News Archive for 02/01/10

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Apple sponsors HomePage iPhoto album contest

01/10, 11:50pm

Apple sponsors HomePage iPhoto album contest

Apple is running a HomePage iPhoto Album Contest, offering a Nikon CoolPix 775 Digital Camera and an iPod to the grand prize and first place winners (respectively) in each of three categories. The contest runs through January 27 and is open to US residents over 18 years of age: "To be eligible for the Contest, entrants must also have owned an Apple computer, have had Internet access, and have had a valid iTools account as of January 7, 2002."

Textation 1.02 exports self-contained movies

01/10, 11:25pm

Textation 1.02 exports self-contained movies

Feelorium's Textation 1.02, an update to the QuickTime-based text track editor, now exports self-contained movies, can customize the layer number of text tracks, supports multiple text styles now, includes both English and Traditional Chinese localized resources, and can export movies with double-byte filenames.

Eudora 5.1b8 posted for OS X

01/10, 10:35pm

Eudora 5.1b8 posted for OS X

Qualcomm has posted Eudora 5.1b18, an update to its popular email client for OS X.

BusinessWeek: Jobs "think beyond the Mac"

01/10, 10:30pm

BusinessWeek: Jobs "think beyond the Mac"

BusinessWeek, discussing the keynote letdown, urges Apple to "think beyond the Mac...Apple's market share will keep shrinking unless it applies its design genius to other areas, like a wireless, networked media center."

Prosoft introduces Data Rescue utility

01/10, 10:30pm

Prosoft introduces Data Rescue utility

Prosoft Engineering today introduced Data Rescue, a personal data recovery utility that claims to "recover more data in better condition than other products." Data Rescue, which focuses exclusively on data recovery, eliminates problems of "users losing additional data while trying to repair their damaged volume." It will ship by then end of the month with support for both Mac OS 9 and OS X (but not UFS volumes). A demo is also expected to posted online. [pricing not available]

APC intros new PowerChute PE for OS X

01/10, 9:55pm

APC intros new PowerChute PE for OS X

APC has expanded its family of power management software with the introduction of PowerChute Personal Edition for OS X. This "safe system shutdown software" has sophisticated power management functions, can trigger external scripts before shutdown, and can either shutdown immediately or attempt to outlast the outage; it ships with default settings novice users as well as the ability to customize virtually every preference for advanced users. It will ship standard with APC's translucent Back-UPS Pro 500 universal serial bus-ready (USB) UPS. A beta version is available now, while the final version is expected to ship in March.

Quake II v1.01 released for OS X

01/10, 8:50pm

Quake II v1.01 released for OS X

Fruitz Of Dojo has released Quake II v1.0.1 for OS X, adding a new dynamically carated resolution list and other enhancements to the popular first-person shooter for OS X.

MacPlay: AvP2, realMYST, OS X exclusivity

01/10, 8:50pm

MacPlay: AvP2, realMYST, OS X exclusivity

MacPlay this week promised to bring Alien vs. Predator 2 to the Mac. The sequel to the popular first-person shooter, to be ported by Hyperion, is due in the second quarter of this year and will offer play as as Alien, Predator, or a Colonial Marine (armed unique new weapons and abilities) in 21 single player missions set in three interlocking story lines or as one of 10 characters in 12 multiplayer levels. The company also announced it would release between 12 and 18 titles for Mac in 2002 and that all new MacPlay titles from this point forward would be developed for OS X only--to both accelerate game development and improve support. Previously announced games, including the The Operative: No One Lives Forever and Icewind Dale will ship this March for both Mac OS 9 and OS X. MacPlay also announced that it will be shipping realMYST,a real-time 3D version of Myst, by the end of Febraury for both Mac OS 9 and OS X.

Stellar Deep, new online space-adventure RPG

01/10, 8:25pm

Stellar Deep, new online space-adventure RPG

Brian Hook of Pyrogon, a new recently formed gaming company, talks obout his new company's goal to make game development and the state of PC game development and why both developers and publishers are suffering. He announced Pyrogon's upcoming Stellear Deep, an on-line space adventure RPG game in the "tradition of the old classics like Sun Dog and Star Flight." The game, whcih will run on OS X, will be development in installments and will require a subscription to unlock all of the features.

