News Archive for 01/11/29

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Mac telephony company sold to IDC

11/29, 5:30pm

Mac telephony company sold to IDC

IDC Technologies today announced the acquisition of Bing Software Division, ID Four's Macintosh platform based technology division. The deal, valued at $500,000 is scheduled to close before the end of the year. Bing develops and distributes telephony software products, such as "Megaphone" and "Phone-Pro" and "is currently developing a new product line of advanced telephony software for distribution in major retail chain stores nationwide."

OSX PC ATA drivers offer PC card media access

11/29, 4:55pm

OSX PC ATA drivers offer PC card media access

Michael Fox writs "there's a new release of the OS X PC Card ATA Driver available. The driver enables the use of a variety of ATA-based PC Card devices such as CompactFlash cards, SmartMedia cards, Sony Memory Sticks, and micro disk drives under MacOS X 10.1.1. The current release is intended for developers and early adopters."

Macscript.com Library 2.0 supports OS X

11/29, 4:50pm

Macscript.com Library 2.0 supports OS X

Macscript.com Library 2.0 is a $50 collection of more than 150 functions written natively in AppleScript. It allows scripters to write powerful, robust scripts with only a few lines of code. Versoin 2.0 includes 40 new functions, OS X support, a comprehensive reference in PDF format, an AppleScript dictionary of Library functions, dozens of example scripts, complete portability, and other enhancements. [site not responding]

Apple DVD Player 3.0.1 posted to SW update

11/29, 4:45pm

Apple DVD Player 3.0.1 posted to SW update

Several MacNN readers report that Apple's DVD Player 3.01 for OS X is available through the Software Update feature. The new upgrade purportedly delivers improved performance and stability, as well as support for Blue and White Power Mac G3 and Power Mac G4 systems with PCI-based graphics.

Palm: "Our turnaround strategy is working"

11/29, 4:30pm

Palm: "Our turnaround strategy is working"

Palm has issued a statement claiming that two turaround strategy initiatives implemented six months ago are beginning to reap benefits. Among these cutbacks was the elimination of 250 jobs, and integration of assets and employees from Be Inc, which was acquired by Palm earlier this year. The company accordingly updated its Q2 financial outlook, stating that it would generate between $250 million and $280 million in revenue.

Special Report: The Western Show 2001

11/29, 4:20pm

Special Report: The Western Show 2001

The Western Show, which kicked off on Nov. 27 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif, holds a bevy of networking, broadband, and wireless announcements pertinent to the Mac community. We've produced a compilation of exhibitors attending the show, and their respective product introductions.

Past Efforts, legal software, debuts

11/29, 3:30pm

Past Efforts, legal software, debuts

Past Efforts is a new tool from Quantum Meruit for saving and reusing legal decision research. It sells for $100, but will be available for $70 through the end of December. A 60-day trial version is available for download. [Classic, Carbon]

PowerBook G4/667 benchmarks

11/29, 2:40pm

PowerBook G4/667 benchmarks

macinfo.de has published a benchmark review on the PowerBook G4/667, which shows that "despite its fast G4 processor it can be slower than even a Pismo G3/500 in some cache/memory intensive tasks. However, in the graphics arena as well as under MacOS X it's the unbeat speed king of Apples portables." [German text; charts available]

Christmas Super Frog v1.5: freeware game

11/29, 2:35pm

Christmas Super Frog v1.5: freeware game

Koingo Software has released Christmas Super Frog v1.5, a complete rewrite of its freeware Christmas game: "Santa's sleigh has broken down in mid-flight and all of his gifts are scattered around town. But, it's Santa's lucky night! With the magic of Christmas, a 'super' frog is born. You must play this character and find all the lost gifts to save Christmas!" A second episode, titled 'Caribbean Super Frog' where "you must save all the Koala bears from swashbuckling pirates," is planned for release before Spring of 2002. [Classic, Carbon]

Apple: iPod Updater due soon

11/29, 10:55am

Apple: iPod Updater due soon

Apple's iPod support Website says that "the iPod Updater is expected to be available for download here soon."

