that score, but suffice to say that nobody should worry about the same thing happening in the future.

Microsoft, Real vie for MP3 crown

04/12, 10:30am

Microsoft, Real vie for MP3 crown

A Wall Street Journal article discusses the efforts of Microsoft, RealNetworks, and others to sway customers away from the MP3 format. The article notes that Microsoft plans to build a limitation into the forthcoming Windows XP that would severely limit the quality of music that can be recorded as an MP3 with the operating system's built-in software. Similarly, Microsoft claims that its Windows Media Audio format will sound clearer and requires less disk space.

John Grant becomes Pálido Jaguar

04/12, 10:20am

John Grant becomes Pálido Jaguar

Claremore, Oklahoma resident John Grant has been declared the winner of the "You Rule" contest, sponsored by PopTop Software and Gathering of Developers. For his prize, John will appear in PopTop's new strategy/simulation game Tropico as dictator character Pálido Jaguar.

VE: Steinmeyer on Tropico GM

04/12, 10:15am

VE: Steinmeyer on Tropico GM

PopTop Software President Phil Steinmeyer offers his thoughts on the company's strategy/simulation game Tropico going gold this week at Voodoo Extreme. "Overall, I think the game has turned out really awesome," said Steinmeyer. "We've gotten great previews based on the beta build from about 3 or 4 weeks ago, but the final version is even better - more balanced, very stable, includes 8 scenarios (plus the awesome random-map generator), and just very nice all-around." The Mac version of the game is expected to be released in May.

Apple: Escape from Monkey Island Preview

04/12, 10:10am

Apple: Escape from Monkey Island Preview

Apple has written a preview of Escape from Monkey Island, the newly-released 3D adventure game from Aspyr Media. "A big part of the fun is uncovering the many visual and verbal gems in the game. You can't help but grin when you find an island called Knuttin Atoll, or meet a character named Jumbeaux LaFeet, or try to figure out how to use loony items like a can of chicken fat, wood shavings, an old inner tube or a monogrammed pirate's hanky."

MacGamer: Brad Oliver Interview

04/12, 10:05am

MacGamer: Brad Oliver Interview

MacGamer has published an interview with Westlake Interactive programmer Brad Oliver, who is hard at work on Centipede and American Mcgee's Alice for the Mac. "Centipede has turned out much better than I had hoped," admits Oliver, "mainly because we were able to include a lot of neat features and updated graphics over the PC version: cool particle effects, new and better artwork, more eye candy, higher quality cutscenes, and a few really cool surprises."

FiringSquad: History of ATI

04/12, 10:00am

FiringSquad: History of ATI

FiringSquad offers a History of ATI, covering the humble beginnings of 3D graphics maker ATI Technologies. "We begin with the tale of ATI's formation and then continue with a history of ATI's multimedia acceleration and then finish with ATI's work in 3D graphics." ATI is currently the OEM provider of the graphics cards in many Macs, including iMacs, iBooks and the PowerBook G4.

Console: Indrema scraps console plans

04/12, 9:55am

Console: Indrema scraps console plans

Morning console news: Indrema has scrapped plans to introduce its Linux-based game console after struggling with a lack of funding for the project; THQ has announced that it will publish GT Advance Championship Racing for the Game Boy Advance in North America alongside the handheld's launch on June 11; and Activision has announced plans to release games based on Stuart Little, including the movie sequel Stuart Little 2 (slated for a Summer 2002 release), for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo GameCube.

Apple reportedly axes 667 MHz Power Mac G4

04/12, 9:30am

Apple reportedly axes 667 MHz Power Mac G4

Apple has axed the 667 MHz Power Mac G4, according to a MacUser UK report. The article notes that supplies of that system have been low, caused most likely by an abundance of 773 MHz processors (which would reduce the yield of 667 MHz chips). A replacement configuration is allegedly not expected until July. The Apple Store, meanwhile, is currently showing a 10 day estimated ship time for new 667 MHz Power Mac G4 orders.

Final Cut Pro articles posted at Apple

04/12, 9:30am

Final Cut Pro articles posted at Apple

Apple has posted features on The Sacramento Bee's addition of video to its content, bolstered by the use of Macs and Final Cut Pro, and another Final Cut Pro user's perspective on the software and how it compares to other solutions.

