News Archive for 01/06/01

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Palm: In Apple's hand?

06/01, 7:55pm

Palm: In Apple's hand?

Speculation is abound that Palm is now ripe for an acquisition, including a c|net article that places Apple, IBM, and Sony at the top of the list of possible suitors. Upon Steve Jobs' return to Apple three years ago, he tried to buy Palm from 3Com but was unsuccessful. In an interview published last month in Fortune magazine, Jobs lavished praise on Palm and elegantly neglected to answer when asked if he was still interested in the handheld computer maker.

Goldberg 2.1.3: Image/movie viewer

06/01, 6:10pm

Goldberg 2.1.3: Image/movie viewer

Opus Software has released Goldberg 2.1.3, a freeware Carbonized image and movie viewer with image editing capabilities and support for applying QuickTime and other effects. Version 2.1.3 adds window menu rules following the OS X Guidelines and other minor improvements and fixes. [Classic, Carbon: 673 KB; Mac OS X: 817 KB]

Raw performance of Dual USB iBook

06/01, 5:55pm

Raw performance of Dual USB iBook

Bare Feats compares the Dual USB iBook to the 400 and 500 MHz Titanium G4 in raw performance speed with Photoshop, Cinema 4D, FileMaker Pro, and Quake III: Arena.

Totally Hip delivers LiveStage Pro 3

06/01, 5:05pm

Totally Hip delivers LiveStage Pro 3

Totally Hip Software has begun shipping LiveStage Professional 3, a new version of its QuickTime authoring environment software. The new version supports QuickTime 5 and has been fully Carbonized for native support under Mac OS X.

Opera coming to Mac OS X

06/01, 5:05pm

Opera coming to Mac OS X

Opera, the small and performance-savvy browser for the classic Mac OS, is reportedly being ported to Mac OS X. According to the browser's developer and independent tests, the carbon version of Opera running on Mac OS X is faster than the Mac OS 9 version. Opera 5 for Mac OS X should be available in beta form in the course of two months, according to sources.

Nokia Contact Sender 1.0 transfers contacts

06/01, 4:55pm

Nokia Contact Sender 1.0 transfers contacts

NETsettings.com has posted Nokia Contact Sender 1.0, a free (Carbonized) utility that transfers names and phone numbers to your Nokia 8260 (AT&T TDMA) mobile phone as well as Eudora Address Importer v3.02, which transfers Netscape Communicator 4.x addresses to a Eudora 5.0 address book under both OS 9 and OS X. [NCS--635KB, EAI--533KB]

New iTunes plugin provides stereo analysis

06/01, 4:45pm

New iTunes plugin provides stereo analysis

TechRTA 1.0 is a new (Carbonized) visual plug-In for Apple's iTunes that implements a stereo realtime analyzer: "[it] provides faster transient response, a bigger, more visually engaging display, and more options than the built-in 'thumbnail' RTA of iTunes." A free version offers 10-band analysis, while a 31-band version is $4. [Classic, Carbon--140KB]

U.S. Spelling Bee Champion's Mac connection

06/01, 4:25pm

U.S. Spelling Bee Champion's Mac connection

Andrew R. and Reid S. both noted a photo of U.S. National Spelling Bee Champion Sean Conley, who was photographed with his father wearing a Mac OS X t-shirt. (A Star Tribune article identifies Sean's father as Mike Conley, a software programming engineer at Apple.)

WeatherMan 1.0 Beta: Weather forecasts

06/01, 3:00pm

WeatherMan 1.0 Beta: Weather forecasts

Dean Davis' WeatherMan and WeatherManX 1.0 Beta download current weather conditions, current weather forecasts and NexRad radar images from the National Weather Service. The current version expires on July 1, 2001. [Classic: 1.3 MB; Carbon: 1.8 MB]

O'Reilly releases two OS X development books

06/01, 2:45pm

O'Reilly releases two OS X development books

O'Reilly & Associates have released its first two books on OS X application development: Learning Carbon (online chapter) introduces the developer to key concepts and offers hands-on instructions on implementaation of essential application tasks; Learning Cocoa (online chapter) offers a discussion of object-oriented programming concepts and a series of gradually more complex tutorials for application development. Each book is $35.

Calindock 1.1.0: Calendar dockling

06/01, 2:40pm

Calindock 1.1.0: Calendar dockling

Calindock 1.1.0, a new version of critical matter's free Mac OS X dockling that displays a monthly calendar in the dock, adds a complete rewrite for improved reliability, a preference for beginning the week on either Sunday or Monday, new country localization features, and alleviation of the calendar being "double drawn".