Fantasy role-playing game update fixes bugs

01/10, 6:55pm

Fantasy role-playing game update fixes bugs

Spiderweb Software has updated its fantasy role-playing game, Geneforge, to version 1.0.1. The update is recommended for all users; it adds new features and shortcuts, as well as fixes bugs. A demo is available; the full version is $25. [updater]

MacPlay posts AvP and Giants patches

01/10, 4:00pm

MacPlay posts AvP and Giants patches

MacPlay recently posted patches for Aliens vs. Predator 1.01a, which fixes compatibility with OS X 10.1.2, cursor flickering, and gaming going into window mode in 10.1. A new unsupported Giants Multiplayer Beta Patch adds multiplayer support, improves mouse configuration consistency, and fixes issues with the Powerbook G4 Titanium. [AVP 1.01a, GMBP]

Mariner updates spreadsheet, write apps

01/10, 3:45pm

Mariner updates spreadsheet, write apps

Mariner Software has announced the latest version of its powerful spreadsheet application, Mariner 5.1, which includes the addition of import filters for a variety of graphic formats, as well as a refinement in the products Excel File Filter. Various bug fixes were also addressed. The application packages a tabbed layer interface, "blazing speed, and incredibly powerful feature set, including the ability to easily run on 1.5 MB of memory." Mariner also releasd a public beta version of Mariner Write 3.0b, a major upgrade that introduces OS X compatibility, readability of Microsoft Word documents, mail merge functionality and on-the-fly spell checking function. [Mariner 5.1, MW 3.0b]

LA Times: "Pricey iMac Design Falls Flat"

01/10, 3:35pm

LA Times: "Pricey iMac Design Falls Flat"

Dave Wilson of The LA Times writes about Apple's pre-show hype and the associated let-down at the keynote, concluding "But the company has no real model for growth. Microsoft's monopoly power precludes any massive shift away from Windows, so how can Apple sell more boxes? The best thing Apple can do is to make computers that seamlessly integrate into a Windows network."

LaCie intros new 100GB tape drive

01/10, 3:30pm

LaCie intros new 100GB tape drive

LaCie has expanded its SCSI Advanced Intelligent Tape (AIT) product line with a new 100GB (native) AIT3 drive that stores up to 260GB (compressed) of data. It provides twice the capacity of the AIT2 drives and double the native transfer rate--12 MB/s as well as has full read- and write-compatibility with the previous generation AIT+ and AIT2 cartridges. The $4,300 drive ships with cables and the 5-client Retrospect backup software from Dantz as well as a 3-year warranty. Additional AIT cartridges are available with SRPs starting at $80 for the 35/70GB cartridge.

Espion performs visual searches

01/10, 3:25pm

Espion performs visual searches

Idée is demonstrating its visual search application running natively on OS X:  Espion is a robust image comparison application that allows users to perform visual searches for images. It takes an original image and compares it against others to find copies, altered or similar versions. The application displays pairs of matched images and details the likelihood of the match as well as the degree of differences between the original image and an image in question. The algorithms search based on colour composition, spatial distribution, object shape, texture and other visual attributes and characteristics.

Architosh: Keynote wrap-up, Tokyo expectation

01/10, 3:20pm

Architosh: Keynote wrap-up, Tokyo expectation

Architosh is reporting that Apple is expected to release new Power Mac systems based on the G5 processor at MacWorld Expo in Tokyo in less than two months. "Apple must deliver new Power Macs by Tokyo, if only for the reason that the current towers are not as attractively priced compared to the new iMacs." Another articles takes a look at the now past MacWorld San Francisco keynote and the remaining possibility for G5-based Macs.

Edge 'n Frame collection for download

01/10, 3:15pm

Edge 'n Frame collection for download

The Plugin Site has released Edge & Frame Galaxy, a $20 collection of over 400 edges and 50 colored frames for use in image, animation and video applications, including Photoshop, Corel Photo-Paint, GraphicConverter, PhotoFrame, Photo/Graphic Edges, Adobe Premiere and After Effects. A CD version, which contains 1600 elements, and a demo are both available.

Miglia ships FireWire drive cases

01/10, 3:05pm

Miglia ships FireWire drive cases

Miglia Technology is shipping its new family of storage products named MediaBank and MiniBank. MediaBank (€190), which houses any two 3.5" ATA drives, supports transfer rates of up to 35 MB/sec and later this quarter will be available with an optional second controller for transfer speeds up to 70MB/sec using InTech SpeedTools software (included) and a RAID 0 configuration (also available as an upgrade). MiniBank houses a single 2.5" ATA drive and includes smart carrying case for €99. Both new FireWire hard drive cases sport titanium-colored aluminium shells, two FireWire ports, and a two year warranty.