Tech: AirPort vs. 3G, Insider trading

04/12, 8:25am

Tech: AirPort vs. 3G, Insider trading

Early morning tech news: The emerging 3G wireless data transfer standard is being killed "before it is even born" by the 802.11 standard used in Apple's AirPort systems; Sun has released its Java2 platform for the Linux OS; and Former VP Mitch Mandich, who left Apple in November, exercised 250,000 Apple options in March, totalling nearly $3M dollars.

Earnings due April 18; conference call set

04/12, 8:15am

Earnings due April 18; conference call set

Apple has scheduled an earnings conference call for its second quarter on Wednesday, April 18, at 5:00 pm Eastern time. Apple is expected to report a small profit for Q2, although one analyst says that a weak March for PC manufacturers, may leave Apple in the red. The call will be moderated by Apple's CFO, Fred Anderson.

History Channel spotlights Apple

04/12, 8:15am

History Channel spotlights Apple

Last night, The History Channel aired a special dubbed "Computers," documenting the history of computing since the days of the ENIAC. The segment featured a segment dedicated to Apple. The History Channel Web site describes the piece: "Bite into Apple's history, the machine that made computers a household appliance."

FWB ships HDT 4.5 with FireWire RAID support

04/12, 8:05am

FWB ships HDT 4.5 with FireWire RAID support

FWB has introduced Hard Disk ToolKit 4.5, an update to its drive management utility that offers better support for FireWire disk drives, including RAID Level-0 and -1 support (striping and mirroring) as well as a "much improved caching algorithm for single and RAID setups." The $130 utility is availalbe for $20 upgrade to registered v4.0 users ($50 to others). Upgrades can be obtained by calling the FWB Upgrade Center at 800-656-5443. (The new bootable CD also supports the latest Mac models.) Despite today's press releaes, Daniel Stranahan writes: "I called FWB about the 4.5 upgrade. Neither the downloadable version nor the CD versions are ready yet. The FWB sales rep was very confused. it looks like 4.5 wont be out until April 25th." [updated]

Kensington updates MouseWorks for OS X driver

04/12, 8:05am

Kensington updates MouseWorks for OS X driver

Kensington's MouseWorks for OS X b2 fixes issues recognizing modifier keys on OS X, "sudden loss of mouse clicks on multi-processor machines," and other bugs in the initial release of the company's driver software.

Sophos posts anti-virtus utility for OS X

04/12, 7:55am

Sophos posts anti-virtus utility for OS X

Sophos has posted a technology preview of Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac OS X, which includes Sophos SWEEP, the Installer and new HTML-based online help (but does not include InterCheck, Sophos's on-access scanner which comes with the full product).

StyleGrid 2.1: REALbasic tool runs under OS X

04/12, 7:55am

StyleGrid 2.1: REALbasic tool runs under OS X

StyleGrid 2.1 is a Mac OS X compatible version of the REALbasic programming plug-in for developers.

VPC 4.02 updater: no TiPB support (yet)

04/12, 7:50am

VPC 4.02 updater: no TiPB support (yet)

Although noted on its Website, "Brian" writes that Connectix VirtualPC 4.02 does updater does not yet support the special, extra-wide Titanium PowerBook resolutions: "The Virtual PC Additions file 00006 is currently not available. Talks about it in the release notes, but a call to Connectix technical support confirmed that the file is not yet available. And thus, no 1152x768 within VPC4 running W98. Was one of first things I did with my TiBook was to install VPC4."

PowerManager 2.1 supports 3 routines

04/12, 7:50am

PowerManager 2.1 supports 3 routines

DssW has released Power Manager 2.1, a utilty which that extends function in Apple's Energy Saver system component by automating machine start ups, shut downs, wake-from-sleep and sleep routines. Version 2.1 supports three different schedules. A 14-day demo is of the $50 application is available online.

XML Editor 1.0 editor releaed

04/12, 7:45am

XML Editor 1.0 editor releaed

ElfData has released XML Editor 1.0, an XML creator and DTD validator, that supports drag & drop, contextual menus; user made element holders, and search functions for conditional queries. The $70 software is available with a $20 discount.

Yesterday: Dell, VirtualPC 4.0.2, OpenOffice

04/12, 7:30am

Yesterday: Dell, VirtualPC 4.0.2, OpenOffice

Yesterday we noted Dell's continued claims of triumph over Apple in the education market, the release of the OS X port of the OpenOffice.org source code, Connectix VirtualPC 4.0.2, price cuts on Palm handhelds, and Linux creator Linus Torvalds' claim that he was misquoted on his thoughts of OS X.