News Archive for 01/07/05

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The Sims: Hot Date announced

07/05, 7:45pm

The Sims: Hot Date announced

Electronic Arts has announced a third expansion pack for The Sims, The Sims: Hot Date, which will be released for the PC this Fall. The expansion pack will introduce dating to the popular "virtual dollhouse" game as well as new characters, interests, romance objects, and an all-new Downtown area filled with restaurants, shops and parks. Aspyr Media, the Mac game publisher that is still porting the second expansion pack for The Sims—House Party—to the Mac, has yet to make an official announcement regarding a Mac version of The Sims: Hot Date.

Infogrames scores rights to Terminator games

07/05, 7:40pm

Infogrames scores rights to Terminator games

Infogrames, whose labels include Mac game publisher MacSoft, has acquired the rights to publish games for the Mac, PC, and next-generation consoles based on Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The company currently has four Terminator related games in development; the first is expected to be released in Spring 2002.

DockLock 1.0.1 released

07/05, 6:45pm

DockLock 1.0.1 released

DockLock 1.0.1, Frank Vercuesse's freeware and open source utility for restoring Dock orientation and pinning settings at login time, has been updated with some minor improvements.

db Reports updated to version 2.5b3

07/05, 6:20pm

db Reports updated to version 2.5b3

db Reports, a report writing application with which users can extract, format and print data from one of various data sources, has been updated to version 2.5b3. The new release includes ODBC compatibility, fixes a bug with semi-colons, and adds an "auto-size" checkbox to the expressions function. [Classic, Carbon]

Analyst recommends Apple on weakness

07/05, 5:15pm

Analyst recommends Apple on weakness

On the news that it will discontinue Power Macintosh G4 Cube production for the time being, Apple's stock is down 65 cents to $23.19, a drop of 2.73 percent. The stock is well off its 52-week high of $64.12. Meanwhile, ON24 has an interview with an analyst recommending that investors buy Apple stock on weakness from the Cube announcement.

South Dakota schools purchase Macs

07/05, 3:55pm

South Dakota schools purchase Macs

The Aberdeen American News reports that South Dakota's Governer has announced 16,000 new computer purchases for the state's schools. These include 15,000 Gateway systems and 1,040 Macs. The report claims that each Gateway system cost $510, while each Mac (presumably iMacs) cost $475 each.

ConceptDraw family to debut at Macworld

07/05, 3:55pm

ConceptDraw family to debut at Macworld

Computer Systems Odessa plans to introduce a new line of productivity software titles, based on its diagramming application, ConceptDraw, at this month's Macworld Expo in New York. These apps will include several editions of ConceptDraw software (Standard, Professional, Educational and Medical Editions), ConceptDraw Server and two new applications - ConceptDraw Presentation and ConceptDraw MindMap. OS X and classic versions are planned. CS-Odessa will be in booth #1563 on the Javits show floor.

More afternoon tech news...

07/05, 2:20pm

More afternoon tech news...

More afternoon tech news: Open-source advocates try to outflank Microsoft's .NET initiative, MSN users suffer sporadic service, Compaq reshapes its global-services division to mimic IBM, a Japanese hacker may expose security issues in Microsoft's web server software, Windows users will be able to beta test the AOL 7.0 beta on Friday, while the Mac version remains at 5.0, and AOL-Time Warner hires a new executive vice president.

MacPopUp 2.5 gets OS X compatibility

07/05, 2:20pm

MacPopUp 2.5 gets OS X compatibility

MacPopUp 2.5 is the latest release of a cross-platform messaging application that is now compatible with Mac OS X. The new release allows users to utilize LAN messaging and access to the Internet without switching the TCP/IP settings. Classic and Carbon versions are available for download after completing a short survey.

PicturePlay 1.1.1 released

07/05, 1:30pm

PicturePlay 1.1.1 released

PicturePlay 1.1.1, Crescendo Software's $10 REALBasic utility for image compositing, has been updated to add support for Classic Mac OS as well as numerous bug fixes. [Classic, Carbon]

Picture of Apple's new NYC ads

07/05, 1:30pm

Picture of Apple's new NYC ads

We've obtained a picture of Apple's new advertisements currently on display in New York City. The new posters, being displayed in subway stations and bus stops, are a precursor to the Macworld Expo being held from July 17-20.

MacRPM provides more Linux support

07/05, 1:10pm

MacRPM provides more Linux support

MacRPM is a new utility hosted by Source Forge Software that can display information about RedHat Package Manager files commonly used for packaging Linux software. The tool is being released in open-source form.

Afternoon Tech News

07/05, 1:05pm

Afternoon Tech News

Afternoon tech news: IBM has called Microsoft's attacks on the open-source community "arrogance" with a futile and counterproductive nature; AOL Time Warner is seeking regulatory approval to offer high-speed Internet services after striking deals with Juno and EarthLink; Slashdot.org's parent company VA Linux is in some financial trouble, laying off 35 percent of its staff and abandoning the hardware business.