Palm hires new COO, lays off 300

06/01, 2:40pm

Palm hires new COO, lays off 300

Palm has hired Todd Bradley, former executive vice president of global operations at Gateway Inc., to be executive vice president and chief operating officer. The company also announced that it is laying off 300 employees, and tried to allay investor fears by saying that its m500 series is selling well in the United States and has just begun selling internationally.

CRT remains for Apple education customers

06/01, 2:35pm

CRT remains for Apple education customers

Mitch M. notes that while Apple has eliminated all CRT monitors from the Apple Store (in line with its move to an all-LCD display lineup last month), education customers can still order a 17" Mitsubishi Diamond Plus Monitor (Apple part # T3525LL/A) for $259.

Mac2Mac 0.2: operating a Mac remotely

06/01, 2:25pm

Mac2Mac 0.2: operating a Mac remotely

Mac2Mac allows you to control another Mac over TCP/IP, offering the ability to upload/download files, control server mouse and keyboard, look server screen, restart, shut down, etc. Version 0.2 of the Server includes a new Rev 2 protocol with new instructions, activity logging, and other enhancements to the open-source client/server package. [Client, Server]

Reason 1.01 improves ASIO support

06/01, 2:25pm

Reason 1.01 improves ASIO support

Propellerhead Software's Reason 1.01, a popular virtual instrument and sequencing program, includes a much improved ASIO implementation and improved file handling. ReFill Packer 1.0, also released today, lets you build your own ReFill files for sharing Samples, loops and synth patches with other users."

Niep! PR 3.0: MP3/multimedia player

06/01, 1:30pm

Niep! PR 3.0: MP3/multimedia player

Niep! Preview Release 3.0 is the initial public beta version of the MP3 and multimedia player for Mac OS X. The application features support for various audio, video, and graphic files, nested playlists, automatic fade in/out, cue and pause mode, speed, pan, and bass/treble controls, track volume control, full screen support for movies/graphics, slide-show mode, skins, and more.

Architosh: MacDraft 5.0 ships

06/01, 1:15pm

Architosh: MacDraft 5.0 ships

Architosh reports on Microspot's release of MacDraft 5.0, an update to Map Resources that adds new features and functionality, and facility management software for the Mac.

VueScan 7.0.25: Batch scanning

06/01, 1:05pm

VueScan 7.0.25: Batch scanning

VueScan 7.0.25 is a new version of Hamrick Software's Carbonized film scanner that offers batch processing, automatic color-balancing, cropping, and more. Version 7.0.25 adds support for the Nikon SA-30 roll film adapter, fixes problems with various scanners, and adds a 'vers' resource.

Myst III: Exile tops sales charts

06/01, 1:00pm

Myst III: Exile tops sales charts

Ubi Soft Entertainment has announced that the third game in the Myst series, Myst III: Exile, sold more than 75,000 units in its first two weeks alone. The game topped the charts in both unit sales and dollar sell-through for the first two weeks of May, according to PC Data. Myst was first introduced on the Mac in 1993, and went on to become the best-selling computer game of all time.

Adobe Save As XML 5.0 for Acrobat

06/01, 12:55pm

Adobe Save As XML 5.0 for Acrobat

Adobe Save As XML 5.0 is a plugin for Adobe Acrobat 5.0 or higher that allows users to save content from a PDF file into XML, various forms of HTML, or text.

Free ZiO! with Canon DV camcorders

06/01, 11:55am

Free ZiO! with Canon DV camcorders

During the month of June, Canon will include a coupon for obtaining a free Microtech ZiO! with its Elura 2MC, ZR 25MC and ZR 30MC digital video camcorders.

Open Prolog 1.1b3: language interpreter

06/01, 11:20am

Open Prolog 1.1b3: language interpreter

Open Prolog 1.1b3, a new version of the Mac implementation of the Open Prolog language interpreter, fixes a number of user interface issues, incorporates the Apple Help system, repairs a few bugs and makes Open Prolog compatible with the the Mac OS X Classic environment. In addition, AppleScript procedures can now be called from Open Prolog.

Tutorial: Dedicated swap partition

06/01, 11:15am

Tutorial: Dedicated swap partition

ResExcellence has published a tutorial to creating a dedicated swap partition for Mac OS X, which is intended to "cut down on hard disk thrashing and speed system performance."

OmniWeb 4.0.1 released

06/01, 10:55am

OmniWeb 4.0.1 released

OmniWeb 4.0.1 has been released. The latest version of OmniGroup's Mac OS X web browser includes enhancements for compatibility with French and German sites, support for Java keyboard input, better CSS compatibility, more plug-in functionality, performance gains thanks to the plugging of a memory leak, and various other bug fixes.