MegaSeg DJ 2.1b1 adds OS X support

01/10, 2:55pm

MegaSeg DJ 2.1b1 adds OS X support

Fidelity Media today added OS X support to its DJ Music automation software, MegaSeg DJ 2.1b1. The $150 application also has other improvements including customized displays, VU meters, manual resize and full screen mode, Drag-n-Drop support, improved mixer controls, Automatic Gain Control, increased library size, and easy import options from iPods and iTunes. Upgrades from v1.x are $50.

ATI partners with Hercules for Europe

01/10, 12:10pm

ATI partners with Hercules for Europe

ATI Technologies has partnered with Hercules, a European manufacturer of retail graphics boards. Under the new agreement, Hercules will market ATI's All-In-Wonder Radeon 8500DV and other cards in Europe.

IBM awarded most patents in 2001

01/10, 12:05pm

IBM awarded most patents in 2001

IBM was awarded the most U.S. patents in 2001, with a record 3,411 issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The company garnered more patents than the tweleve other largest IT companies - Hewlett- Packard, Intel, Sun, Microsoft, Compaq, Dell, Apple, EMC, Oracle, EDS, Accenture and AOL - combined.

MacTracker 1.6: info database on Mac models

01/10, 9:55am

MacTracker 1.6: info database on Mac models

Ian Page's MacTracker 1.6 database with info all Macs adds listings for the new Mac products announced at the Expo and other model-specific updates. The OS X version also has a host of user interface improvements and now requires version 10.1 or later. [Classic, Carbon]--links updated

Merrill Lynch cautious on AAPL

01/10, 9:55am

Merrill Lynch cautious on AAPL

Merrill Lynch, cautious on AAPL, writes that "channel checks suggest that Dec qtr revs could be light, due to (in part) their current product transition. Due to hype surrounding new iMac, many consumers may have deferred purchases until the new year; also consumers focused mainly on inexpensive Wintel systems rather than higher-end Macs. Further concerns include inventory risk and the co's high cost structure. The firm maintains intermediate term Neutral rating."

Apple posts new PM firmware v1.1

01/10, 9:50am

Apple posts new PM firmware v1.1

Apple's PowerMac G4 CDRW Firmware v1.1 "places new firmware on the CD-RW drive installed on Power Macintosh G4 (QuickSilver). This update improves the CD-RW drive responsiveness after waking up from sleep in Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X. Apple recommends installing this update to ensure your CD-RW drive has the latest firmware even if you are not using Mac OS X." [CDRW]

Apple posts iPod 1.04 Updater

01/10, 9:40am

Apple posts iPod 1.04 Updater

Apple's iPod Software 1.0.4 Updater adds support for iPod names of up to 255 characters, additional languages including Brazilian/Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish, and addresses compatibility and performance issues which users may have experienced with version 1.0.3.

HP posts updated printer drivers

01/10, 9:40am

HP posts updated printer drivers

Michael Bytnar notes the release of additional HP printer drivers, including the hp psc 950 all-in-one 4.03 and the hp psc 750 v4.03 for its printer/scanner/copier. (The Mac OS 9 counter-part drivers have also been updated: hp psc 750 v4.03 and hp psc 950 all-in-one drivers v4.03.)

Proteron introduces MaxMenu util

01/10, 9:30am

Proteron introduces MaxMenu util

Proteron today announced MaxMenus, a new utility which adds powerful, flexible menus to OS X, allows uses to assign hot keys to menu items "on-the-fly" and supports drag & drop into spring-loaded menus. It will ship with several of the most common menus preconfigured, but will also offer users unlimited configuration options. The $30 utility is expected to ship in early February.

SanDisk updates SDDR-55 ImageMate Driver

01/10, 9:30am

SanDisk updates SDDR-55 ImageMate Driver

SanDisk has updated its SDDR-55 ImageMate Driver for OS X 10.1 (the page notes that it is not mass storage compliant and requires a device driver).

ZDNet: iMac not "flat out cool," media hype

01/10, 9:00am

ZDNet: iMac not "flat out cool," media hype

David Coursey of ZDNet's AnchorDesk talks about how the new iMac "isn't flat-out cool" concluding that the "new iMac is another case of Apple telling users to 'have it our way' and expecting the faithful to genuflect enthusiastically." The article, which also talks about the "exclusive" cover story run on Time magazine (who inadvertantly leaked details the day before), notes the controversy that Time's pre-briefing generated among journalists; the hazy line between editorial coverage and marketing; and Apple's (rocky) relationship with journalists and media. (Editor's note: the keynote, moved up to Monday with no public explanation by Apple, may have ensured that Time's "exclusive" cover story coincided with Jobs' keynote.) [link added]