Klink releases 3D creation system

07/05, 1:00pm

Klink releases 3D creation system

Klink Software has released a tech preview of it's 3D creation system, "dimension 3." The Mac OS X engine is designed for game developers and is completely scriptable with JavaScript. It requires OS X 10.0.3 or better and an OpenGL compatible graphics accelerator.

Word + Entourage 2001 SE bundle ships

07/05, 9:30am

Word + Entourage 2001 SE bundle ships

Microsoft today announced the availability of its Word + Entourage 2001 SE (Special Edition), a limited-time bundle of its popular word-processing application and integrated e-mail/PIM application for $150. Upgrades to Office 10 for Mac OS X, once it's available, will be $150. Microsoft is also offering (unspecified) upgrades to the full version of its Office 2001 suite for customers who purchase the promo bundle. The English version of the promo bundle is expected to reach stores next week, and the French is expected the week of Aug. 6.

Quickie 1.0 creates Web photo galleries

07/05, 9:15am

Quickie 1.0 creates Web photo galleries

Quickie 1.0 is a $18 shareware "application for quickly transferring pictures to web pages. It allows the user options for formatting the output html as the user sees fit. It creates not only an index page (with thumbnails for all the images), but also creates html pages for all of the individual images." [Classic, Carbon]

New OS X LiveJournal client; game updated

07/05, 8:50am

New OS X LiveJournal client; game updated

Giles Williams has updatd YaxJournal 0.1, an off-line client for the online journal service LiveJournal as well as JewelToy 1.1.2, the "fiendishly addictive puzzle game." [YJ: 236KB; JT: 231KB]

New demo days coincide with Macworld Expo

07/05, 8:10am

New demo days coincide with Macworld Expo

After a short suspension of Apple Demo Days, a MacNN reader notes a new round of in-store events timed to coincide with Macworld Expo New York: "Apple and MarketSource are conducting In-Store Events (Demo Days) in New York City to coincide with MacWorld.  We will be conducting these events at,  CompUSA, Circuit City, The Wiz, RCS, Datavision and J&R's."

New Cumulus Client, native OSX 'Vault' opti

07/05, 7:45am

New Cumulus Client, native OSX 'Vault' opti

Canto has released a new version of its media asset management application, Cumulus 5.0.10, which supports the mpeg2 video and mp3 audio formats; improves metadata tag reading; offers better compatibility with popular applications such as Freehand and InDesign; includes performance improvements logging-in to the Cumulus Server; and cataloging AFP volumes. Cumulus 5.1 Vault, an option that offer enhanced security for the Workgroup and Enterprise Editions, is now OS X native and also bring other enhancements. It is a free upgrade to existing users.

OS X: WaveLan wireless drivers, SSL for ftp

07/05, 7:45am

OS X: WaveLan wireless drivers, SSL for ftp

osx.macnn.com has news of the release of new open-source OS X drivers Lucent's WaveLan's card, allowing users to use the AirPort compatible cards under OS X. Other reports include an application that provides SSL support to the built-in ftp server in OS X.

OS X drivers for Lucent WaveLan wireless card

07/05, 7:40am

OS X drivers for Lucent WaveLan wireless card

New OS X drivers for Lucent's WaveLan cards are available for OS X, according to a post in our forums: "Drivers for Wavelan cards (and possibly others) have finally arrived thanks to the efforts of open source!! I now have my lombard powerbook wirelessly connected to my basestation....." A full set of instructions for installation and use is provided in our forums.

Programming suite helps simplify app dev

07/05, 7:30am

Programming suite helps simplify app dev

EasyDB 2.0d9 is a set of (developmental) classes for database management in REALBasic that simplify database application development as well as provide additional methods for programmers.

Secure FTP Wrapper brings SSL to FTP servers

07/05, 7:25am

Secure FTP Wrapper brings SSL to FTP servers

Secure FTP Wrapper 1.0 is a Java-based program that offers ftp servers copmatibility with Glub Tech's Secure FTP client: "[it] has many benefits over its competition. The wrapper is easier to setup, maintain, and since it is written in Java it is inherently more secure (no buffer overruns)."

HDST 3.3 improves FireWire drive support

07/05, 2:20am

HDST 3.3 improves FireWire drive support

Intech's high-performance drive utility, Hard Disk SpeedTools 3.3, improves performance and compatibility with FireWire drives, adds support for all CastleWood "branded" ATAPI and FireWire Orb 5.7GB products, and includes drive "Sleep" support to HDST FireWire drivers (as well as FireWire drive spin down on system shutdown). [form]