First Bluetooth 1.1 demonstration

06/01, 10:45am

First Bluetooth 1.1 demonstration

Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd. will present the first full-scale demonstration of products using the Bluetooth Specification Version 1.1, a wireless standard that is being implemented in mobile devices, notebook computers, and other devices. In the demonstration, images captured from a CCD camera will be wirelessly transferred to 18 different monitors. The demo will take place at the Bluetooth Congress 2001, to be held June 5-8.

Storm 1.5: Mac musical composition studio

06/01, 10:20am

Storm 1.5: Mac musical composition studio

Arturia has released a Mac version of Storm 1.5, its $225 musical composition studio. It features an "ergonomic reshaping" of the interface (including the addition of a menu bar), new graphics, multilingual localization/documentation (French, English, German, Japanese), ASIO driver support, better VST compatibility, and 20 bundled modules, including Orpheus.

SpeakTime 2.0 automates Mac speech

06/01, 8:25am

SpeakTime 2.0 automates Mac speech

SpeakTime 2.0 is a $15 shareware Carbon application which "allows your mac to speak a user specified phrase on start up, speak the time at different intervals specifying the voice and volume, and announce any number of custom phrases at user specified times and dates with custom voice and volume."

June Virus definitions updates posted

06/01, 8:10am

June Virus definitions updates posted

June Virus definition updates are available from both Symantec and Network Associates. [NAV--1.5MB, Virex--2.1MB]

LaCie showcasing DVD-R/CD-RW combo drive

06/01, 8:10am

LaCie showcasing DVD-R/CD-RW combo drive

LaCie will be showcasing its previously announced FireWire external DVD-R/CD-RW combo drive during ShowBiz Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center this week. The $1000 drive is expected to ship in June.

Cocoa programming key to OS X success

06/01, 8:05am

Cocoa programming key to OS X success

BusinessWeek online talks about lure of Cocoa programming environment and its role in the success of OS X: "What has excited Mac developers isn't so much OS X's stunning graphical interface but the ease with which they can write new programs in Cocoa, OS X's native application environment. Apple, stealing a page from Microsoft, has written a set of easy-to-use software-development tools for Cocoa that turn the language into something like a set of Legos. Programs can be snapped together in minutes."

Apple releases Java upgrade, MRJ 2.2.5

06/01, 4:15am

Apple releases Java upgrade, MRJ 2.2.5

Readers are reporting that Apple's Java virtual machine, MRJ 2.2.5, is now available via the Software Update Control Panel under Mac OS 9 and via the Web. Version 2.2.5 addresses several problems affecting JAR caching, network behavior and users of 2-byte international systems. [updated]

Coolcam 1.9, VideoScope 1.3 from Evological

06/01, 4:10am

Coolcam 1.9, VideoScope 1.3 from Evological

Evological today released updates to its applications for Classic and OS X:

• CoolCam 1.9 adds a 'Disable Video Preview' setting to its $20 shareware webcam application. [724KB]
• VideoScope 1.3 fixes a bug in the software waveform and vectorscope. The $30 shareware performs realtime luminance and chrominance analysis of any video source, QuickTime movie or still image. [1.6MB]
• BrightnessRocker 1.2 adds the ability to quickly toggle between minimum and maximum brightness levels to the $5 shareware Control Strip module (Mac OS 8/9 only). [168KB]

Non-linear word processor beta for OS X

06/01, 3:55am

Non-linear word processor beta for OS X

Stone Table Software's organizational word processor for writers, Z-Write 1.3 Beta B, is now available as a beta download for OS X. The $20 "non-linear" word processor is expected to ship by Macworld Expo this summer.

iMic USB audio adapter gets new enhancements

06/01, 3:55am

iMic USB audio adapter gets new enhancements

Griffin Technology has released a new version of its $35 iMic USB audio adapter (for recording and playback), which offers more output power, new support for low impedence headphones and input frequencies of 10hz-20Khz, and on-the-fly adjustment of input gain. iMic Control v1.1 software works with the new adapter and also provides output control over treble, bass, volume, balance, and mute as well as input control over audio gain.

Roundup: Apple expanding CompUSA program

06/01, 2:00am

Roundup: Apple expanding CompUSA program

Yesterday we reported on Apple's plans to expand its CompUSA program nationwide. Other reports included GarageGames' V12 on the Mac, an iBook painted to match the PowerBook G4, press reviews of the new iBook, shipment of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, postponement of Sonnet's OS X installation software, and Apple's British Design and Art Direction awards. Software releases included OmniWeb 4.0.1, BBEdit Lite 6.1, and Rainbow Painter 2.0.1.