ViewSonic working on smart display devices

11/29, 10:45am

ViewSonic working on smart display devices

ViewSonic yesterday announced it is working with Microsoft to create a new category of smart display devices, including large-screen monitors that bring digital entertainment to home and business users. Expected for release in first quarter 2002, the first of the series--the VX3600--will allow users to view all forms of digital entertainment from one device--VCR, DVD, camcorder, digital camera, cable box, game player and television signals--at resolutions up to four times higher than standard television images.

Tech: DVD-crack code, Internet in the air..

11/29, 10:40am

Tech: DVD-crack code, Internet in the air..

Morning tech news: A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld an order that prohibits publishing or linking to DVD-cracking code, which has "sweeping significance for free-speech rights and copyright protection on the Internet;" The top three U.S. airlines have canceled plans to invest in its high-speed airborne Internet service; President Bush renewed a ban on Internet taxes Wednesday, offers users 2 more years of tax-free shopping on the Internet.

iPod: "my new favorite toy"

11/29, 10:15am

iPod: "my new favorite toy"

Stewart Alsop, writing for Fortune, calls the iPod a "perfect template for how digital devices should be designed in the future," but notes some shortcoming in managing larger numbers of songs and synchronization issues.

Intuit releases TurboTax for Mac package

11/29, 10:10am

Intuit releases TurboTax for Mac package

Intuit today released TurboTax Deluxe for Mac, an update to its $50 tax software package. It that brings an updated Tax Law Advisor, includes a 401k Maximizer, a ten-year forecaster, and a year-to-year deduction manager as well as a new feature which can electronically transfer mortgage interest information (Form 1098) directly into TurboTax software and the TurboTax for the Web service. It comes with one free TruboTax State for Mac product download.

iBuild v1.1: multimedia, authoring tool

11/29, 9:55am

iBuild v1.1: multimedia, authoring tool

iBuild 1.1 adds OS X compatiblity to the multimedia authoring and presentation tool: "iBuild stacks can be constructed from a selection of over 40 different types of 'objects', many of which are interactive or animated." The scriptable application is available in Lite (free), Pro ($30), Developer, and Site versions.

X Font Manager 1.0 manages fonts in OS X

11/29, 9:45am

X Font Manager 1.0 manages fonts in OS X

Vincent Jalby's $12 shareware X Font Manager 1.0 is a simple font manager that lets you activate and desactivate your fonts by moving them in and out the Fonts folders; can create/save several (global) sets and switch between them; and displays font info and previews of fonts.

digital.forest buys Infoasis Internet biz

11/29, 9:40am

digital.forest buys Infoasis Internet biz

digital.forest has announced the acquisition of the Internet business of Infoasis, a San Francisco Bay Area-based Macintosh-centric Internet Service Provider.

iContact 1.0 offers data storea, alarms, chat

11/29, 9:40am

iContact 1.0 offers data storea, alarms, chat

Roarcube is now shipping iContact 1.0, a contact utility that stores data such as URLs, addresses or dates, can be used as an alarm station, and can build a peer-to-peer chat system with an unlimited number of participants. (An OS X version is due in first quarter of 2002.) A demo of the $10 shareware utility is available online.

sMailing 3.0 generates custom emails

11/29, 9:35am

sMailing 3.0 generates custom emails

sMailing 3.0, a new version of AppMac's personalized e-mail software, brings a new interface, an improved engine for sending messages, better HTML management, better support under OS X 10.1, and other enhancements. A free trial of the $100 application is available online.

iXQ 0.9b: new Cocoa ICQ client

11/29, 9:35am

iXQ 0.9b: new Cocoa ICQ client

iXQ 0.9b is a beta release of a new, Cocoa-native ICQ Client for OS X, supporting the new protocol of AOL, OSCAR (ICQv7).

Password Wallet 2.7: securely store passwords

11/29, 9:30am

Password Wallet 2.7: securely store passwords

Selznick's Password Wallet 2.7 adds more reliable auto-typing, an improved random password generator, persistent auto-save, scroll-wheel support, and an all new Palm conduit to the $15 shareware utility for securely storing passwords.